Lyric

That's good news! They tend to be messy eaters, but maybe he'll stop some of the tossing now he knows it's not getting him anywhere but an empty food dish

Hi Tony- we're glad you've joined us. Harry may take some time to adjust to the changes in his life, but with time and patience you'll have a new friend for life.

Welcome Charmain- we're glad you've joined us!

Hello Jackie and welcome to you and Jojo. Do you find that Jojo is still going through the terrible 2's stages?

Hello Laws- hope you are having lots of fun with your new little one. Glad you've joined the forum and our big family!

Hello Sarah, glad you've joined the forum and the great world of being owned by a grey. Welcome here!

Welcome Diane! Hope you get poor Polly's feather problems straightened out. The aloe should help nicely.

Welcome to the forum Gina. We all look forward to hearing more about your flock. Zazu is a very pretty bird.

Hello Jason! Welcome to the wonderful world of being owned by a grey. Ernie sounds like a cute little guy, have fun with him!

It's going to be hard for me to write this. I'm going to take a deep breath and go for it. I lost a good good friend on Friday. His name was Crackers and he was a very old blue crown conure. Probably about 15 years ago, I heard that a neighbor was looking for a new home for her parrot. Of course I had to investigate! I asked her about it- well, she loved Crackers very much, he was totally bonded to her, but she had a new baby. Every time she'd leave the room where Crackers was, he'd start the famous conure screaming- wanting her to come back to the room with him. It would wake the baby up. She'd gotten to the point where she couldn't handle it anymore and wanted Crackers to have a good home where he could get more attention. So, Crackers became a member of my flock. He was an imported bird. I don't know how old he was then, but sometime during his life he'd lost part of one wing, so he never could fly. I'd take him outside on nice days and let him play in a small little tree in my front yard- until the tree eventually grew too tall for me to reach the top of it. Crackers was a sweet bird with a very loud voice, a strong desire to nest with me and always wanting attention. Since he couldn't fly, he'd run around on the floor of my house, sometimes even chasing my terrier mix dog Sparky around with his little beak open. Sparky came to respect that beak and always stayed just a step out of reach. Over the years, Crackers became mostly blind as well. It was quite a sight to see him, a blind bird that couldn't fly, chasing around the room after my dog that was many times his size. He never had any trouble navigating his way around either. I miss him so much, my bird room is so much quieter without him and I just hope he knew how much he was loved. I hope I gave him the best life he could have had without his freedom. Even though I miss him greatly and grieve his loss, I'm still happy inside that now he has both his wings back and can fly free forever. I love you Crackers.

Congratulations! I'm excited for you too!!!

- when you tell visitors at night to be quiet because the bird is sleeping... - when you spend more money on new bird toys, food, playstands etc than on clothing or food for yourself. - when you simply must log onto the grey forum to share the latest bird related exploits at your house and its the middle of the night. - when your boyfriend hears you talking in the other room and no longer yells out "what?? I can't hear you!" because he already knows you are talking to your other "significant" bird other!

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss of Max. I know you truly loved him and he was a big part of your life. It was good of you to adopt Scooby and give him a better life. I do hope Max can find his way home to you somehow.

Hello Casey, welcome here. Olivia is certainly a beautiful grey.

Hello Sean, welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your upcoming addition, baby Tui. Glad you've decided to start joining in the fun.

Yes, I agree the slow and patient approach is a better one for a wild grey. They are very sensitive birds, scare easily and sometimes it can be hard to win back their trust. Take things slowly and move at the birds pace. I really liked the book "For the love of greys". It's one of my favorites and I like her philosophy on dealing with greys. Different approaches might work well for other people or other birds, but I think you have to do what makes you comfortable. Best of luck to you!

Yes, ignoring it is hard but try not to make a squeal or gasp. Give the bird a dirty look and a firm "No" or "No Bite!" and put it back in the cage for a time-out. Next time it will think twice about it (but still might bite anyway, they are certainly little imps at times!)

Casey, so sorry to hear about your grey hurting her tongue! I hope she is feeling better fast. Sounds like you did the right thing taking her to the vet to check it out- now you'll both just have to wait for it to heal itself.

Hi Jake, we're glad you've joined us!

So glad to hear that things are slowly improving between Lucy and your husband. If he's her only source of care for 3 days perhaps they will get even closer while you are away. The toenails have a vein in them that will bleed if the nails are cut too much. I'd recommend getting a concrete or sandy perch for Lucy to sit on occassionally and this should cut down the need for frequent nail trimming, if she sits on it often enough you may not need to have them trimmed. If you do have them trimmed, next time warn the vet to take off the smallest amount possible to avoid bleeding problems.

Welcome here Tommybar, sounds like you'll have lots to share with the rest of us, we all love to share bird stories. Great work on rescuing so many of your companions, I'm sure you've made a big difference in all their lives.

Hi Wendy, welcome here! You must be so excited to be bringing home a new companion. Please let us know if you have questions or issues as you start your relationship with this new TAG.

Hello HCSBForever, welcome to the forum. We enjoy hearing your mom's stories about Alex so I bet your's will be just as entertaining. Birds can be annoying at times, don't you love it when they are being loud and you are trying to watch your favorite tv show? I bet Alex enjoys having you as his friend anyway.

Hi Tommy! Welcome to the forum. I'm so glad that you decided to try giving your grey a fresh start with you. I know taking a bite from one of them can be scary, but they can tell if you are afraid of them and use that to get the upperhand. However, if he's been stuck in the cage ever since, it didn't work out so well for him. LindaMary has given you lots of good advice. It is going to take time and patience for Jake to understand what is going on with this new relationship with you. You need to move at his pace and accept that he may have a few setbacks (biting you) along the way. This is his way of telling you that he isn't happy about something. By the way, how do you react when the bites occur? You should try not to give a big reaction, give him a dirty look and a firm "NO" and put him back inside his cage for about 10 minutes or so, ignoring him. He will soon catch on that if he wants your attention he shouldn't bite. Sounds like you are on the right track with ordering him a playstand. He will come to appreciate the new freedom you are offering and in time perhaps you can have a great relationship with each other. Thanks for giving him a second chance.

I don't play any on-line games (mainly because I don't currently have internet access at home). But I do enjoy on occasion Playstation II games, my favorite was "Beyond Good or Evil". I like the ones where you run around and explore and solve puzzles. I'm definitely a geek but spend most my extra time either playing with my animals, reading or doing crafts. I think those online games do really look like fun!