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It sounds as if he is setteling in well. Be carefull of peanuts. They are very high in fat and Amazons are very prone to getting chubby, especially if you get his wings clipped as he cant fly to exercise. Good luck

I think, infact im sure charlie would not go near the scatterless seed cups,Mind you he is a wuzz.

Congratulations.They are a fantastic bird. I am sure you will enjoy each other. Let us all know more about him . Cant wait to hear everything.

Hello Stacy. Hope you enjoy the forum. Very good idea to do the homework before committing. Greys are long lived birds and take a lot of looking after.Good luck with the Amazon. Totally diferent bird to a grey but a fantastic bird.

How about the scatterless seed cup from 24 parrot

Hi I used a dish called quick-lock crock. They are different to the crock lock and Charlie who is a swine for throwing dishes cant undo them I order them from a web site www.24 parrot.com. Hope this helps

no. cracker is fully flighted I have never had him clipped. My vet insists on calling him crackers. He is just a hand full. Charlie the grey is no trouble and he is also fully flighted.Cracker is playing in the aviery at the moment till I go to work and have to bring him in.

Hi. Has anyone any sugestions to help calm my crazy cockatiel down. At the moment he is asleep with his head under his wing looking like the sweetest bird ever. dont be deceived he is not. I have had him since he was about 6 weeks old and due to his breeder telling me he was weaned when he wasnt I finished weaning him. He was born Jan 07. He is a fantastic bird and can be so loving and affectionate. Problem is that does not last long. Last summer I got him and my grey an aviery to go out in.After about 4 days Cracker the cockatiel got zinc poison. I realised very quickly that he was ill and the vet started treatment imediately. After a week in the vets he came home to finish his recovery. weekley vet trips for a month and a fortune in vet fees he fully recovered. The wire on the aviery was replaced and Charlie my cag was also tested, thank goodness he was fine.The problem I have now is that Cracker is hyper active. If I let him fly round the living room he is in to every thing. I have bird proofed as much as I can but he always gets up to mischief. He is also very agressive. He will step up no problem but he will also attack my hands, flying from one to the other and biting and lunging. This bird believe it or not is also very attached to me and very inteligent. It is as if he is just so full of energy he cant contain himself. He will go in to his carrier easily, loves geting in the kitchen sink to be spreyed and talks a storm. When he was in the vets last summer they put a notice on his little incubator saying carefull very aggressive. I put that down to him having to be injected 3 times a day. He really was ill and lucky to survive.What I cant make out is why one second he is so loving and the next he just turns very nasty. I am carefull to scratch only his head so as not to induce any breeding response.I just feel he is very hyper active. Any sugestions.The weather will soon be getting cooler and he wont be spending as much time in the aviery.

Hi welcome. Two weeks is no time for a grey to settle in.He sounds like he is doing fine.Keep up the head scratches and the rest will come. Just dont rush him. Try showing him how to play with his toys. If he is at all scared go back a step.

Hi Your grey is just cleaning his beak when he rubs it in his perch or bars.It does sound as if you and your grey get on well.

I remember when I first got cracker and realised he was not quite weened I was in my local supermarket choosing a jar of baby food for him. I must have looked confused,never being lucky enough to have my own children, a lady standing by me asked me how old the baby was,about 6 weeks old I replied. Oh no love you cant feed a baby that young on jars, you need the milk formular, come on I will show you. I went bright red and gave a garbled explenation that I was buying for a young bird, not a human baby. She walked away, obviousely thinking I was completely bonkers.Oh well thats life.

Hi all. I have just spoken to my vet who has assured me newspaper is safe.He uses it for his birds and thinks the only disadvantage is that you may get ink on your bird making him look dirty if he is light. I am going to carry on using it, its cheap, safe and yes you can have fun seeing who gets s..t on.

I used cat litter when I first got birds. I was told to only use wood based and unperfumed. I went on to use newspaper. I am going to ring the vet on Monday and get his views but my gut instinct is that newspaper is fine. People have used it for years and years without problems.

Hi Natasha and Boesman.My name is Sheila and I have a Grey, Charlie and a cockatiel, Cracker. I was in Kenya in 2006 and loved Africa. Welcome.

Yes caroline I will put a post to let you know

Thanks Patrick. It is interesting to read what the editor said.I will also give my vet a ring and get his views.

Thanks Siobhan

I was under the impression that news paper was safe.I thought all ink used had to meet safe standards. I have used it for years, so far without problems. I am also not a fan of grills on the bottom of cages, maybe misguidedly thinking they could injure the birds foot , I always remove them. I change the papers 2-3 times a day and the cage base is clean. I would be interested in hearing some more comments. Maybe with a view to a re think.

Thanks Judygram

Thanks Lyric, I just feel guilty for making him leave his old cage. He did need a new one though.

Charlies new cage arrived yesterday.It was assembled in record time.I was dreading introducing him to it as it normally takes 2 weeks to introduce a toy. I dont have the room to put it next to the old cage so charlie was in for a shock. I decided to just give it a go and see if he went in it. To my surprise he went in with only the slightest hint of fear. I spent the next hour playing with him and feeding him lots of treats inside the cage. The only thing he was not sure about was the food dishes. So I sat with him on my knee feeding him out of the new dishes untill he was quite happy to tuck in himself.Once I put the dishes and him back in the cage he was fine. When I covered him up for bed he took a few minuites to settle but I soon heared him grinding his beak,a sign he was relaxed so I left him. Today he is fine, playing with toys,eating and going in his toy box at the bottom of the cage. The only thing troubeling him seems to be that he cant quite make out how to climb in and out and up to the play top. Any sugestions on how to rectify this? He should be able to manage it without to much trouble. Maybe it will take a few days for him to try. I have taken him in and out on my hand and sat him on top where he is a bit unsure but not too bad considering. I know this is not the ideal way to introduce the cage to him, But I have no choice.Any sgestions would be very helpfull.

Well, I may be optimistc calling it flu, I supose it was a bad cold really. I am fine now though

thanks Judygram

Blue came and yes, he had a ball. He and Charlie for the best part pretended not to notice each other for a few days. They then started calling and answering each other, ok no tv for me. Blue just settled right in like I expected, first thing he done was check out his food dishes. Food all present and correct so all is well with the world.Blue loves his food. Charlie just pretended nothing unusual was going on,If I ignore him, perhaps he will go away. Cracker also did not appear put out by Blues arrival. My cousin stayed for a cup of tea to ensure Blue was ok and then went for a week to the Lakes. The next few days we had nice weather so my two spent a lot of time in the aviery,Blue went in his cage by the patio door to see out and get some air. The week went pretty much without incident except I was not too well. My week off work was spoilt through flu. I am going back to work tomorrow.Out of interest We gave Blue a weight check, 450 gms. I was a bit surprised as he seems a bit smaller than charlie who is 500 gms. Blue is not fat though, you can feel his breast bone. For his age, well in his 40s he is in pretty good shape. He moves round a bit slower than average, but he is an old man. He enjoyed his showers with a sprey bottle but I did not wet him too much. My two have their showers in the kitchen sink. I have video of Blue tucking into a corn cob and saying hello my mate but I do not know how to attach it to this post. I also tried to put one of Charlie doing high five on but I dont think it worked.Blue has gone home now and the house seems empty.

Hi terri Charlie is 5 years old now. I have had him sinse he was seven months. I got him from a couple who could not cope with him. Funny yesterday. I have been ill for a few days and my dad who is almost 8o brought me a bowl of home made soup around, Charlie was made up to see him and decided to chew his shoes, my Dad moved away and this was Charlies cue to start a game of chase round the living room, Charlie running round the floor as fast as his little grey legs would take him in persuit of my dads shoes.I was not well but was in stitches.