LovinAlex

Ok, so what I've gathered is basically that I need to just ignore his attempts to be with me when I feel it's excessive, no matter how cute it is. I just want to make sure that I'm not damaging is ego per se. I know that Grey's are very sensitive and can hold grudges and I don't want to make him feel unwanted in any way. Is there a possibility that could happen?

Thank you everyone. I will make sure to put him back on his playtop when he jumps on my shoulder in the future and praise him when his behavior is good. As far as strangers go, he is good with my boyfriend holding him and scratching him, etc as long as I am not around but if he can see me then he tries to get back to me vs letting Bruce hold him. Same goes with my family, he will allow them to hold him and he will go to them when asked but only long enough to say he did and then he wants back with me. It's just frustrating for example when I'm eating. He wants to be with me and then he'll sit there and preen which means that his dust goes everywhere and I don't want that in my food. I know you're supposed to make them a part of the family during meal time but he is not happy with sitting on his perch in view of me, he has to be on me which leads to feathers and stuff flying about while I'm eating.

Thank you all for your replies. In response to nevjoe: I work from 9-5 during the week but I have him with me in the mornings while I'm getting ready for work and then put him back on his cage when I leave. My boyfriend lives with me and he is usually home until about 1 or 2 hours before I get home in the evenings. So Alex is only alone for about 2 hours. When someone is home Alex's cage door is open and he is free to go in and out of the cage as he wants. He usually stays on top of the cage on his playtop unless he gets hungry but he comes right back out when he's finished eating. So besides a few hours he's generally out of his cage most of the day. He sleeps in his cage with the door shut at night so he does not have access to the outside world while we're asleep. As soon as I wake up in the morning I go into the living room and let him out to play or I bring him in my room with me while I'm getting ready. As far as treats go, he doesn't really get any. Not because I don't try to give them but because he's so picky he doesn't eat them. I'll hold one out and he shakes his head no and then turns away. As far as one on one time goes, I sit with him in the evening for awhile and scratch is head (his favorite thing). I also take him everywhere I can so he's really with me a lot. I take him to my parents house and the pet store at least twice a week. So, I guess, in short, I feel like he gets plenty of one on one time. Maybe he gets too much?

I've had Alex for about 2 months now. He is a really good boy but lately he's been very clingy. He only wants to be held by me. If anyone else is holding him and I am in sight he crouches and does all he can to get to me. He'll even go as far as flying down onto the floor and walking over to where I am to climb up my leg. If I walk by his cage he jumps onto my shoulder and refuses to get back on his playtop. He's becoming my velcro bird in every way. He's only 7 months old so I want to try to stop this behavior before it gets worse. Any suggestions?

Thank you all for your warm welcomes! I tried to post a picture of Alex as my avatar but it wouldn't accept the file size no matter how many times I resized it. I will work on that more tomorrow and get some photos of him up here. Again, thank you for the warm welcoming.

Just wanted to introduce myself. My name's Jenny and I have a Congo African Grey named Alex. Alex is 7 months old and I've had him for just about a month now. I love him to pieces. He's just now starting to get interested in talking. He'll sit there and mumble to himself for hours. He's great at whistling! I've never owned a parrot before so I'm reading everything I can about them to make sure that all his needs are met. Anyways, nice to meet you all!