danmcq

It's wonderful to have you back after being blacked out by your laptop and teenager. :-) I am glad you got that all sorted out and looking forward to your GreYt posts again.

A variety is fine to see likes and dislikes. But, one thing you should know. Most will eat one or two types today and perhaps different ones 3 days from now. The same goes with veggies. So I usually dice up veggies and fruits all mixed together on the days I give fruit. Sometimes there are 4 different veggies and 2 or 3 different fruit types. Our Grey will of course eat the fruit first then start on the veggies. Just like a kid, no control. :-)

I am of the same opinion and terms with my Parrots as Talon. Just make sure earrings are removed before allowing the bird up there or you will have them ripped from your ear. :pinch: As long as you bird behaves up there, no problem. Step-ups are the first basic command your bird needs to get down. :-)

Pellets, nuts, seeds and veggies you can give all you want. NO need to ration. Fruits you will only want to give a little bit a few times a week. Otherwise their poop will become very loose and watery. There's no harm in that, but it is pretty messy. Pellets, if you so desire to try and get your grey on them are mainly which they will actually eat. Zupreem fruity blend and Harrison's Coarse are the most common seen offered on this forum. We offer both to our parrots.

Very cool. Thanks for "Brokering" this Jill. :-)

Most Greys will will scratch when you are giving scratches. When you are doing that, your are hitting pins feather or spots that they then feel the need to scratch it a little better. Are Grey will lean away and scratch, unlike your Grey. He seems like a really relaxed grey, to be truthful. Just a little cage aggressive. So let him come out on his own or slowly keep working at getting him to feel comfortable with your hand in his cage. Note: Some greys will never like you messing with their cage. :-)

Welcome msmousej!! It's always good to hear of someone taking in an older Grey. Your Grey is fully mature and fairly set in ways at 12 years old. It will take weeks probably to build trust and figure out her likes and dislikes. Right now you are not trusted and when you get too close and that charging bull body language is displayed, she is letting you know to back off. Just be patient and content at sitting next to the cage or perch you may have her on and read, watch tv, talk to her etcetera. As the trust builds and she gets used to her new surroundings and flock. The friendliness and inquisitiveness will start coming out in her. Looking forward to hearing updates on how it is going. :-)

You have made GreYt progress with him. I enjoyed viewing the photos and the video. The way you are able to interact with him on the stand is a definite display of him trusting you and even putting up with you giving him scratches while he is trying to chill out and do some preening. My Grey would nail me if I tried that at preening or chill time. He is a fine grey and is just learning your mannerisms, speech you use while building that trust. GreYt job!!! :-)

Wonderful and touching video Pat. Thanks for sharing this. :-)

Dave - Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! I am now getting my baby grey viewing fix and the shakes and delusions have almost stopped. They are so cute. Oh, they are looking out of the brooder and eagerly awaiting your letting them out for the rest of the day anytime now.

Soory to hear Juno has an infection. It's good to hear you are figuring out a dosing routine that works for him with out becoming the mortal enemy. :-)

Gimme Kiss????? :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEUsq-Jfl9k&feature=player_embedded

Enjoy!!

Jill made some good comments. One thing to remember regarding your Grey. He was trained by the previous owner. I suspect that person was afraid of getting bitten. Thus the use of a stick to get him to step-up. A hand is a hand and that Grey "suspects" that if he bites, threatens to bite, lunges etc and that hand quickly moves away. It is just as he thought, he see's same behaviour works everywhere. :-) If you are going in slow motion with your hand and you see his body language is telling you he is going to bite. Just stop and slowly back your hand away or divert the path you had it going and act like you were going to pick something else up. This is a behaviour that has been developed over a two year period and is how he was taught to interact with humans. It sounds like form all your previous posts regarding this, that you guys are taking it slow and trying to work at the step up away from the cage. This is the best thing you could be doing, since you already know he is cage aggressive. Time and patience will get you all through this. But, do not have any anticipation that this grey is going to be a cuddle muffin. It could happen over a long time, but I doubt it. I hope you have the patience to just interact with him at his pace and respect his "Space" for a while. FYI - Our Grey has always been a "Cuddle Muffin". However now at 2 years 7 months old. He is becoming much more independent, biting if you don't pay attention to his body language and at most evenings now, prefers to sit in the room with us, but on a stand or the back of the sofa, rather than getting cuddles on my wife's lap. However, we love him to death and appreciate the occasional head scratch when he wants it. :-) What this means to you, is your grey is a teenager with an attitude and is establishing his space and enforcing his likes and dislikes.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/11/16 20:55

Oh I hope Yoshi is indeed alright! I know how you must be worried sick, as I would be too. Please keep us updated on how she is doing.

This forums members for the most part. Have nothing but disdain for Chet Womack. As he tried different things on his Parrots, he started posting them on a website that has grown hugely over the last 4 years. He is not a parrot expert and as you say, he makes money off feeding people his garbage. I believe you are right in the sense that his followers are like cult members blindly following their so called messiah. It sounds like you have trained your grey nicely and love him much. Looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing some photos when you get a chance. :-)

lovethatgrey wrote: Yes, same here. But, to keep my two from going anywhere in the house. We close bedroom doors and keep all other rooms dark by closing blinds etc. They may start to fly into another room, but when it's fairly dark, they just do a circle and come right back where we are. You may not be able to do this. But thought I would mention it. :-)

Oh it sounds so cute. You must get a video of this....Just wear a bikini. Thanks for sharing this shower story. :-)

Awwww, bless his heart. He hates it, but his love for you over comes that. :-) Thanks for sharinf Alfies shower time with us.

Now I've that that great "Oldie but goody" song stuck in my head. All Greys toss stuff that is not on "Their" crave list for the day. So, if you collect each days tossed items, store them and then offer them another day. Or, if you get a few dogs like many of us have. They consume all tossed items. Think green, save our planet...

Oh Jill, I know how you are thinking. I thought the same when Dayo had yet to utter his first word at that age. Dayo's first word was "Hello" a little after turning a year old. So hang in there. :-) I know this threads topic is asking if anyone has a Grey that doesn't talk. So I will not go any further into how to increase the odds and build vocabulary. I can tell you, there are hundreds of thousands of Greys that don't talk human. But, they all live in Africa. One thing to think about; To our Greys or any critter for that matter. When we speak, they hear a noise. If that noise is linked to something constantly. They will pick up that noise. If you think about it. Speech is simply noise. Whistling is speaking naturally to them. Just as crying and screaming is to a human child. Speech does not come naturally even to humans. Thus feral children grunt and mimic dogs or animals that they grew up with. Our little human babies need to hear the same noise linked to an action or item over and over to realize mimicking that noise is how to communicate they want that item or action. Greys are the same way.:-) Ok, I lied, I did go into increasing the odds a litle. <br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/11/15 14:05

Awwwwww, they are coming along wonderfully Dave. :-) Last week I was having withdrawal symptoms due to the brooder camera not being available. I had gotten so used to logging in 4 or 5 times a day to watch them, that it became a habit. Now, what are you going to so to fix this? Thanks for the GreYt update photo.

Wow, what a beautiful flock you have! You certainly have your hands full. :-) Thanks for sharing all these photos.

Dangit! I guess I need to drop the Mickey Mouse voice then. Thanks for sharing this Mingus. :-)