Jane08

Great video, he looks like such a happy boy to be flying.

Good choice telling her that, the nerve of these people. Hope you have luck finding another grey.

Rangi is just over 2 and Kea is nearly 2. Yes they are bonded to each other in the fact that they do the mating dance for each other. Rangi used to do this for me, but stopped when he got Kea. At the same time they seem to be bonded to us. They both still love cuddles from us and like one on one time with us away from each other even though they are out at the same time. I also found that I have specific games that I play with each of them that the other one won't play. Rangi loves to play catch with me, Kea hates it. Kea Loves to sit on my hand and stare out the window with me and Rangi would never do that he gets too restless. It could be different as well because you have 2 girls. This is very interesting to see the dynamics.

Tyco will teach Adaya lots of things she needs to know. Rangi taught kea pretty much everything and even how to speak. Even if I am training Kea Rangi sits there and gives her encouragement "good girl, you are so good". It cracks me up when he does that. Even if I want Kea to come somewhere and Rangi is with me Rangi is the one that will call her "come Kea, come sweety" and Kea will fly over. Kea watched everything Rangi did and it didn't take her long to copy him.

I think if you introduce them correctly and socialise them like you did then I feel they have no problems getting along. When we got our second one I was very worried as Rangi could be a bit of a bully. We did exactly like you and had them in separate cages where they could see each other, we socialised them at their pace and never pushed them to like each other. Within a week they were interacting with each other. Rangi became such a happy bird to have Kea to play with and preen. He used to fly to her cage and sit on the perch that came off the cage and just watch over her. Really reminds me a bit of what Tyco is doing in the last picture watching over the Adaya.<br><br>Post edited by: Jane08, at: 2009/05/03 11:30

LOL Anne Marie. Watch this video she took of Rangi and my boyfriend doing step up training, it's about 1min in. It shows how it was done. We used sunflower seeds as the treat. Now this was the first time we had ever done this and I was so suprised as Rangi would always bite my bf if he got that close. Rangi loved the training and for the first time I saw the delight in my boyfriends face. Now we use this method of training for everything we do, positive reinforcement.

Anne Marie she is amazing and she is so calm around the birds, what a shame you missed her. I really feel strongly that all first time bird owners should go on some sort of course if they can. Rangi was only 6 months old when we took him to her and she even showed us how to teach him to step up the correct way. We made the mistake of reading books that said push you finger gently into his abdomen to get him to step up. Big mistake and I am so ashamed we did that. No wonder he hated my bf who was the main culprit of this.

Great to hear you decided on a grey. That is a good training cd you ordered, we went on a course with her just after we got our first grey as we were having issues with him, he hated my boyfriend. She really changed that for us and made us more aware of why our grey did what he did and what we could do to change it. Good luck

Tom's right it just doesn't feel right and be very careful, do all the checks you can. Even ask for her vets number so you can call the vet and ask. A few things concern me about her emails. The fact she says they are all up to date on their shots, she obviously has no clue as they would not have needed any shots, so I find this weird. Also strange she hasn't given you her number if she is so concerned about her babies going to a good home you would think that would be the first thing she did as I am sure you would call her to reassure her you are a good canidate and that she would want that. You even asked for the number and she didn't give it. She is also very quick to say yours would be the right home for them after only a couple of emails and no direct contact by phone. She hardly knows anything about you and if they are so precious to her then you would think she would want more details. Be careful Goldengirl.

Being truthful here, if I knew what I do today about greys then I would not have them. They are much more work than I ever thought. Now the rewards of having them are huge but you do have to put alot of work into it. For me I was a first time bird owner and had never been around birds before so it was a huge shock. Also think about the fact that if you want to go away you have to have someone look after it. You said you are single, think about when you get a partner and the fact your brid might not like this person (not always but this can happen). You say you have alot of free time now to devote to a bird, but do you think this will change in the future, they are a life commitment and require a a lot of interaction.

Sounds like he just wants to get out to be with you as you are his flock, which is noraml for one so young. When he sees you leave he panics because he is scared the flock is going to leave him. He is a baby and has no idea why his flock is leaving. Both of ours did this when they were young and we did what Tyco's mum said I sat with them when they were in their cage for 30min before I left. I then also told them where I had to go and why, how long I would be and that I would be back soon. I kept this very consistent every time I left them and after awhile they learnt what those words meant, so now when it is time they both repeat that it is time to go to work and they both say goodbye to me and that I am coming back soon. They both know that I will be back as this is what happens everyday and I have never failed to come back. You can also try and divert his attention, so put something really exciting in the cage or give him his favourite treat when he gets in the cage, something to keep him occupied.

It's great to hear all the stories of people who have clipped their birds. I really don't think poeple see the dangers in clipping. All they see is how it will fix the problem they have, but they don't understand the other problems it causes. They also think how hard a flighted bird must be to handle with all the dangers, flying into windows, places where they might get hurt. The thing is this is temporary with a flighted bird, they learn so quickly of how to handle themselves in trcky situations as they have incredible control over their bodies. I never worry about our 2, yes they have accidents, but they are in control of it. Many times I have watched Rangi fall from places and just before he hits the ground he spins and flies off. Kea is an amazing flier and her body control blows me away sometimes when I am sure she is going to crash but she manoeuvre herself out of dangerous situations.

Well said Dave and I totally agree. Your comments on Europe are very true and I love the way people where I live treat their animals. We have no rescue centres of the likes I have seen in the US and other countries. I am also against wing clipping, they are born with wings for one reason and that is to fly not for them to be clipped. I don't care what issues people have with their birds and decide to get them clipped there are always other options like training which takes months and months of consistency. This is where I think people go for the easy option, clip the bird problem solved. The other option to train the bird is just too damned hard and time consuming so the easy option is always taken. This sadens me, as an owner you have an obligation to give your bird the best you can and that includes spending 100's of hours to train and teach your bird. If you are not prepared to do this don't get the bird. With our first bird Rangi I got advice to clip him because he had problems getting on with my boyfriend. There was no way in hell that I was going to clip him, so instead my boyfriend spent months and many hours trying different things to gain Rangi's trust. It was hard work, but we owed that to Rangi he didn't ask to come and live with us and he didn't ask to have his right to fly taken away from him and who were we to do that to him. Of course the 100's of hours of training paid off and they are now friends. Training before clipping is my motto.

Oh that was what he wanted to get attention and that is why he said what he did. He sometimes lands on the kitchen sink and then says it and then waits for me to come. If I take too long he finds the nearest thing to him and throws it on the ground. lol Azzie, Kea does that to us as well. It's this little noise of dissaproval when she drops something or like you say you take too long to give them something. It can also happen when I don't notice that she is waving her foot at me for me to come over and pick her up (even though she can fly).

Well this morning I put both of ours in the cage as I was off to work. I got to the front door and was just about to close it and did one last yell to them "goodbye" and then I heard back from Rangi "what are you doing you naughty boy". I then thought that is weird he only ever says that when he is up to no good. So I decide to go and look and there he is out of the cage and sitting on the curtain rail. I was so shocked and he looked so pleased with himself. My boyfriend had accidently not put the clasp on one of the little doors up the top of the cage and Rangi had squeezed through it. I was so relieved that I went and checked, he would have destroyed the place otherwise.

Judy you are right, I will update you on our little vampire. We took Kea to the vet for her annual check up and she had no deficiencies everything was fine with her. The vet actually said she was in fine shape and had a great body on her. Probably all the blood she had been drinking, hehe. That was last July so we only had her 3 months when this behaviour started. When I look back now I see that this was probably some sort of baby behaviour to gain attention. With a consistent effort from my boyfriend it didn't take long for her to stop this behaviour. She did replace it though with screaming which took us another 3 months to extinguish. Kea is now just over 1 and and a half and she is a well adjusted young lady with no other issues at the moment.

Oh ConnieLu don't feel guilty, it's not like this is for the rest of her life. You can have her flying again, it will just take some time. Just give her all the love like you have been doing and also try not to feel guilty, sad, or sorry for her. She will pick up on these emotions and will also not feel good.

We did the first option you described, put the pellets in with the seeds and then reduced the seeds. Otherwise what I found if the pellets were in another bowl they started to ignore them completely.

I use honey in the smoothie's that I feed them, mix it up with frozen fruit and some yoghurt. They love it.

Good to hear he was ok, it can be very scary in an Earthquake

He will be fine if he is in his cage, although he will probably be a bit spooked and would have had a bit of a fright. If it's a low magnitude quake then he would have felt shaking and there is probably structural damage to houses, but no houses would have fallen down. One thing that could be a worry is if the gas lines have been affected and are leaking, so make sure your hubby checks for this to make sure he can't smell gas. I really hope everything is ok.

Oh god, beautiful and he even has a teddy as a friend.

I am training ours at the moment for the harness and it is a slow process, but I am trying to do it in a way that they won't be stressed. I use sunflower seeds and at first I just touched them with the harness and gave them a seed. Once they were comfortable with that I got them to put their heads in the hole and gave a seed for this. We practice this a lot and now I have it over the head and resting on the back. This has taken me months though I must admit. I have to train them both at the same time which I think has slowed it down. Now we are doing wing lifts to progress to the part of getting the wings in the harness. I am really jealous of you all who have no problem getting the harness on and must admit I get frustrated sometimes and just want to whip it on them without the training. I know I could do it, but I want them to have a positive experience so I have been taking it slow, but sometimes the urge is there to force them a bit. I haven't given into this urge as I look at their faces and know they trust me and forcing them would break that trust, which I couldn't forgive myself for even though I know they would see the good side once I got them outside.

lol, I had to laugh as well. I can imagine Ernie's face when you tap the cage and say "go to cage". For one what is the benefit to him for going in the cage and two you are speaking a language that he doesn't understand. You have to find something that he can't resist to get him in. The way I get our 2 in is with treats. I use something that they can't resist. This morning I got an apple and took the core out, poked sunflower seeds in it all the way around and hung it in the cage. Took them both 1 min to see this and they were frothing at the mouth to get in the cage, couldn't have been easier. Last week I stuffed a bell pepper with food and again they were fighting each other to get in the cage. other times I use a tiny bit of sausage or whatever treat of the week is for them and show it to them and they are on me like flies. I then walk them to the cage and put them in. I even wrapped some dried fruit in paper towel and showed it to them and they came flying and got in the cage no problem. After doing this for so long both of them go in to the cage easily now as they know they get treats for going in and the fun that is waiting for them in the cage is far superior to what is happening outside the cage.

Great picture, looks like they have a good enclosure.