pearllyn

The etched windows and beads in the door are a great idea Jan - no way Tobie's going through that door as long as he's scared of the beads!! Thanks for the vid - it's good to see you've gone to such lengths to keep him safe. x

That is good news. Please keep improving Spock! x

As Jill says, he is a flighted bird and you'll just have to accept that. It's just Issac demonstrating that he want's to be with you so why would you want to stop that anyway? However, and I guess it is personal choice, but I don't allow Alfie on heads - it's a pecking order thing. In the wild the most important flock members get the highest branches. It's the same reason why cages and perches, in theory, should be lower than your head. Some people keep shoulders off limits too for the same reason, but I must have a big head cos it's still higher than Alfies if she's on my shoulder. Also, the phone thing - Alfie does this too! She goes nuts when we're on the phone. I don't know why - most of the time she's trying to grab it from us - maybe trying to liberate the little person she can hear is in there - I'm not sure. At any rate I don't allow her to do it - I use my 3 strikes and you're out policy and it is working. You just have to decide what he can and can't do, and be consistant. There's no point in letting him land on your head sometimes, when you will disallow it at other times - Issac won't understand this. Jill's right though - it's such a joy to have your grey come and find you when you're at the other end of the house! It's awesome!

After hearing so many stories on here about people who have been chosen by their birds, sitting down on the floor, on a big blanket with half a dozen babies playing around you, and then being "chosen" by one, I always felt a bit sad that it didn't happen that way for us. I mean, there have been times with Alfie when it's been hard work to say the least - what if that's because she wasn't sposed to be our bird? These are thoughts I've had in the past, but I'll quickly add it was just me being my usual overdramatic self, and they didn't last long. When we went to the bird shop for the first time, we were shown 3 small baby cages each with 2 - 3 birds in, all around the 12 week old mark. We were asked which one do you want to try - I pointed out the 3 largest (I wanted a boy and was told the big ones were more likely to be boys) The first two came on to my lap - cute as buttons but no more than that really. Alfie cam out and snuggled in instantly. Played with my fingers nice and gently and I knew right then she was the one. So I guess I chose her, and then she reciprocated. Either that or she was reeeeeeally sleepy!!:laugh: whatever the reason, we left a deposit on the spot and came back for her a week later (longest week of my life - no joke!!!) I know we got the right one when we came back because of her leg band. David said later that he knew instantly by the look on my face when Alfie was on my knee that that was going to be our bird. I have to say, now, I know Alfie is 101% ours and we are hers. This is an excellent thread Julie. Thanks for starting it.

It's lovely when it goes well. Here's a video of what can go wrong. It does have a happy ending, but a round 3 minutes in it gets really scary! We are rehearsing for our musical in the old school hall at the minute. It's huge and from my first inspection looks bird safe. I'm going to ask if we can take Alfie along one night to give her a good old fly. Will let you know how we come on. x

Good idea Julie. I was just going to post this when I found your thread. Very helpful!! http://www.24parrot.com/Avian-Vets-Avets/

Ahh Spock you're soooo brave, taking your medicine like that. Alfie and I hope you are feeling better soon. xx

Yes I've seen them too, and I think it's so nice when two species such as a cat and a bird can get along together! Obviously no-one told them they're sposed to be mortal enemies! I'm just not too sure what's going on here though. Obviously the cat is just enjoying a Tooenese massage, but I'm not sure whats on the birds mind! I don't have a problem with letting my dogs interact with my parrot, I watch them closely though to make sure the dogs don't get hurt! Thanks for sharing these.

Ahh thank you Ladies! The first one was a bit half hearted, but she really meant the second!! x

This is Alfie's version of waving hello!! xx

Ahh you're forgiven! We've missed you!

Spinner wrote: Dave, this was the very first thing we started teaching her. She learned it really quickly and always obliged for about a year. Now she decides when she is going to play along or not. It's soooooo frustrating but I don't know how to get her back to coming when I call!! She knows fine what I'm asking her!! She just sits and looks at me! I think timing has a lot to do with it. You can tell when she is receptive to a spot of training. Any tips would be greatfully received!!

This came up in one of Janet's thread lately so I thought this short clip might interest some. She flies up and down the stairs regularly, but this was straight down from the top of the door. It amazes me how brave she is getting! Hope you and yours are all well. Lyn & Alfie. xx

Lol Pat! So Frosty is an educated parrot who likes to read!! Not sure about the ink though, I think I've read of some on here who are given old phone books to chew, but I couldn't be 100%. There's bound to be a thread on it though!!

I'm glad Isaac has enjoyed his first outing. I can't wait till we get some warmer weather so Alfie can come out for walkies with us again! Looking forward to hearing about Isaacs future outings.

Lol Britanny. I don't know what it is about greys and pens - there seems to be many grey's on here with pen obsessions!!

Lol Debbie!! Jill, I can't promise anything but we'll work on it!! Ahh thanks Adina! I do think so! x

This is a great post Janet. It's a nightmare of mine too that Alfie will some how manage to get out and fly off. Off course, we all know that clipping a birds wings is no guarantee that they will/can not fly off, but yes, there are more effective things we can do that really must be part of our everyday routine. The biggest problem obviously is windows and doors. This is one of the least areas of concern for me. As some of you know, we live in a hotel, actually and apartment in a hotel. We only have one window that opens in our 3 rooms and that doesn't open more than 2-3 inches so is really only for ventilation. There are 8 exterior doors to the property, but we only use one for everyday use which (and this is a Godsend in my opinion) is a double door. The inner door is sprung so is always shut and it means I can go in and out of the exterior door without fear of Alfie trying to sneak through with me, which she does expertly! (see my latest post on Alfie's Maveric Manoeuvres http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-grey-lounge/169352-alfies-maveric-manoeuvres.html#180861 ) You can go through a door and be closing it behind you when she will appear through an 11cm gap! Janet your idea of having your posters ready to go just in case that awful thing happens is a really good idea. I think I'll do that. My other great fear is a fire, and how to get everyone out quickly and safely. I've decided that the cover that goes over Alfie's cage at night will be her impromptu travel arrangement in the event of fire - it's right there, would be easy to carry, and the dark would hopefully stop her from panicking. We do have trouble with recall - she's a wilful madam, but she tends to fly to one of us if she gets spooked by something so hopfully there's a chance of that if she were out. We do work on the recall tho!! The flying down thing is interesting, and we work on that for this very reason. She's got it cracked now, but I could see to begin with she was very hesitant to fly downward, I think it's because it's take great effort to stop in time before the floor - the momentumm picks up and she has to flap like crazy to land without a bump. She is such a great flier now though that it's not a problem for her. As well as all these precautions, I also pray every night that my babies stay safe!! x

Well I had hoped she would learn how to make a cuppa! So far, she only has the sound effects!!:laugh: :laugh:

These are beautiful Dee - the black one is particularly striking though. It's wonderful how creative you are! You're an inspiration Dee. x

At last!!! A thread by the people who really matter!! I have no idea how it took you humans soooooooo long to figure that one out!! Well done Debbie - you're a genius (as much as a human can be I spose). So my name is Alfie - I have two humans, david (I just luuuuuurve him!) and lyn (she's quite a good slave really and gives the best cuddles!) I don't have to worry about being allowed to use the laptop - it's mine anyway. In fact this whole house is mine, so's the car and the town we live in. It's all mine. My chihuahua thinks that everything belongs to her, and for the most part I just let it go, but sometimes I have to remind her who's the boss. My big dog is a real keeper - she always clears up after me - when she's done there's not a crumb left on the floor. So at long last lyn seems to have given up on feeding me that Harrisons muck. She's been trying for almost a year now - she must be soooo thick not to understand that I JUST DON'T WANT IT!!!!! I decided a couple of weeks ago to give it one last try (she's persisted so long there must be something good about it!) I perservered for a few days, but nope.....it just tastes crap. So a couple of days ago she got me some new pellets and they taste so much better, I've been eating lots of them. I may decide to dislike them next week but we'll see! So it's been lovely to meet you all - I'm off for a spot of sunshine. Take care you all - and make sure you look after your humans - they do have their uses!! Byeee Alfie xx<br><br>Post edited by: pearllyn, at: 2010/02/20 14:14

Well done Jill!! You started way after me and I hadn't lost that much in that time!! It's so much easier when you're young!!!:laugh: I've been full of the cold for a couple of weeks and so the excersises have kind of been put on hold. I'd lost a pound last week just by pure luck and cos I haven't felt like eating anyway. I haven't weighed this week because my appetite has been returning and I'm scared to weigh and see that I have put it back on! I'll be gutted!

Love these big rabbits. Want one!

Aahh these are such lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.

Jayd wrote: {Feel-good-0002006E}{Feel-good-0002006E} Goodness - she must getting on a bit!!!