judygram

So glad to hear it went well with the harness and she will enjoy the outings with you but she may never come to "like" the harness but at least she is tolerating it when she knows it allows her some time outside to fly and be with her master, yeah right! We know who rules the roost don't we!

There is no test but only this, are you willing to do what it takes to give your grey what it needs to be happy and healthy, if not then a grey is not for you, maybe you should look at other types of birds that don't require as much time committment. Not to be against your desire to own one of these magnificent creatures but most of us that are grey owners do not take a lot of vacations especially long ones of two weeks or more mainly as that is not healthy for our birds for most of them will have to spend most of that time and maybe all inside a cage for the one taking care of our fids is not able to allow the bird out of cage time for they cannot handle it. Another thing is you will not be spending a lot of time every day with your grey nor will he/she get a lot of out of cage time on a daily basis, you cannot make up on the weekend for what you lack during the week, not trying to sound cruel here but the facts are what they are. Basically a lot of us are homebodies meaning we stay at home most of the time, don't take long vacations and if we work we only work around 8 hours a day so we can spend quality time with our fids, thats the committment we made when we decided to bring them into our home so the question is are you willing to do what it takes or not.

Hello Macmodo and welcome to our family, so glad you could join us. A big welcome goes out to Phoenix, so aptly named for the city she came from, is she the only bird you have right now? It sounds like she is adjusting well to her new home but be sure to read thru as many of the threads for useful information as the coming days, weeks and months go by, you will find a wealth of knowledge from other members who have gone thru the same situation as you are now embarking on, a lifetime journey with one of these awesome creatures and you will find lots of tidbits that might come in handy. Questions are encouraged no matter how trivial or silly they may seem for we have heard them all before and if we can we will help you in any way possible. Pictures are always welcomed, the more the merrier.

Toweling is referring to what you have to do at times in their life when something happens and you have to use a towel to restrain them for some procedure such as a broken blood feather or maybe they get injured and you have to keep them from further hurting themselves and you. Usually when you take them to the vet he will wrap them in a towel as it makes working on them easier. Most if not all greys will fear a towel but some members will play games with their greys using a towel like in hide and seek so they become more familiar with being around a towel. If your bird took a fall and broke a wing a towel is a must to keep them from damaging it any further.

Sounds like your baby knows when bedtime is before you do so take the suggestions the others offered and see what happens.

Your baby is adorable and the wait will be like forever but I have reservations about surgically sexing all the babies, why subject them to unnecessary medical procedures just to find out the sex, otherwise she sounds wonderful as a breeder.

That sounds about right, they copy what they like and a lot of times it is not what we want to hear but you take what you get which in my case Josey does a fart sound perfectly, better than me!

Hello Amit and welcome to our family, so glad you could join us. I am so happy to hear you are doing your research before you plunge in and get that grey, so many don't and then some end up in rehome situations but if they had taken the time to find out if a grey is a good fit for them it could all have been avoided. Please do read thru the many threads for lots of useful information and as those questions you have and we will help you in any way we can.

Hello Cheepo and welcome to our family, why don't you tell us some about yourself and your fids if you have any?

He is definitely breaking them off for there is no end shaft left, I would recommend the aloe vera juice baths and that vet visit to see if there is any physical reason, I see you have scheduled one for Monday so please let us know what you find out.

Don't waste your money on their products as they are worthless and they hound you endlessly once you sign up.

Like Jeff my grey loves cheddar cheese.

If you can find some aloe vera jel, it usually comes in a tube or bottle and is usually found in the pharmacy section, that would be good to put on that irritation, it would soothe the area and if she happened to ingest a little it won't hurt her. She really needs to be seen by an avian vet, I don't know what country you live in but if you have to travel some ways to get to one you should at least find the closest one available. Also that cage does not look very big to me, a grey should have a bigger cage, maybe that is what she is trying to tell you with her scratching.

Yes Barbara Heidenreich is an avian behaviorist and her dvds will help with specific problems and I would highly recommend her and her work. I doubt that Dan was referring to her dvds for they are not repetitive talking, I think he was thinking of another person and their dvds that is a bunch of garbage.

Please do not put the two greys together as there is a very good chance they will fight, greys tend to view their own cage as their safe haven and wouldn't like the intrusion of another grey or any other bird for that matter. If she has a large travel cage or a smaller regular cage she could bring for her bird then it would be fine for you to help her out by keeping her grey for the weekend.

Hello Rachel and welcome to our family, so glad you could give Buddy a new forever home. I would bring his cage out into the living room as he will want to be close to his family members, greys are flock animals so want to be around their human companions, they like feeling like a part of the family and observe what is going on around them. He needs time to settle into his new home, new cage, that is why he was fearful of the new cage as greys are cautious creatures by nature so take to anything new or different very slowly. Just spend a lot of time with him, talking to him while he is inside the cage, offering treats from time to time to show him you mean him no harm but it will take time and lots of patience because he is a very mature grey who is set in his ways. Even though he will step up for your hubby you should work on getting him to step up for you, even though he may prefer your hubby he can learn to at least accept you as a member of the family, he may not interact with you the same as he will with your hubby but it will help if you can handle him as well. Please do read thru the threads here for lots of useful information and do not hesitate to ask questions you may have and we will help you in any way we can. Would love to see some pictures of Buddy if you have some you would share with us.

I am so sorry about your loss of Kirby, I know what he must have meant to you and it was like losing a member of your family but Jill is right, Chickie will help you heal from your loss.

I don't know if the citron too is the quietest of them but all cockatoos can be loud, much more so than a lot of the other species of birds except maybe for the macaws, I would do a lot of research before deciding to add one of these to your household especially if your hubby is a non bird person.

Here is the link to that thread on body language I was talking about: http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109373-Body-language-most-frequently-seen

Of course you couldn't just leave them where they were, not with that big heart you have and living out in the country and the more the merrier, thanks Ray.

Thats one idea to try to get your grey to eat them, you can always try eating some in from of him so he will think they are yummy as they usually want to eat what we are eating. One of the members had a good suggestion to get some cereal that is similar in size and color and exchange the packaging so the cereal is in the pellet bag and then pour you a bowl of them and eat them then he will think they are good if you are eating them, try it and see how it goes.

You have not had this bird for very long have you? I would take it slow and easy to gain his trust, you might benefit from reading the thread about understanding grey body language as it will serve you well. It does sound like he is starting to settle into his new home and relax some so continue to take it slow and be patient with him.

That is so sweet and precious to have that first kiss from your grey, Josey loves to kiss me and will even kiss my hubby.

So many canned foods have so much salt added, you might try the ones labeled no salt added but I would think frozen would be preferable to canned and of course fresh is the best but we cannot always have them available that way.

Thank goodness she is going to be fine, you might want to think about having her spayed, that way it can never happen again, I have always had my cats neutered or spayed so they don't contribute to the cat population.