pixiexoxo

I personally wouldn't ever do free flight with my CAG. Although I can imagine it must be a wonderful feeling to watch them, air currents or noises may spook the birds and cause them to fly off. There has been too many people that have lost their birds this way, the most recent being that of Tui, a wonderful CAG who was incredibly clever getting swept off by an air current. Needless to say, her owner is absolutely devestated at the loss, and that's one feeling I just wouldn't want to experience. My opinion though, others may disagree with that

lololol :laugh: Ahhh the feeling of winning a battle huh?!! Must invest in some of these lock bowl things! :woohoo:

AWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... How cute is that!!! Di, you lucky lady! Not only do you have a gorgeous baby, but one that will be very well educated on the finacial side of things by the time you get him home! lololol :laugh: xxxx

My Biggles stinks after eating garlic croutons, which he adores.... then again, everyone stinks after eating garlic lol :laugh:

I've been woken up every morning for the last couple of weeks to the Great Escape theme tune that Biggle's has managed to perfect. :laugh: He's now also saying: Good boy Pretty boy Helllllllo Iggle Piggle Peek-a-boo Oooohh Whatcha doin and he sings... In the windowwww (I keep singing how much is that doggy in the window to him, replacing the word doggy for parrot but he hasn't managed that one yet lol) :laugh:

Biggle's is going through a "difficult phase" too with his eating... He has started to pick up his food, with his claws, and posts it through the bar of his cage. Needless to say, my day is now taken up with constant picking up and hoovering :laugh: I can't suss out whether he's doing it because he finds it amusing or if he's posting us presents and is sharing his food lol. We're also still battling with the whole chucking his water bowl about game that he still occasionally plays lol. Biggle's table manners are shocking! but I wouldn't have him any other way :lol:

:woohoo: :lol: :woohoo: Am soooo pleased that you've finally got your baby!! Loving the name Monty ( my old cats name btw ). I can't wait to see how gorgeous he is! I'm sure you're gonna be a fantastic mum to Monty and that you'll soon be sharing your amusing stories with us :woohoo: Hugest of hugs Amy xx

Just look at the "melt your heart" eyes on that cutie! :lol: Gorgeous lil girl you've got there! Bet you're sooo excited about getting her home!! Good luck and looking forward to seeing some more of your baby Amy xx

I grew up being surrounded by budgies and canaries as my grandfather bred and showed them. I had my own budgie at the age of 8 and loved him sooooo much. I moved away to South Africa at the age of 11 and was introduced to a whole new world of wonderful birds. After many many years of wanting a parrot, I finally felt ready and took the plunge at the age of 30.... I thought I was grown up enough by then to take on the responsibility lol :laugh: Of course, I had heard about African Greys being fabulous talkers, but to honest the reasons behind me getting my Biggles was nothing to do with that. I had seen them in the wild many times in Africa and fell in love with their beauty at a young age. I actually had my cage and toys ages before I actually filled it! I really wish people would just appreciate what wonderful birds they are, and what they offer a home without the whole "are they good talkers?" thoughts. It's sad to think that people would discard them for the fact they may get one that doesn't talk. It's like giving a baby away because it doesn't do something they've been told it might do. Talkers or no talkers, in the closet or out of the closet... I think we're the luckiest bunch of barmy parrot lovers in the world! Amy xx

Hi Di! Just caught up with the topic... aww bless ya sweetie, I know you were sooooo excited about going to choose your new baby So sorry to hear that it didn't go to plan, but everyone on here has given you some great advice about letting the baby choose you. If you don't click with the baby that the shop is getting in, then just hang on and wait. We all know just how exciting it is when you're off to get a new baby, but it is a lifetime bond Fingers crossed that the baby you're going to see picks you! You'll certainly know what we all mean by "being picked" when it happens! Then you can join us all by being owned by your Grey! lol :laugh: Huge hugs and luv Amy x

Thanks for the info Mary. I didn't even think about DEFRA!! I have a verrrry good friend who lives 2 roads away from me that works for Defra so shall be calling into him later to see what he can suggest! I'll keep you all posted Amy xx

Hi marlene, I posted a very similar post a few weeks ago as I was going away for a few days and was fretting like mad! My Grey, Biggles, stayed with my parents whilst I was away and I had given them strict instructions not to let him out. I phoned every day and got my mum to put the phone on speaker so that I could have a 2 min chat to Biggles so he knew I was still about. He seemed to enjoy that and nattered away everytime he heard my voice :-) On our return, Biggles was sooooooo happy to see us and didn't strop in the slightest! I certainly won#t be worried about leaving him again if we go away on holiday as I know that he will love us just as much, if not a little bit more, when we get back to him! Hope that helps. Enjoy your holiday!!! :cheer: Amy xx

Thanks Mary, it may be worth looking into it. Has anyone in the UK got any ideas as to what to do or who we can contact???

Have just been out and bought an air purifer with our wedding present gift vouchers lololol. Hubby is well impressed! :whistle: Am so paranoid about Biggles coming into contact with anything smelly taht may harm him, but am equally as paranoid about my house smelling bad! I've bought one that releases negative ions to attract more bad things.... anyone know anything about these or have any reasons as to why I perhaps shouldn't use it?? There is an option to switch off the ions if it turns out that they are bad?? Amy x

Casper, The postcode for the sanctaury is PE22 8PP. You can multimap it to get a better idea of distance. Skegness is on the east coast and may time some time to get to from Leeds. Hope that helps Mary, the situation is awful and reading comments on other forums about this place makes me realise that we are not the only people in the UK that thinks this. I'm not sure what we can do about it to be honest as i'm fairly new to all of this but if anyone has any ideas, then please let me in on them Amy x

To add quickly, We did notice a couple of parrots that had got loose from the cages due to the wire fencing being so large... and i'm pretty sure wild birds were getting in..Makes me wonder what other creatures can get in and out that may spread nasty diseases?

Thanks for the link LMG... it certainly made interesting reading and raised points I hadn't even thought of. The breeding issue is an interesting one, and to be honest, I never noticed any boxes in the large aviaries at all! It's sad to think that maybe these people do indeed keep the birds instead of re-homing them as a way to "line their pockets". The entrance fee was just over £5 per person and extra if you wanted to buy a bag of food to take round. It can't be cheap to run the business. Seems like i've started a bit of a debate here! :blink:

Oooohhh... I didn't know any of this! Let me know what you find please :-)

Mary, it was indeed very hard to walk past them hence why hubby and myself came out feeling really upset. If I had the room, I would have taken the lot! lol I'm not sure on the adoption issue with regards to the parrot sanctuary. I couldn't find anything in any of the literature or on their web page that mentioned anything about rehoming. A savings account is a great idea! Seeing as i'm 30 years old myself, i'm hoping to be around for a long while yet to enjoy Biggles' company but I would imagine that Biggles will go to my son when I go, or hopefully by then, a grand child

I agree Christina. Maybe it's not a bad idea idea to think about what happens to our beloved birdies after we're gone (albeit a tad morbid). I know a few people that have their pets written into their wills incase something happens.

It was very sad Dan I was in tears when I saw some of the birds that had been plucking and generally damaging themselves, my hubby was choked too and my son just wanted to bring them all home. It's awful to think that people just give them away so freely without giving thought as to what they are going to be doing to them mentally. It was very clear that some of them had obviously spent the majority of their lives with human companions as many of them were incredibly cuddly and tame and talked very well. I'm sure that some are probably from homes where they had perhaps lost their owners through old age or ill health... no way that all of them could be from those circumstances though As I stated before the staff at the sanctuary are doing the best that they can do and really do care for the birds.. I just want to emphasize the point that in no way, shape or form am I slating them. I may get the lads from my hubby's rugby squad to come up with a fund raising idea to donate some money as i'm sure it can't be cheap to keep all of the birds there.

As far as i'm aware, they keep all the birds that they take in. They may send them about to other sanctuaries but i'm not sure. They do have a website... www.parrotzoo.co.uk , but it doesn't mention anything about rehoming on there that I can see. They actually adapt the birds to live outside by putting them in a seperate area when they first arrive. There was also a section for birds with problems and we saw many many poor birds that were plucked beyond belief and were also quite disabled (no bills etc). They are all obviously very well cared for by the team that works there and the majority of them are indeed very friendly. We heard many different versions of "hello" as we walked past the aviarys lol. I wish I lived nearer so that I could go and help as much as I could.

Hi all, My self and the family went to the National Parrot Sanctuary on Monday which is situated near Skegness in the UK. I was excited about seeing all the different parrots and spending some time learning about what the organisation does to help homeless babies. I wasn't expecting to see many Greys as I thought they were quite an unusual pet and that anyone that has a Grey would be totally devoted (as we are!) My hubby and I actually came away from the sanctuary quite upset as this is what we saw.... There was an aviary with HUNDREDS of Greys! The picture really doesn't show the full extent to how many birds were actually in there. It appeared to be exactly the same for the Macaws and Cockatoos too... Lots and lots and lots of them, although there was not as many smaller parrots. My only guess is that people buy these beautiful creatures thinking they make wonderful pets and don#t realise the amount of work and time that needs to be put into them so they get taken to the sanctuary. The sanctuary itself is a wonderful place with many beautiful people that care for the birds day and night. They are doing such a wonderful job. Just wanted to share this with you all, and if any of you in the UK are ever in the area, pop in to see them and give your support. :-) Amy xx[/img] [/img][/img] Post edited by: pixiexoxo, at: 2008/05/29 10:54<br><br>Post edited by: pixiexoxo, at: 2008/05/29 10:55

Hi all! Have just returned from dropping Biggles off with mum and dad and wow are they excited about having him! lol :laugh: Have written out a list of dos and don'ts and promptly stuck it to my mum's fridge and lectured her on all the important things hee hee.... I felt like I was the mother in the relationship today :laugh: Biggles was fine! He chatted away as normal and was loving the extra attention being shown to him so after staying for a couple of hours (just to make sure he was ok, and the fact I didn't want to say goodbye) we came home. It was AWFUL to walk into my house and see a big empty space where Biggle's cage usually stands, and my son promptly burst into tears, so got straight on the phone to mum to check everything was ok and could hear Biggle's whistling the Great Escape theme song in the background which put a smile on my face Thanks again for all the advice peeps!! I shall certainly be doing the daily phonecall thing over the weekend so I can hear him! Hugs Amy x

Awww what a gorgeous story! Thanks for sharing it with us