danmcq

LOL, yep the squeaky toy sound was one of the first Dayo picked up as well. Our dobermans loved those and walked around through out the day playing with them. Just be aware many other household sounds etc. will be coming out of your grey as well.

Oh, so sorry to hear this. He is no doubt very close to your heart and it is painful to need to rehome such a loved one. But, from the sound of your situation, it does sound like rehoming would be best at this time where he could get more constant loving attention. I hope someone on this forum that lives in your area well perhaps be able to take in Deebee.

Poor Piper. It's good your vet gave you the creams to put on that area. Hopefully Piper is in less pain now and that area is not as irritated.

Congrats on the first flight!

Yes, it is full spectrum and is one of the best avian bulbs on the market. I use it along with the stand for my bbirds.

We started out putting wadded up news paper in it, but quickly found he thought it was just clutter and just tossed it out of his way. So we stopped doing that. We did used to then fold up a small cotton towel folded and placed inside, which he napped on when young. But, he soon started just pulling it out so he could get to scratching and tearing up the bottom. But, every grey is different, so experiment and see what your grey likes. It does not hurt anything and gives your grey new experiences. You will quickly learn his likes and dislikes.

I will pick this back up and start updating it. My goal is in the future time that I must find Dayo a new home when we can no longer care for him. Is to have a complete life story of his expectations and interactions with his first human family. I believe it will be invaluable for them to truly appreciate his intellect and personality. He knows so much, it's almost scary and still learning. I will never let him go to another home unless they are going to give him tons of out of cage time, he must remain flighted for the balance of his life and be mentally challenged and in an invigorating environment to ensure he does not become a broken and bored soul just living out his final days. This is my biggest fear. Everyone swears when they get a grey it is their final home for life and will be a free and functional part of the family at all times. Yet I see over and over birds rehomed because they don't fit the new owners life style.... I fret over this actually. I find it no different than if I was going to die and had to find a new parent for my young birthed human child.

We have always kept a cardboard box with flaps taped shut and cut a door opening for dayo to walk in and scratch, chew and hang out in. We use a 10lb Dog Bone box. Any cardboard box would do though. He goes through about one a month. By then he has scratched and chewed through the entire bottom of the box. When he was still just 4 to 8 months old, sometimes we would see his talons sticking out of the opening and he he laying down sleeping soundly. As he grew older, the sleeping like that stopped of course.

That is soooo cool!! It is a Gilgirl bonanza it seems. I am loving it. You gotta get that video rolling, it is a must see in my book. I am so happy for you and Gilgirl!!!

Hilarious! It's fun from the outside looking in. Thanks for posting this, it has completely eliminated any thought in my mind of taking in any more fids!

Some Avian vets do this as well as some breeders. It is mainly done to have the look of not being clipped by having those first 2 or three primaries unclipped. By clipping the 3 or 4 of the inner primaries, they accomplish the same lift reduction so the bird cannot fly other than at a say 45 degree angle down to the floor for a gentle landing rather than a hard crash.

Hi Dee - In regards videoing. Sit your camera down and start recording, then walk away. Thats what I do. Otherwise Dayo will just sit there and stair at me and the camera. We actually replaced the Faucet with a new one that is identical to our previous homes. Now he happily sits on the handle and watches out the kitchen widow when we're sitting outside on the deck and he helps us by turning the water on and off once again as before. For new members that are not familiar with Dayo and having learned to turn the water on and off, here is a video of it:

LOL! Yes Jeff, Dayo can pierce your ears with some of those whistles, especially if he is sitting right on your shoulder. The ears do eventually stop ringing after a few minutes. As he aged, the sound effects and whistles became louder and louder. Your right Dee, Jake is in the same room and when he starts squawking, Dayo will ask "What Jake?" or "Whats the matter Jake?". I wish some of those previous homes sound effects Gilgirl has in her vocal accomplishments would come back so you could record them in the future. I would love to hear them. One thing I do know, is they never forget! When they are relaxed and just chilling, many times they will go through various words, phrases, sound effects, whistles etc. Not their entire repertoire of course, that could be near a thousand, but over days, weeks, seasons you will hear them come out. Some are actually seasonal with Dayo anyway and things going on during it. I suppose kind of like we all reminisce at special times of the year when it brings those memories back to the forefront.

He is such a joy to share life with. Interacting with Mommy his love muffin: Chatting after she goes to take a shower:

Hi Muse - I and many members here believe very strongly in all birds remaining flighted. Finally after decades of clipping being promoted by breeders, parrot behaviorists and avian vet's for bird safety and "control". The tides are changing and they are coming to realize it was a grave error promulgated that detrimentally affects a parrots physical and mental well being. It is my personal belief that clipping is never needed if the parrot owner and family are fully cautious of open doors, where the birds is and just listen for wing flaps. Clipping may help a person that does not have the patience or even bothers to take time to learn how to deal with unruly behavior. But, that momentary lapse in behavioral issues as the parrot recovers from the shock and loss of flight and mobility will not help the behavioral issues for long. With that said though, there are those isolated cases where birds will violently fly and attack a family member and especially if it is a child that clipping may be necessary for child safety. But, I still believe in most cases the family adults just did not teach their human child not to terrorize the bird or run around like a mad man near the parrot and alarm it. Again, this is just my opinion and I realize each person has their own and will do ultimately what they believe is the best in their particular situation.

Nice post on Gilgirl and her name choosing. It is amazing to see how fast a rehabed parrot comes alive once again after that veil of fear that was in place for years has been lifted. The way things are going your going to need to switch to hourly updates on her!

Good thought timbersmom. You do need to be vigilant to ensure they don't hurt each other.

Welcome to our forum and thanks for the GreYt introduction. Congrats on bringing home your first grey sometime today. Looking forward to gearing all about the homecoming.

Wishing the best for a quick recovery for Piper.

Indeed, a known items colors and different patterns will sometimes send them into a tizzy!

At 11 weeks old, he us still very young and not yet fully weaned. Weaning and fledging go hand in hand. At around 12 weeks they start fledging and are born knowing how to fly. What they do not appear to know is how to master the intricacies of flight like turning, slowing down, hovering momentarily etc. What we as their flock leader must do is keep fledgling parrots safe in case they go crashing about. Covering windows and mirrors during initial stages can be useful, as well as providing multiple safe landing sites around the area. Other than trying to keep fledging birds from banging into, knocking over and breaking things, there is nothing else the human needs to do, other than sit back and watch the circus.

Looking forward to those video's!

LOL @ GilGirls reaction yo the Dog's ball under the cage and your husband plugging it right next to the PC. Her responses were perfect, especially to the Dog. She has a very good command of the human language and was trying every word and phrase she could think of to let your dog know to just back the hell off and forget about the ball. It's under her cage, therefore it's hers and don't ever get that close to her cage again! I am loving each and everyone one of these new updates.

LOl, well we're all human and once in a blue moon do a a few frick fracks out when so pissed we're about to explode, the brain gets over loaded and the mouth just spews out the results. If someone were in reach we would probably sock them up instead though...

Unless you have a flight harness with an extension on it of 20 or 30 feet, they will not be able to fly with it on anyway. Harness are normally used by most folks to ensure they cannot fly away. But, some people do buy the extenders and take their birds out to a safe area they can fly to a fence, pole etc. and then be recalled which is great flight practice.