danmcq

At his age, he is telling you NO he does not want to come out or step up. The only way to communicate that to you is with a good bite, unfortunately. As they mature, most will start letting you know their likes and dislikes by biting. You took the right action, by saying a firm No Bite and giving him a time out in his cage.

What a wonderful story of a dog / bird relationship that helps each other and you. Thanks for posting this rare story of a symbiotic relation. You are blessed to have such helpful critters. :-)

Welcome RedKim!! It's nice having you here. Looking forward to hearing more from you and especially if you decide to rescue or go with a baby Grey. :-)

Welcome Pam!! It's GreYt having you here and looking forward to hearing more. :-)

Kaedyn wrote: That will be a great article many will benefit from, with your vast experience in doing this with your fids. Karma to you. :-)

Kaedyn and Judy have given great advice. I agree that exposing them to as much as possible while they are young is the best practice and never heard you should not take them out from their home the first year. One thing you can be certain of, your Grey would rather be with you and the flock, rather than left behind. :-)

LOL Steve - Thanks for the morning laugh, I would love to see that mirror conversation on video. :-) My Grey does not seem to like his anti-dayo in the mirror. ;-) He jsut snubs him and acts like he's not the last bit interested. He does however know what mirrors are and where they are all located. Greys are smart and pick up on that pretty quick once you have introduced them to all of the mirrors. They learn the same with windows as well. Dayo will fly over, stop and hover looking out our patio door to us when we go outside.

Yes, Potatoes cooked are fine and most Greys love them. :-)

Marie, it's wonderful to hear of Georges progress and the joy he is now bringing to your home. Congratulations on making such great progress with him!! :-)

Just a few more days and your Grey will be home. Those are all GreYt photos, thanks for sharing them. :-)

It's good to hear of the progress George has made in settling into his new home and flock. It sounds like he is a little more comfortable and letting his hair down in front of you to see. The humidifier should help, along with regular mistings of Aloe Juice. Thanks for the update. :-)

Thats a long fall. However, if she tried to flap on the way down, the floor was carpeted and she landed on her feet/belly, it sounds like she is ok from your description of her present state with no bleeding, normal poop and eating. Just keep a careful eye on her, as I'm sure you will and didn't need to be told that. :-)

Welcome Isobel!! Thanks for taking in a Grey in need of a caring and loving home that has the time to spend with him. At 20 years old, he is going to be a little set in his ways, but time, love and patience can overcome all. Looking forward to hearing more of you and how your new Grey is progressing. :-)

Hello Dizzybird. What a wonderful thing you have done in rescuing that poor Grey. You have already started well on your way to providing him a good home by taking stock of his physical attributes and ordering what whats like a great starting point. It sounds like the first order of things to do, as others have mentioned is to find a good Avian vet that is not afraid of handling a bird that will not readily accept it. Have that new grey checked out and the foot problem addressed along with a nail trim if needed. The foot pad sores sound like a common problem with Parrots that in which there are usually a number of contributing factors, such as: • Inappropriate perches – perches that are of uniform size and made of improper materials (e.g. hard plastic or covered with sandpaper) are detrimental to birds’ feet. Get natural perches like manzanita that vary in diameter are of course not straight as an arrow • Poor hygiene – if perches are infrequently cleaned, bacteria can accumulate and spread to a foot that has already been damaged and lost its protective scales • Poor nutrition – fatty diets, a dietary deficiency of vitamin A, and diets that are high in cholesterol and low in calcium (e.g. day old chicks) are all associated with pad problems • Obesity and inactivity • Compromised immune function – birds that have concurrent illnesses will be more susceptible to disease In regards him showing high interest in your food, leverage that to your advantage. Offer him some by hand and try to get him to take it. This will slowly make you his friend and lessen his fear of your hands. Perhaps try this from outside the cage first through the bars, unless you have already become confident he is not cage possessive and will allow you to place your hands in the cage without him attacking you. One thing to note also on getting him to the vet, you will probably need to towel him and you will need a small carrier of some sort. Looking forward to hearing more and how things are progressing with your new Grey. :-)

Hello Stephanie, Well, we do accommodate our Grey a tiny bit in the since that we tell him it's time to go to bed. This calls for some head scratches, soft talking and the like by the both of us for maybe 20 seconds. Shut the TV off, turn most the lights off, have him step up and he goes to bed whether he is ready or not. I would estimate he would rather never go to bed and stay where he is perched nodding off on my wifes lap. :-) I do understand you are not in that position yet as far as the step up goes and you certainly do not want to put him through the drama of a toweling. This is probably the best thing you can do for him at this point in his becoming familiar with his new home and flock. You can however be stern it a sense by not relenting in stating it is bed time and offering the treat he loves AFTER he gets in the cage. :-) It sounds like you have the patience of Job and are doing a good job in getting him to go in his cage.

You tube is not researching the characteristics, food requirements, cage requirements, out time requirements or nay of the very important information one must know to properly care for a Grey. I would suggest you do a lot research in terms of reading what all these requirements and characteristics are, before you make statements or decisions that to most of us sound very uneducated and immature in regards owning any type of Parrot. Owning, caring for and training a grey is not a bicycle ride through the park.......

Val wrote: This is sad news. Since your vet seems to not have truly determined what the underlying cause is, maybe it would be good to take 3 1/2 hour drive and have an expert avian vet see if saving your baby Grey is possible and actually determine the cause of this illness?

I agree with what all the others have said. YOu seem to be a good family to rescue a Grey in need of a good and loving home. Looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

What a great thread to have started Caroline!! Everyone that has posted or commented on their new babies has done a nice job. I loved them all so far. :-) Of course, I have never met a Grey I didn't love. ;-)

WOW!! Very good photos. I love in flight photos, they are so hard to get. Thanks for sharing these. :-)

Your Grey will probably talk in time, as others have indicated. We conducted a poll here around a year ago to see what age most our members Greys started mumbling/talking, it came out to be around 1 year old. One thing to keep in mind, is when interacting with and talking to your Grey, say things consistantly related to what you are doing, what you are showing him, feeding him etc. They will then correctly use those words at the right time and associated with what they want i.e apple, grape, carrot, Lets make coffee, peekaboo, wanna go outside etc. :-)

Welcome Stevelaura1!! The others have given you very good feedback on cost per month. As you can see it can vary depending on what you buy for your Grey. Looking forward to hearing more from you as you research the possibility of getting a Grey. :-)

Welcome Marius!! It's GreYt to have you here and looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

Welcome Imraan and Buddy!! It's nice having you here and looking forward to hearing more from you. :-)

That does look like a fun toy with plenty of shredding to be done. Thanks for sharing this. :-)