Azrich

Our 12 year old grey, Pepper, loves to splash her feet in her water bowl. This usually lasts for about an hour. If I change the water she goes right back in it. She splashes and flutters her wings out a bit. I've tried the pan in the bottom of the cage and she looks at me like, "Yea, right!" and goes no where near it. She will take showers with a spray bottle and says, "Pepper wants shower." When I pick up the bottle she starts to have a fuss but likes it after a few sprays and holds her wings out. I wish she would bathe in the big pan I bought. Oh, well. Richard

Pepper learned my name a couple years ago. Sometimes when I'm in the study on the computer she will call out my name over and over, "Richard . . . Richard . . . Richard . . . each with a slightly different inflection. One time I counted 24 Richards!! I usually wait until she stops for awhile before I go to her. She's like a little kid wanting her daddy.

Pepper's cage is showing its age - wheels fall off, powder coating has been gnawed off, etc. so we are thinking about getting her a new one. Has anyone ever seen a cage that has a built in filtering system near the bottom? We have two stand up filters near her cage but thought it would be better if the feather dust could fall down and be sucked into a filter. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the great welcome. I can tell from reading the posts in different topics just how important our greys are to us and our families. I'm also amazed that people from all over the world use this forum. I'm now communicating with a person with a grey in Pakistan, asking him what he feeds his parrot, etc. Amazing!

Our grey, Pepper, sometimes goes to the playground tray on top of her cage and begins scratching the tray with her feet. She gets very intense doing this and sometimes it is difficult to distract her out of this behavior. Sometimes there might be the remains of an apple slice or other food on the tray. I've been reading about behavior in the wild and know that they do eat dirt and roots. I'm wondering if this behavior stems from that wild behavior. Does your grey ever do this scratching behavior? Any ideas??

At our last vet visit Pepper was 520 grams. She's a big girl. She was 490 for a long time but the vet felt she was a bit boney. He was pleased with the weight gain. I wish my doctor would be pleased with my latest weight gain! No such luck!:dry:

I was researching some nutrition facts for greys and found this forum. This should be fun! My life partner, Dennis, and I have enjoyed our grey, Pepper, for 12 years. She is a joy and makes us laugh daily. She calls us Daddy Richard and Daddy Dennis, addressing us by name when we enter the house. Pepper enjoys interacting with Charlie, our cockatiel, who we have had for 14 years. She tries to get Charlie to perform tricks on command but so far he will only do these for us. Pepper also tries to get him in trouble by making his "squeaky gate" noises and then says, "Charlie, stop it." We have become really careful what we say to him in front of her. My latest "parrot lover" act was to get a vanity plate for my grew SUV that says "PAIR OT". I teach sixth grade and my students love it when I bring Pepper to school. About the only thing she will say for them is "Pepper want tickle." or "Pepper want shower." I have her "autograph" a piece of graded work I'm handing back by having her punch a hole in it with her beak. The students seem to feel so honored. Pepper appeared in People Magazine on April 5, 1999. They did an article on Dennis and came to the house to take photos - 10 rolls of film! The picture they used has Dennis holding Pepper and she's giving him a beak kiss. The article was about a children's program Dennis had designed to reduce violent acts in schools. Richard Post edited by: Azrich, at: 2007/12/02 05:02<br><br>Post edited by: Azrich, at: 2007/12/02 16:54