danmcq

I know this was a long thought out decision. But, it sounds like after weighing in all the data and considering the possible end of the plucking issue with Tobie and his health and well being kept in mind. The fear of losing him, was overcome by the love you have for him to be all he can be. :-) Great decision!! :-)

I know it had to be tough to post this. It is admirable that you wish to find a good forever home for him and that you posted on the forum. I can only imagine the thoughts that must have run through your head before finally deciding to post this. Most would just never be back on the forum again and silently move on. Hopefully someone frequenting here from southern California will respond to you. I do know a person posted in this forum about a week or two ago from California and he was wanting references to a breeder or rescue here he could possibly get a Grey from. I wish you well and pray that a home is found for him soon, so you can put your mind to rest and your grey can find a forever home while he is still very young and more adaptable to changes than older Greys. :-)

Hey Nims, welcome back! It's good to hear things went well and you Greys had a good time of it with your family. You have a Merry Christmas too!!<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/12/21 22:31

Great Video of Bella going crazy!! Thanks for sharing it. I love the way you can just sling her around and she gets into even more as you do. :-) I would be hamburger meat after a session like that.

Welcome Jennifer and Elvis!! Elvis sounds like quite a character already. It's GreYt having you here. Looking forward to hearing more. :-)

Welcome Debi and Jasper!! Very nice introduction. It sounds like things are going well with your new Grey after the first week. Looking forward to hearing more. :-)

Oh wow, Tonksdad, that certainly needs to be looked at by an avian vet right away, as LindaMary already stated. Thanks for posting the image of of it, it says a 1000 words. Please let us know the outcome. :-)

Nychsa wrote: Yes, there is no doubt they do. They will use every sound, word and phrase they know when they are just sitting feeling good and start vocalizing everything they know as they perfect and calibrate these to near perfection. Dayos knows when to say Make Coffee, Want a drink of water, Lets get some cereal...mmmmmm many more etc. at the correct time with a doubt being in the correct context. The delay of a few days, as you mention in doing so, atleast in Dayos case, is he will not say the word or sentence until he has it calibrated. Once he says it, it's in the right context the first time. Of course, this is all based on the premise that when I said something to Dayo from the beginning, it was always correctly associated with an item or action. I always ensure I say the same word or sentence everytime, so as not to confuse him. Example: Everytime he would slip or fall from the time he was very young, I would always go "Woooo". Now everytime he slips or if one of the dogs comes in and startles him, he'll say "Woooo". But, as I said, they will say things when they are playing or preening that are not relative to anything while they are just going crazy, playing or preening. :-)

Well, this is a tough one to call. Not knowing a lot about Rosie's background. You've had her for a year, which means you adopted or rescued her, I assume. Do you know any of her background? Was she miss treated? Was she ever hand tame and people friendly? With some more information, we will be able to help you in a more specific manner. :-)

Welcome Jenny and Dexter!! It's GreYt having you here. :-) It sounds like you are very determined to give Dexter and you the best life together possible, by searching out a community of people who know and care greatly for these intelligent sentient beings called Greys. Your PVC stand sounds wonderful. When you get a chance, perhaps you could post a photo of it and some of your lovely Dexter also. :-) Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Nice thread Nychsa. :-) There is no doubt, that they KNOW what you are saying when it is a word or sentence you always use in context. They also know sounds, in context, phone rings, microwave wave beeps etc. They know that sound makes you come to it. These Greys are immensely intelligent sentient beings that undeniably prove that critters think and make knowledge based decisions, regardless of what some of the old guard of the scientific community promulgated for eons. The only difference between speech-able critters and the incapable, is they can tell you what their thinking or what they want in human language. Other critters do the same, but by body language or action. Dr. Irene Pepperburgs book "Alex and Me" describes the hurdles she and other scientists had to overcome to even be taken the slightest serious by anyone for years. I guess it's hard for scientists, that use critters for medical/drug tests and put them through unbelievable torture. To continue what they do, if they thought that critter actually knew that scientist was a monster and tormentor. Thanks for starting this thread!! :-)

Paint is not ok. If you decide to try and use this old cage, you will need to take it to a shop that can first sandblast it and remove everything including the rust down to bare metal. Then it will need to be powder coated. You may want to just search ebay for a new well built cage that is large and priced fairly even offering free shipping. In regards the "best" material a cage can be made of, it's stainless, but also very expensive.

Wow Shanlung, you never cease to amaze me. You have made tremendous progress with Riam. Thanks for the great links to the photos and videos. :-) I have always greatly valued reading and viewing all your web content. It is time well spent by anyone that truly wishes to develop a great relationship with their Parrot and the Parrot enjoy life at the same time. :-)

LOL Dave !!! Great photo !!!

Dave gave a great response as always. It sounds like you and your brother learn a few valuable lessons in regards critters of any type today: 1. They should not be in the kitchen when anything is being cooked or prepared. 2. If it's their favorite snack, they will not leave without dishing out very painful resistance. 3. Once they realize your not going to give them what they want, the will run rampant and rebel against you in any way they can and you will not receive any cooperation from them. Does this sound familiar, like when you were young and wanted something? ;-) :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/12/20 23:25

A snippet from the "Chet" crap that tells you exactly why he wrote it: "This is also a good example of a philosophy I'll be teaching at our Live Seminars and what I teach inside my new 72 Hours To A Hand Tamed Parrot programs." Just another sales pitch to get you hooked into giving him more money........ ....At the end of his article, he starts explaining why this crappy technique may not work, to try and divert any negative press he may get when the technique does not work....namely, every bird is different and this may not work AND you could end up damaging the relationship even more if the bird doesn't already like you... What kind of double talk is that????? I could rip his entire article to pieces, but I am not going to give it any further waste of my precious time, that I can go and read peoples questions here that may need a REAL answer from a caring person for FREE. Dave and Shanlung already said it well...

Welcome Angel!! Looking forard to hearing more from you. :-)

Welcome Michelle, George and Maddie!! It's nice having you here. If you don't mind my asking, how long have you had the pair? Looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing some photos when you get a chance. :-)

Welcome Brett, Rosie and Gizmo!! IT's GreYt having you here and looking forward to hearing more from you and seeing those photos. :-)

Congratulations David and Welcome Shanti!!! He sounds like a very well socialized baby grey. hat Breeder obviously did a GreYt job in doing their job so well in raising him. :-) Looking forward to hearing more and seeing those photos!!

Dayo is very social with other people IF they have food he wants. he will readily interact on all levels with my wife and I, but she is his nighttime cuddle muffin. :-) We socialized him with many different people of all ages from the time he was 10 weeks old. He is constantly surrounded during the day many times a week by friends and family that stop over and have full access to our house while we are gone. Every Grey is different. There was one at the Breeders that attacked me and gave a deep wound and he was only 12 weeks old at that time. That Grey remained a hellion that I nicknamed the "Grey from Hell". Even the Breeders had a hard time with him after his was weaned. They ended up turning him out as a "Breeder Only" bird due to his temperament. I guess the moral of the story here, is it's not the owners or anything bad they are doing that brings on this behaviour in some Greys. They are just like people, some have good attitudes and others don't from the time they are young.....

Boy, they certainly look healthy and happy in that photo. Thanks for keeping this thread updated, it's GreYt!! :-)

Great advice on padding the cage casoer!! OMG Empera!! You need to get that poor Grey to an Avian vet ASAP!!! It could indeed be Calcium deficiency due to seizures being the most obvious and worse symptom you will see barring his death. Only a vet will be able to help him at this point. Adding a mineral block and trying to get him to drink some water is not going to help him much, if at all. The Vet can give a power injection of vitamins and minerals to give him a quick boost and may give him something to stop the seizures as well. Please keep us updated on him. If you can get your BF on here, please do so if he does not believe your concern for that poor Greys health.

Shanlung - Please NEVER change. Your work, experience and detailed blogs, photos and videos are one of the greatest teaching tools on the Internet today. The greatest and most renowned teachers of all times, taught for free, yet gave the most wondrous advice, truths and wisdom than any Yale or Harvard profession ever could....... It is the hard work like of people like You and Dave put in that truly help people. The crooks with bad advice, books and Cd's just for the money are the scum of the earth. They are takers, not givers or doers....... I believe most of us here on this forum are with you on your thoughts. :-)

GreYt advice from Dave!! I'm in agreement with Casper also. He probably feels like he taught you a lesson in who the owner of that Cage is. Once he has created a masterpiece, just like he envisioned by shredding the paper and arranging it just so. You will know next time to leave his creations alone. :-) So the two of you are on par right now with that new understanding. ;-) The important thing to remember, is not to just resolve yourself to thinking he will always behave as he does right now. You just never know how he will be in 1, 3, 9 or 12 month from now with your continual encouragement, love and respect for his space. He's still sizing you and the new home up. :-)