Ronda477

Thanks guys/gals! I'm sorry I didn't even know there were responses for I haven't gotten any e-mails. I couldn't believe how much my feelings more or less were hurt cause she did bite me. Didn't think it would affect me like it did. But must be the Italian raising that I won't take any crap lol. Thing is I was raised by an Italian mother but being adopted don't have any in me lol. I'm Irish and German. But I won't give up! I'm prepared to take another bite if I have to. I just want her to do what I want her to do, and just to sit with one of us. Will just try try try again till it finally dawns on her that I'm not giving up. And no treats don't work! I haven't found anything yet and I have tried tons! She just loves to pick all of it apart but nothing that she really likes to eat. But thank you all! I will keep going at it, and checking back!

Thanks guys/gals! I'm sorry I didn't even know there were responses for I haven't gotten any e-mails. I couldn't believe how much my feelings more or less were hurt cause she did bite me. Didn't think it would affect me like it did. But must be the Italian raising that I won't take any crap lol. Thing is I was raised by an Italian mother but being adopted don't have any in me lol. I'm Irish and German. But I won't give up! I'm prepared to take another bite if I have to. I just want her to do what I want her to do, and just to sit with one of us. Will just try try try again till it finally dawns on her that I'm not giving up. And no treats don't work! I haven't found anything yet and I have tried tons! She just loves to pick all of it apart but nothing that she really likes to eat. But thank you all! I will keep going at it, and checking back!

Ok went to the cage to get her and like every single time she flies off before I can get there. I can walk up and talk to her and she will just kind of sit there sometimes and others she will go to her highest perch. I tell her to step up and she flies. The only time she doesn't fly is when I tell her at night it is time to go night night. But I have been trying to take her off her cage more often and pet her back and have her with me. Today was a big set back. I got bit pretty hard on my finger cause she was on my hand and I was petting her, well I had her toes with my thumb so she couldn't fly off. I don't pinch them just firmly have them so if she tries to fly off she has a bit of a problem doing so. Well I was losing her and pulled her close to me to try to calm her and had her whole body in one hand and she reached around and bit my index finger right on the nail. I saw stars and I know I said ouch and probably shouldn't have but, was just an instant reaction. It actually hurts soo bad I am sick to my stomach lol. So now can be part of the bite club lol. But how do I get her to stop flying off the cage before I ask her to step up or even after I have asked for that matter? Like I said the only time she doesn't fly is when I tell her night night and put her in her cage. It's not like she is new to this, I have been doing this every day since Oct. Anyone have any suggestions? And should I leave her alone for the rest of today or should I keep getting her off even though I am in severe pain!! lol I don't want her to think she has the upper hand. Even when she bit me I held onto her for couple of minutes before placing her back on her cage top. Thanks guys!

Yes Bruce we have a TAG and she is almost 9 months old, and we have a Quaker parrot that is 12 years old. I have heard that 2 of them is better, but for one don't think we could afford that right now, and two if I were to get two parrots I would let hubby get his too, and I would want a congo. But our TAG SweetHeart is going to everyone here and there, we are having a bunch of little set backs. But we are def considering a too. We do have two children ages 12 & 9, that love birds as well, but can't hold either of the ones we have yet. My TAG is still getting used to everyone. And our Quaker was abused and we are lucky for her to even take to my husband, and he is the only one who can fool with her. So we kind of want a family bird, where it's cuddly and will go to a bit of everyone. I can't seem to find a bird other than the too, to do this. And we were wondering about getting the 2 too's, not that we would, but wouldn't they bond to each other and than not want anything to do with the owner?

Thank you Bruce, Mazy & Spookyhurst. Bruce I am glad you wrote, we have the same situation here with hubby wanting his cuddle bird. I don't know if this will be the bird or not yet for we are doing allot of deciding and weighing our options. Spooky we have seen that site where the too's are loud. And yes they can be very loud! Thank you for that link though. There are two too's we could foster right now, but actually the woman hasn't gotten back to me yet on them. We feel that we can offer the time and affection to one, just not 100% sure yet on if that is the breed we want to go with. It is def at the top of the list. I did look into the Electus like Tracy had told me to do, and they seem like neet little birds as well. AS for neighbors, we don't have any lol. We live at the top of our own little mountain! The closest neighbor around is a mile in all directions. So noise would only bother us lol. But thank you all for helping, please keep the advice coming, I just don't want to run out like I did with SweetHeart and not even see her and just have her shipped to us, and she was older than most babies were too, so I don't get the chance to baby her. But we are working things out lol. But thanks again guys and keep them coming if you would, I love hearing the good and bad.

Those area all great steps Muse! I know how it feels to finally get to hold her for the first time. It's a wonderful feeling. Keep up the good work and keep us informed. Don't get discouraged as I have a few times from hearing of all the good stories because of how everyone is with their new baby grey. Mine was a bit older than what everyone else seems to be bringing home and her flight to us didn't help any at all. So we have a bunch of work to do as well. But good luck to you and keep us updated!

Has anyone heard of these DVD's? He is suppose to be part of the BBB and everything he talks about I want to accomplish with my TAG. Just wanted to know if anyone has heard anything good or bad. He offers a 6 month money back guarantee as well. If you have the time will you watch the video and let me know what you think. Thank you!! http://www.birdtricks.com/training-course/index6.htm

Our Quaker does the same exact thing! I know exactly what you are talking about! And it is very normal, the vet said she has just found her mate lol.

Thank you too all of you! The reason we are looking at this pet store is because like I said we do not have any breeders in our area at all! We have had our eye on this pet shop for the past five years now, and it still has the same two people working with the birds! The one woman that is there, when we went in to handle the 4 month old cockatoo she was right there with us and told us watch this, he loves this and watch what he does when you do this, so I really think she knows what she is doing with them. She's not afraid of them and babies them a bunch from what we can tell. The guy that is there just works the other hours that she does not, and he is nice and doesn't let the birds have the upper hand I just think he isn't as personal with people as she is, not to mention the fact that we are just people that go in there and want to hold their birds and haven't bought any lol. But they seem very nice, clean cages all the time, clean water and food like you all mentioned and they have the same two working with the birds. Just being I do not want to get from a breeder again unless I can go there and see my bird, we had a very very bad experience with our TAG and not that it was all her fault but stuff happens and unfortunately it's the bird and the new owner that have to pay for it. And I didn't get to "pick her out" and the breeder when she sent pictures looked like she was sooo sweet with my bird, and I'm sure she was, but I believe now that my TAG basically bonded to just her, and wasn't handled too much by anyone else, her main association was with all the other birds she had and than of course the breeder herself. Which I now do not think was such a good idea. I did than cause she had the freedom, and I believe now that is what we are dealing with is having to retrain her to everyone in the house and that she can't go anywhere she likes in the house even though she is clipped lol. So I do understand there are bad bird shops, was just wondering what the big no no's were cause like I said I don't think breeders are all they are cracked up to be either. Unless like most of you can go and actually look at your bird, but like I said we just don't have that option here. But thank you for all re-assuring what I basically new I just wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing, cause like I said since we moved here we have been going to this place and adoring all the birds they have. They never seem to stay real long and I know they get some of their birds from a breeder up north in Ohio where we used to be from, but as far as the trip again I do not want to go through that again, if it is already at the store and I can see if we bond to it, and the bird us than that is better to me to know than taking a trip once to a breeder and than going home with it, at lease I can visit this pet shop a few times before we make our decision. Thanks to all again!!!

Oh no sorry shamelessmuse, SweetHeart isn't my rescue, my quaker Molly is the one we rescued. Molly is 12 years and we have had her for 9. SweetHeart is our TAG we just purchased in Oct. and she is now 9 months old on Feb. 5th. Sorry for any confusion!

lol no problem watchout! And it's about time she felt safer acappella she has only been here almost 4 months!

We have our 9 year old Quaker Molly and I have attempted to cut her wings once going by what the pet shop woman told me and it was very wrong. She told me to cut everything off that was colorful on her flight wings. Well we did and hit into a blood feather. I need to know what to look for, I think I can tell the difference now and tell what shaft has blood in it. But how many feathers in do I trim? I have a diagram that shows the first 8-10 is this right? here is the diagram. http://birdmart.com/reference/wings.html Thank you!!!

Thought I would give a very good update! We have been working with SweetHeart allot the last two days and took everyone's advice on what I should do to gain her trust and to hopefully get closer to her. She is now letting us pet her back!!!! She didn't like it much and growled a bunch and even reached back to bite but surprisingly we barely felt it so far! I know they can bite hard but we have been lucky soo far. But the good news she is letting us pet her for the first time and on top of it all she said two phrases today!!! She said "What you doin?" And "Be good" These last two days have been such an improvement for us and I have everyone here to thank!!! Just wanted to share with all of you! We are finally breaking through!

My question is hubby wants to get a bird. We want to know besides the price differences between the pet shops and a breeder what is the bad thing of getting a young bird from a pet shop? They seem to be well socialized and see people a bunch so I thought this would help them. We don't have breeders around here for anything, I have checked all kinds! He is interested in a cockatoo, which we have researched and understand they need a ton of attention. But can anyone tell me any other good birds as well that are good family birds? And mainly what is soo bad about the pet shop birds from like Pet Supply Plus? Thanks!!!!

Oh poor thing! Good for you though on giving her a home! Will she come out of the cage herself at all? If she will and she won't step up than after she is out towel her. You can work in baby steps after the vet check, you will have plenty of time but you have to get her there somehow. I do suggest though trying not to be afraid of her, I know this is tough with that big beak lol but just go at her like you are going to knock her off her perch if she doesn't step up on your hand. I don't mean at all to swipe hard enough to actually do this, but just go at her like you mean business. But if she won't let you do this, the only other way I would know is to towel her. We had to do this with our quaker parrot when we first got her cause she was very abused and wouldn't let anyone touch her, and the same thing was with her, we could touch her over at their house but once we got her home we couldn't. She took many blood strikes at us and finally my husband can do anything to her. But the vet recommended being I still could not hold her to towel her once in awhile and hold her to show her that I wouldn't do anything to her. She will occasionally come to me, but they are definitely known to be a one person bird, and she has picked hubby. That is why I got my TAG. And she growls at me all the time when I ask her to step up, but I don't back off even the slightest bit cause you have to show them the pecking order. I know it is very intimidating and maybe someone else can help and give some more ideas, but that's all I know to do for what we have been told in the past. Good Luck!!

When my grey was shipped to me she was in a basic little doggie pet taxi. The breeder put some extra wires around the holes cause she didn't want anyone sticking their fingers in there and she cut a doll rod to fit in there so she would have something to perch on. But there is the question of it being too cold. I know they won't ship if it's too cold. And no 1 hours isn't bad at all, what my bird went through was very bad, ended up being a 13 hour flight! Long story and she's still getting over it! But you will be with her and it's not a long flight! So good luck and hope you have fun!

lol Bailey I agree and you nailed every emotion I had before I got my TAG. I was scared and didn't know if I would be a good mom or not, and I already have two children of my own lol. I know I had sleepless nights too. The breeder every week would send me photos of my baby cause we are in WV and she was in TX. I would set those photos for the background of my computer lol. Hope the time goes by quickly for you!

I 100% understand where you are coming from! I asked the breeder this question as well cause I could have gotten a male at the time I got SweetHeart. She said she has heard that as well but has never thought that to be true. If the bird is socialized much like Dan's seem to be, than you will be able to handle her as well but she may pick a favorite down the road. So far we are having all kinds of little set backs with SweetHeart but she lets me pick her up the most and get away with the most from her. She likes our kids as well, but seems to not like my husband Jessie to well. She will even growl at the site of him occasionally. So when she flies off of her cage I will sometimes have him get her instead of me, just to show her that he is a good guy and won't hurt her. But I share the same feeling with you, Jessie already has a parrot I can't touch, I don't want my bird to go to him as well! lol I think it is selfish but I am with you on it took me awhile as well to save up for her and I wanted her really bad. I take care of her all the time and I am the one home with her and the one that talks to her all the time. So I guess only time will tell, but the breeder said just to make sure that she is well socialized and we wouldn't have any problems with her.

Good question Mark! I went through allot of names for mine lol. The breeder said her name was Heart, and I asked her why this was, and she said cause this one actually took a piece of her heart, she thought she was soo sweet! I laugh at that now lol, anyone that knows my story can surely find a giggle there lol. But I wanted to call her Sugar but than when we got her and I saw her and how much she had been through to get to us with her flight and all she took a piece of my heart as well! So I couldn't help but call her SweetHeart. Hopefully one day she will live up to that name lol!

Welcome Steph. I don't think there is much of a way to tell if your grey is a male or female, I think there is something to the fact if they have a broader head they are a male, but not sure on that one, and not to mention you don't have another head to compare it too lol. But my SweetHeart is almost 8 months old and she is really starting with the whistles and mumbling and here and there we actually here a word that she won't repeat lol. So that is good yours is starting early, like Hannah said just keep talking to your grey she will pick up in no time.

Will she not step up for you? Is she a baby or how old is your grey? You should be able to just stick your hand in and get her, mine growls every time I do this but she has to know that you are boss.

Not a huge deal but my name has no "H" lol But here is another update!!! It only happened once today but she flew off of her cage and I got her and like I had said when she steps up I kind of hold her toes so she can't fly off of my hand, but I was holding her like that and placed her close to my chest again and held her back with my other hand, she attempted to reach around and get me but quickly I said in a firm voice "Be a good girl" and she stopped and than just tried to grab my shirt with her beak, but just to try to climb up my shirt not to bite. So little bits of progress is good! Thanks!!!!!! I'm sooo excited! Hopefully in a few months I will be saying she is at least sitting with me and not flying off!

:silly:

Ok here's an update! I wore my red shirt which she hates! And my hair down another thing she absolutely growls at me for lol and I went to get her and she was too quick she flew right off, but when I got her off the floor cause she flew into the kitchen I put her up to my chest which I have never done before and with my other hand I put it on her back and pet her a bit, but most of all to just kind of hold her close. Hubby said I was very brave lol. But she didn't bite, she offered but I said no no be a good girl! And she let me carry her through the living room that way and than I put her in her cage cause we are leaving to go to a friends house and I put her favorite sprouts in there for her, when I put her down on her swing she growled a little but that's a step in the right direction right????? I was happy and my heart was racing lol, go figure! I can do horses but get shaky with a big beak lol. Ok gotta run just thought I would update everyone!

And you guys don't think it is too late to switch things around and stuff?