BaxtersMom

I am so so so glad to hear that. That's great!

<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/26 04:20

I think everyone loves seeing pictures and if there's a spot to put them in I say go for it:) I will share with you one of my early mistakes and hopefully it will help you from the doing the same. I hope you don't mind and you might already know this. When I brought Baxter home all I wanted to do was be with him and pet him, etc. I was able to pet him on the head which was good but I wanted to pet him more than he liked at first and I was pushing him too much. He would bite me alot and it hurt because he bit hard:pinch: He even drew blood several times. It would have been okay I think if I pet him a little bit and left him alone but I was anxious and kept petting him when he didn't want me to and I kept getting bit. After a few days I finally figured it out. I still pet him but I learned his limits and didn't push him. Took me about a week to figure it out:S He hasn't bit me hard since the first week. Each time I would pet him I would go a little further, from the head, down the neck, eventually all the way down his back. I think he even likes his back petted. I am now working on petting his wings. I can tell he doesn't it like much yet:angry: but he is allowing it. I go at his pace, not mine and it's working. Baxter doesn't even bite anymore. He will now take my fingers in his beak and be gentle as can be with me. Yea! Baxter was used to people but not used to being handled at all. Baxter doesn't like me to pet him much in his cage but does allow it occassionally. I usually do it when I have him out of his cage on my hand. I would pet him as much and as often he is willing to let you.<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/26 04:21

I know what you mean. My house is small too, 1100 square feet and I am worried about the space too but luckily it is an open floor plan so he could do some flying and should have plenty of room to turn once he figures out how, that is;) I just feel sorry for him staying on his cage or inside it all the time especially if he doesn't want to. We'll see how it goes. I took him down from his cage a few hours ago and we did some more practicing. He is trying to get or fly ahead of my hand now. Before he would hold on to my finger (for dear life it seemed), now he's pulling away from my hand and getting in front of it and I have been putting my hand under his belly to support him while he goes:laugh: I let him fly from just a few feet off the ground too and just let him land a few times so he can figure it out. Shouldn't hurt too bad from only a few feet up. When we first got him I planned on clipping his wings right away so he didn't fly away from us. Then I learned he didn't fly at all:huh: Now I am feel for bad for him because he wasn't allowed to do anything in his life I don't think and I want to make up for all those bad years he had.

This one was so fun to read. LOL.

That is fantastic!!! I am so happy for you. I think Nokkvi is already letting you know in little ways how much he appreciates you rescueing him and giving him a happy life. When I first got Baxter I quit the TV and just watched him and talked to him for hours and hours too. I couldn't think of anything else other than him. 5 weeks later, I'm still that way:) Can't get enough of him, I guess. One thing I did when he first came to stay with me was sit by cage and talk softly to him. I kept saying "good bird good bird" over and over in a soft soft voice. It seemed to soothe and relax him. I never tried to touch him when I was speaking softly to him so he didn't have to get spooked. He liked it and still does. I am so happy for you because I know the joy you are feeling right now! That's wonderful he has already checked out his new cage. You are letting him do things at his pace and it's working and will gain his trust that way. Good for you. Can't wait to hear more!.

Wow! Had no clue. Amazing!

LOL.:laugh: HaHa,my husband seems to think that Baxter is too bulky to fly and it's something we won't have to worry about much. Ha!.:laugh: I tried telling him they fly in the wild;) and he will do it here if he's allow:) . And now with all your stories I am getting so excited. I thought the greys would maybe fly from the perch to a person and back but it sounds like they can be great acrobatic flyers, too. I will definately keep encouraging him to fly. After we practice I always tell him what a great job he has done and give him a treat. And when he's flapping on my arms I tell him "Fly Baby Fly" He follows my lead and does fly towards the couch as I'm guiding him but he holds on to one finger the whole way untill he lands:side: . He didn't have my finger earlier today though but he really did okay. Silly me thinking I could encourage him to flap but not realize flying would come next. Atleast didn't think it would happen this soon. I thought the heavy/fast breathing was probably because he wasn't in shape for it yet. Thanks again. I loved all the stories! Keep them coming so I can show my husband what we are in store for and of course all advice welcome.

Aint that the truth! I love that one

Many of you may know by now that I got an adult CAG about 5 weeks ago.(I talk about him all the time:) He was cage bound and neglected in my mind. He didn't fly and that's okay but now that he is able to be out of his cage when ever he wants and especially on me he is flapping those wings! :woohoo: I was worried about his landings and got lots of great advice on how to help him land. Let him do it and build his muscles up, etc. Guide him to a soft spot like the couch or bed, untill he learns his lands better. We'll we've been practicing every day and he likes it:woohoo: but he does get to breathing fast after only about 4 tries to the couch. (Is that normal?) And today there was some kind of loud noise outside and he just flew right off his cage through the living room and into the dining room. About 30 or 40 feet:ohmy: The cage he flew from is about 5 1/2 feet tall and as he flew he was continually going down gradually, but doing pretty good:) . He never a flew up. He landed in the corner wall near the kitchen. He wasn't going fast at all by that time and he was only about a foot off the ground when he hit. It wasn't a hard hit at all and it probably would have been a great landing had he had just a few more open feet to fly. There's my concern. I don't want him to bang into walls or anywhere he can hurt himself obviously. What is the next step in flying. Is he going to start doing this all the time on his own? We do have low ceilings and small rooms but it is an open floor plan all through the house from front room to the back of the house and large doorways where we we do have them. I'm sure since he has done it once it is bound to happen again as he get more confident. And his confidence seems to be growing daily:silly: Will he learn to judge his distances as he goes along? And what about learning to take corners and having more control? He doesn't know how to stop himself yet or slow down or so it seems. Will he learn that on his own, too? Is there anything I can do to help him here on out or do I just let him figure it out on his own? Any advice is appreicated. I was also wondering if he will want to fly more or was it just that he got spooked? Do most greys fly around the house or sit or stay on or in their cage? I have no idea. I am so excited that he flew and so proud, too;) but one accomplishment can lead to unknown harms I am finding out. I would also like to hear how other greys bird fly so I know what to expect in the future. Thanks.

Hi Renee and welcome to the site. I adopted an older bird too and I have found this site so helpful to me. My grey was neglected too but I didn't realize how much untill I joined the forum. Thanks to everyones help and advice Baxter is making huge accomplishments. I've only had him a little over a months and seems every week I have a new question and thank goodness I have all these members to help me out. I'm looking forward to hearing more about you and Sonya. It's funny you said you were teaching her the theme from Andy Griffith...Me too:) He learne some parts of it and fills in the rest with his own lyrics. It's so funny.:laugh: :woohoo:

Hi Pug and Smoke. Great to have you here. I adopted a 12 year old grey in July and had no experience with birds at all other than a parakeet. This place has been crucial to me and Baxter. He was kind of neglected and with the help of everyone on this forum he has made so much progress! I had so many questions and everyone is more than willing to help. Looking forward to hear more about you and Smoke.

Thanks everyone. I know it's probably the "norm" in most greys life to play with all their toys but it is such a great accomplishment for Baxter! This morning when I uncovered him he was on the cage bottom working on a small piece of leather strap. Then when I was taking his daily food bowl to his cage he was up on the perch with the big leather strap trying to undo the knots:ohmy: I guess little by little he is coming around and I just get all warm and fuzzy inside when I see him progress{Love-000200BF} Out of all the pets a person can have, I never would have believed a bird could make me this happy.

My oh my!!! Is this little birdie going to be spoiled or what! Great job on all of it. That playstand is amazing!!! {Feel-good-000200BB}

Here's another pic of him with the ball. He seems to like the simple things like chains and anything with a bell in it. I got him a new bell foot toy too and he loves to shake it vigourously and then send it flying across the room. Only when I am with him though. I guess I'm fun to play with. I know he sure is.

I posted a previous thread because Baxter didn't know how to play with toys. This is an update on him. I have been working with him daily and he will really tear up those bells and balls now and just whip them all over the place:woohoo: . It is so fun to watch. I've only noticed him playing when I initiate it. Once I start he is ready to play though and will play for a long time. I was wondering if eventually he will play hard when I am not there. He does the occassional nipping of the chains and some toys but it's pretty mellow. When I am there he goes all out and it looks like he is having so much fun now. Thanks for all the good advice. Here are a few pictures of him having some fun. <br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/24 23:24

Hi and welcome to the forum. Good for you taking on a an older and scared grey and giving him a much better and happier life. I'm sure you will find it very rewarding once the prorgress is being made and it sounds like it already is. This forum is a great place to find info and there are so many people here that can help you with the questions you may have. I think patience will be the key, too and time. Keep us posted. We'd love to hear more about him and pictures if you can.

Thanks for posting that. I have heard about the greys growling but didn't know what it sounded like. So far, I haven't heard it from Baxter. Sometimes when Baxter is covered up for the night and hears something, he makes a light sound like someone impersonating a ghost and goes Woooooo. Wooooo but it was nothing like the bird in the video. Thanks again for sharing.

Hi and welcome. I adopted a 12 year old grey about 5 weeks ago and I'm loving every minute. They are such a great joy! Good luck with it.

Hi, great to have you here. We are looking forward to hearing all about your new baby:) And we'd love to see some pics if you can.

I just bought a used bird cage off of craigslist.com too. It was about $500 cage atleast and I picked it up for $150. It was only used for 8 months (the girl took her grey to California and got a new cage out there. Anyway, I recommend craigslist. com for everything. They were asking $200 for the cage and I asked if they could go any lower and they did. It's always worth a try and usually works. This cage was in new condition, too.

I was also wondering to clip or not to clip myself. I wanted my grey to be clipped so that he did not fly away. Then I talked to 2 other bird owners that said they had their birds wing clipped and they flew away anyway. Clipped wings and all! One guy said his birds wings were clipped and he took it outside that same day they were clipped and it flew away. Luckily someone found him and he got his bird back but that left me wondering if having your birds wings clipped is a false sense of security?

I am not judging you and I never will. I too am inexeperienced and don't want to be judged either. I think everyone is concerned about the baby and it's a heated subject. Don't give up. I think it's just an emotional subject. I did re write/edit the comment about the smileys because I really didn't see any that bad.

Gee I am so glad I got an adult grey. Seems so much easier and this is why I would be scared to get a baby. I have no experience at all so can't give any advice on what to do with a baby grey but Christian is letting us all know what's going on(right or wrong) and the people who are experienced should guide him and help him. This discussion is getted heated:angry: and I do understand why. I just think Christian has a new baby and needs advice on it and maybe he won't take all advice but he probably will take a lot it. I hope this wasn't a mistake posting this but it is how I felt at the moment. I'd hate to see Christian leave the site because he's frustrated. Christian do you have any books on baby greys and how to care for them or even online. I know I have no idea myself and books may be kind of general but do cover lots of topics. I got one for Baxter and I do find myself going back in it for reference from time to time or I ask here for the experts opinions and get lots of great advice always. I do agree with what the previous user said that you don't sound all that concerned about everythin going but I'm sure you are. Your title to the post was Almost Dead really caught all us grey lovers attention!! And we are almarmed. Everyone is just here to try and help and I can tell they are very concerned about the baby. This baby is a huge responsibility and believe it is a crucial time in his life. We all need to pull together on this one.  Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/23 21:53<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/08/23 22:01

Hi, glad you found this forum. I too find myself lacking in the friends department and in a few weeks time found many on this site more than willing to give me advice and just to listen to my birds accomplishments or setbacks. I see grey owners on here from all over the world, too. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Looking forward to hearing more from you. See if your work collegue might be willing to part with the grey especially if she isn't that thrilled about it anyway. Sounds like the only reason she has it because she had too. Maybe she would sell or give it to you somehow. It tears me up when I know someone is mistreating or neglecting an animal.