Janfromboone

So happy that Jake is back. I didn't know what you and Judygram were talking about. Sorry I held you up now that I know what was going on. 45 miles away is a long way.

Loved seeing adaya fly. How did you teach her the recall. Tobie comes to me when "he" wants to. Very hard to make him think he has to come just because I say so. He is so spoiled. I want him to know how to come before he gets his wings and flight though.

I just had to share this because it was such a surprise. My mother is 99yo and my sister and her two childred and my mother came over tonight. When I saw the car drive in the driveway I had a talk with Tobie. Now Tobie say "Hello" to Judy and Mother when they come in. Tobie is pretty antisocial about strangers coming to the house, even my family members who come once a week or so. Erin, my 25yo neice was the first one in and she walked up to Tobie and said "Hello" to which Tobie replied. "Give me a kiss" and then offered his beak to her, which she sweetly kissed. My sister entered the room and got exactly the same treatment. I was amazed. My nephew came up to Tobie and said hello and Tobie waved his beak at him like "come a little closer and I'll show you what else this beak can do". How do your greys treat visitors in your home??

That was such a close call. So glad everyone mad in out ok.

Letting your bird fly free takes a great deal of training if you expect the grey to return home. Many greys will accidentally fly out of the door and they fly away even though they are trained to fly to their owners in the house and are devoted to the owner. Check out Tui's videos on you tube.

Wow!! Kokamo has quite a vocabulary doesn't he. I didn't know that quakers were so talkative. Loved your video!!!

Nalani toys has a stainless toy basked that I hung without the lid from the side of my cage and I put foot toys and wooden chew blocks and wiffle balls off the bottom of Tobies cage in the toy box in the morning when I clean Tobies cage. Of course the next morning most of them are back on the floor of the cage.

your grey is so snuggled down - cute!

I've been wondering about some of these same things about the older greys. Not so worried about snuggle time decreasing - Tobie snuggles, but already it is less and less. That's fine because now when he comes to me he either wants to play or just sit on my shoulder while I watch the news or read. I do worry about him becoming agressive though. In another post some of the greys like to play rough. Tobie doesn't play rough and has never bitten be hard enough to break skin, or hurt me even though he was objecting to what I was doing. I can't imagine him changing into a bird I have to use a dowel to get out of the cage or off his play stand. I wonder how many birds become biters that never bit before.

She seems so content to be upside down.

Maybe you should fix a glass of ice water for your bird when you fix your own. I know - They would still want yours.

ZivaDiva and Tycos mom -- that's sooooo funny!!!! I know where Fergie got his explative, but where did the cockroaches come from. Jan

My pet store will order anything I want, and I usually will buy from them. I order my bird food too from the local pet store. Still I get a kick out of some of the online bird toy makers. I like the Nalani toy site.

I think the box on the upload page got checked. See if you can change the options.

I wonder if they really would be having a more fulfilling life in the wild. It is definitely what they are genetically programmed for, but listen to all the heartfelt love we have for them cooking for them and toys and playstands and freeflying in the house and treks outside. Maybe we aren't doing such a bad job. Maybe our birds have a pretty rich and enjoyable life such as it is with their captive bird, human, canine and feline flock members.

Thanks for your comments. Pogo and Tucker and Brandy are my dogs. He left Brandy out on this one.

Tobie only sleeps at night. He just puts his chin on his chest and sleeps. I can't believe all of these adoreable pictures. Especially the one (luvparrots) of the little guy sleeping in your hand - upsidedown no less.

great video and congratulations on his first word

Funny!! Wonder if the breadman will ever figure that out. It's bound to happen again.

I got it! don't know what was wrong. Cute video. Looked like the bird wanted to play the guitar too.

Wonderful! I'd like to sponsor a bird. I'll look into it.

Jane08, I don't think everyones personal needs are the same and therefore what everyone gets out of having a grey is most likely different. You love your greys in your own way. Yes they are a lot of mess and demand a lot of attention. I can't seem to stop talking about Tobie to everyone I meet and post youtube videos of him at his best. I worry that people who have never had any desire to own a bird will make the rash assumption that my stories and videos are all there is to it and what fun. Based on that alone why wouldn't anyone want a parrot. The hard fact is that they are messy, they poop all the time, sometimes they get excited and bite or punch holes in your shirt or chew up your lampshades or carpet if you aren't watching close enough. Some days you might like to leave them in the cage all day and just do your own thing -- actually there is nothing really wrong with that once in a while. My sister and friends watching Tobies videos have said, maybe I need to get a parrot. I always list those things that are negatives. It truly takes a special kind of person to keep a parrot and do it well. Thats not to say we don't acknowlege the negatives, we just are willing to live with them.

Tobie bathes like Tyco. Sometimes he gets excited some times he just stands there, but he always walks under the spray on his own. I never force him.

I couldn't get the video to come up for some reason. Cute pictures though. Good for your daughter and good for the birds.

Tobie learned a new word last night and now he has to practice it in as many uses as he can come up with. He loves to mix and match new words with old phrases. When I got home from work he carried on like this for almost an hour.