Lyric

That's cute Kelly! Thanks for sharing your story with us!

birdstoolove- I commend you for coming on here and asking the opinions of those of us that have greys. I agree with most of what has already been said above. I cannot recommend breeding birds for a profitable business. When much younger and trying to decide what to do with my life I thought I would breed birds for a living. I waited over 10 years for the pair of Timnehs I have to breed successfully and even then I ended up with one baby so far! Believe me, this is something you do for the love of the birds, not for a profit. I learned that and now my birds are just my companions and I give them all the love and the best care I can. I'm not saying that someone could not be more successful at this but there are so many variables that it's just not a real wise investment if you are just trying to make some quick money. Gambling at a casino would probably make you more money at about the same risks! Good luck in whatever decision you make.

Hi Thomas- sounds like you are an animal lover like all the rest of us on here. We do love to talk about our babies! It's great that you and Rio are getting along already, I know you'll enjoy having him in your household. Welcome to the forum.

Welcome Beth- have you ever had a bird as a companion before? I think it's really great you have the patience to wait until after you are done with your remodeling. It really will be better to have things in your home settled before you bring a bird into it. I've been wanting to repaint my dining room for years now and keep putting it off because it would mean moving my whole flock out of the adjoining room and that would be so much work! Easier to just live with the room the way it is even though I hate the color. I hope you enjoy yourself on the forum and we're glad you joined.

Shamelessmuse- the whole "UhOh!" thing made me laugh! I do that too-people think I'm weird when they drop something and I say "UhOh- you dropped your ___" and pick it up for them. You know you're a bird person when you have an extra cage at work for your bird for when he comes with you. You know you're a bird person when a friend catches you in the baby food aisle at the grocery store, asks if your pregnant and you have to explain that you're buying baby food for your birds. (this actually happened to me last night!!):laugh:

There's so much good advice on here, Jeanese, I hope it helps. It sounds like you've come so far already with your McKinzie, her world is already opening up to be a better and more interesting place. The ideas that Louisejane gives about camping out next to her bird sound like really great ones for you to try. Mostly I can just say be patient, try not to reward negative behavior and never punish for it, but reward good behavior and give your bird all the love you can. Best of luck to you and we all look forward to getting updates on how everything is going! :cheer:

They always have to come up with some new game to amuse themselves don't they? With a new puppy in the house the game Lyric likes is dropping his toys on the floor and watching the puppy run off with them. He still hasn't figured out that he usually doesn't get things back after the puppy has been chewing on them unless they get a run through the dishwasher first! He's lost a couple of cardboard boxes that way and some measuring cups too...

Oh he's just beautiful! Do you mind me asking why you named him Dennis? That's kind of an unusual name for a bird, seems to me, anyway!

Great pictures and she's a pretty little thing. I like the name too! I wonder what her story was and how she ended up in your yard? She must have gone to the right place if you have made such headway and now you can hold her.

I had a pair of Pacific parrotlets, bred them, ended up with 3 babies that I handfed. I kept one and sold the rest. He can laugh like me and says my dog's name, Sparky, and pretty bird, and hello. Like Tari said, they do tend to get nippy, I don't really know why. They are so pretty and cute and little though, hard to resist. They have big personality in a little bitty package. If you do end up with one, get a handfed one and just continue to work with it every day to keep it tame.

I'm excited for you! You have lots of fun days ahead of you that is for sure. Don't forget to let us know if you have questions or need advice.

You always give great advice and kind words to everybody. Congratulations on reaching 10000 posts and we all look forward to the next 10000!

Good luck 2Girls, Angie probably feels the stress of the situation in everyone around her and she can't help but act out by chewing her feathers. Perhaps you could distract her a little from the situation by giving her more of her favorite treats and a new toy? I hope once things are back to normal she can settle back down and enjoy life again. I hope you enjoy your new house.

Any kind of cleaning products with scent can be irritating or sometimes even deadly to birds. Please tell your daughter to be careful and always check with you first before using any products around your animals. Also be sure she knows about the dangers of teflon and even scented candles can be dangerous. You can never be too paranoid where birds are concerned. I hope that it was just something in the birds eye but I'd air out the room until the scent disappears. Just my opinion...

She is a gorgeous grey. It's a great thing that your two girls can enjoy going outside and playing. We'd like to see more pictures whenever you get a chance!

It's quite unbelievable that this person is shipping babies that young and also unweaned. I'm glad you have decided to go somewhere else. I handfed my baby grey and it was definitely something someone with experience should do. I had experience with lovebirds, cockatiels and parrotlets but the grey was a new experience all together. Just getting him weaned took me much longer than it should have. I suggest you get a nice weaned baby from a reputable breeder and you'll have a much better experience- it may cost more but it will be worth it. Best of luck to you.

Welcome to the forum, there is lots of good info on here and good people too. It's great that Max has found a good home and it sounds like you too are going to have lots of fun together.

Roxy, how cute! I love the name and she looks so tiny and sweet! Is she going to get any bigger?

Hi Amy! Biggles is a beautiful bird and looks so innocent in that photo! Of course, having a TAG myself I know that innocent look is all a big act. Glad you are getting on well with him and finding the joy of being owned by a grey.

Lyric doesn't have a mirror in his cage either, but we make special trips to the hallway and bathroom to "look in the mirror". He really loves it. He'll kiss the reflection and look so pleased with himself. If I go by the mirror with him on my hand without stopping he strains himself towards it to let me know we'd better stop and look.

He looks like a little angel. I think you should give him that as a middle name, Casper Angel. That's actually Lyric's middle name although my boyfriend teases me that he should be called devil instead. I just love all the pics you've been posting, it's fun getting to see him transition into a big grownup perch sitting eating on his own little boy! You're going to have so much fun with him. Just be careful when you bring him home that Sweetheart and Molly don't get too jealous.

He's very pretty! Thanks for sharing with us.

Welcome to the forum, we look forward to hearing more about your flock, maybe you can share a funny story Ronda hasn't told us yet...:lol:

Thanks for the good advice everyone. I pretty much thought as much, but just thought I'd see if anyone on here had thought of anything useful for training them that I hadn't. I'll just keep putting Lyric in a different room or his cage when I cook. As far as visitors, we don't have many and the ones we do have don't have kids. The door in the room with Lyric's cage goes out onto a screened in porch so there's a buffer between him and the outside world if he should decide to get adventuresome. Believe me, I think about his safety all the time! Also, best of luck to you, siobha9, I'm sure whatever decision you make will turn out fine.

Although I know there are mixed feelings on this forum regarding leaving a bird flighted versus clipping wings- my Tag Lyric has never had his wings clipped. He went through a very clumsy period where he actually broke off all his tail feathers and this affected his flight so much that eventually he stopped flying anywhere except when frightened. This worked well for me because he would stay wherever I put him, I'd have him in the kitchen with me when I prepared our lunch and he could play on his table and be good while I cooked. Once he actually grew back enough tail feathers to be able to fly properly it took him a while to realize it. A few weeks ago he did realize it and now there's no stopping him. He won't stay where I put him and flies to me constantly no matter how much I put him back where I want him and tell him to stay. I try to always use positive reinforcement with him and not punish him ever, but lately I've had to put him in his cage more often to keep him out of dangerous situations. I feel this has had an impact on him because he can't be out as much, anytime I'm cooking he has to be in a different room or in his cage- he has an obsession with the stove now and lands on it if I leave the room for a second or turn my back on him. I tell him "No!" firmly, "That's Hot!" even though it's not (I don't let him in there if it's hot because I know I can't trust him), and put him back on his table and tell him to stay. I turn my back to do something and he flies to my shoulder. Any ideas for using positive reinforcement to help get him back under control (without a wing clip?) I'd like to be able to train him to stay off things he shouldn't land on but I'm really not sure how to do it besides moving him off it repeatedly and he doesn't seem to be catching on to this or is doing it for the attention or who knows? I'd like to know how other people with free flighted birds handle this situation.