hveusnthbrige

Thanks Dan, you're too kind. Yes the harness thing is quite difficult even at this age. Sometimes I think it will just be easier to not use it. But I'm sure there will be a time when I wish I would have kept trying, so that's why I do. Right now he's having one of those crazy time super energy bursts. These are the things that make me think he's possessed...:lol:

Seems he can fly now as of this morning. Took his first flight from his cage over to where I sit at my computer. I didn't come home last night so he was probably feeling alone. He's also coming alone well with Step-Up training. He doesn't understand the phrase "Step up" yet, but he does understand a perch placed in front of him is where you put your feet. The breeder spent no time teaching him step ups, so he has learned this in about 1 week. I trained him by rubbing his keel bone, legs or the tops of his toes with my fingers an saying 'Step up'. After a successful step up, I would say it a few times and reward him with lots of affection. We did about 2 step ups at most per session the first couple days. Then about 3-4 step ups per session. Now he will do about 8-9 before loosing interest. Just typical everyday step up training working like a charm. The harness training is coming along slowly. Putting the harness on seems stressful for him, so I cover him up for a nap with it on. When he wakes after a few hours he will tolerate it. It's just difficult because he needs to have it on for several hours everyday. I can't always be around him while it's on and I won't let him out of my sight while he's up and walking around with it on. Only takes a foot caught in it and a panic attack while I'm away and he will despise it forever. I won't let him in the cage with it on either, too easy to get it snagged in a bar and get tangled up.

I'm a firm believer of the "Deal with it!" state of mind. Rains in the wild. Rains in the bath tub. Deal with it. He hates it, but hey, in the wild rain is cold, in the tub rain is luke warm and soft. My tiels hate it, Mirek hates it. He's only had 1 bath yet, today, and so far he didnt like it lol. But that's too bad. He lives in my bedroom and I need to keep the dust down, so all my birds get a bath at least once a week. And when they look at me with those "I hate bath time." eyes, I look back and say "Deal with it." But man, after he dried off, his feathers were so smooth and his head feathers were the softest ever. He was just in a state of bliss this afternoon getting a head scratch from me, making groaning noises and the possessed exorcist garble, haha. So basically, bath time isn't any fun and that's too bad. But afterwards I make sure to give them extra special attention once they are dried off. That's pretty much how I deal with bath time.

I got a nice bite today from Mirek.. watching tv and he was sitting on my lap an chewing my shirt. He focused to about 3" above the belt and then took a nice big chomp on the side of my stomach, through the shirt of course as thats what he was attempting to nibble on. I yelped like a puppy; I didn't see it coming. Poor little Mirek was just all upset he did something wrong and then started to try and bury his head in the couch while screaming. Even while I type this now, there's still a red mark on my side and it hurts to even look at it lol.

lol the Parrot Bite Me Club. That's great Dayo enjoys your company and recognizes you. Makes so much less for him to get used to upon getting home. I can't help but mention the BC Rich on the wall. If that was my breeder I would be shaking the paint off the walls with not much Parrot interaction happening haha.:laugh:

This morning he had his first bath. That was not very enjoyable for him lol. But that's too bad! He didn't put up much of a fuss and went through with it but it was obvious he wasn't having fun. The tiels have had a bath once a week for the entire time they have lived with me and now they have a 3rd bath buddy. Silly Pinkie who seriously dislikes the company of Mirek sure warmed up to him when soaked in the tub. Tucked his head under Mirek's tail to shield himself from the misting. And I forgot to mention, my hen teil, April likes Mirek now too. She would help clean his beak off while he was eating the oatmeal slop. Why I have no clue but that little white cockatiel willingly ate lots of that messy stuff; she would plow her face right into it and take a nice big gulp all on her own. So at least one of them enjoys it!

lol, yes I've had that a few times. I do move my finger a little bit or I'll hold his beak with my other hand. Brings up an interesting point, teaching the Grey what a reaction means... Likely consistency is the key here but that can be difficult. Different people in the home.. different reactions.

Ok more pictures today!

I tried the oatmeal for warm spoon feeding and he hated it at first. I tossed the powder from the remains of the pellets into the oatmeal slop an then he had a less negative reaction to it. Prolly tasted a little more familiar. I had to basically do the finger trick again and when he started to induce feeding from my fingers I would pour the oatmeal from the spoon into his mouth... he didnt like that one bit.. shook his head and man.. food flung on the walls, the cieling.. the floor, the tv.. the, um, everything had food on it. lol After a couple tries I think it clicked in his mind, or his crop, that: this stuff = food! After that he slowly started eating it on his own from the bowl. Sprinkling pellet dust on the surface of the sloppy mess made him dig in aswell. Anyway, thanks for the info Judy! Next step is to figure out how to get some solid chunks of veggies into him. I'm thinking dicing them up really fine and putting them in the oatmeal once he begins to eat it more freely. I think after a few different

I know he's eating well on his own too. Right now he puts away about 50 grams of pellets each day. Likely 10 of that falls on the floor so he eating just about 10% of his body weight each day. Plus he eats all the time throughout the day happily. I'll try what you say though Judy. Yet what could I give him? I know to warm it up and he'll like that even better but need some ideas of what to make for him!

ooo candles. I didn't know that.:ohmy: Not that I ever use them anyway. But just the same.

Heya guys I'm glad you're all enjoying it. I suppose you long time Grey owners are living vicariously through me remembering your first days. Today, another day I had to work all day long.. 11 hour shift running a retail shop.. alone, cause the other guy is on vacation. It's just nice when I come home and he wakes up and is just thrilled to see me. He always begs for hand feeding when I get near him; the low on the perch, wings mantled just a tad, head up, beak open with gargly "Ahh!"'s; and I'm somewhat lost on this whether I should be entertaining him or not. I will let him take 2 fingers and he tries to induce feeding from them. But I don't really want to teach him that I'm a source of food in that manner.. food comes from the bowl, yes I put it in the bowl, but you put it in your mouth yourself. On the other hand hes only 3 weeks weaned and likely desperately misses being handfed. You guys think I should avoid letting him suck on my fingers? Or let him keep trying until he gets frustrated and figures out fingers have no food to give? I'm really torn on what I should do, I don't want to rush him but I also don't want to be the food source. I'm worried he'll revert and then he'll have to be weaned again. Hunger is a powerful teacher though so it might not be a problem...

Singing... :blush: :huh: :dry: :pinch: :lol: There's enough singing going on most days already from my male cockatiel! No more room for me to sing!:blink:

Haha Judy! Yes he's found those remotes alright. And I think I was wrong, he prolly wasnt sleeping in the last few towel hiding pictures... I think this pic here might suggest the latter:

I don't sing!:blink::blush:

Here's some more pictures: These are of his favourite place in the whole world.. a towel. He is fast asleep right now in these,

Ya he's going to get a good dose of electric guitar.. my amps are right beside his cage.B)

So again as to report in, Mirek is doing well. I had to work today so I couldnt spend much time with him. He has tried on the harness a couple times. It really is the time to start the harness thing. He hates it right now but he doesn't know how to defend himself and prevent me from putting it on him. It is quite tricky to adjust it as too tight and he will have trouble breathing while in heavy exercise mode/flapping his wings which he does very often. Too loose and he tries to pull it off by using his feet, which then get caught in it making him fall over. He usually wears it for 20 mins each day, or I'll put it on him then cover him up for a nap with the towel and he sleeps in it. Right now he's wearing it and going about his typical wing flapping craziness on my bed. Also I gave him a piece of banana and he ate it. And by ate it I mean I stuck it in his mouth lol. He smushed it up and swallowed it. Before long he was taking more little pits of it with slightly less frustration. So we've managed a 1/4" long slice of banana... heh and only the soft part not including the middle where the seeds are. Here are some pictures. This is my 2 tiels, Pinkie and April walking around with him. I see it as very important that Mirek learns quickly that he is not the only bird around and that he should get along with his roommates. I would also like to note that Mirek's first word typed on the keyboard was, well I know the forum filter will block it out so, 3 letter word starts with A and ends with S... 11 weeks old and already cursing like a sailor.:blink:

Well, Dayo likely won't need any of it for several months. Babies don't do anything wrong. But the key to preventing it is fully understanding the topic. I've always thought that when we know something completely, we usually don't have to use it. It's funny how it works out that way. Makes it seem useless. You know Dan you can participate aswell in the chat! Throw some thoughts out, or ask your breeder about these points in the topic to help you figure out an opinion.

Oh man it takes a long time. But I must say when he comes home finally after all the work finding a breeder, waiting for him to wean, the visits, setting up the equipment and all the other stuff I likely missed... it's worth it. Worth every second. And I've only experienced 4 days of the possible 50+ years.

I get the feeling he does enjoy having me around and spending time with me. But it's entirely dependent on how tired he is. Tired usually means miserable, just like a baby would be. He spends about 3 hours a day right now under a towel sleeping on my bed. Right after he wakes on his own accord and stands up he's right ready to play with me.

Have you seen the bridge is from Zeppelin btw for those that dont know You can just call me Geoff though CD. That's why I put it in my sig.:lol: And I did post a picture of me already, its in my profile album. But for the sake of having a picture on the topic here... I don't know where any other pics are right now That one is horrible.. me wearing poop ready clothing.. lol.

Oh ya, sometimes he makes some silly noises. And yes he's really trying his best to communicate but right now he lacks the vocabulary. Likely not for long though, a few months and he'll be yappin it up ordering me around...

He makes several noises. Usually very high pitched squeals with his beak closed. But if I approach with my hands in front of me he reverts to hand feeding posture and the verbal "Ahh!" begging that goes with it. Lots of gargling noises too of nearly any pitch. Low octave sounds happen but they are rare. I find it somewhat confusing what he wants sometimes. I will leave him alone if the tone in the sound he made suggests it but when I start to back away he cries with the opposite tone to have me come back. I made a silly post just now about him responding to music too. He tried all the sounds he knows when going along with the tune. Oh and I forgot to answer your initial question Dan, yes he makes lots of inhaling noises. If it's exhaling it usually becomes a scream type sound.<br><br>Post edited by: hveusnthbrige, at: 2007/07/11 22:03

I occasionally, and by that I mean almost always have music playing in my room. A Whitesnake tune came on and Mirek starts singing along. Well, as good as a 10 week old baby can manage but man is he enjoying himself. Feathers all puffed out and bobbing his head while flapping his wings... and the exorcist voice.. I guess thats what parrots do when they hear a man singing with a girly voice. lol. I thought loud music was going to scare him.. havnt picked up my guitar in a few days cause of not wanting to scare him. Nevermind that. He's almost jumped out of the cage right now so I better go catch him.. gettin a little bit over excited.:ohmy: