judygram

West Virginia is a beautiful state with lots of mountains, I-64 is a lovely drive especially in the fall when the colors change, I will probably be heading that way when that happens.

I am glad to hear you are doing some research before you plunge into grey ownership, many don't and that's why so many end up in rescues and rehomes. Your bird needs to spend at least 4 to 5 hours a day outside the cage, they like to be with the rest of the flock, meaning the family and want to be a part of what is going on in the household. They should interact with every member of the flock as they tend to pick favorites but even if they do they can still have a good relationship with all members. If you are going the baby grey route then he/she should be weaned, only people who have experience and know what they are doing should handfeed a baby bird so its best left to those who do it routinely. Of course you can go the route of taking in one that has been relinquished for whatever reason and needs a new home, we have members here who have taken in older greys and they can make excellent companions. They usually get the exercise they need from playing with their toys and flying, I would hope you would want your grey to remain flighted as that is the way nature intended but some people cannot deal with a flighted bird due to children or people not being careful enough to ensure there is no escaping. Some people have had much success in potty training a grey but it somewhat depends on the individual personality of the bird, some just do not like defacating in their cage and some can be trained to use a certain area or container but most of us deal with it for to live with birds you must learn to accept a little crap now and then. Since you have dogs you will have to be careful of the time your grey is out of his/her cage and it is best to have the cage where the family spends the most time when home, they want to be a part of the family and would not like being in a room by themselves.

I can relate to that since I am from Virginia and live in the country, my son lived in WV for about 15 years but has recently came back to the area though his job is still in WV, he works from home.

MBS strikes again in the form of an eclectus, though not real happy about breeders selling unweaned birds but you do have experience, looking forward to seeing some pictures of the baby.

Most greys love a heavy duty bell that they can play fight with, I know mine does and it is her favorite thing in her cage, I never take it out and she can be very violent with it at times. That is one nice perch you made and please do share more pictures of it as I have some grapevines and could make one of those.

Regular weighing is really the best way to know whether they are losing or gaining any weight, you can also do a feel test on their keel bone, if it is prominent then he is skinny or if it is hardly felt then he might be too fat but greys as a rule do not usually overeat so the key is providing a balanced diet with pellets, lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, rices, pastas and a little meat from time to time.

Smokey is a name that could go either way but it helps to know the sex so you know whether you have to worry about laying eggs.

If you do take him to the vet please let us know what you find out for we care and it could help someone else with the same problem.

You are right about that for if you can't trust her you don't need her anywhere near your face as she could do great damage, it won't be easy to keep her off if she has been allowed there but you will just have to block her from going that route, better to take a bite on the hand than get an eye ripped out.

If he hasn't been to an avian vet in a while it might not be a bad idea, at least give them a call and ask about it, none of us here are vets so if there is any doubt its best to ask. Usually if they are regurgitating they do it in our presence but if he is doing it when no one is around then to me that is cause for concern unless he is directing those affections to some inanimate object in his cage.

Emma is such an adorable grey and I love to hear her say "I love you" but I enjoy hearing Adina's voice as much as I do Emma's.

Hello Angelique and welcome to our family. You have one beautiful grey there and I have found that the more we learn about our greys the more I find out I don't know so it is a learning process for a lot of us but this forum is full of wonderful information on just about every topic so be sure to browse thru it at your leisure. You are young so you and Kiwi will grow old together.

Be careful of what you wish for, lots of time this is how it starts so be prepared for new words and phrases to come for now that the floodgates have opened it will be no stopping him now.

Hello Katie and welcome to our family. The others have given you some good advice but it looks like you are off to a great start already, looking forward to seeing some pictures of Luigi.

Emma sure knows how to make it spin around, gotta love these smart greys.

Hello Katie and welcome to our family. The others have given you some excellent advice, there is no telling if they will get along so you will just have to wait and see and go from there. Many thanks for giving Paco a new forever home and looking forward to seeing some pictures of him when you get some.

Hello Bigwick and welcome to our family. You have a wonderful companion there if you will take it slow and easy to gain his trust for the rewards will be totally worth it.

Hello Craiggill and welcome to our family. I think you need to make a decision whether you want these two as pets or breeders and my opinion is to keep them as pets. Pet greys do not make good breeders and vice versa, breeder birds need privacy and to be left alone so if you keep these in the home then pets they are. Most greys like to have a cage they can call their own even if they get along with each other, they can get possessive of it and not want any intrusion whether another bird or a human, besides breeding greys is not just putting a male and female together, it involves a lot of work and research to do it properly plus you will not make any money at it by the time you spend on supplies, vet fees and so forth and so on.

Hello Joyce and welcome to our family, your baby is adorable. You have a beautiful amazon and I hope the intro of a new parrot will go smoothly and maybe they will become friends.

You can try fixing different vegetables in differing ways, raw, cooked, shredded, mashed, chunks, cold, warm and whatever ways you can think of for sometimes they have a preference, for example they may only like carrots raw or broccoli steamed and keep offering for they may turn their beak up for days or weeks and then one day eat them. Another thing that helps is for them to see us eat them, act like they are so good and make yummy sounds for they usually want some of what we are eating.

Suzette I am one of those who made some remarks that were meant in jest but I sometimes forget not everyone takes it that way so am sorry if I offended you for that was certainly not my intent. I don't know what to tell you regarding the earthquakes for we hardly ever have any, I have only experienced one myself and it was minor but I know you all over there are having some frequent ones but if you remain calm and not panic then it might help with Earl, they do react to our stress levels.

You are never going to get his trust doing these things, you need to take a completely different attitude if you are ever going to earn his trust and I do mean earn it. You must take it slow and easy, never making him do what he is not comfortable with, this takes time and I mean weeks and months of not pushing yourself on him, let him decide when he is ready to take the next step toward friendship. It sounds like he has been mistreated in the past and it makes it more difficult but its not impossible if you are willing to take the time and effort.

I have not seem much sexual activity out of my parrots but Josey my grey got a little possessive of a wiffle ball under her cage one day, she was under there presumably looking for whatever she could find but had a ball and when I got close she would come out all puffed up and charge at me, I promptly took it away and no more problems. I have never seen any of my parrots use an inanimate object for their affections but my sun conure will occasionally try to push her butt up against my neck masterbating but I stop her in her tracks. Maybe some of the other members will have more insight into what is going on with your birds.

Hello Shauna and welcome to our family, you do not have to own any birds to be a member, just have the love for them and you certainly have that and one day your dream will be a reality and you will be so glad you found out all you can before that day arrives, you will learn a lot from the members on this site. No apologies are needed for sometimes we have to break away from the ones who are pulling us down and keeping us from realizing our dreams. I have heard good things about the Oasis Sanctuary, good that you are close enough to them to volunteer your time.

I bet it made her feel so good to know her flock missed her, what a sweet welcome home she received, glad to hear she is better and back where she belongs.