Marlene

Thank you so much. I have sttarted putting him to be a lot earlier (despite his anxious enquirie "Where you?"/ "Whatcha doin?") and besides head and chin sctratches he gets no petting from me. He is taking to spening time out of the cage away from me personally much better than I anticipated. I am just mad at myself for not realising sooner what was going on! I really appreciate the advice!!! Thanx again

It dawned on me this morning that Gus is displaying mating behavior. He has always dropped his wings and tried to feed me. When he was a baby I expected it, when he was slightly older I thought it was just a display of affection. Now that he is around 4 and the behavior is so pronounced that I have realized what he is doing. Lately he also will not tolerate me at all other than this mating thing he does in the morning. Any other time of the day he either gently takes a finger and starts gnawing on it really hard or he lunges to bite me. This has become worse and worse over time. I am at my wits end because every time he tries to eat me I tell him "NO!" sternly and walk away from him. As a result we are spending less and less time together and that is just a rocky road. Has anyone got some advice?

Nust be honest....I did not believe a word. I do so adore him and I was in his face saying it all afternoon so it was inevitable. Let's see if he says it again. Typical! I suspect he was just saying whatever floated around in his head.

Yup, I believe I am. Ofcourse it did help that spent the afternoon looking him in the eye saying "I love you" adnauseum.

He said so himself. For the first time today Gus told me he loves me. I know he truly means this - honestly - he's not just mimic-ing. I'm just so thrilled that he has finally added this to his vocab.

I have tried searching but perhaps I am not useing the correct terminology. Gus is now two years old and turning a tad grumpy. Admittedly it's been a hard year for him as I returned to full time work and he does not get out the cage as much. He's also moulting now so head scratched evoke nips. Is there such a thing as a terrible two's stage and will he chill out when he gets over it - which would be when? I also find that when he's been out for about haplf an hour he gets really snippy and literally dives at my toes and nips them pretty hard. I then put him back in his cage for a while and take him out again later. Is this perhaps because he's getting too much cage time. Is he telling me he wants to go back?

Thanx guys, will look into the vet/breeder option, but I do already think it will be ok.

I have had a look at some of the threads regarding this question but I suspect I still need reassurance. I am going away for a week later this month. It's my family's 1st holiday in 3 years and I cannot deprive them on account of a bird.... The problem is, this is my baby. He's going to be stuck in his cage for week with daily visits from my neighbour to give him fresh food and water. He hates pooping in his cage and will have no choice. I clean his cage up to twice a day, I cant expect her (the neighour) to do so. Will he be ok, how badly will he hate me when I return? He's only 9 mths old and I'm his staibility, the one that cuddles him - he wont let anyone else (other than my one daughter) cuddle him. HELP!!!

Yes, you assume correctly. None of our cages have grates over the paper. It has take SA forever to catch up. I see the luxurious new cages all have grates but the older ones did not. Yes, new cages all around are called for and will be bough. In the mean time I will have to make another plan.

Thanx guys. The paper shredding is really not a problem. My Gar never did this until December then all of a sudden she started shredding and laid. She still shreds but does not lay. The ringneck keeps moving the eggs around and has now put a food bowl over them. When I change her paper do I just put them back? What's made these birds do this all of a sudden? I would have thought the Gar was a little old to start now (she's 8). Stupid question....I have 2 daughters one has recently matured and the other is heading that way - could it be related???NO LAUGHTER PLEASE!!!!

Thanx Tari, I don't mind her tearing the paper up - she just gets so grubby. I'm currently looking for unprinted paper. Hope someone knows how I stop this from happening constantly.

I am really not sure what I should do with these eggs. A few months ago my single budgie laid an egg after I have had him (I swear it was male) for 8 years. I promptly removed the egg but was told I had done the wrong thing. She did not lay anymore but continues to act as though she wants to. She tears her paper and makes nests constantly but never lays. Now my ringneck has produced 2 eggs. She also has no mate but she evidently does not know that she needs one. I always used sand in her cage because I had been told (when I got her) that she makes a mess of paper. A few weeks ago the sand was wet so I placed paper. I was so thrilled with the fact that I did not have sand all over (and I mean ALL OVER) the room that I kept the paper regimen. Do I remove the eggs, go back to useing sand, leave everythibng as is or what? What is prompting these girls to do this?

Hey, I thought that was normal behaviour. Gus has always jumped. His favorite is jumping back and forth between my shoulder and the back of any chair I may be sitting on. I sit fairly far forward hopeing that he wont jum ont the back and chew on it but now the jumping is more fun than the chewing. He also jumps on his toys on the floor. It's really too funny - he looks like a vulture - spreading his wings slightly ang jumping two feet together - sometimes accompanied with much screaming at the offending toy.

So oftern I see the comment "just like a child" and our greys reall are. They test you just like a child would but I alwys get the impression when Gus Tests me that he's doing it for the laugh. What I really want to see is - what is it that we let our birds do that we would not let our kids do. I for one know that when we got Gus (at 7 weeks) he slept in my room with me until such time that I was comfortable with him sleeping on his own. With my girls - they went into their own rooms the day we got home from the hospital. When Gus enjoys his food, throwing it around and making a general mess - it's cute. Lets my kids try that! What can your bird do that your kids can't....like lick your nose.

These stories are just so cute. I'm completely jelous. Make no mistake, Gus is also too cute for words. He's a star at rolling over, any place, any time and my family must be starved for entertainment because we laugh every time. He has not started talking yet but I'm waiting in great anticipation. Keep them coming.

That sounds so funny. Do you plan on doing this regularly and if so how will you handle it in cl=old weather. Why I ask is I was planning to try putting gus in a basin ( he hates the spray but loves being wet)but the weather just turned cold. In South Africa we don't do central heating, double galazing etc as our climate just does not call for it so when it's really cold (lowest at about 5deg C in the afternoon) we do heaters and fire places.

It makes me so angry when I hear of a breeder or someone else that should know better doing this. It is highly dangerous for the bird to be badly clipped and my feeling is if they really cared about the bird they would make an effort to know better. I learned from experience (with a tiel) what a bad clip can mean and whenever I hear or see it being done my blood boils. Sorry, that was me ranting. Watch your baby, don't let him ride on your shoulder and as everyone is saying, pad the play and cage areas well.

I happen to be somewhere in between. When we get up (5.45am in the week and anything up to 8am on weekends) I take Gus for a poo then he waddles over to his play stand for some seeds. I take the kids to school and let Gus out again to play with me for a while. At this stage I give him his food for the day. Pata, rice, various fruits & veg, soaked pellets etc. He then sits with me while I do paperwork, phone calls etc. Once I go to the workshop Gus goes to his cage where he plays. I hear him screaming and growling at his toys and food all morning. At lunch time when the kids get home Gus is out again to play, snack on some seed and generally just hang out with myself and the kids. He "helps" me prepare supper and when we eat he gets his meal - whatever we are having. Just before bed I give him some more soaked pellets for when he wakes up. Meal times change, out time changes and his time out the cage changes. I really don't want him to get so used to a routine that if it gets broken he gets stressed. However, he will always know that he will be fed, cleaned and watered times a day.

Thanx Dan. No, I actually did not know. Spending life with aloes all over one does not actually realise. Seeing every second product "enhanced with PURE aloe juice" I've always assume that all sorts of other additives are used with a weeny drop of aloe. I will definately try this really soon.

Thanx LMG. Printed and on the fridge with the bill of rights. Your a star!

I havent logged on for a few evenings so I missed something... What on earth is a birdy booboo?????And what do you do with the aloe plant when you have one? I have plent aloe plants so I'm thinking I can use them.

I'm pulling your leg re the "dirty bird" smell. The only smell I know on Gus is a bird smell. Besides the smell of formula (as you said) when he was tiny "birdy" smell is all I know - but then all our birds have the same birdy smell. Please tell me if this aloe stuff is watered down at all. Ta

I agree. He's a keeper. Nothing make ma melt like a baby looking that content.

Does this aloe spray ger sprayed on just like that or is it watered down? Whatcha mean "dirty bird" smell - thats the smell of my baby already......

So then my Gus does snuggle. He loooooves his head being covered and tickled pretty much all over - legs, tummy, under the wings etc. I am getting him to lie on his back but this is only briefly. When he rolls over (when he's playing) he's quite happy to lie on his back for up to almost a minute - but then thats on his terms and he's generally clutching a toy. He's just soooo sweet - I simply adore him!