siobha9

I let my greys on my shoulder so that I can carry on with whatever I am doing and keep my hands free. They love to come with me when I am doing house work, gardening (with a harness) or whatever. The only negatives are that I can no longer wear earrings, and I ended up getting Lasek eye surgery because I couldnt wear glasses!! Eye surgeon said it was the best reason he had ever heard for wanting Laser surgery!

Yes I can And can you believe I live nearly 3 hours drive from her! You are a bit closer I think. I am lucky my vet has a special interest in birds, and what he doesnt know he will look up for me gladly. I usually phone him first and tell him what I see with my birds, and then by the time I get there he has some ideas. He also calls the avian vet if he has to. Bummer isnt it?

BTW I am also very jealous - I would love a Blue and Gold, but I love my ten fingers too, and I probably need them more, so I will have to dream {Feel-good-000200B9}

That is absolutely incredible, and really beautiful. I love the way you made the collage of pictures to see the whole growth of Goldie. Thank you for this. I can't wait till my kids get home to show them this, it is a real biology lesson for them as well! Karma for you Siobhan

That is a brilliant idea... I paid €35 for a boing for Liath. (Actually I didnt know what it was called, we call it a swingy swongy thing!) That cant cost much more than €5, we can have swingy swongy things all over the house!!! Siobhan

Unfortunately I am not dieting either. I am eating rings round me. I am exercising though. I started on my walk this morning and I met a lady that I havent walked with before and she asked me to join her. Idiot here said yes.... we walked 6.5 miles!!! I am absolutely dead! Next time I see her on the road, I think I might turn around! Mind you it flew in because we had so much to talk about and it IS nice to have company on these cold mornings. Siobhan PS my bum is STILL sore from the advanced Pilates on Wednesday :unsure:

That's my problem. I question everything. I suppose thats what a psychology background does for you! I even do that with my kids. If you think about it some of the things that our parents used to do with us as children have now been shown to be wrong, and that is through generations of parents and scientists testing and retesting. I would imagine in years to come, if there is still an internet, and this site is still active! people will read what we have written and wonder why we did what we did, and why we thought what we thought, as many of our "old wives tales" will be proven to be just that. I just want to know now, rather than then.... Siobhan

I use an iPod when I walk alone, but I only use one earphone so that I can hear the traffic. I started advanced Pilates last night. Boy it is hard. Really hard. But I am determined to win the 250. I know the others are doing workouts on the sly though. My treadmill has been dusted off too. I talk to Liath when I am using it. She sits on the end of my bed and chats back!

My favourite job. Did they ask you "Whatcha doing?" Mine usually do

Be sure to show us some video of him! I really love Galahs. But I KNOW I wont be allowed to have one!

I voted. My children told me who to vote for!

My very close friend has a Galah. They are beautiful birds. They are very very different to Greys though. They may be about the same size, and similar colouring (sort of!) but they are nothing like Greys. Charlie (the Galah) is a clown, he loves to play and dance, he has ZERO concentration, and hasnt learned anything yet (2 years old!) He is so much fun to watch, but her house is wrecked because he chews! I dont think he has enough to chew on in his stand personally which could be why he has chewed on her furniture and stuff. I love him to bits, he is also a one person bird in her house, so he hates me. But I dont mind I could watch his antics all day. As to whether he will mix with your greys, I should say definitely not. A galah would most likely make a grey very nervous because they are so giddy. But then a grey wont necessarily mix with another grey either. If YOU want a galah for YOU, then I say go for it. But dont get him for your grey! Siobhan

I would also like to know where the scientific evidence for some of the data I have collected about bird safety. Like Andrew I am avoiding apple pips, teflon pans etc, all of the items that are unsafe for my birds. But I do often wonder why. For example, how did the first bird realise that it was ok to eat an apple so long as they stopped before they got to the pips? Normally genetic evolution would ensure that a species develops a dislike for a food that is dangerous to them as only those who dislike the food would survive. But my birds LOVE apples. A scientific study on dangerous foods would necessarily involve harming birds and modern ethical committees would be unlikely to approve one. Therefore I would presume that the "evidence" is based on isolated cases, which may have had many confounding variables that could have contributed to death or injury. I am not suggesting that we should start to feed our birds apple seeds "just to see what happens", but I am curious as to whether we have all succumbed to an urban legend? Siobhan

I think it is too narrow?? I like them to be able to flap their wings inside the cage. They are spending time together outside the cage so if they do get used to each other I can still removed the horizontal divide. So far old bird LOVES new bird. New bird HATES old bird! Siobhan

I have done some more shopping and pondering on this one, and I have decided to go ahead and split the cage. Dave I have really taken your comments on board, so please dont think I dont value what you said. The problem is finance, space and logistics. I brought a lady I met through parrots up here at the weekend. She has 2 Greys. She thought that the size of the cage was fine for the two birds. She also suggested a couple of other minor changes to the cage to make it appear like a different cage to Liath which may help with the territory thing. The cage will be taken away for a few days also. I have spoken at length with the steel guy and what he is proposing is entirely reversible so if we feel that Liath is unhappy we can undo it very easily. (I also mentioned no sharp edges!) I hope we are doing the right thing for our babies:( Siobhan

I guess when you own greys you have to have a sense of humour:unsure: . I mean most people wouldnt find it funny to have a pet trying to drown out your voice when you are on the phone, a pet constantly asking you for their dinner, and reminding you that they need to step up etc. Or worse laughing at you at the most inappropriate times. I was walking in to the dining room yesterday and spilled my cup of tea, EVERYWHERE! I was not happy and Liath laughed of course! Then when I was cleaning it up she kept asking "whatcha doing?". Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds!!

Why do breeders start birds on seed mixes? Liath and Oisin are on seed and I CANNOT get them onto pellets. I have tried everything, like mixing with seeds. The pellets are just left behind. Only giving pellets, they dont eat, grinding the pellets and mixing with juice. I have tried EVERYTHING that I have read here and elsewhere, and my birds wont eat them. I have 3 bags of pellets in the cupboard (different brands). But they do eat veggies, and fruit, and birdy bread, and lots of other things. Hasnt done us humans any harm so I hope they will be ok without the pellets! But I feel guilty that maybe they are not having the best diet they could have. Siobhan

No we are still working on that one. Having difficulty getting him up on to the stand!

We are having so much fun in our house with our new Grey. Oisin has been here for 2 weeks now and we love 'him' dearly! This bird is officially my husbands bird and I am supposed to stay away from him, easier said than done! As hubby is gone all day, I have to let him out for little cuddles now and then don't I?? Liath my other Grey LOVES him, but unfortunately the feeling isnt mutual. He nips at her so we are being really really careful. Funny though the reason my husband wanted a Grey was because Liath HATED him. Now she is crawling all over him. She is still afraid of his hands though unless they have a treat in them. Training wise, he knows to poop on the stand already (Oisin, not my husband!), but like Liath he isnt shy about pooping everywhere else as well! Siobhan

Thank you for choosing Liath! I have just told her she is the smartest little girl in the Grey world. For some reason she is laughing hysterically and saying "Good Boy". We havent had her DNA'd - is she trying to tell us something???

Welcome, this is a great forum! It's like fate isnt it? The birds find you. I bought my first Grey in the same way. I was buying things for my little birds and there she was in her cage. And like you, the pet shop owner didnt know how much research I had done on Greys, I didnt even have to give my name!! All I had to give was money and lots of it! Siobhan

I have 2 CAGs so now the count is 4 CAGs and 2 TAGs

You are so lucky, my family think I have completely lost my marbles over my birds! I almost darent tell them any funny stories any more because I KNOW they will just laugh at me, rather then the story. Luckily I have met some lovely people through my birds. A lady called this morning who also has 2 Greys, and unbelievably she lives about 5 minutes from me!!! The pet shop put us in touch with each other. Siobhan

Congratulations on your new baby! We also brought home a 2nd grey 2 weeks ago! I agree with Lovemygrey. My husband will just keep his hand there until the Grey stops biting, but the first couple of days his hands resembled mince meat! I couldnt stand the pain, but the wobble technique does work. He bites less now. Sometimes he gets so frustrated with the wobbling or whatever that we put him back in his cage. There is LOTS of GREAT advice in this forum on biting. I think I have read it all twice! Good luck, Siobhan

My friend called to see me last night to invite me to join a little friendly competition! 5 of us hve put €50 in a kitty and whoever loses the most weight by Christmas takes the lot. We weigh in in one house once a week. This is so cool. I have paid silly money for Weightwatchers to line their pockets, this way I line a friends pocket, or better yet my own! Hmmm €250 would be a NICE Christmas pressie!!!! Siobhan