Nychsa

Hi, I think what Judy says is correct - some are cuddley others aren't. My grey, Bella, is extremely cuddley, to the point of being demanding about it. But from what I'm hearing that is not often the case. I can appreciate the "thief" aspect. Bella steals pens. She stole one from a friend who was working at my house and flew up on to her perch with it. He thought he could bargin with her, so he got a cashew and held it up to her thinking she would drop the pen in exchange for the cashew. Wrong! Bella took old of the pen with her foot and held it back nearly behind her back and then reached out with her beak to take the cashew! We laughed so hard! My friend was dumb founded! On another occasion, she and I were enjoying a bit of NY strip steak. She had her little bowl next to my plate. The phone rang, so I got up to get it. When I returned, she had skewered my steak and was trying to lift off with it! Needless to say the dogs were rooting her on as they saw that lift off going no where other than the steak landing on the ground and that meant it was theirs! Thiefs - oh yes! and Crafty ones! Cheers! Terri

Greetings everyone, I'm wondering if Bella and I have come to a critical communications point - for the past two days when ever I have something she hasn't seen before, she flies to where I am, stays an initial cautious distance away but then asks "What's that?" I wondered if she's saying something because she's heard me say it, or is she really asking me what it is? So, I answered her. Lately I've been planting my garden vegies in doors for later transport into the garden. So, Bella has been watching me VERY carefully. Today she finally couldn't resist and she got closer and closer until she came within beak distance of taking a little nip off one of my newly sprouted plants. I told her "no", and she said "What's that?" I told her "a plant". She then says "ooooh" (very scientifically of course as if she were pondering the very molecules of that plant!). We'll see if she calls it a plant on her own if I keep repeating it every time she asks me! Has anyone had success with this yet? Cheers! Terri

LOL I think you may be right Reggieroo, We have plenty of disinfectant wipes, in fact, when ever I reach for them - poo or no poo, Bella yells "DA POO!!!! Eeeeewwwww!". She also will say "No Poo", or she'll say "Bella Poo-Girl" LOL As you can tell, I"m doing my best to come to some kind of an accord with her around this poo thing!

Greetings everyone, I believe I have a cognitive dilema on my hands. Frist - I'm wondering if Grey potty training is much like human potty training. In other words, does one have to wait until one's grey is a certain age before they can be potty trained (Bella is 2 years now - will be 3 in May). Here's what we've gone through - I figured if I "demonstrate" that poo is just not something nice, by making faces and sounds when Bella drops a bomb, and then I clean it up immediately she'd eventually understand this is not desirable. Particularly when I make a big reward deal out of poo in the right place! She gets the reward part pretty well. She'll make that poo right on que if there is a walnut waiting at the end of that conversation! But, she's not making the leap that this is the ONLY place Poo should go. When we first got started Bella likened ANYTHING that dropped to the ground as Poo. If seeds dropped she announced there was poo, if food dropped she announced it was poo. But since I didn't react to that, she pretty soon figured out we're only talking about that poo that seems to drop from those red tail feathers! So! Now we're at a place where she will make her Poo, and then go into this elaborate diatribe "Eeeeeewwwww!! DA POO!!!!!!!!!!!!" and then she shakes her head furiously and says "EEEEEW, EEEEW EEEEWWWW". So, she's getting what Poo is. She also knows what "no" means (she tells me "NO" often enough!), so she'll poo in the wrong place do her EEEEEWWWW, fly off, land on her cage and say "NO POOO!!!!". Well, that's just a little bit too late. I know she gets what Poo is, because when I clean her cage, she makes plenty of Poo commentary. She also knows if she poo's on me, she gets bounced off my shoulder, lap or leg pretty quick. She'll even follow that up with "NO POO!" (She says it before I can say it!). So, any words of wisdom anyone? I'm starting to wonder if she's just pulling my leg and is enjoying the torment she's putting me through!

Hi, I think it would depend on the bird. My Bella is my constant companion. When I work she is with me (I work most of the time at home), when I eat she's eating too, and when I watch TV she's sitting with me too, often snuggling up to me. If I were to introduce a newbie to the house, I'm quite sure she would it very troubling. But then there are other greys who may not have a problem at all. So, I think it is dependent upon the bird. If I were in your situation however, I think I would wait until the new baby has arrived and then see where my energy levels are and my time. Birds do require a good deal of maintenance, and I think I would feel a bit overwhelmed taking care of a new bird and a new baby! Cheers! Terri

Oh my Dan no! SHE is pushing the buttons on the answering machine! Look at what she is doing with her left foot - she pushes the buttons on the machine then stands there and listens to the different responses. We didn't know she was doing that until friends started asking me what happened to my regular Verizon voicemail. I found the machine voice mail was "mysteriously" turned on. I thought at first I may have done it accidentally, but one day I caught her turning the voicemail on and off on the machine. In the mean time she's figured out she can make it ring, talk, and of course do the handset locator. She'll stand there for some time pushing the different buttons. I think I'm going to get her one of those baby phones again - she broke her last one. She has a thing about "pushing buttons" LOL!

it's good to hear from you Dan! Speaking of videos - here's one of Bella and her latest fascination. She's quite a talker, but in this one she didn't talk, she just "listened". She is also using "tools" now. Today I saw her holding a nut with her claw and using it to scratch under her beak! A Valentine video

Hi there everyone! Thank you so much for the warm welcome "home". Judy - all is successful - I'm back workign out with a trainer, and doing 2 miles under 20 minutes, doing weights etc.. So, I'm pumped! I think these bionic parts (back and hip that is) are doing better than the biological ones! Bella has of course grown in the mean time - well, gotten older at least and can talk none stop about everything! So, there is certainly plenty to tell. I look forward to hearing from all of you and your babys! Best Terri

Hi there Dan! It has been a while since we last chatted, but it's great to see Dayo has certainly continued to grow into the smart little guy he promised to be! Your observance of their expectations is spot on IMHO. Bella has plenty of expectations of me, and she certainly lets me know about them LOL!. We were having dinner "together" one day where she had her little bowl of the same food I had on my plate. I noticed she was really enjoying the salad, so I took some off my plate and put it into her bowl. What a mistake! She jerked her head up and went on this tyraid of "NO!, NO! NO NO!!!" then she banged her beak several times on the table, then stormed over to my plate, grabbed every piece of salad I had and tossed it over the side then she glared at me one more time and went "NO!". I had a friend over who has 9 parrots and both she and I were just dumb founded! We watched all of this not knowing what on earth to make of it! So, apparently her food is in some kind of order or something - either way, I'm not touching it any more while she's "sorting it out" LOL! Cheers! Terri

Hi there everyone! It's nice to find the Grey community still thriving after being away for a while. Between travel and several surgeries posting on line has been a challenge. But.. all is well, Bella (who likes to call herself Isabell now LOL!) is more in charge of the house than before. even though she's been with me now for two years, she never ceases to amaze me. Look forward to visiting with everyone! Terri

Oh that was too cute! Bella is a Bat, but Emma is a Balerina! Did you notice she's almost twirlling in tune! What a cutie she is too. How old is she? She has a very, very sweet little delicate face. I just bought one of those rope hanging perches. Bella and Jiggy don't like it yet, but I think once I'm done making a play space with it I might get their attention. What do you have it hanging from? Is it fastened to the ceiliing? Thanks for Sharing!! Terri

danmcq wrote: My pleasure Dan! She's in her cage right now hanging upside down from her toys :blink: I got these toys at this store I found in a town over from mine. It's called DJ Feathers Aviary http://www.djfeathers.com/shop/ I could get rid of some money in there! They had all kinds of puzzles, puzzles you can make too, and toy kits and a great variety of foods. Their aviary is very nice. They had something like 5 baby greys - I think they were only 13 weeks old - so sweet, all perched on this huge branch, cooing and gurgling. They also had some lovely Mccaws - baby Mccaws look so vulnerable! Those little baby personalities stuck in that huge body! I'll get a picture of her challenge toy and post it later. Cheers! Terri

Mistyparrot wrote: :laugh: Super! And thank ... yes, my little bat is batty

Dave - thanks! I'm going to try to get one of her playing with her new basketball. That is REALLY hilarious :laugh: I haven't found a good camera setting that will capture it well. Se moves so fast it all looks like a blurr. I might be able to get her trying to put those wood blocks back into their container. That is very interesting. You can really see her trying to figure this out. This morning though she's having an identity crisis. I tried to show her some blue jays outside and she started barking like the dogs when I pointed to the window :blink: (the dogs always bark at the squirrels otuside)

judygram wrote: Oy Judy - no need to be jealous! This is her evening thing lately and she does it over, and over, and over, and over again - when I want to eat, she wants to do this, when I want do something on the computer that little foot is there. I have no idea what the deal is with this hanging upside down stuff, but she likes it!

caitb2007 wrote: Thanks CaitB She is a character! Today when I was at the bird store I saw the sweetest little greys, eyes still all dark, cooing, gurgling, gentle little nips and I thought to myself, I don't think Bella was ever that innocent! :laugh: I think she always was a mischief maker!

luvparrots wrote: oh my pleasure! She' sbeen fit to be tied this week! She and Jiggy are flighted and I thought that meant she could follow me around as she needed. But she thinks I'm her "ride"! I'm standing in front of the fridge, and she flies over, lands on my shoulder and wants to have a good look. So! I get what I need, close the door. Well - Miss Bella wasn't done! She pinches my cheek and says "NO!" She does that every time I go somewhere she doesn't want me to go! :blink: :blink: :blink:

Hi Misty, Hmm, I'm not sure what the problem is. When I click on it I get the video as well as the sound. Maybe there is some security feature in your browser settings that's blocking video?

That's super Char! Congrats! Record some and share!

Greetings everyone! It seems like things around here just keep getting more busy every day For the past week or so Bella has been just as difficult as a petulant two year old child! So, today I did some major bird toy shopping, thinking the best way to handle a petulant two year old is keep them busy! It worked!! :laugh: I finally got her a basketball hoop and ball. I think she prefers soccer though, she gets such a charge out of having a ball rolled to her, she'll do anything not to let it get past her. The other toys she needed to reason them out to get the walnut inside. But she occupied herself most with this box that had different wooden pieces in side which she had to twist and shake to get the wood out. But I think she's a bit OCD :blink: When the wooden blocks fell out she furiously tried to put it back in :huh: Hmmm Well, I thought after an afternoon of playing, she wouldn't want to twist and tumble around on my hand as she does every evening lately. But I was mistaken... What do you think? What is it with dangling upside down? Do you think she was a bat in a previous life??? :laugh: http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=10318&CID=255585<br><br>Post edited by: Nychsa, at: 2009/03/22 03:15

My grey Bella tells my conure to shut up lOL! She says "Jiggy!! Shut up!!" :woohoo:

Isn't that something Pat! I wonder if she's feeling motherly? Do you let her interact with Baby yet? By the way - what a heart throb your little one is!

Oy my Mingus I feel you! Bella is VERY observant, in particular she observes my dogs quite carefully. Well Dream, my female greyhound took a nice long stretch and let out a pretty good toot. So lately, not only does Bella announce when ever she or Jiggy or the dogs does their business, she adds the sound effects too :sick: *sigh*

I'm certainly no grey expert and I can really only provide information relative to my own experiences, but I can share this with you: Bella, my CAG is going to be 2 on May 14 this year. Recently she's really started to get very head strong about things. She considers the center island in the kitchen "hers" (that's where I make her food) and when I have friends over, she will "defend" that space by lunging at people and attempting to bite them. When she does that I get right into her little face and tell her "NO BITE!" and tell her to step up on my finger for a "time out". She's bitten me pretty good when I make her step up, drawing blood too, but I didn't react and persisted in enforcing my rules. It took a few tries, but she's knocked that kind of stuff off as of two days ago (not to say she's not going to do it again). Then when I'm working, and she wants me to play with her, she can get very impatient if I don't comply. She's jumped on to my shoulder and ripped my glasses off my face. She's also just jumped on to my shoulder and bit me in the cheek. When she does that, I will nab her and again, put her on a perching spot and I make sure she sees I am MUCH bigger than she is and I show her I am very unhappy with her by making a scowl :angry: and tell her "NO BITE"! and then she gets put into time out. I keep her in time out for about 30 minutes. Usually after that she wants to be lovey and "make good", she sits with me and tucks her head under my chin. To me, it seems she's testing her limits with me, trying to figure out which one of us is in charge. I've read so many different opinions on whether or not parrots do this kind of thing. Some articles say they do others say they don't. I can only go by my own experience, and that is she does seem to be trying to establish the "pecking order" and she wants to see if I really do deserve to be at the top of that order. I have no intention of giving up my top--bird spot and we're going to get that one straight no matter how much she thinks she can bite me! :laugh: