Laurie

I do leave Klaus for VERY short periods to dash from room to room. His cage is very centrally located, so I can work in almost any room and still keep one eye on him at least. But I wouldn't leave him out of the cage for any extended period ...right now I need to pop outside and water my flowers, but I'm waiting for someone to get home and sit with Klaus for me so I can do that. Also, Klaus is about 1-1/2 years old and has been living here over a year. So I can put him in his cage when I'm home if I need to. He forgives me! LOL

Ah, that all makes sense now! I must admit I've been a little lazy with Klaus. I give him parrot food from the pet store plus a bit of whatever fruits & veggies we have that day. I don't pay much attention to what he's eating out of his bowl - I just dump the left over "old" food out of his dish every day and give him a fresh bowl. Also oatmeal for a treat now & then and baby food. He seems to be doing well with very little fuss on my part...I'm lucky!

Nice picture! Looks like your baby is well taken care of... One of Klaus' favorites is oatmeal, believe it or not! Warm & mushy. He can't resist!

That's great news! If you want a fellow shoulder to lean on, or maybe a laugh anyway, check out the Parrot "Bite Me" club... Many of us veterans have shared our war stories there!

I skipped the gym today (it's Friday! c'mon!) but later I plan to go "extreme biking." My son loves to bike, too and we ride our butts off. Just gotta wait for it to cool off a little out there - my goodness it was around 90 degrees today! :ohmy:

I am probably the laziest one on this forum and I will put a nice, big, irresistable walnut in the cage when I'm desperate to get Klaus to go in. Does the cage have a leg your bird could climb up? (You could lead him up with the treat.) I'm sorry you're having trouble. Try looking at the bird sideways, lowering your head, and narrowing your eyes a little. This will make you appear friendly to the bird.

Hey, Keri - Come on over to "Off topic discussions" ... that's where I always am! LOL What can I say, I have trouble staying on topic...

That looks nice! Give Chloe time ... I'm sure eventually she'll feel the need to attack the hangy-thingy! LOL

What a sweet bird!

Aw, I wouldn't kick you, Judy! I was reading in my Curves magazine though, that if you are working out and eating properly and STILL not losing weight, then you need to challenge yourself more. Hence, the jump rope for me. I'm not sure if it's possible for you to intensify your workout any, or shake up your routine somehow to present more of a challenge to your muscles. That might help!

A toy is a toy and it must die! ROFLMAO Thanks for the giggle so early this morning. I know, Klaus practices his "grey kung-fu" on his toys, too! LOL

I still seem to be a bit stuck. I know that stopping smoking is a huge trigger for weight gain, but I swear I can't put my finger on what it is that I'm eating that's so bad! Yes, I eat. I have to. But I'm not eating donuts & Big Macs, I swear! LOL I'm still doing the gym 3-4x per week and on non-gym days I walk, run, or bike ride. Yesterday I purchased a jump rope to add something different to the mix. My calves are NOT happy about that...LOL Anyway, tomorrow is mid-month weigh in at the gym - I will know if anything has budged then!

With the home improvements, there comes the occasional need to run the power drill. Klaus is now drilling away. LOL He cracks me up. And makes the noise perfectly - I swear I catch myself going down the hall to see who's working on what... So when I hear him doing that I just laugh and say, "Git 'er done, Klaus!"

Welcome back!

Happy B-day, Biggles! I gave Klaus oatmeal with baby food sweet potatoes mixed in. I hand fed it to him while he stood on my shoulder (trust me this is a birthday-only thing ... I had it in my hair, all over my face & clothes, and quite a bit sploshed all over the kitchen LOL). I didn't buy him any presents, because he gets presents virtually every time I go to the pet supply to get food (about once a month).

It took Klaus a good couple of months before he would willingly go on his stand. My personal theory is that the more you want them to do something, the more they resist! I learned to use reverse psych very early on in my relationship w/Klaus. When introducing a new toy for example, I'd casually toss it into the cage and walk away with an air of, "Play with it or not. I couldn't care less." With his stand, it was in the room with him, so he saw it every day. It was next to his cage, so when he was out climbing around on the outside of his cage, he would naturally venture over there. I may have dropped a goodie such as a peanut or walnut into one of the treat cups to entice him further to go on it and stay on it. Eventually it got to be one of his favorite things; to go over there and empty the cups full of toys. Then watch Mom put them all back so we can play again! LOL I'm sure the stand will work for you eventually - it just takes lots of time. I don't know of a grey who ever took to anything immediately.

I'm just curious as to why you wouldn't want the pellets. My browsings through posts on grey diet lead me to believe most grey owners really want their birds to eat the pellets. I understand they are awesome for the bird, if you can get them to eat them.

Well, yes! I think Hawaii is in order myself! LOL Thanks soooo much guys. I apologize if I'm boring anyone else out there but on the other hand, if I can inspire anyone to quit, it's worth boring a few others... For those of you who obviously aren't bored, and are so supportive that you bring tears to my eyes, THANK YOU! xo Laurie

I just show Klaus what's on my plate; make sure he sees that what is going into his bowl is the same stuff that I have. He does snag things from me, though - I'd say it's impossible to maintain complete control! LOL As long as it's in moderation (and certainly not chocolate or avacado) all should be fine.

I had a great weekend and saw some really nice fireworks. I wanted to say thanks to all - especially members that are not from the US. I know my country is not the most popular in the world and that makes me sad. But I'm glad folks like you all understand, the American people are ok (for the most part) - it's our leadership that isn't the greatest sometimes...

Just a quick update, all! Over the holiday weekend I passed the 100 day mark. That makes me an "Elder" on my quit smoking website. So that's 2000 cigarettes not smoked and $500 saved. I tell ya, we are doing some remodeling on the house and I could REALLY go for a smoke - my nerves are shot! But I won't do it, I promise!

I didn't see any beetles or anything like that. Though, one night I was sitting up in bed reading and I SWORE I saw something moving across the sheet next to me. I leaped up, tore all the covers off the bed - but couldn't find anything. So I slept in my exercise pants that night, with no covers. Yikes!

Klaus has a stand that's just about the same. It's next to his cage, and I have a perch coming off the outside of his cage which kind of "hovers" over the stand. I fill those little cups with toys (and sometimes hide a treat in the mix). He LOVES to come and get all the toys out. Once they've all been dropped down to the table-top, I put them in the cups again so he can start all over. Also, I tie shoe laces and leather cords so they dangle off the perch part and he likes chewing those.

Very cute, Dan! Klaus and Dayo are very similar!

Good one!