Mistyparrot

I am afraid I am one of those who hate to see a clipped parrot but I did enjoy your video. I loved your pictures in the shop and it is nice to see how well all your birds get along.There are a number of discussions on this forum about clipping so I won't go into the argument here. As for harnesses now is the best time to try one. Your bird is still very young and would not be troubled very much. There is no reason why that would make him bald. He is at an age where he may go through one or two moults over the next couple of years anyway. Harnessing is more difficult with older birds. Your Koekie looks like a healthy and happy bird but he is a bird and birds are meant to fly and that is also very important for their mental and physical wellbeing. Your parrot foundations seem to care more for the convenience of the human parrot keeper than the well being of the parrot. I hope you never take him in the street because a sudden noise from a car could send him into uncontrolled flight and danger! Steve n Mistyparrot

That is simply amazing Dan. As I live alone with Misty I am not even sure he knows my human name. He knows my brother "Tony" and my cousin "Ruth" and my daughter "Robyn" but he rarely if ever hears people call me by name. I think his name for me is "Babe" as that is how he greats me. Dayo must surely have heard you called Dan McQuiliams at some point and also Dan ? That said it is amazing what our fids seem to pick up on. Misty tends to be the one who decides when it is time to retire at night. He will start to say "Bed time" and he will get quite insistant. The other night I was watching a film on the box and his lordship decided it was "Bed time" but I was not ready and wanted to see the end of the film. So Misty after a few insistent "Bed time"s or "It's bed time" only to be ignored comes out with " It's bed time NOW!" It's a sad state of affairs when a 66 year old man gets bossed around by a parrot !!! Steve n Mistyparrot

Great link. Thanks Dan. Some one is bound to try this with a FF Macaw ! Steve n Misty

Misty is out all day when I or another human is at home which is most of the time but he is in his locked cage when he is put to bed. There are far to many ways for mischief otherwise. Where I live earthquakes are unlikely and there are extensive fire alarms . I am sure Misty is safer this way. Steve n Misty

That is the way Greys learn human. They don't hear human words as words in the way we do. They hear the whole sound and this is what they mimic. In this respect they are unlike human children who tend to learn phonetically. However they are quite capable of associating the learned words and phrases with objects, actions, emotions and events. They will use the voice of whoever they learned the word from. They can sound uncannily human. Or dog or cat for that matter. They can faithfully reproduce many sounds they hear. Grey can reproduce sounds that most humans would struggle with like the sound of flowing water! They do impart their own feel to the words as well but a Greys natural voice is formed in quite a different way from humans. They don't have vocal chords or a diaphragm like we do, instead they have a special voice organ called a syrinx at the bottom of their windpipe as it divides to the lungs. It is unlike anything we have . That said Amazons that I have heard seem to have a much more characteristic voice. Steve n Mistyparrot

Now I understand. Rikki has shares in Corelle. Very canny are Greys! Steve n Misty

This all sounds quite normal for a young Grey to me! Did nobody warn you. You will have to provide him with plenty of his own things to destroy. Fruit wood branches are good if you can get them. I am hoping that when you say "Hes on a lot of sugar or something" it is a figure of speech not that you feed him lots of sugar! Steve n Misty

I do hope no one tries to breed any more like this. Poor little mite. Steve n Misty

Just purse your lips so there is a small roundish gap and gently expel air. Don't blow to hard. You may need to try different mouth shapes and tongue positions but persevere and you will soon be able to annoy all your friends and loved ones .It is worth doing because your Greys will love you even more! http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080918054801AAxwmnf http://www.whistlingtom.com/basic_whistling.htm Steve n Misty

Junk food indeed. Who ever had him before you had no idea on proper feeding. Fresh fruit and veggies as well as a variety of nuts such as almonds and cashews are much better. It may help if he sees you eat these foods. Good for you too! Another advantage for having a parrot in your life! Greys are social eaters so if practical eat with him. Much of what you eat is OK but avoid salt and fats. Chocolate and avocados are poison to Greys. Check out the food and health forum. Never feed peanuts in shells that are not human grade and particularly if they have been exposed to damp. They can be a serious source of aflatoxin from Aspergillus fungas.This is deadly! In fact damp grain, nuts or mouldy veg can be also. To much sunflower can also cause liver problems due to it's high fat content. Steve n Misty

I see. In practise there is no difference between GAGs and TAGs as far as talking ability or intelligence go. The fact is not all Greys will be good talkers but if you respect your Greys intelligence and explain to him what you are doing he will learn to associate words and phrases with events and objects. If he has a whistled contact call, learn it and call it back to him. It would be good to give him one if he does not seem to have one. He can use it to contact you when you are out of sight. Some have said you should not encourage your bird to whistle if you want it to talk but that is a mistaken idea. It is important to him that you copy his calls. This is the way Greys and other parrots bond with each other and develop relationships.It will also give him the idea of copying your speech. He won't necessarily understand words the way you do but he will try to get meaning from them. Misty still uses the call he taught me when I first adopted him at two years old ( Him not me:) ) My GAG Misty has taught himself by listening and observing and he is able to communicate basic ideas and observations with me. Greys are very tuned in to picking up cues that you give out. For example if Misty sees me pick up my mobile and put my glasses in my pocket he knows I am going out and he will say "Got to go out" before I can tell him but not if he just sees me pick up only my phone or only my glasses. He can nearly always tell when I am about to end a phone conversation because he will say "Bye bye" before I do. He will also say "Bye bye" as I go out but not if I just leave the room. But as I have said treat your CAG so that he sees you as an equal and you wont go far wrong. Steve n Misty

Thanks for the link DawL The URL should be Steve n Misty

Ahh! The sweet sound of crockery breaking on a stone floor. Music to a Greys ears! Misty's favorit is drinking glasses. If he sees one left out he will go in for the kill so I have to be very mindful of that !:mad::eek: Steve n Misty

You know the saying "Cold feet warm heart" ? Steve n Misty

I concur with the others here. You have a CAG. Is there any reason why you particularly wanted a CAG rather than a TAG? There are Congos that are lighter and some are darker but that is quite normal. Either way you have a fine looking bird. Steve n Misty

I went through a period when most of my shirts had no buttons. Fortunately Misty moved on to other things. As others have said Gandalf will be fine. How was the vet trip the other day? All OK I hope.

I never clip Misty. He has a variety of different sized branches around the room that naturally keep his nails and beak in trim. It is mostly birds that spend a lot of time caged that have nail problems because cage bars are useless at trimming and often there are not enough climbing and gnawing branches because of space contraints. If you have to use clippers be aware that parrots tallons are living tissue that have blood vessels so a poorly judged cut will cause severe bleeding.Only trim the very tips. Remember they need their nails to grip and climb. They are not useless appendages. Take your bird to a vet who will show and explain the best way. Steve n Misty

I am not so sure about that. Misty knows who is boss......he is :eek: Steve n Misty

Peace and happiness to all for these days of good will and 2012 and may your Greys never bite but always sing sweet tunes. Cheers Steve n Mistyparrot.

Fingers crossed! Steve n Misty

Great video. Now you have to learn to whistle with him. He will love you to do that! Steve n Misty

What are you suggesting ??!! cc+ for sure!:cool:

I am in the UK and I think microchipping parrots is more common here. There is a central database for chipped birds and most vets will check a found bird. I think if you remove your Coco's ring a micro chip is worth having as it will prove ownership . Steve n Mistyparrot

14 hours eh! Maybe it's a case of "Absence makes the heart grow fonder":D I guess he thinks your not so terrible after all:) Wonderful news indeed. Steve n Misty

Wow it looks nothing like I remember! I guess there has been just a little development Have you given Gandalf the opportunity to bathe himself? As for head scratching even now Misty will only let me scratch his head when he wants. Have you tried beak rubbing ? Most Greys are very tolerant of that. One of the ways I got to bond with Misty was to whistle with him. We still use his original contact call now after more than seven years. He loves to have concerts with me where we copy each others tunes back to each other. The exchange gets more complex as we go on until I just can't keep up! I suspect this is similar to the way Greys bond in the wild. It certainly works for us:) Good luck with the vet. Have you considered getting him microchipped while he is there? Steve n Misty