Kya

It sounds like you've brought her so far. You've done wonderful by her. It is so amazing to watch that fear subside, and becomes almost a challenge for us humans.

birdhouse, he gets chop and birdie bread all of the time, but he still manages to sift through it and pick out what he deems "the good stuff". He's been a real challenge, diet wise. But, I'm undoing 10 years of eating whatever he wants, so in reality, he's come a long way. He seems to prefer warm foods, so I try to comply.

Kya can manage to string together some pretty good sentences, too. And, if you give it some thought, they always make sense, even though it may not sound that way to some. We don't work from home, but I do spend all day on the phone at work - I am a phone triage nurse for a busy doctors office. Unless it's my adult kids, I rarely answer the phone at home. I'm basically just done talking by then. But, when the phone rings, Kya will say "Hello? Uh huh. Okay. No. Bye Bye!" I know he wonders why I rarely answer it. "Talk to the meatloaf" is priceless. I should sit down sometime and try to see how many words Kya has in his vocabulary. I bet it's close to 400. We've only had him a year and he spits out something new every day.

The first 10 years of his life, Kya was only offered peanuts, and I am pretty sure he ate a ton of them. (He also had a penchant for pop tarts, but that's another thread altogether.) He will not shell a nut. He will take it from me, but he will throw it straight to the bottom of his cage. At first I thought he was a lazy eater, then I realized that his diet had been so bad that he never learned to eat them. He gets pine nuts, almonds and cashews as treats, and he will eat them, but would rather have a banana chip. He will eat pistachios if I shell them first. It really surprises me that he isn't more excited over them. But, he was raised on junk food, so getting him to eat healthier has been our biggest challenge. He demands fruit, mostly, but I think it's because he has a sweet tooth. Needless to say, his fruit intake is monitored and we have many arguments over what is on the menu for the day, after having him for a year.

Our grey is more comfortable with background noise. It's just me and my husband, and before he came to live with us, he lived with an older couple as well. My husband always has the tv on, even when he isn't watching it. I always have music on. The louder the household is, the more interactive Kya is. When we are at work, we leave the tv on for him, allowing him to pick the channel, which more times than not has a lot of Sponge Bob Squarepants on it, and now he mimics a lot of words in Sponge Bob's voice. His cage is also directly in front of a window, and he loves looking outside and talking to the other birds and cats in the neighborhood. Of course, Kya is 10 years old, so more set in his ways. He didn't get a lot of exposure to different things / people in his previous home, my husband and I are trying to rectify that. When my adult children first came around after we got him, he would clam up and act nervous. Now, he greets them excitedly when they come through the door, and talks and interacts with them. He had a complete meltdown the first time my 5 year old grandson spent the night, and it really worried me. He adjusts to new things slowly, and if they are not a constant (I would be in a mental institution if I had my grandson 24/7) it takes him longer to adjust. Now, he loves it when Cooper spends the night, and talks to him in a child like voice, which he never uses when he isn't here. Since we didn't have him as a baby, I am wondering if the jumpiness is just natural, as he grows and learns about everything?

Oh, Inara, Walk Like an Egyptian is perfect for grey dancing! Never thought of that one! Kya's favorite song is Long Haired Country Boy by Charlie Daniels Band. He absolutely goes nuts when we play that for him, but has not figured out how to ask for it yet. Another funny thing he does is try to talk himself out of things. I was sick a couple of weeks ago, lying on the couch about 3 weeks from his cage. Kya is definitely a daddy's boy, and only likes me when daddy isn't home. I guess I had been lying around too much for him - I had the flu, and he wasn't too happy with me. I was trying to go to sleep and for a good 30 minutes, he said "Don't bite the momma. No bite the momma. Be a good boy" over and over and over again. Needless to say, I gave up on my nap and got up to go into the kitchen and in the sweetest voice possible, he said "I love you, give me a kiss". I got suckered right in, walked over to his cage and as soon as I put my lips next to the bars for a kiss he made the lunge. Little turkey psyched me right out with all his professions of being a good boy... Kya also does a perfect rendition of the dogs squeaky toys, much to the dogs dismay. If he can't see them, he will do his squeaky toy noises and make them come running. Then he starts talking to them. For months, he thought every dog was a "Farrah" - that was the name of his former owners dog. He's finally learned our dogs names, and uses them a lot. The dogs come running every time. He calls my daughter "Alex". Her name is Tia. No one knows where that came from, but as soon as she walks in the door he does his wolf whistle and yells "Hello, Alex!" SterlingSL, we always crank it up on cleaning day, too. My husband says that from outside, it sounds like a very wild party in the jungle. Kya loves to dance and whistle along. And "viewer discretion" is hysterical!

I think it gives a false sense of security. My first bird (a budgie) was clipped and I walked outside with him on my shoulder and a gust of wind took him away. My birds are flighted, my grey has never had his wings clipped. I have clipped when taming a particulary wild child or one with behavioral problems out of the norm. I do not know of any type clip that allows them to fly up. I always did a partial clip on mine (front 5-7 feathers depending on the bird) and this would allow them to glide and land, but they could not gain any height.

So cute, neoow! Kya does the "Quack, quack, quack", but he's mimicking a ringtone that I had on my phone. He also carries on in my 5 year old grandson's voice, which is hysterical, but we can only understand half of what he says - "cookie", "I'm hungry" and the occasional bad word that he came to us preloaded with. It's very odd to hear that in a child's voice!

"Bye bye, poo poo heads. Give me a kiss." "Come here, Pedro. Give me a kiss." (Pedro is our grouchy rescue terrier who hates Kya and would gladly eat him if he could.) Farts, farts and more farts. "Stop it right now!" (When the dogs bark or the other birds think it's acceptable to chatter.) "All the little birdies just chirp, chirp, chirp." (They apparently aren't supposed to, this is said with great disdain for the "little" birdies.) "WHAT???" (To everything you say to him - he reminds me of my son when he was little stalling for an answer.)

Well thought through! So refreshing... I see two potential problem areas, but they may not be problems at all. You said you live in an apartment. Will your neighbors be okay with the noise? Kya's speaking voice is never overly loud, and wouldn't bother anyone. He never screeches or squawks just for the fun of it, but he does have a vast repertoire of what we like to call "sound effects" and can get pretty loud with those. (Cell phone ringtones, microwave beepers, sirens, etc.) We have a gravel driveway, and literally lower the windows on the car so we can hear him - he knows we're home the second our tires touch the gravel, and his "Woo hoos!" and "Come here" and "Be right back" can get a little loud when he's excited. This is the only time he doesn't use his "inside voice", and once we walk through the door, he lowers the tone. We are gone from home from 7 am until 5:30 pm Monday through Friday. We leave cartoons on for him to watch during the day, and his large cage is in front of a window so he can talk to the cats and birds outside. He's very content. We have 2 inside dogs. Our Chihuahua is terrified of him, but I doubt she would ever hurt him. Our terrier would kill him in a heart beat if given the chance. I have padlocks on Kya's cage doors, and the dogs are ALWAYS crated and behind a closed door when he is out. On one occasion, my husband forgot to put the padlock on, and we were watching tv and he opened the cage door and landed on the floor, with both dogs in the room. He charged right at them, and bit the Chihuahua on the butt. If we hadn't been right there, I don't even want to think about what would have happened with the terrier. I often wonder if it would have been different had they been raised together, but I can't go back and change that, so we have to keep them separate. It sounds like you are perfect for a grey, if the neighbors and the dog agree! And I do not blame you for wanting one - they are absolutely amazing.

Well, Kya came to us with perfected farts and belches. He has decided my 5 year old grandson is great fun now because he will carry on the farting and belching contests with him for hours. I recently had the flu, a terrible case of it that lasted almost 2 weeks. Kya picked up my cough, and my overly dramatic sneezing that I did not realize was overly dramatic until he mocked me. The video is precious. Her voice (I am assuming it is YOUR voice) is so sweet. Kya sounds like he has multiple personalities, between the couple who previously owned him, my Canadian husband, and my southern drawl.

My first thought was the new boyfriend / male attachment, as well. Don't want to get personal, but if he is staying overnight, and this is only happening at bed time, that could be your trigger. You're all he's had for awhile, then this new guy comes in and starts feeding him nuts, so he's looking pretty promising, but at this point, he's also taking up your time. Somedays, I almost think we should all have our psychology degree before we can have a parrot in our home, especially the smarter ones like the greys. I do not, so I seem to stumble around in the dark more often than not! And I can totally relate to your fear from the bites. They hurt, they are unpredictable, and it's very difficult NOT to show hesitancy or fear. I haven't been bitten by our grey, but I was brutally attacked by our cockatoo many, many times, to the point where he now lives in a sanctuary. Our grey does not like me, he's clearly my husband's boy, but I spend a lot of time talking to him (in his cage) and I am his servant for his many treat demands. When he is out, I just remove myself to another room with a good book. He has never bit me, but if I try to stay in the room when he is out, he will walk up and peck me on the arm, repeatedly and with more force, until I move as far away from my husband as he can get me. My husband and I both love him dearly, and I don't mind some time to myself, so we just do what Kya wants. Probably not the best of plans, but the easiest way to make things work for us. I would try the clicker training, and using a perch to get him back in the cage. Maybe cut back on his out of cage time a bit, change up his routine. He doesn't have to be out all day. Make his bed time earlier. Best of luck to you. I hope you can work this out.

Your posts almost always make me laugh. I don't post a lot, but always go straight to see what Miss Gilbert is up to when I get a chance to! I, too, am very set in my ways and had my husband home recovering from a surgery for several months, so I can certainly relate. But in your description, I suddenly realized that we are so much like our greys! Change is not our friend, and screaming "No! Nooo! Noooooo!" is not an inappropriate reaction at all. She's saying what you are too polite to say!

Welcome to the forum! I would try to find a young one, rather than an older one set in his / her ways. Our 10 year old was raised around grandchildren, we rescued him a few months ago, only to find that he goes absolutely nuts (in a bad way) when my 5 year old grandson is here. The lady who had him had warned me that he didn't like children, and I thought well, that's not a problem, I won't let him out when Cooper (my grandson) is here. Kya's cage is in our main living area, and it worries me that he really works himself into an angry frenzy when Cooper is here. I am afraid he will give himself a heart attack, and usually wind up covering the cage or moving him to another room, which he equally hates. I keep my grandson a lot, so it's not something I've figured out how to resolve just yet and keep everyone happy. My grandson is great with animals, all my other birds love him, but Kya does not like the increased noise level (unless it's him) and the fast movement. I guess that's what happens when they are raised with older people, and I truly don't believe his previous owner allowed her grandchildren to torment him - she loved him too much. I applaud you for asking questions first! And my experience is my experience, nothing more than a thought to share, since I notice your children are young, as well. Another thought is, with children that age, taking on a large parrot is a big commitment. They require a lot of time and attention. I find it difficult at times just to juggle Kya with my other birds, no kids involved, but my husband and I do work and are away from home about 9 1/2 hours a day. But, as a single bird, that is a huge difference, and I can say from experience that greys are nowhere near as demanding as cockatoos! They are very dusty, so if any of your children have allergies, that is something to take into consideration. (That is why we now have Kya - his previous owner developed severe asthma and COPD and could not keep him.) You can keep the dust to a dull roar with regular baths or misting - that is what we have to do with Kya, he hates the shower. And running a humidifier helps. They are amazing birds. Kya has a huge vocabulary and is madly in love with my husband. They have a bond that no one can touch, which is funny because he despised the man in the household he came from. I am his servant, meaning I chop apples and arrive with grapes in hand on demand, or whatever else it is he is demanding (except pop tarts - he came as a junk food junkie). He is a one person bird, and I am okay with that. I enjoy him and love him to death. Just be aware that it can happen. We've recently moved his cage right beside where I normally sit, so he has no choice but to interact with me. Unfortunately, this also placed Kya where he can see the tv, and apparently he loves all the horror movies that have been on recently, and has the ability to ignore me and tune me out completely if he's intent on watching something. But, he is having full conversations with me now, and doesn't fluff up and drop his wings when I come near, so I think we're making progress. Hope this helps as far as things to consider. I don't know about Canada, but I know that you see a lot of adult greys up for sale in this area of the woods. I would love to find a baby to raise up for a friend for Kya, although he probably could care less, as he sees my husband as his flock. Good luck in your decision!

Thank you for your service, and welcome to you both. Wish I could find a baby grey near by. I am just so hesitant to have one shipped, and leary of all the scams out there. We have a 10 year old rescue who could use a friend - our conures certainly aren't impressed with him. I have a friend who breeds them, but her female has some pretty serious birth defects and health issues, so I refuse to contribute to that, since I don't believe she should be breeding them, anyway. (Nothing against special needs birds, I have one, just don't want to knowingly take on one of these beautiful birds that may or may not live a full life, my heart couldn't take it.)

We don't cover cages at night. We are older, and go to bed at a decent time for them, and they usually stay quiet until about 8 am, unless we get up before they do. Lights out seems to be enough for them. I think it is a sense of security for those who are used to being covered, but very surprised that a bird that was covered for punishment would embrace and even ask for it now! (I have a rescue that was covered every time she made a sound, but hasn't been covered since she came to live with us, so I know just how you must have felt covering her that first time!)

Conures are little spit fires, that is for sure. My grey has never been allowed to interact with our conures, either. It's not him I am worried about! We have a Sun that is quite the little instigator and not very tolerant of any bird other than the two she shares a cage with. I have no doubt that she would attack Kya, and I don't think it would end well.

Our 10 year old CAG tries to do the beak in mouth thing with my husband, the love of his life. With young ones, breeders say it is a feeding response. With older ones, it's hormonal. Either way, best to discourage it as you are. Love the name Poppy!

Our 10 year old CAG tries to do the beak in mouth thing with my husband, the love of his life. With young ones, breeders say it is a feeding response. With older ones, it's hormonal. Either way, best to discourage it as you are. Love the name Poppy!

Welcome! My husband and I have a 10 year old grey and we both work full time and do just fine with ours, so I am sure you will have more than enough time to devote to yours. We work out of town, so we are gone an average of 9 1/2 hours a day. When we come home, we have other animals we have to deal with, it's kinda like a zoo around here, and we usually put everyone else to bed around 8:30 pm and let Kya out until around 10 - 10:30 pm. This works just great for us. He has a huge cage with lots of toys, including a cow bell - every grey must have a bell! He is constant entertainment, has a huge vocabulary, including sound effects that will make you answer your phone frequently when no one is calling. I have had to change mine to music, because he can mimic any regular ringtone I use. He quacks like a duck, makes chicken noises (not a rooster, thank goodness) and makes fun of my smaller birds that cannot talk as well or as distinctly. He never screeches or squawks, he uses his words. I don't think you will regret it. Have you decided on an adult or baby? Are you able to get them easily?

Dwight will come around. He's just getting used to his new home and the changes. Are you able to get him out and interact with him daily? We just rescued a 10 year old a few months ago. He was talking in the car on the way home, but he was so excited to be out of the tiny dark room that they had him in, I'm sure it was only due to finally having human interaction. He hasn't shut his mouth since. 17 years is a very long time to have a parrot, and the change, even though he knows you, has to be a bit confusing to him. I have found that bribery goes a long way with ours, who is more bonded to my husband than me. I am his slave. He calls me "Applesauce" because I was trying to transition him to pellets and mixed applesauce in with them, and got very excited and animated when I talked to him about it, telling him that I had applesauce for him, so he now thinks that is my name. He barks orders at me from his cage - "Applesauce, Kya wants grapes" or apples, or whatever the demand of the moment is. They are so so smart, and I am really surprised that because of his intelligence, it didn't take him longer to adapt, but he had been neglected and off by himself for a long time due to illness of his owner. Dwight probably always had attention and interaction, so he's more concerned about the change than anything else. Good luck to you, and to Dwight! I know my adult son would take Kya in a heart beat, if I would part with him.

This has taken me awhile to get through, but one of the most interesting threads I've ever read on any forum! Lots of laughing involved! Kya already had quite the vocabulary when we got him - he's a 10 year old we rescued. I've had talking parrots - everything from a parakeet to an umbrella cockatoo, and never seen one that I would consider literally participating in conversation until Kya. He likes to go to bed at 10:00 pm, so around 9:45, he starts telling us "goodnight", "I love you", "Give me a kiss (kissing sounds". We argue over food a lot, he was raised on junk food and the first morning we had him, he demanded a pop tart after saying "good morning". We still occasionally argue about pop tarts, but he now says "pop tart...nooooooo" and answers himself on that one. He randomly yells "apple, now" or "grape, now", and will accept nothing else when I come to him. Needless to say, apples and grapes are at the top of the grocery list. He's stopped asking for peanuts, which was pretty much 80% of his diet before coming to live with us. He does get 1 a day, it's his treat for returning to the cage. He says "Thank you peanut". For weeks when I was trying to introduce him to pellets, I would put applesauce on them, as he wasn't showing any interest otherwise. I would tell him that it was applesauce every time I gave it to him. To this day, if I try to slip them to him dry, he will look me right in the eye and say "applesauce". If my conures get too loud (i.e. screeching), Kya yells at them "Stop it. Stop it right now." If the dogs bark too much, he says the same thing. This was another learned behavior when we got him, but he knows when to use it. He also makes fun of the conures for their lack of conversation, and will say "All the birdies do is chirp, chirp, chirp" - always when they are chirping and carrying on. When we are preparing to leave for work, he can tell when we are about to go. He will start saying "Goodbye. Bye Bye. I'll be back. See you later. I love you. Be careful" - over and over until he almost makes me feel rushed to get out the door! He has one curse word, and always uses it appropriately. If he drops something or we drop something, he says "Awwwwwwww, s&%t". Apparently, he got in trouble for this in his former home, because this is always followed by "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus - Kya is a goooooooood boy!" When my 5 year old grandson is here, Kya entertains him with his rendition of manly sounding bodily functions - very realistic. My grandson dies laughing, Kya laughs, and then repeats it, each time getting just a bit more nasty sounding. He will then say "Kya is gross". (He does not like children at all, but knows my grandson, who is all about bodily functions, will play this game for hours.) I could go on all night, but everyone would grow tired from reading! He's starting to use our voices, replacing the voices of his former owners. He still occasionally speaks in their voices, but mostly it is ours now. We don't know if some of the things he is saying are new, or he's just using more of his vocabulary now that he is more comfortable in his new home.

Keep in mind that I am fairly new to greys, but I am voting hybrid between the two, as well. She is very beautiful. Is she fitting in well with your family?

I have 4 conures, and have found they really only like climbing toys, like boings and elaborate swing type things that hang down. I did find this really cute toy made of pinecones hanging from ribbons, and they played with it until they destroyed it. I always move their toys around, just to mix things up a bit, but their climbing toys stay put. Also, be careful with the fluffy stuff. They can chew the fibers and many people have lost birds or had them go through major surgeries to remove fibers from the crop, because they can't digest them. I have a Sun who loves her fluffy hut, but I have to take it out and inspect it every day. I bought sea grass mats and rolled them up, hung toys and leather strips all over them, and kept them rolled with the large birdy bagels, hoping they would sleep in those. Instead, they have made it their mission to destroy them. But at least I know it's safe. I love my conures, but bless their little hearts, they can be a bit on the crazy side, and it seems the hormones hit them pretty hard. Right now, my Sun won't allow me to touch my yellow side or black capped. They can climb all over me, but I am not allowed to touch them with my hands. I spend half my day trying to figure out what the new bird rules are!

Thanks for the link, birdhouse! Once I get all the birds fed their fresh chop for the day, and one of my little dogs shaved and bathed and doused with coconut oil (allergies), I will try to read through it. It has been a crazy week around here. Kya has decided my name is "Applesauce" - this came from me putting applesauce on his pellets and making a huge ordeal out of it in an effort to get him to eat them. Not happening...I have decided that I am not going to fight him, just hope and pray that someone comes up with a pellet he will eat at some point in time. But...There is nothing that will put a smile on your face quicker than waking up to "Good morning, Applesauce!" And I am NOT a morning person. I've changed his seed mix over to Vitakraft which has a lot of grain in it. (Can't remember which formula it was as I have it dumped in a large air tight container and didn't keep the bag.) He's okay with it, and I've also got him eating a few dehydrated fruits and veggies, fresh, too. He is a junk food junky thanks to his former owner, so it's a constant battle to keep him eating healthy. He does love apples, just wish he showed more enthusiasm for fresh veggies. I got some aloe vera juice and have been spraying him down with it every day, and it seems to have helped with the scratching. I honestly don't believe he was plucking, I really think his skin was so dry that he was scratching himself too hard. His vocabulary is absolutely amazing, new words coming out every day. He's very interactive with both my husband and myself. He still prefers perching on the back of the recliner and chatting back and forth, but if I leave the room he will fly to my shoulder just to see what I am doing. I have not introduced him formally to the other birds out of cage, and not sure that I will. They are so much smaller than he is. Mia is in her own cage now because she and Kya started fighting. So, it's a juggling act to make sure everyone gets the attention they need, but we're making it work. He will step up for me onto my arm, but he just looks at my husband like he is insane when he tries. This morning, all of the smaller birds started out being very vocal, very early. We were lying in bed and could hear Kya saying "Stop it! Stop it RIGHT NOW!" and then he would mock them with "all the birdies go chirp chirp chirp". He's so smart. I saw a video this week of a lady working with her grey with flash cards (shapes, colors and animals) and it was absolutely amazing, so I think I am going to pick some up. Kya is going to need more mental stimulation than the conures and ringnecks do, and we've had him 3 weeks now, so I think we've allowed enough time for him to settle in and it's time to get to work.