NerfGunWarHero

Completely awesome. I bet you just feel like everything is right with the world. I know I would.

that is too cute. How is your hand now?

The thought of a bite scares me, but I think I will be able to handle it. I get startled very easily, well the other day I was in the house of a breeder in the next town over, and I had my back to one of the macaw cages. A little boy stuck his foot out grabbed a piece of my blond hair, and then gave me a little beak nudge. Normally being touched of grabbed in anyway scares me to death, but I am getting much better. I just turned around and said you like girls huh?

I have heard cockatoos get over excited playing very easily. I am sure greys can too.

He is so cute... I mean manly:laugh:

One bird store I have been too will not even let you bring your bird into the store unless you can show a healthy vet check certificate. It is a great thing I think, all breeders and store that have birds should be like that. Because he does that I trust to bring my grey there for nail and beak care.

I was actually wondering the same thing myself. I live in a place were it is socially acceptable to bring your 17 dogs everywhere with you, but if you happen to have one parrot you look insane.

I just read that link, and I personally wouldn't buy a bird from them, they seem to be making very large generalizations. And some of the info doesn't seem correct even. A few examples, they mention which birds have better talking ability then others, they do not mention not all birds, no matter what kind, will not talk at all. Also they mention that cockatoos are "Velcro birds" This can be correct, but they also go onto say that African greys don't usually care about out of cage time, which horrified me. I feel like these people DO care, do not get me wrong, there is some good advice, but I think that they may not be as experienced with all kind of birds. I hope no one is offended. Rachel.

it took my literally months to find a breeder that was informed, wasn't rude to me, and had references that I thought were good enough.

Month old now!.. how time flys. No pun intended:P

Most of my friends have always been good around birds I have had. Every small child at my house wanted to "hold the birdie" He was ok with anyone holding him as long as I was right there. People who showed him disrespect got the smack down from me.

I think you should continue changing the cage toys. But do it in a different way. Change out one at a time every week instead of all at once. And if there is one toy he REALLY loves, just leave it in there all the time, no harm in it.

But remember, not all birds will talk.

It should be a family decision to bring another pet into the house. You want her to want to bring a friend for Petra. Letting her pick the kind of bird is a great idea, even a smaller bird can provide a nice singing buddy. I have heard of people getting budgies for company for their larger birds. They are smaller, easy to tame, and have great personalities. Maybe your wife will feel a little bit better about that.

Even if there are subtle difference between the males and females it would be hard to tell unless you had two right next to each other.

Beautiful! I still haven't gotten mine, my mom wouldn't let me, and now it is almost too late!

When I told my two best friends (known them since we were 8) that my first bird passed away, I could hear such sadness in their voices, it made me want to start crying (again!), they sounded as if they wanted to cry too. Both of my friend had birds when they were younger, but discovered that they were not bird people. But we spent many hours as teenagers sitting around my house with Bubbles crawling around on us and watching and laughing. My family is a mix of emotions. My mom loved my birds, and is always hesitant about any new pet, but always falls in love and will never get rid of after that. Shes so cute that way. My brother doesn't like birds, but when I get my grey I am hoping to help him get over dislike of birds, I think it was just because he never got the chance to know him well. My sister is a weird case, she has a head injury. So she has weird little quirks. When I first got Bubbles, I was at school one day and Jenelle (my sister) decided she wanted to take him out and she was going to whether or not he liked it. Side note, ALL animals love my sister for some reason, with the except of my bird, and the neighbors dog. Anyway, she took him out, and he gave her a hard bite. My mom walks in sees her holding Bubbles in her fist, and her mouth in wide open about to bite him back. My mom yelled and jumped at her and the bird and stopped it from happening. She doesn't like me or the birds, and I rather have it that way. She loves the cats, but she has never had much respect for smaller animals.

When I told my two best friends (known them since we were 8) that my first bird passed away, I could hear such sadness in their voices, it made me want to start crying (again!), they sounded as if they wanted to cry too. Both of my friend had birds when they were younger, but discovered that they were not bird people. But we spent many hours as teenagers sitting around my house with Bubbles crawling around on us and watching and laughing. My family is a mix of emotions. My mom loved my birds, and is always hesitant about any new pet, but always falls in love and will never get rid of after that. Shes so cute that way. My brother doesn't like birds, but when I get my grey I am hoping to help him get over dislike of birds, I think it was just because he never got the chance to know him well. My sister is a weird case, she has a head injury. So she has weird little quirks. When I first got Bubbles, I was at school one day and Jenelle (my sister) decided she wanted to take him out and she was going to whether or not he liked it. Side note, ALL animals love my sister for some reason, with the except of my bird, and the neighbors dog. Anyway, she took him out, and he gave her a hard bite. My mom walks in sees her holding Bubbles in her fist, and her mouth in wide open about to bite him back. My mom yelled and jumped at her and the bird and stopped it from happening. She doesn't like me or the birds, and I rather have it that way. She loves the cats, but she has never had much respect for smaller animals.

When I told my two best friends (known them since we were 8) that my first bird passed away, I could hear such sadness in their voices, it made me want to start crying (again!), they sounded as if they wanted to cry too. Both of my friend had birds when they were younger, but discovered that they were not bird people. But we spent many hours as teenagers sitting around my house with Bubbles crawling around on us and watching and laughing. My family is a mix of emotions. My mom loved my birds, and is always hesitant about any new pet, but always falls in love and will never get rid of after that. Shes so cute that way. My brother doesn't like birds, but when I get my grey I am hoping to help him get over dislike of birds, I think it was just because he never got the chance to know him well. My sister is a weird case, she has a head injury. So she has weird little quirks. When I first got Bubbles, I was at school one day and Jenelle (my sister) decided she wanted to take him out and she was going to whether or not he liked it. Side note, ALL animals love my sister for some reason, with the except of my bird, and the neighbors dog. Anyway, she took him out, and he gave her a hard bite. My mom walks in sees her holding Bubbles in her fist, and her mouth in wide open about to bite him back. My mom yelled and jumped at her and the bird and stopped it from happening. She doesn't like me or the birds, and I rather have it that way. She loves the cats, but she has never had much respect for smaller animals.

Me and my brother IM each other from down the hall, and then sometimes we answer each other out once and while with a yell lol

Me and my brother IM each other from down the hall, and then sometimes we answer each other out once and while with a yell lol

I don't yet have my grey, but my only really bad bite from my first bird. He was a budige, was on the first day i brought him home. I was in my room with him and tried to take him out of his cage for the first time, he got on my finger, bend down and latched on as hard as he could, I was only 13, knew nothing about birds, and screamed and shook him loose. I then put him back in the cage and left the room to cool down, and tend to my bleeding thumb, before I tried to make contact with him. For a 13 year old I was pretty good with the situation. Most people would not have tried to touch him again. But I went right back and tried, and he ended up being the best friend I ever had.

Personally, I think that if you want your partner to feel like he can get close to the birds and give them treats without having to run after, you should clip their wings. I have heard several success stories with people being able to gain better control over there birds and then being able to have them flighted afterwards. I know that YOU have control over them, but if your partner doesn't become part of the flock the problem could get worse. Maybe he can try sitting next to the cage, maybe bellas, with the door closed talking quietly to her or reading outloud. Once and while offering her a treat once and a while. Here is an article with a small part about the chair exercise, it maybe help your birds not see him as a threat any longer. http://www.companionparrot.com/fearful%20&%20phobic.htm

Thanks everyone, I will put all the name suggestions in the baby book!

I just wanted to tell everyone that I put a deposit on a baby TAG, here is a picture. He/She (I don't know yet) is almost 3 weeks old, and I am so excited. It is as if I laid the egg myself! Now it is time to think of names. Personally, I like names that unusual. Any ideas?