Jane08

I always put something in with them that they like so much that they forget that I am even leaving. Usually they are so interested in that they forget about me. I also make sure I have positive feelings when I put them in as they can feel it if you are stressed or guilty and it makes it even worse for them. I always talk to them before I put them in and tell them that I have to go to work, you have to go in the cage and that I will be home soon and we will have some fun. At this point I get excited so they know everything is ok and reasuure them I will be home soon and of course I tell them how good they are. They now understand what this all means. The thrill I get of pulling into the driveway after work and these 2 little heads looking out the window at me and then the big stretches and yelling for me really makes my day and this is what I focus on.<br><br>Post edited by: Jane08, at: 2010/02/27 07:28

Ours say "food food food" repeatedly, "it would be good with a little lunch" or "what's for dinner" which leads them into a discussion about what they both want until they are screaming at the top of their lungs what they would like for dinner. It then includes the words oh yummy with a lot of lip smacking.

Elevenking the last laugh might be on you soon, when your little one starts the mating dance for you and isn't your little one a male as well. :laugh:

Yes this is part of the showing affection and mating dance with the dropped wings and noise. She is not too young to be starting with this. I see this with both of ours everyday, they do it to each other. Rangi used to do it to me before we got Kea, but now he does a watered down version for me.

Jill I know what you mean about not admiting they are yours. Once we were out with some other birds and Rangi kept trying to knock this amazon off his perch and everyone was looking. I was so embarrassed that I made my BF go and get him. The next day we saw a photo that someone took of Rangi harrassing this amazon. Shameful. So I could tell who Rangi was just look for the bully. I could tell who Kea was just look for the bird clinging to the highest place available.

Unfortunately our greys didn't choose us, we had to wait in a queue to get ours. It took nearly a year and then as soon as we got Rangi we realised he needed a friend and ordered Kea. I feel like we did a bit of online shopping. I wish they had the chance to choose us. We did go and visit them a few months before we brought them home, but that was about it. Then again it was a bit exciting when the breeder called to say our baby had been born, we were very excited.<br><br>Post edited by: Jane08, at: 2010/02/24 15:38

We are also very careful and have taught them to come to us and they can fly downwards no problem, they have mastered the hovering technique to bring themselves down. Saying all this though I know outside it would be totally different and if spooked they would just fly off without even thinking.I also know accidents can happen no matter what. We had a scare last summer with the window and the balcony door open. My BF didn't check all the food doors on the cage and Rangi climbed out of one and flew to me in the kitchen. I did panic and rushed to close the window which scared him and he started to fly towards the balcony which was open. Lucky my BF was there and called Rangi and he went straight to him instead of out the door.

Oh you are so lucky that is great news, it's so hard to find someone that they like. We had a potential bird sitter come over last week and Kea took one look at her and turned her beak up in disapproval. Rangi went for a closer look and got on her arm, but I could see he wasn't really in to her.

I also love the soft feathers. There are these feathers just at the back of legs where they meet the body and I love touching them they are so cute as they are soft and a bit longer than the other feathers. I also can't resist running my fingers through the chest feathers. Many times I sit there watching them and I am just amazed at the feathers, they are incredible.

Don't think that he is not normal, this is very normal grey behaviour. You have to realise that he has been taken from what he knows and suddenly he is in your home not knowing what is going on, who you are, where he is and not knowing what you expect from him. He doesn't speak your language and has his own language that you are going to have to learn so you know what he is telling you. Now try and put yourself in his shoes and see how scared you would feel as well. I will tell you that with our second grey it took me a year to become her friend. They are not all the same he might just need more time. Give him more time, just talk to him like a friend, sit with him and just let him do what he wants, learn his body language so you know what he is telling you. A lot of greys don't want to go back in the cage when they are young and it's your job to teach him. Use things that he really loves to lure him back in, start to do some step up training with him. First start with a stick if he won't go on your and then when he is comfortable with that then start to teach with the hand. Make this fun for him giving him treats to encourage him. Most importantly take baby steps. You will have to have patience and take his cue and go at his pace. If he is not comfortable with something then don't force him, find other ways that might be fun for him. One example was with our first grey we had to get creative to get him back in the cage. We had a perch on the inside door of the cage and we would lure him there with food and then swing the door closed. He learnt this so we had to tie a string to the door and sit on the couch and wait until he went to the perch and pulled the string for the door to close. Rangi was about the age of your grey and at this stage we were working on step up and staying on the hand and going back in the cage. So think outside the box, become creative. Practice when you are home with getting him in and letting him out again.

Kea did that once with her nail. Just make sure you keep an eye on it, that no infection starts.If bleeding occurs again which can happen then just like Jayd said the stypic powder and if you don't have that use flour. We also kept Kea cage bound for a couple of days to let it heal.

What I do in this situation as soon as I see Rangi lowering his head to grab the finger I bring my other hand up so as to almost block his beak from reaching the finger and immediately ask him to step up on to the other hand.

This is my favourite one at the moment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cCXPjS14i8

Glad you made a decision and are not going to clip. Believe me the joy you will get and he will get out of the flying far outweighs everything else. It is truely magical. In no time he will be zooming around cutting corners, swooping, doing incredible air manouvers and you will wonder why you even worried about him hurting himself, he is much safer being able to control his body and fly.

There is also a yahoo group called bird click that is really good and has lots of information on how to start clicker training. I followed everythig that was there and had great success. I also wondered about training 2 birds with the clicker at the same time and gave it a go. It actually worked really well, because both knew that when I was in front of them that it was for that particular bird. I know this because if I asked Kea to do somehting and clicking her Rangi would be at the other end of the perch saying "good girl kea, you are so good". So he was reinforcing her for me as well. I also found a bit of competition between them which urged the other one on. For example if I asked Rangi to do something Kea would be so keen to do it as well as she saw what treat he got. So they motivated each other. The treat is the most important thing, you really need to find something that motivates your bird. If he is not interested then you have just not found the right treat yet.

Jill how do you manage with £5 a week for food, I would love to know. Our 2 eat us out of house and home with all the exotic fruit that they have taken a liking to. Our fault I guess for introducing it to them, they get passionfruit, sharon, papaya, pomegranite, sweet potato etc. Even with the toys we get they destroy them in a day and then sit there waiting for us to put another toy in. Kea lately is like a wood chipper machine the rate she is going through the wood toys. Ok Dave spill how much does your little critter cost to keep.<br><br>Post edited by: Jane08, at: 2010/01/29 08:52

Well they do say they are the most expensive pets to own after a horses. So here goes, I have converted it into US $....this is for 2 greys. $100 a month on food $400 a year on vet bills (health check up not including any emergencies). Had 2 of those last year so that was about another $130 $80 on average a month for toys $200 on damage to walls and other things that had to be fixed. $100 on Insurance So that would equal a grand total for the year of nearly $3000. That is definitely on the high side I think and one reason might be because things are more expensive here.<br><br>Post edited by: Jane08, at: 2010/01/28 16:11

I had never thought of this before until someone else asked me why we feed our greys Dove mix (it's a mixture of seeds). We soak the seed in water for 24 hours and then give it to them. Does anyone else do this or maybe it is just a Swedish thing? Many Swedish poeple who have parrots feed their birds this. The theory behind it is that the soaking in water causes a chemical reaction that increases the digestibilty of the seeds. It also brings out the nutritional stuff like protien much better than dried seeds.

Oh my this does sound familiar and they know exactly how to get you into a position where they can give a good bite. For the time out it needs to be immediate otherwise they will not associate it with the bite. A short time out is enough. Also if you have to chase him to get him into the cage then he will think this is a game and will love it so will continue with the biting to get the attention. I do what luvparrots does, when Rangi bites I say no bite, give him the evil eye and put him down as fast as I can and then I turn my back on him and walk away and ignore him. It has got to the point now that when I say no bite Rangi says "ok" and then he goes "what do you say, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry". At this point I am trying not to laugh as I walk away from him. He now knows that biting means being ignored and play time stops, which is not what he wants so he is careful about the biting. They go through phases like this so don't worry Harvey will get through it and I hope your fingers do as well.

Our Rangi is like that with my boyfriend. As soon as my boyfriend is in the room he stops talking. Rangi also never speaks when he is sitting on my boyfriend. Now the weird part is that Rangi learns all his words from my boyfriend. We have also found the we don't play the same games with our birds as each other. So Rangi loves me to chase him and tiggle him, but Rangi won't play that with my boyfriend and has found his own games to play with Rangi which I don't play with him. Kea is exactly like that as well we both play different games with her. So maybe you just need to find a game that you and Abby can play together, that your wife doesn't play with Abby.

Rangi and Kea would riot if I stopped with the plam nuts, they might even leave home. I have been giving them palm nuts since they were small and they love them and get alot of benefits from them. Of course you couldn't let them munch out on them all day and need to restrict how many they have, just like anything that contains fatty acids. If it was the case that they need to fly 500miles a week after having plam nuts then I am sure we would have a load of overweight greys on this forum. Haven't heard of one overweight grey after eating palm nuts for an extended period of time. I don't use Aloe Vera, but this is a natural product that doesn't contain any chemicals or additives and has huge benefits. I really can't see a problem with this either.

Here is the body language thread have a read and I am sure most of it is there. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/training/109373-body-language-most-frequently-seen.html

We have tested this one. Went to a bird meet in this huge greenhouse and let all the birds go, all types. There were maybe 30 greys there and we had no problem spotting our 2.

Yep same thing in our house, Rangi actually looks put out when I am on the phone like how dare you and he races over. The camera is another one for Rangi, as soon as it is brought out he goes into attack mode. Kea isn't as bad as Rangi she is more watching what is going on.

It's different when you live in a cold climate all houses have amazing insulation and triple glazing on the windows. We also have efficient heating systems so the house is a cozy 21 degrees C in winter. So really the birds have little concept of the cold except when I take them in the car and they have to survive the short walk to the car.<br><br>Post edited by: Jane08, at: 2010/01/05 22:02