Acappella

One more piece of advice. Don't spend more time with him now than you can provide consistently. Sometimes when fids first arrive in their new home we're so excited that we spend every spare moment of the day with them. Then the novelty wears off and we have to have our regular lives, and all of a sudden they're getting less time. Set things up now to follow the routine you'll have long-term. If he's going to have to entertain himself for part of the day then let that routine start now. It's less confusing to them.

Thank you for taking in this older grey. I agree with others, you initially went through the "honeymoon" phase of a re-home, even if it was a little bit longer than the usual 2 weeks. Now you've got a grey that is probably mourning the loss of her first home. I'm glad to hear she's playing with toys and not being a total perch potato. Have you tried attaching an outside perch with her favourite type of toy attached to the end of it? My Dorian was totally cage bound for the first few months of his life with me and he still spends the majority of his time inside with the door open like your girl, but I did figure out he loves shredding box board, so there's always one attached to an outside perch somewhere. It's always easier for the bird and the human to step up from outside the cage. Dorian choose a particular outside perch as his "step up" perch. When he went to that perch it was a signal to me that he was ready to come with me. But this little bit of progress literally took years because he was not only cage bound, he was terrified of hands. It sounds like in her heart your girl is very well socialized so it probably won't take as long for you. An animal behaviourist came to see me and Dorian once when I was frustrated at his slow progress. She told me to approach him every day as if he was already the bird I wanted him to be. For me that meant dropping the expectations, the anxiety and stress, and to go to him with joy. They are so sensitive to our moods, I swear it made a difference. Good luck and love to you and your new fid.

I just went to the parrotfiles site directly instead of clicking a link and it worked fine.

I have to say I don't agree with the vet. My belief is that right now your most important job is to gain Alex's trust. His cage is his safe place and I don't think that right now is the time to focus on forcing a step-up from his safe place. His whole world has changed and he's still trying to figure out if this new home is safe. Let him have a little control over his life right now. By all means attach a perch to the outside of his cage. You can reward him with treats and praise just for perching on that perch, then slowly offer your hand for a step up. If he doesn't want to comply, tell him "OK" and walk away. The trick is to make being outside the cage look fun and interesting. Play with/build a toy in front of him. Sit by the outside perch and read to him, or just sit and watch TV and let him make the decision to come out and 'hang' with you. When he does step up (and this could take a while) praise him like crazy, let him hang out for a couple of minutes, then put him back on his perch. I believe in the "Always leave them wanting more" school of training. Let's face it, we're bigger than them and we can force them to comply, and sometimes, like when we're heading to a vet visit, we have to, but if Alex makes the decision to join you it means a whole lot more, and can set you up for a lifetime of positive interactions. I always ask Dorian if he wants to "come with mom" and offer my arm for him to step up. If he doesn't, I just say OK, walk away and do something for a few minutes, then go back to the cage and ask him again. He's figured out that if he wants to be with me he has to step up when I ask, but I won't force him. We've gotten to the point where I rarely have to ask him more than twice. Work on the relationship first and the other stuff will fall into place. That's my opinion anyway. See what others have to say.

There's no doubt about her being a smarty pants. Do they love her at the vet?

Yep, all happy tears until the stupid "expert" nonsense.

Sounds like you fell victim to what we call the "honeymoon period". That's when a re- homed parrot is on his or hers best behaviour for the first couple of weeks in their new home while they scope out the new place and new flock. Then they start to unpack their baggage and you get a glimpse of their truer personality. You said that even during the first two weeks he was hand shy. That, to me, says very strongly that he would rather not have hands near him right now, but complied because you are bigger than him and he was perhaps a little afraid. Now that he's acting out, he's probably decided that you're safe enough to act out with. This is when you go to school. Here's a thread on grey body language that can be a big help. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109373-Body-language-most-frequently-seen if you are getting bit it means that you are missing the signals he is giving to you. Unless they are terribly abused and traumatized, most birds use bites as a last resort. How much info can you get on his behaviour and previous home situation? The more info the better. Be prepared to put in lots of time just being around him without asking anything of him, and bring plenty of patience. And then some more patience. Some birds re-home quickly, some are a lot slower. You've had a glimpse of the bird he can be with you. Now you just have to back up, build some trust, and earn it. Thank you for taking in this guy! Love from Marguerite and Dorian.

Wow, what a cutie.. Looks like you've still got lost of time to prepare.

Yes, I vote for more Issac videos!!!

As I understand from members here with banded birds, the numbers don't necessarily correspond to a birds age, so don't assume you've been misled. Maybe someone else can back me up on this?

Poor baby. I hope she continues to leave it alone and heals as quickly as possible.

Welcome. You will love it here. There are lots of friendly people participating with lots of combined knowledge. This is the first forum I found and I never looked any further.

When I got a new cage for Dorian I let him explore it on his own. First, I built it within his sight but far enough away so that it didn't frighten him. Then, over the course of a few days I slowly rolled it closer to him until I could link the two cages with a Booda perch. Then I put some toys he liked and some of his favourite treats in the dishes of the new cage. It took a few days of me changing out the food and water of two cages, and it took up lots of room, but one day he just walked right into the new cage and started chowing down. He was cage aggressive when I got him and terrified of hands, so it took me over two years before he would step up onto my hand, and always from outside his cage. I still can't use the phrase "step up" with him because he starts shaking. Instead I ask him if he "want(s) to come with Mom". Try to remember that, of the two of you, you're the only one that knows for sure that everything you're doing is to try to make his life better. He's still evaluating the situation. The most important thing to do right now is to focus on building trust, so ask yourself before you do anything if it will make him more trusting or more fearfull. You have years to develop a loving trusting bond with your new companion. Don't let human impatience get in your, or his, way. <3

Hope today dawned on a blood free morning. Thinking of you and Cotay.

I just use an old cockatiel cage for Dorians' outside time. Since he isn't in it for too long at a stretch I don't worry as much about him not being able to spread both his wings. There's room for birdy tai chi, a couple of perches and a couple of toys. He spends most of the time looking around and barking at neighbourhood dogs anyway. Plus it folds down for storing in the winter, and I can get it into the car if I have to. Might save you some $.

This literally made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the giggle.

She looks nervous and excited at the same time. What time of day is this? My Dorian can pace with that kind of frenetic energy when he's overtired. Is Bella getting 10-12 hours dark sleep time?

Dorian has made up "words" that he puts into phrases. They seem to me to be exercises in intonation, in his own voice, or imitating tv voices. He chats right along if I'm listening to an audio book, and his words are mostly nonsense, but he accents them to imitate full conversation.

Happy happy H-day handsome boy.

That's the first thing I thought as well Dan. At least you've got Miss Dayo foiled for the moment. Lol

That's a huge deal. His curiosity got the better of him, but his little heart was probably beating real fast. I hope you praised him and told him what a big brave boy he was.

It's funny, the day before you posted the Gus & Lilly update, I almost posted on this thread asking for one, but then, knowing how busy you are with the flock, I didn't. The next day I log on and there is the update I'd been longing for. I'm sorry Lilly has been such a pill lately. I don't know much about Too's, only what I learn here (and enough to know I'll never own one), but I think you are both wonderful for the time, attention, and love you lavish on your flock. If I lived closer I'd happily help. Also, I'm jealous of your weather. At the risk of re-inforcing Canadian stereotypes, we're still well covered in snow and it will be weeks yet until I can take Dorian outside in his travel cage for some sunlight.

Looks good. It would take Dorian 6 months to get on that thing.

One thing to consider is with two birds, if they don't care for each other you may have to have separate out of cage time, or at least very vigilant supervision. That said, we see pictures all the time of babies of different species together as virtual clutch mates, so babies would be the way to go. Maybe you could find a breeder that raises different species so that they're together from the start. Then, when they are old enough to move to adult cages, let them both have their own cages so they won't be so bonded to each other that they won't bond with you. If you have a roommate bringing in an adult bird, that changes the flock dynamics, as that bird would have to be recognized as the flock leader, wakened first, fed first etc... This is all second hand stuff for me as I only have Dorian, but lots of members here have more than one bird and I'm sure they"ll chime in if I've gotten anything wrong here. Lol

Brent, it's a good idea if you start your own thread so that people can answer your question directly.