siobha9

Yes this works! I really love your playstand. I have been describing it longingly to my hubby but so far he hasnt taken the hint. Maybe now that he has his own baby, he might make one for me! Maybe???? Siobhan

Liath is the Irish word for grey (pronounced Leah) and Oisin (Usheen) is the name of the breeders son. It is also the name of the prince of Tir na nOg (land of youth). As a Grey is permanently 4 years old mentally, I thought it was apt! Siobhan

Did he say Step up? at about 1min 10secs? I am sure I heard Step up. He is sooo cute!

I also power walk almost everyday. I do Pilates once a week which really isnt enough. But Curves sounds interesting. You just pay as you go dont you? You dont have to pay membership or anything? Siobhan

Yes we have Debenhams, I am heading into Dublin on Thursday, bringing my teenaged daughter and her friends to the Big Smoke! I will look there. Thank you! The reason that I started to consider splitting the cage is that I cant find a double for sale here. I have found a place in the UK which sells them for £500. But I dont know how much shipping will cost. I only paid €440 for this cage (about £275). And the overall cage size is smaller than the one I have. Oh I dont know what to do now. The only permanent change we were making was splitting the door in 2. The tray and the grid were going to hook on to the sides rather than be permanently fixed, so that I can take them out for cleaning, and if (unlikely) the 2 birds decided they wanted to be housed together. What are your thoughts about leaving the new bird in the hallway instead of the main room in the house? Don't even answer that, I know he needs to be in here with all of us, not out in the hall on his own. I think I need to think on this one a while longer. Siobhan

Judy, what exactly is Curves? One has opened in my local town, but I am too chicken to go in in case it is aerobics! Is it weights and bikes and stuff?

Good question! I still have the crummy little cage the pet shop owner sold me when I bought Liath. Not knowing any better, and Liath being a lot smaller than she is now, I was duped! She can survive in that for a week. Paul (my steel guy) has promised he will make up the tray, and the grids before he takes the cage, and then take it away to modify the door, and spray it. Good point (excuse the pun) on the sharp bits. I did mention the paint to him, but forgot to tell him to sand everything down. Of course this is all price dependant. He hasnt given me a price yet, just that it is possible! It may be cheaper and easier to buy a double one. Ok next question Do I keep liath in the top half, since this is where she hangs out mostly now? Or should I move her below Oisin to make her less dominant of him??

Well strictly speaking its the dining room, but we have no table in the kitchen, so I call it the kitchen. But no I dont use teflon. I dont use a pan at all anymore because I cant find a cast iron one, or even a stainless steel one. I have been looking since I got Liath. Any ideas? I'm in Ireland, but have mostly the same shops as the UK. I could get a second cage, but it would have to be in the hallway, which (a) could be drafty, and (b) doesnt have the same atmosphere. We LIVE in the dining room in our house. So its either half this cage or buy one in two halves. At the moment he is in a smallish cage, which I really dont think he can stay in for the next 30 years or so! They neither of them spend a whole lot of time in the cages, they are out whenever it is feasible, which is most of the day and all of the evening. Siobhan

Its hard to remember what your Grey was like the first couple of days you brought it home. My new Grey has been here for a week now, and only had a one hours drive to get here. Even so for the first couple of days we got some cool bites which are still healing. Now he is getting much more adventurous and is tolerating scratches, indeed even asking for them. I dont remember Liath going through this phase but I am sure she must have! Just give her time and space to settle in, the flight must have been horrendous and scary, and the new home, and the new animals. On the animal front however, I keep my dogs out of the room the greys are in for their safety not the greys! Both my dogs have been bitten by the greys and hide if they see them out! Siobhan

What do you guys think is more important, height or width in a cage? I bought Liath a cage about 6 months ago. I chose it because of its width, for 2 reasons, the first obviously to give Liath room to flap inside it, and the second because it fits perfectly where I wanted it in the kitchen. I am considering getting it made into two halves for Oisin because Liath never really uses the bottom half. What do you folks think? My steel guy says he uses non lead paint, safe for children. This should be safe for birds shouldnt it? Siobhan

Here is Liath's video on Youtube! Maybe next year I can enter my new baby Grey Oisin into these competitions! Siobhan

Shopping spree began today, so I thought i would update you. I got Oisin some doggy toys, reduced to €2 each so I couldnt resist, Liath loves them so I had to get her one too! I got him the concrete perch because he really needs a pedicure. Let's just say I won't be wearing strappy tops in the near future! And I bought him one of those ropy, things with the wooden balls on which will look like a load of strings in about 3 weeks. But the birds just love to destroy things, rather that than my furniture.

Its so sad I have just seen Tui's latest video on Youtube, the poor bird. I have a question for Andrew: Has Tui recovered from the All Blacks defeat yet? That was the funniest thing I have ever seen! If you guys havent seen it yet, check it out Siobhan

I bought an aviator harness size medium from 24parrot.com My bird absolutely loves it. She flies straight to me when she sees it, and ducks her head and lifts her wings while I fix it. The only problem with the Aviator Harness is you have to adjust it every time you use it, but its only one pull. Liath usually grabs hold of the clip and tries to pull it for me. I think it is a brilliant invention. Birds are meant to fly outside. I also bought an extension length so she can go further as I found she kept wanting to go further than the lead allows. The lead supplied is quite short.

Hi Dan, I have been reading some of your posts about 2 cages vs one. At the moment I am leaning towards separate cages. Oisin is in a smallish cage at the moment, but there is no way he can live out the rest of his days in it. Right now there can be no interactions between me and the new grey as my hubby wants him to bond with him, but i have given him the odd scratch here and there (just don't tell my husband!) It will be such fun, especially when they start chatting together, and fighting together! Liath is not too fond of sharing, even toys she has never played with, they are still HER toys, and Oisin can't touch them. Ooooh I have to go shopping for new toys... and a new stand... and a new cage.... ooooh I am EXCITED!!! Siobhan

I had read a long while ago about getting excited and so we yell BINGO when she does it in the right place. I put her straight on her stand when I take her out and say Bingo Liath. When she goes we yell BINGO. This works a treat, but as Mervyn says when she is out and about, it is so hard to get her back to her stand and I usually end up with poo all over me if I try. Or if I leave her on the back of a chair or something there is poo waiting for me when I get back like a little present from her to me... Look Mammy what I made you! Personally I am not too bothered, once I get the early morning Bomb on her stand, the rest of them are manageable! Siobhan

I have found the antibacterial wipes from Lidls are the best value "liath" wipes around!! Luckily in my house I am the one that does the housework, so my husband wont be complaining. Mind you he got his own bird on Sunday, so his Grey can add to the mess. Liath often asks me "What are you doing?" and then answers herself, saying "Cleaning your Sh**!" (said in a very grumpy voice....)

I dont think this is a silly question, in fact here, here, I think it is a great question! Liath poops on her stand as soon as I take her out...brilliant! But then she does loads of tiny ones all OVER the place. Please help us with this one??? I have renamed wet wipes, Liath wipes at this stage as I have to have a pack with me where ever she goes. Siobhan

I am so excited. We collected him(her) on Sunday. He is absolutely adorable. Hatched 11th July, so he is exactly one year younger than Liath. We are calling him Oisin. I have been warned to stay away from him, because he is to be my husbands baby! Unfortunately I think he is going to be Liath's baby! We dont know the sex of either of our birds, but one thing is for sure, Liath is totally infatuated with him. They are in separate cages! I am absolutely thrilled as I have wanted another grey for ages now. Siobhan

Hi Birds mom I dont know why your messages were coming in twice? But I consider my knuckles well and truly rapped. As I stated in my first and second post I have not yelled at her in several months as it didnt work, and I have also stopped taking the dish and giving it back. I will "adapt to my lifestyle change" and sweep the floor ten times daily, as the ceramic bowls you mention are not available here.

She is gorgeous and loves the camera! Liath tries to eat the camera! Are her wings clipped? If so the ends of the feathers may be a little sharp and could be irritating her. Does she make funny little grunting noises when she does this and hold her body quite low? If so, she could be trying to mate with you!

Dan, I suggest you try the spaghetti solo, without the sauce.... Not that I dont believe Judy when she says there will be no mess, but my ceilings, light fittings, walls, floors, windows, and doors say otherwise! But she does love it so!

You say that she is "flying" off the top of the cage and falling. Are her wings clipped, or is she just not very skilled at flying yet? Do you mean from the top on the outside or the inside? I would be worried that she will hurt herself. Is there anything you can do to cushion her landing until she gets the hang of it? I can appreciate your frustration at her constantly trying to get out. My girl used to try to open the doorway. Once, and once only she managed to open it. Nearly scared me to death when I saw her waddle across the floor as I have 2 dogs. She has also scratched her face with exertion. She did begin to realise that she was able to get out only with my help, so her attempts to get out became calls to me instead. Nowadays she doesnt even try that. She knows I will let her out at certain times of the day and nothing she does will change that. Honestly she will get used to it. Its all so new for her, new house, new people etc. Give her some time. Good luck and congratulations on your new arrival.

As I suspected, Liath couldnt care less if I blow in her face. She just tucks her head down so that I blow the top of her head. I think she actually likes that. Mind you she loves to sit on my shoulder if I am using the hair dryer too. Oh well. Guess that one is a non winner for us... Did you manage to film him yet? I really would love to see that, it sounds soooo cute!! Siobhan

Liath also went through a phase at about 8 months of being what I would call grouchy. I put it down to two things... Pin feathers on her neck... it hurt her to be handled so she did anything she could to stay away from us including refusing to step up. And late nights. I had been keeping her up for cuddles in the evenings rather late at the time, which I hadnt done previously. I was busier during the day and felt I wasnt getting enough time with her. I think she was over tired. Once I started putting her back to bed at about 9pm and turning out the lights in her room, everything improved almost instantly. Siobhan