danmcq

Awww Pat, Tyco has really blossomed under your loving care! :-) Thanks for sharing these photos.

I probably caused the confusion. Many times I will ask him "Where's Kim?", other times I will ask "Where's Mommy"\?". This is actually my mistake and evidently lead to Dayo being confused at me calling the same person 2 different names/title. I am positive he does not know what a "Mommy" is due to having never witnessed the birth and up bringing of a child or critter. I can only surmise ,that his "Oooook!" was something along the lines of - How do you rate have 2 names? :-) You really need to be careful when describing things, places or people etc. to these very intelligent Greys!!

Welome Kar2nz and Flock!! It's GreYt having your whole gang here. :-) Looking forward to hearing more and seeing photos of your flock when you get a chance.

Welcome Rockysmom!! It's GreYt having you here. :-) Looking forward to hearing more from.

Awww, what a pretty boy! :-) Thanks for sharing these additional photos.

Wow! Very nice. Thanks for sharing this photo. :-)

Thanks folks. :-) He gets absolutely bonkers sometimes when playing so intensley. You must really watch it or he'll get your hand as well sometimes. :pinch: He's just so damn FAST!!

VERY cute video Jan. The music was appropriate and enojyed as well. :-)

Ok, another new display of "Ah Ha!". Dayo asks Kim when she walks in the room "Where's Mommy?" Kim replies "I'm right here!". Dayo again asks "Where's Mommy?". Kim Replies "I Am Mommy!!" Dayo - Long pause............then says "Ooooook!". Conversation ends...... :-)

I can only assume that they base it on diet deficiencies that have shown up over the years. Thus the need for calcium absorption by having sufficient levels of D3 to do so. Vitamin A deficiencies, thus they add it to the pellet etc. to include all the other vitamins and minerals they know they need. It would be like humans being given "All" they need through pellets with vitamins and minerals included.... The bottom line is, they don't know what they eat in the wild other than they have observed them eating Palm nuts and foraging in the swamp areas that poaches steal them from. They eat in the wild just like any other bird. What they find, they eat, mainly based on what on the menu season to season and area to area provide. ;-)

Yep, I'm with Dave. My Grey does it when whistling or just feeling a little goofy. :-)

Kim was playing with Dayo up on his favorite roost this morning. So I grabbed the camcorder and taped some of it. This is just a short example of just how agile and fast these Greys become when flighted and sure of them themselves. At one point Dayo appears to fall. However, he flew down to the floor flapping with the Bong under him off camera view. Upon landing though, the bong bounced a little with him and he released it. They do love to attack those bells too I do need to get a higher resolution camera though. ;-)

Hmmm, I think I've been spending too much time here. I think I've been missing some real world opportunities I hadn't thought of. ;-)

Wow, yes thats a great start for your Grey. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/02/08 20:28

Everyone has given good comments and ideas. One thing to understand about Greys, is they will have a "Favorite" and they wil also show a preference for either male or female humans. Some Greys will be extreme in their behaviour to one sex and others will tolerate one sex and interact at a very reserved level versus the sex the prefer, they will be very outgoing and loving. You are doing everything right in keeping up the feeding, cleaning and help with your Grey. Atleast you do have a relationship with him, just not at the level you would like. As others said, the age of your grey is when they show very strong independence and are trying to let everyone know THEY have arrived and know they can make choices on their own. :-) As they age, many become less and less cuddly and more independent. They like to be with the flock, but at more of a distance.

It sounds like you are doing a great job of bringing Fred the baby grey home and interacting with him. He is a fine looking Grey and seems to be truly enjoying his new cage, home and flock. :-) Thanks for sharing all these photos!!

Thanks Lisa - That truly does seem to indicate that Max picked up on your feelings and acknowledged them. :-) Oppie - That is a very good example of abstraction taking place on "Whom" did the dastardly deeds. What is very interesting, is the use of words she had to have heard in casual conversation and observances of of situations where those two words were used in correct context. The interesting question in this, is does she truly understand the "I" as in first person or just giving the answer she has learned is correct?

That is funny Sallas!! Hey, a different spin on your Grey being used in an AFLAC commercial. Could be to have your Grey come out and quack like a duck. Then follow through with her doing a speech on how many converts are coming over to AFLAC from unexpected regions, peoples and creatures in the world. You just never know when you may have an incident......... It's a Jungle out there. :-) Thanks for sharing this!!

Wow Robert, you are very fortunate to have a new Grey come home and start "partying down" with "High 4's" right out of the crate, congratulations!!! :-) Now those pictures........... ;-)

Welcome Kyle!! Thank you for doing such tremendous research and putting so much thought into getting a Grey at this time. At your stage in life, change is something that occurs in a much faster pace than once you are out of school, in to a career, perhaps married and moving quite often sometimes. A schedule such as yours is doable of course for maintaining a Grey. But, is it realistic that you would be able to actually give your Grey the time needed on a consistent basis? I am uncertain of what type of higher learning you are attending right now. But, the level of education you may be pursing could end up being very demanding of your time. Also, starting out in a new career is normally very demanding time wise depending upon which field you are going in. I know you wish to have a Grey and you will. It's just a matter of appropriate timing to bring one into your life. :-) Only you can truly come to a decision on that, that you and the Grey can live with happily.

EFGriffith wrote: Now that would be very interesting to see if they could grasp the concept of time. If you really pursue this, please keep us updated on it. The fact that Nicky seemingly abstracted paper/writing = book is amazing in and of itself. It seems we Parrot owners and scientists such as Dr. Pepperburg. Just keep finding very amazing thought abilities in our Parrots, especially African Greys.

Great photos of your baby!! Thanks for sharing them, he is a cute little guy. :-)

Yes, starting harness training when they are young is much easier. Just get the Aviator harness for example, which comes with a great DVD that shows you how to properly introduce the harness to your bird. Letting your bird become accustomed to having the harness on inside for short times once you are able to get it on him are your first steps in reaching your goal.

The important thing to maintain, is only having him out of the cage the amount of time you normally would when you must be at work or gone for some other reason. Have him out for an hour or two, then place him back in his cage for an hour or two. This will get him used to his in cage time and also understand he will be taken back and forth by you to do so. The important thing is to maintain a fairly rigid schedule. The exception is, weekends for example. They wil of course be out a lot more on weekends when your home than during the week.

caitb2007 wrote: Your doing everything right to maintain a good relationship with your Grey. The fact that you can give him scratches at times is good. It does show he has a certain level of relationship with you, just not at your Mothers level. This is normal. Most will always have a favorite person. Just enjoy what you have and love him. :-)