Acappella

I can just hear Jake thinking "Does Dayo really think I'm leaving Dad and an almond to come when he calls? What was I, hatched yesterday!?!":lol:

Yay, another Canadian!!!! I'm not too far from you, in Canadian speak, just under two hours drive. Welcome to you and your flock, furred and feathered!

Has she forgiven your knee for doing whatever it was that made her fall?:laugh:

Dorian used to have a partially red feather on the underside of his right wing, but it molted out last year and never reappeared. I don't think I could visually recognize him because in a strange situation he would almost undoubtably revert to his "I'm a feathered statue" impression, and he doesn't fly so I couldn't wait for him to come to me. However, when he feels a need for a rescue he will put one talon up for me to pick him up, and of course, I'd know him right away if he started talking.

Glad things are going well. Here's what worked for me and my little grey bowl tosser. Look up a food dish call Crock Lock (or Lock Crocks, I'm not sure) They solved my problem here. He couldn't get them off, and believe me, he really really tried:evil: Keep up the great work. It's soo worth it.

OMG, that is the cutest picture. Front page worthy imho:)

Happy Gotcha day. You both hit the jackpot when you found each other. Kisses from Dorian and I.{Love-000200C0}

If he were truly happy being in his cage all the time I'd leave it be. Problem is he also wants to be with me at all times. This isn't much of a problem during the winter because I am inside most of the time, downstairs where his cage is. Once the warm weather arrives I have more to do outside. When Dorian can hear that I'm in and out of the house, but not coming down to be with him, first he gets needy, then bossy, then mad as ____. He works himself into such a state he's impossible to be around. Since I'm unable and unwilling to spend our too short summer downstairs with him, the best way to serve his need to be with me would be to take him around with me. I love the little goofball with all my heart, and I'm trying to find a way to make both of us happy.

Ok, so what happens when you have a bird that never wants to leave his cage, and you buy that bird a super great cage with lots of room? He never ever ever leaves his cage. At least with the old cage he would come out to one of his exterior perches. Then I could put my arm between him and the cage. That's the only way the stubborn little monkey would step up. I really tried working with him over the winter. When I did get him off his cage I took him into my room, where I have a huge tricked out play stand for him, or upstairs while I did dishes, into the bathroom when I showered, trying to show him that there is a world beyond his cage. I thought we were making progress, until I got this new cage. Now, no dice. He's realized that he is more vulnerable when he's outside the cage, so the only time he comes out now is at bed time, which is the only time I want him inside the cage:evil: His old cage is sitting outside on my back deck waiting for him, but to get him there I'd have to not only get him off his caqe, but into a pet carrier to take him safely outside and put him in the outside cage. I can just imagine how well that would go over! When I try to sit outside I get major guilt because he just calls me, getting louder and more angry by the minute because I'm not going to him. I'm at a total loss here guys. I can't force a step-up from inside the cage because he can always twist around and grab a bar or perch with his feet or beak. Toweleing him to get him out won't do much to convince him leaving his cage is a good thing. It breaks my heart that he was so completley confined for the first five years of his life that he may never enjoy exploring his world. Thanks for letting me vent. You guys are my sanity when it comes to dealing with my stubborn birdie.

Here's the conversation today. Dorian: What cha doing? Me: Cleaning Dorian: What cha doing? Me: Cleaning Dorian: What cha dooooooing? Me: still cleaning long pause Dorian: What cha doing cleaning?

I've got Dorian on his playstand right now. He's being so bad about not wanting to leave his cage that I'm thinking about letting him spend the night on it instead of going back to his cage, which is where he always wants to be. Only thing is it's in the same room as my bed and my cat spends the night in bed with me and Jac (the kitty) is in a sulk because Dorian is in "his" room. I'm not worried about Jac doing somethin to Dorian, he's the biggest scaredy cat in the world, but he does have a record of peeing on the bed of the person he's mad at and right now that's me:unsure:

Hi, how goes getting to know Apollo? Pictures pretty pleeeeease:P

Dorian was a water bowl thrower. One thing I love about his new cage. The bowls are in so tight, he can't get them out, and boy has he tried! I taped him one night trying everything he could to get them out with no luck. Chalk one up for the designer who has managed, so far, to outsmart my birdy:P

I'm sorry you lost your little one. As animal lovers we know how much pets add to our life, but sometimes the pain we feel when they are sick or they die hurts so much it makes it hard to open our hearts again. You have to do what is best for you and your family, but you are obviously a loving and caring person and I wish you the best.

Poor Pat. Feel better. I hope the heat has at least broken for you the way it was supposed to. The fids will forgive you for the late wake-up when they see their new toy. Big love to you from Dorian and I:kiss:

Sound like you're off to a good start with a laid-back birdy. Welcome to the group Apollo. Dorian perches with one foot up and beak grinding throughout the day, usually in-between spurts of verbal diarrhoea like the one I'm listening to right now:) As for the tv, try putting something on it that makes it unattractive as a landing site. Maybe something unstable looking that might fall off, or a unpleasant feeling substance like tin foil (works with cats) Might make the nice tv less pretty for a while, but so will a big drop of poop:ohmy: If he does land there, you'll have to take him off over and over and over . . . till he gets the message.

Dayo is such a sweetie. Congrats on finally catching him on film.

Well, I was sipping tea when I read this. Big mistake! Where's the paper towel:silly:

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think if we do it with humour we could educate before people take the leap into parronthood. The most I could show is the poop and food everywhere, and the drawers and tubs of toys and toy making supplies, as Dorian does not chew at all, but we all know that's not normal for greys, so those with destroyed window frames and cupboards start those cameras rolling. We'd have to make it clear somehow that the birds who have done the destruction are not "bad" birds, but that even good owners with good birds have these things happen. I wouldn't want the reaction to be someone thinking "well, I'd just never let mine out of the cage"! My first thought was YouTube, simply because thats where alot of cute bird videos, including Einstein, end up. I've never posted on there so I don't really know how it works. Can you link videos and slide shows to our forum, maybe to the "Parrot bill of rights" thread, which I think everyone thinking of getting a bird should read.

Welcome to the forum. I remember how happy I was to find this place when I knew I was bringing Dorian home. There's lots of information here to look at. I can't promise time will fly by till you bring your baby home, but you'll learn lots, and meet some greyt people, in the meantime.!

Wow, wouldn't sell to you unless you clip? He's your bird now, what's he going to do, birdnap him? I've never had a baby bird. Dorian came to me when he was about 4 years old. I can only tell you what I wish his babyhood had included & hope that helps you make decisions about raising your grey. I wish he had been allowed to learn to fly. He was never allowed to fledge and now that he finally has all his feathers he's a very clumsy and accident prone flyer. Why is the seller so pro-clip? Has he told you it will save you from losing him if a door or window is left open? Many here can tell you categorically that it will not. A frightened bird, even if well clipped, can gain height, fuelled by pure adrenaline. If it never learned to fly well before it was clipped, what it won't know how to do is control its direction. Even if it wants to fly back to you, it may not be able to. If it catches a breeze it may never be seen again. So even in a house with a clipped bird, you can never, ever, leave a window or door open. I wish when Dorian was a baby he had been introduced to an outdoor harness, like the Aviator used by many parronts here. That way he could enjoy the outdoors safely with me. I wish Dorian knew how to take food from a spoon, and was willing to try new foods. If I ever have to give him medicine, it would be nice it he didn't view spoons as potential parrot killing devices:angry: Do a search here on abundance weaning, and read all you can about raising baby birds in the nursery forum. Handle, handle, and manhandle your baby every which way. Get him used to you holding and playing with his talons, in case you ever have to trim them for the sake of your punctured and scratched hands and arms! Hold out his wings gently, lay him on his back, get him used to being covered or wrapped in a towel, and make it all a game so he isn't afraid of it. Speaking of games, teach him how to play. Let him see you play with new toys or make them in front of him. Roll a ball to him when he's on the floor with you. Give him a toy box full of foot toys to explore. Dorian's cage was sooo full of hanging toys when I got him, he, ironically, had no room in his cage to play, or even fully stretch his wings. All he knew to do was to bang them against the bars. His toys were never moved or rotated. Its taking a lot of work on my part to get him to start investigating playing, and don't get me started on what I have to do to introduce something new. It literally took weeks before I could get him to go near his boing perch. Pat's tip about weighing is very important Since birds are so good at hiding illness, weight loss can be an early indicator that something is wrong. I have a digital scale for just that purpose, but Mr. Scared of Everything won't go near it. I wish Dorian had been taken outside in a carrying case. Lots here use the Adventure Pack. Once your baby is old enough (someone who has experience with babies will know more about this than me), and you know he feels safe and protected around you, expose him to different people and situations. A little work getting him familiar with these things now will make you life so much easier if you ever travel or move with him. Also (and this goes for every single pet that may have to go to the vet) take him out for rides in the car. Let him view a ride in the car as an adventure with dad, not a noisy roller coaster ride into the mouth of, well you know:evil: While you have him out on these trips, socialize, socialize, socialize. Dorian still does his best impression of a statue when I have people over (if statues could tremble!) and no one but I can touch him, ever. Far from ideal. So there you have my wish list if I could go back in time. Then again, if his former owners had been attentive enough to do all these things, they probably would have never sold him to me! Now for the last, most important point. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS! If that little voice in you head is telling you that there's something wrong with what the store owner is telling you, then there is! This little grey guy is your responsibility now, not the stores. Do your research, ask questions, and make your own decisions. This forum is a great resource with lots of caring and experienced members. Look into joining a local bird club if you have the time. They can also be a great support. Have a good time getting to know your new companion. Now you need to choose a name, and post some pictures. We're picture crazy 'round here:lol:

A few days ago someone mentioned that posting videos of all the adorable things our fids do might encourage people to go out and get one without doing their homework first (I think it was after one of Emma's completely heart stealing performances:kiss: ) Than there was another thread about what expensive things had your grey detroyed. This got me thinking. What if we, en masse, posted videos documenting the not-so-cute side of having a large bird. Not just pictures of things destroyed, but how you have to have large perches througout the house, poop on carpets, receipts for what we spend on them every week, dust and feather covered furniture, clogged air cleaner filters, wasted food on the floor etc. . . Someone who understands YouTube better than me might know if there's a way to link our fids cute videos to these ones, maybe with a title like "Thinking of getting a grey for yourself?" Again, I don't do YouTube so I don't know if this would work, but I think it would be good to put the other side of the large parrot ownership picture out there. What do you guys think?

I agree that clipping can give an owner a false sense of security. You'd be surprised how far a clipped bird can fly when it is scared or frightened. Even if you clip your bird, please don't ever leave a window or door open. My Dorian was never allowed to fledge, and as I've let his feather grow in, I've been witness to some scary looking and sounding crash landings. The worst he has ever injured himself is a scratch over an eye and a bit of a fright, soothed by a quick rescue from mom! He may never be poetry in flight, but he did manage his first ever hover-and-change-direction manouver a few days ago! I just wish he'd learned to fly when he was a baby. You have to do what you feel is best to keep your baby safe. Karma to you for asking the questions and doing the research before making your decision.

Whisper is a very clear talker, and a real Southern Belle:) Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and one more trick that works wonders around here. I have a cat, and if I let Dorian see me and Jac on the floor playing with a toy, he has to get his talons on it asap. There's a lot to be said for sibling rivalry:lol: