Hannah_Rae

My Daddy just wrote me about a friend who has a 2 year old Male Sun Conure who needs a new home. This family just had a second child and the bird has not adjusted well to the change in routine. The mom feels that it would be best for the bird to be in a family that has the time to spend with him. She describes him as very affectionate and tame. The family is in Northern MN, so if there are any bird lovers out there interested, please let me know. She requested someone who has experience with birds, so I knew this was the right place to ask. Blessings! Hannah

Talon, this one is just like the new cage I ordered for Juj. I was wondering about cage arrangement, and this really helps. YAY! Blessings! Hannah

Absolutely! We've gotten both our cages on Ebay and have been very pleased with them. And we paid HUNDREDS less than we would have paid at the pet store. Plus, many of the bigger warehouses offer free shipping. Very nice. Unfortunately some of the best deals were pick-up only. Bummer! Blessings! Hannah

Luvparrots, Yes, I am very thankful I can trust Juji near my face. She has never bitten maliciously, only in rough play. I am so thankful for how well her breeders socialized her, because she has been that trusting since day 1...almost two years ago.

As requested, a cute video of Juji hanging out with me. This happened totally spontaneously while I was checking e-mail etc... so I fired up the webcam and here are the results. Enjoy!!! Blessings! Hannah

I would love to post pics, but we have a new Mac and I am having a little trouble figuring out the picture posting part. I have some funny video too.

1. Juji means "heap of love" in Swahili. 2. We don't know Juji's gender for sure, but I refer to her as "she". 3. Juj will be 2 years old on November 11th. 4. Juji loves low voices and imitates my husband and his best friend perfectly. I have yet to hear her say anything in my voice. 5. Juji's favorite noise is our rat terrier's bark...followed quickly by "Shut up, Nippy!" 6. Juji picks up new noises very quickly. Spore noises have become a regular part of her routine. 7. I will never let Juj hang out on our front porch again! Last time she learned our neighbor's chiuaua's bark and the backing up signal of a truck. 8. Juji's favorite foods are sun flower seeds and cheerios, followed closely by chicken, grapes, and whole grain bread. 9. We are pretty sure Juji is part bat as she spends much of her waking time upside down. 10. Juji is a cuddle bug and will sit and cuddle under my chin for hours at a time if allowed...and if she is in the mood, of coarse. Blessings! Hannah

A computer key (or two or three) can be stolen and snapped faster than you can say "JUJI, NO!!!!" and No potato soup (or any other food that looks interesting) is safe when there is a fully flighted grey in the house. Hey all! Glad to be back! Blessings! Hannah

Hello, Grey Friends! I'm so sorry that I've been gone so long. My husband and I have had a whirlwind of a year that has included bringing two boys, ages 10 and 16, into our home. We are in the process of adopting them, and it has been quite the journey. You can read all about our story on my blog, www.stubbornfishtales.com Anywho, Juji is one of the joys of my life. She will be 2 years old this November and is so full of personality and life. She is learning new words and phrases every day, and makes us laugh with her crazy antics. The one thing that I am struggling with is how to help Juji be more friendly with the other members of the family. She is the most affectionate bird ever with me. She almost never bites (except for fiestiness) and will cuddly with me for hours when allowed, but she will bite everyone else. I will post more about this in the behavior section. Anywho, I'm back! And can't wait to get to know all of you again, or for the first time! Blessings! Hannah

Hey all, Wow! It's been forever since I last posted. My laptop, my connection to the world outside the UP, has seen better days. Juji decided to permanently remove my 'x', 'z' and 'tab' keys...but that's not why I haven't posted. The power cord broke internally so...it's dead until further notice. Thankfully my hubby is a computer guru and set me up with one of our spare desktops...but I don't get on it very often. Okay, enough whining! Juj is doing great! She is learning more and more all the time. She's got the Andy Griffith song down and is working on the Life Goes On theme song. She says Uh oh and "What?" pretty clearly and is clearly working on others...she whispers all the time. She is also barking now...like our rat terrier... and can laugh like my husband so well that I asked him what was so funny when he was actually in the shower. She loves to hang upside down and shows off her acrobatics daily. She is getting used to her feather tether, but is still biting it quite a bit if we are not moving. We are going on a road trip to my dad's in northern MN on Thursday and my dad is totally psyched to meet the Juj. He breeds cockatiels and is trying to get me to take one of his babies home with me...my husband told him that Juj is enough bird for a long time. Maybe we will bring one home for my sister. Hope all is well with all of you. Hannah

All of my critters have unique names that were picked for different reasons. Our dogs and cats all have either Greek or Hebrew names with different meanings...significant to the circumstances at the time they were born. For Juji, my bird, I wanted a unique name, easy to say, that was gender neutral and had a significant meaning. Juji means "heap of love" in Swahili. She is definitely my heap of love.

I have a large mirror in our formal entry way, and Juji hasn't flown into it yet. I think it's the position of it. It's kind of in a corner and there is a door way just to the right of it, so maybe she just knows to go through the doorway instead. So far, Juji isn't that interested in mirrors, but I haven't put any in her cage yet.

It smells like...plants... kind of like if you were smash up a flower leaf It's very mild. There are like 3 different types of "green works". A bathroom/kitchen cleaner, an "all surface" cleaner, and a toiler cleaner. The only one I have personally used so far is the all surface, but as soon as I need more of the others I will probably switch.

It shouldn't take much to cover an outdoor cage. You could even just use a staple gun if the cage/aviary frame is wooden. When we lived in FL we had an aviary on our porch and had the porch screened in, so that was very effective.

I use it, it's made by Clorox...it's main ingredient, at least in the multi surface cleaner, is coconut oil...or at least it's derived from that. It's not fumeless, and it's still a cleaner, so I would keep it away from close contact with your birdy, but it's definitely better than other household cleaners.

Even if you can't find a cage with the fine mesh, you can always go to Home Depot or something and get mosquito mesh to cover the cage with.

Thanks, Tracy I absolutely loved my tiels when they were babies, and I love the cute ugliness of baby birds. Thanks for sharing you baby boys' journey. YAY!

I wouldn't give them up yet. Greys are often very leery of new things. It took Juji more than a month to try out certain toys. I would suggest putting them in a neutral area, like the kitchen table, and let her be around them and get used to them. Who knows?

I have 3 dogs, and thankfully they are all great with Juji, but I think that's just an individual personality thing. Juj has landed on ALL of their heads, and they haven't even flinched. I am a big dog breed enthusiast, and I would recommend that you do your research and make sure that the breed fits your personality, energy level etc... Hope all goes well. Hannah

I am sooo glad that this room exists. YAY!!! My Nearly 6 month old is definitely still a baby.

I love my swiffer sweep vac for things like that. You don't even need to use the mop pad most of the time cuz the vacuum part gets all of the big stuff and the cloth gets all of the dusty stuff...I sound like a commercial Anywho, so far Juj isn't to bad on the throwing stuff.

We are working on adopting an 11 year old girl, she will be our foster child first and has spent a lot of time at our house... The problem is Juji won't leave her alone. If Juj is out she will fly to Anna's head and if Anna tries to have her step up, she will bite her. If I take her off of Anna's head she immediately flies back on. These two are going to be with each other for a good portion of both of their lives, and I really want them to get along. Help?

Juji was like that at the beginning, but now she is discovering how to play by herself, and rather enjoys it. She will be on her tree for 1/2 hour or more without even trying to fly to me. I know it's hard to ignore those pleas for play, but sometimes you just have to tell your child no.

In my opinion, there is always the risk of chemicals, but I don't think the dollar store is any less safe than other stores. I really like baby toys, because they are meant to be put in mouths.

Hi Smokey I'm glad you found us. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to, and to share the good times too. Everyone here is very helpful and we have some true experts. Congrats on your grey. Mine is only 5 1/2 months old, but I have been around birds my whole life. Each of the different rooms cover different topic areas. Read as much as you can, because often people have a lot of the same questions. Please introduce yourself in the welcome room too. That's always a good place to start. Hope to hear more from you soon. Hannah