Saskia

I'm going to try one more time to respond to this thread. I have done this twice already days ago, in depth, and it tells me my post needs to be approved by a moderator and it never shows up. I've waited days and days. I have emailed a moderator and he said he would report it, but nothing changes. If you ever read this, thanks guys for the advice and support. I'm going to be moving on though, as there doesn't seem to be much of a point trying to post to a forum that won't let me.

I looked at the Parrot Outreach Society. Nice organization! I like the name, too! They don't have any greys right now, but they do have the sweetest looking little Quaker parrot I've ever seen. I hear those guys are pretty smart. Don't think he would get along too well with a grey, though. Someday I do want to adopt at least one or two birds from a rescue, but right now I think it has to be a baby bird. I have a child at home, and I think a baby bird may present fewer issues and potential unpredictability, at least until he reaches sexual maturity in a few years. At that point, my son will be older and better able to deal with behavioral problems. Don't get me wrong, I am prepared to deal with any problems and adjustment issues as they come, but it seems things might be more uncertain with a rescue than a hand-raised baby. Does that seem accurate?

I live in Florida at the moment, but will sooon be moving to Alaska. The breeders tell me now is about the time to get on a waiting list, since the birds may be breeding now or getting ready to. Some of the early breeders have already sold their chicks and won't have any more until next year. I've also spoken to three breeders who have been in the business for decades who say their birds just aren't breeding as well as they used to. Some haven't had Timnehs in a couple of years. One person blamed climate change. So I am very glad at least that I have a good prospect, even if the waiting is going to be hard. It's funny, I spent months thinking about this without any impatience at all, but now that I've decided I'm very anxious!

Hi, I introduced myself in a thread last week, and a couple of days ago finally made the decision to move forward with bringing a Timneh grey into my home. I am so excited! The only problem is I have looked absolutely everywhere, and it seems like the soonest I can possibly bring a bird home is June or July. Six or seven months! Eek! I’m not sure what it is, but I have been calling and looking for about a month now, even before I had my mind made up, and it seems like every breeder I’ve tried has either stopped breeding Timnehs, stopped selling directly to customers (due to losing hand-feeders, etc.), or gone out of business. Well, there is one breeder I really like, but he gets 3 Timnehs per year and has a waiting list 22 people long! I had no idea it was this hard to get a bird from a reputable source. Luckily, the last place I called said they would have one, but it would be July or June at the earliest. But now what on earth do I do until then? I can hardly wait! How long is typical when waiting to bring a new baby bird home? How long did you wait for yours?

Maybe a side point, but ice cream? Birds should not be given dairy. It is very fortunate Lola was found. I am wondering, what was her weight like when she was recovered? Edit: I was just asking because it is always so distressing to hear about birds who have gotten lost outdoors, and every time I hear it I wonder if there is any small chance the bird might be able to survive. Since Lola was found almost a month after being lost, it seems likely she got food from somewhere. If her weight was good, one might conclude that it isn't necessarily a death sentence for a parrot to be lost. That would make me feel a whole lot better about all these missing bird stories.

Hi everyone, it's me again. I got some wonderful responses to my thread about Greys and bonding, and I am sure now that I want to provide a bird with a loving and happy home. There is just one more thing I need to worry about before I decide to do it. I have a 5 year old child. My son, however, is not really a typical child. He is extremely gentle and respectful with animals, and would never be "grabby" or rough. He is on the Autism spectrum, if anyone has experience with that. I am not at all worried about him hurting the bird, as it would NEVER happen, but I do have concerns that the bird might hurt him. How likely is this? If I decide to do this, I will be buying a hand-raised chick from an extremely caring breeder with a love of birds and the best references I have ever seen. I work from home, and the bird will be here with me during the day and caged only at night and when I go do errands. From what I have read, most happy birds raised in a loving environment don't start to go through their biting stages until the reach sexual maturity at about four years old. Is this accurate? If this is the case then my son will be nine, at which time he would be able to understand and deal with it a lot better. If the bird were to bite him now, though, he might become fearful, and then things would only get worse. Then of course there is my biggest concern: that the bird might bite him seriously somewhere--such as on the face--and cause permanent damage or disfigurement. I have heard stories of Amazons at least taking off parts of their owners' noses. I would probably not allow my son to hold the bird near his face just in case, but still, for a mother, this is a scary thing. Of course, I don't think something so extreme is at all likely, but I wanted to ask others here what they thought about it. Has anyone had experience having Greys with children of this age? I would be very grateful for any and all comments.

Thank you all so much for your replies. I feel considerably better. For me, the only issue is the bird's happiness, and from what I am hearing, it is not as difficult to have a happy parrot as that documentary implied. I am still glad the film painted the picture it did since it will certainly dissuade people who are not suitable parrot owners from buying a bird, but I think it is also dissuading good parrot owners as well! Of course, better that than the alternative. As far as the mating issue, if it is indeed seasonal and not a constant thing, then it shouldn't present as much of a problem as I thought. I would love to adopt a rescue bird, and will almost certainly do it in the future, but my current situation will not allow for the degree of unpredictability I am afraid one would introduce. You see, I also have a five year old son, and I worry that having a large bird I did not not raise from a baby might create problems. For that matter, I'm not even sure I can do it WITH a bird I raise myself; I need to get some more information about whether it would be a good idea. Actually, my son is the last remaining factor that I need to consider before I make this decision. But that's another thread. I think I will go start it now. Thanks again!

Hello All, This is my first post on the forum. I have been thinking seriously about getting a Timnah grey for a long time, and just when I thought I had made the decision to go ahead, I saw a documentary called "Parrot Confidential." I'm sure many here, being bird lovers, have heard of it. Well, it was about the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen, and even though I could never be one of those people who gets a bird as a novelty and then just disposes of it when it becomes inconvenient, there were a few things in the film that have given me pause. First, I have heard, both in the film and elsewhere, that the bond a parrot forms with its human is a mating bond, and that in the wild, a bird is almost never separated from its bonded mate. This is concerning for me, because even with the most conscientious human who spends many hours a day with their grey, it is just never going to be the same as what the bird would get in the wild with another closely bonded member of its own species. Is the bird going to be truly happy like this? What about the physical mating urge . . . how present is it, and how much stress does it cause the animal to have the desire to reproduce and never be able to do so? For that matter, do those here actually agree with that premise: that the bond between parrot and human, as far as the bird is concerned, is a mating bond? Because before researching the subject and reading tons of articles by animal psychologists, parrot behaviorist, etc., I always just thought of it as a "flock" bond, a filial bond, and for that one special person, maybe, from the bird's perspective, a substitute for the mating bond. I would love to hear what actual bird owners have to say about this. I guess this issue worries me because it is one thing to have a cat or a dog that is fixed and domesticated . . . those animals need humans to survive, and not having their reproductive hormones intact, they don't feel much urge to reproduce or even seek out members of their own species. They think of us as their parents, their pack, their family. But for such an intelligent and complex creature as an African Grey, I am simply afraid of having a vital part of the animal's psyche (by which I mean the physical urge, AND the emotional desire for an ever-present mate) repressed and unattended to in this way. I think for an animal like this to be unhappy or feel like it was missing something out of life just because I wanted to keep it with me in my home would be very tragic. I hope I don't offend anyone with the previous sentence, I'm not suggesting anyone else is doing that. I just need some insight into this topic from people who know these animals best. I would love to hear your opinions on the subject. Thanks.