siobha9

Is that the view from your window? Its incredible... must be beautiful in Summer time.

IT WORKED!!! Brilliant! I am not sure how long the novelty would last but for today it was genius. I am sorry I didnt have a camera to show you how she scrambled across that play gym and on to my hand to get that nut! She sat in her cage in 7th heaven shredding it to pieces:P :laugh: :woohoo:

{Feel-good-000200A2} I could keep you guessing.... but that would be really mean I managed to find some palm nuts and gave her one for the first time today and she LOVED it. So I am really hoping it will entice her back into her cage....

You are loving this Judy arent you... its like waiting for the next series of Desperate Housewives... maybe I should tell you there is a writers strike and have you wait till next year :laugh: :laugh: But I do have a secret weapon I am going to try tomorrow

My eldest daughter has been home for the past few days, she starts her exams tomorrow, so I will have to put them back in the cage for breakfast again. Will let you know tomorrow.... Wish me luck :unsure:

2 weeks is a very long time to leave them, especially with Keeko being so young. The longest I have left them for is a week, and that was with my husband and kids still here. I cant imagine going away for 2 weeks without them. I think most of us completely understand why you decided not to go. Its a pity about the holiday, but it really can't be helped. Ask your friends whether they would be happy to leave their children alone in a cage for 2 weeks with only a stranger to come stuff food in at them once a day.....

This is Oisin loving his grape.

I must confess I fell hook line and sinker for the sales pitch:blush: I had read about Alex the grey years ago, and I was totally fascinated with their intelligence. Then when I started to study psychology in humans it really intrigued me that one of the main differences that psychologists attribute between humans and all other species is their ability to use language. And then you have birds like Alex, who obviously have cognitive abilities way beyond what you would expect in a non human. Research turned to intrigue, turned to obsession, turned to my first Grey:P And I honestly wouldnt have it any other way. When I got Liath I decided I would talk to her and try to teach her language they way a human child would learn. My brother has a child the same age as Liath and we thought it would be interesting to see how their language skills compared. Liath was actually winning for a while I think she is amazing, but then I would say that wouldnt I?????

The dust is the least of my worries. Its the poop everywhere that drives me nuts. Both of mine are very good in that they dont poop ON me, but thats about it. They poop everywhere else. I suppose if you limit your baby to one area it wouldnt be so bad, mine have free reign of the house pretty much :whistle: But I really dont think they are very dusty. Most of the dust seems to collect on and around their cage so it is very manageable. Good luck with convincing him... Its definitely a NEED rather than a want with these birds isnt it:laugh:

Not a clue! I have a toy like that that I got from a baby section in a toy dept. My birds love to play with it. But all we do with it is play. She tries to get them all off before I can get them all back on again. Sometimes she puts one on and she gets lots of praise. Maybe some day we will progress to doing that trick, but at the moment it is just fun:side: :whistle:

Ok that explains a little.... so another question... what sort of a boss gives their employees magazines to read and where can I find one like that:laugh: ? Raja and Chin se... they are lovely names. Are they being raised in the same house? They will be such good friends with each other. I am sorry I can't help you on the heating pad question as I have never had tiny babies, but someone will be along shortly to answer that question! Siobhan

{Feel-good-0002006E} That has to go down on record as the shortest introduction EVER :laugh: Welcome to the Grey forum, is there any chance you could tell us a teensy weensy bit more about you and your greys????? Sending some karma your way for making me laugh;) :whistle:

I can see him now standing in the middle of the big stage for American Idol. I wonder what Simon Cowell would make of him?

Not that I would ever ever want to be without my babies, but videos like this make me wish my 2 were living their lives they way they were supposed to and that we really shouldnt put birds in cages. We spend so much time and money trying to enrich our birds lives, when if truth be told, their lives would be perfect if we had just left them in Africa

I am not sure if this will help, but here is Liath's story. Liath was absolutely terrified of my husbands hands. From day 1 really and she was only a baby. It used to be that she wouldnt even take a treat from his hand. What he did, in fact what he is still doing is a very slow process. He started on the treats. Just kept offering them to her. If she wouldnt take it, he gave the treat to another bird. Pretty soon she realised if she refused it, someone else got it, so she started taking it. This meant she had to step closer to his hand. Then he made it that she had to let him touch her beak before she got the treat. She would have her eyes on the treat so this was ok too. Today she will step up for him and he can touch her beak without a treat in his hand. But he still cant touch her feathers in any way. While he is cuddling Oisin, he leaves his other hand beside Liath. Its sad really, because he could be sitting there cuddling Oisin, and you can see she really really wants him to cuddle her too, but she is still afraid. He has made amazing progress, but it has taken over a year to get this far.

Nychsa wrote: This I want to see on video! Your dancing, not the birds :laugh: ! Your house sounds like a total mad house;) :laugh: :silly:

Well dont forget I have 2 red headed children... its in the genes you know:evil: Well I got cross, cos I WAS cross. She is 1 foot tall and can outsmart me every time. A supposedly intelligent woman being outsmarted by a bird! I'm sorry Judy but you will have to wait, today is Saturday... no school, and holiday weekend here... so the next school day is Tuesday! Maybe she will have forgotten her new game by then???

Well the next installment will have to wait a while. I slept in this morning and didnt want to have to waste time struggling to get her back into her cage. I took her out at 9.30 and gave her cuddles. Then I popped her on the play gym. Just out of curiousity I decided to see would she step up for me. I stuck my hand out and got really cross and said "STEP UP LIATH!" And she did:ohmy: I will believe it tomorrow though, because she had only just got out, and she knows I wouldnt let her out and put her straight back in again She has brains to burn my little devil! Takes after her mother you know;) :laugh: :woohoo:

{Feel-good-000200BB} I am so glad you figured that out Dave!

Is there any chance the 2 of you could come clean my house? I have no worries about the type of cleaning agents to use, cos I just dont do any cleaning:)

My first grey had a couple of words and lots of sounds before her first birthday and then the floodgates opened. My second had his first few words about 5/6 months and has lots of words now, he is almost 1 now. But he did learn from the older grey.

Yep, flirty she is for sure! I tried the bribery this morning and she wasnt having any of it.... I couldnt show you that on camera cos I needed 2 hands. I held the nut away from her so that she had to step on to my hand to get it, but she wasnt interested. Their routine is, I wake them about 6.30/7am, and take them out before they are even really awake. I get lots of cuddles from each of them while i am having a cup of tea. Then they play up on top while I tidy around, get dressed, call the kids etc. About 8/8.30 I put their breakfast in the cage and I try to put them back to bed. Oisin is a pet, he is hungry and he knows whats coming, Liath is.... well Liath is Liath! I will be firm tomorrow and see how I get on. :dry: Wish me luck!

She is so cute... I love the last one especially she looks like she has been playing with her mummy's hair spray... her "hair" is standing on end!:laugh:

Ok... I guess I can see the funny side, I forgive you for laughing Judy:laugh: I will try to be firmer with her. Its hard though, especially when she is so funny. I just went over to her now and said "Step up Liath", really crossly. And she said "Do you wanna steppy uppy?" But she stepped up:P . Its not a true test though, she has been out of the cage pretty much since 9.30 so she is happy enough to do anything and go anywhere. At this time of the day I can sit at the table, raise my hand and ask her to step up and she flies to my hand. I'll have to wait till tomorrow morning to try again

Yes I believe there is a Holland & Barret in Dublin. We'll have to get the passports out and dust them down. They don't like us country folk venturing into the Big Smoke:P