LindaMary

This is all such great stuff, Pat and Erika! Congratulations to both of you - and good work! Your tenacity and creative ideas are an inspiration to the rest of us!

Here's to Mom!

Thanks to you, too, Pat! My mother and I were talking about it last night and I said I guess it's really like adding children to your family one by one - you simply expect that they will learn to live together in peace. (In fact that's the first thing I did when I started seriously thinking of adopting Tanner : had a long conversation with Mary about it and sussed out her feelings on the subject of having another feathered "sibling".) Tanner's wings are clipped at present, and Max's are just starting to grow out, so I expect that will aid the transition. I plan to leat Tanner fledge as well, but he'll be a bit behind Maxi in the process in any case. I really appreciate the input from both of you - it's very reassuring. :)

I am guessing that personality trait of yours is a BIG component of why your birds are responding so well to their rehoming with you. They sense your compassion. They just know you are good people!

Thank you for the detailed reply, Erika! I think you are probably right that (1) you are very lucky to have ended up with at least three birds whose personalities just seem to mesh quite well, and (2) your own attitude has really helped that along. Somewhere in one of these posts recently I remember reading that you grew up dealing with bad-mannered horses, and although I have much less experience with horses I have enough to know how sensitive they are to the human's attitude, too, and how HUGE a difference it can make when you are handling them. If I'm not mistaken, you have acquired this 4-bird flock over a pretty short period of time, haven't you? How long have you actually had Baxter?

Wow Pat - what a handsome boy you have there! And outside his cage - on voice command! You rock! And so does he! {Feel-good-000200BB}

I hear you, guys: I'm doing the same thing - and I think your take on it is is right on target, Pat. But outside the forum I also worry about how adding Tanner to my little family is going to affect Maxi and my relationship with her - and that's a subject where the both of you and your experience are going to be very important to me, I think. When you get a chance - both of you! - tell me a little bit about how your greys are reacting to seeing a little less of you and hearing the new bird (since I assume Cooper's still in quarantine, too...). I know it will be different because both of your greys are also already accustomed to sharing you with other birds, whereas Maxi is the first bird here and my princess. I know she will be the alpha girl, and I know that my own attitude should be "this change is going to happen but everything's going to be just fine" - which basically IS my attitude - but any insights you can offer will be welcome! (She's over here behind me on her cage saying "Good girl":P )

Congratulations, Pat! See? All your hard work and creativity is starting to pay off. I'm so pleased for you!

What good news, smokey! Isn't it amazing how things work out when they are meant to be...

Welcome, alipally! I think you will like it here, and I know we will love having you! Sounds like you are a pretty experienced grey owner. When you get a chance, show us some pictures of Wallis and Rocky, okay? We love pictures!

I think it would be a GREAT idea to have a parrot toy room - and I would also expand it to include everybody's wonderful posts on homemade playstands and perches. What do you think?

Wow, Erika, sounds like Cooper's making himself right at home! He actually sounds like a really well-balanced and confident bird, despite the conditions he came from. Y'all sound like you are making really quick progress with him, and that's great that he seems to be choosing your husband as his #1, since it was your husband who first wanted an amazon. Pat's right - you seem to have a real gift with birds: they sense your good will. Bravo!

Hey all, I got to go see Tanner again last night because my mother and brother wanted to be introduced. Turned out it was a good time to go because the store was pretty quiet. He was just a doll with me the whole time last night - as soon as he saw me he started the upchucking routine, even tho I told him Thank-you-but-I'm-going-to-get-my-own-dinner-soon.. He wouldn't come out of his cage, but he really spent most of the time at the door, and was all about the "holding hands" and snuggling his head into my palm for most of the visit. He also kind of sat right down on his bum so he could get both his feet around my fingers a few times, but if I started to try to lift him up, he'd step right off again. He also is letting me move my fist around inside his cage a lot more without it seeming to make him nervous - like he's expanding the territory I'm allowed in. (His central perch is still the no-go zone.) I came away from last night feeling very upbeat - we seem to be making steady progress. He squawked like mad when I started to leave - it was pretty heartrending. :( I am really curious to see how he adapts when I bring him home. He still has a real aversion to leaving that cage, but I wonder how he will be when he gets into a brand new unfamiliar cage. I'm trying to figure out whether I can bump up his coming-home date a bit and get him out of there sooner... I'm sure you must be frustrated, Pat - sounds like leaving his cage is a real hurdle for Gizmo, but I'll bet once you get him into another room things will leap to another level. Is it your teenage daughter who you are going to have help you clip his wings? Another thing that was cool about last night was that Mary stayed home and put Maxi to bed while I went with my mother and brother to see Tanner, and apparently that went just fine. Maxi really has become a very settled and sweet little girl, and she's been much more open to Mary handling her as much as me lately, too. I have to admit it's really nice to come home to a bird who loves to come out of her cage and steps up like a charm!

These are both SUCH cool stories! What a great thing to wake up to! I remember your pictures of Sadie & Rexxy, Sweet - that dog is real treasure! (And I'm not even really a dog person....) There's something about those Danes, isn't there?

Welcome Cooper!

You know Erika, I think that's one of the problems here: this store used to have about a third again as many employees as they do now. I often have to wander around a bit to find someone to unlock Tanner's cage for me, becaue everyone who is still there is clearly maxed-out busy - there's no apparent idle time. The people there are very helpful and willing, but it's clear to me they are overextended. So I think the birds are getting less attention from the staff than they used to, and it shows. The Boss Bird Lady (as I call her)really cares about the birds, and right now she is clearly willing to deal when she sees a good home option for one of the birds like Tanner who's been around for over a year - she came right down on the price for me. I notice they are not bringing in so many baby birds now either - and they are letting some of the empty cages stay empty for now. I know it's this economy that's got the store "pulling in its wings" as it were - but it's so hard to see its effect on the feathered victims, you know?

Hey Amberly, have you seen the book "Parrot-Toys and Play-Areas" by Carol S. D'Arezzo and Lauren Shannon-Nunn? I'm pretty new at do-it-yourself toy-and-stand-making, but I since I'll soon be a two-bird household I figure I'm going to need to come up to speed quick-like, and I am finding this book has a wealth of practical suggestions. Am also learning that what Maxi liked last week is boring this week. (She has finally discovered the joys of chewing wood, for example - all of a sudden! so : whole new tack on toys this week.) This is a good thread, BTW - thanks for starting it!

Your heart is in the right place, nims - we feel it. I am guessing that when you feel she is safer, she is also likely to spend as much or more time out of her cage with you. Feathers will grow back, if you choose later to let her fledge again. Good luck and keep us posted on how things go!

Hey all, my visit with Tanner yesterday was another little step forward. I think he's definitely figured out that I'm coming in to see him especially (I think most of the other birds in the room have, too ). I let Mary hang out with him by herself for about ten minutes yesterday (I want him to start getting used to the idea that she and I go together), and she pointed out to me that when I leave the room, he squawks. Otherwise he's just saying a running stream of "hello" intermixed with a few baby chirps, kissy noises, and a purring sound that I'm not sure I haven't taught him. I had thought of that idea of maybe bringing him in a treat, Pat - for now I think I'm going to stick with the big praise award when he makes progress: like yesterday when he *almost* stepped up on my fingers. I don't know, tho - I 'm still thinking about it. I've been using your iron-fist routine, too - thank you for that tip! because I gave blood last weekend, too, and I don't want to get too jumpy about him biting me. He actually tolerates my fist right inside the cage now, reaches out to lick it or beak it, but with more relaxed body language. He pulled my hand into the cage several times yesterday, and then he will hold onto my index finger and snuggle his head into my cupped palm - it's soooo cute! I think the racket from the other birds winds him up actually - toward the end of my visit yesterday, the pair of quakers they have in there started competing for Decibel Masters with the three conures and the scarlet macaw, and he was clearly more nervous. Well, heck, so was I! When I left, I heard that squawk Mary was telling me about for the first time - like he was saying "don't go!" This is going to be a hard couple of weeks waiting! I may get a chance to go see him again today, as my brother's in town from Texas for one day - he brought my mother back to town - so I have taken the day off of work - and my mother and brother would both like to go see him. I wish I could go in every day.....

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I'll bet Misty loves having you going in circles, Steve! What a funny story!

How exciting! Cherry's coming home! We can't wait to see pictures of her at your house!

I think it sounds like you have made GREAT progress with George, considering his history! SO glad to hear he is starting to feel more relaxed, and bonding to one of you already. Who knows what time and patience will do with this little fella - keep up the good work!

I went to visit Tanner yesterday, and spent an hour or so just hanging out by his cage (door open) talking to him and touching him when he invited it. He's SO shy about coming out - he'll get half his body out of the cage and then it's like he suddenly thinks "OMG WHAT am I DOING?" and he jumps back in. But then he spends half his time lying on his food bowl with both feet and his beak sticking through the bars, holding onto two of my fingers while I stroke his beak and tongue with the other two. Yesterday I sometimes just rested my hand at the bottom of the door, and after much back and forth and pretend lunging, he would over and gently take one finger and pull my hand into the cage and kind of nibble on it and roll a bit so I could tickle his chest. Then in the next instant he'd be doing his OMGwhatamIdoing routine again. Bird with 2 brains! He is noticably more confident when he and I are alone in the room. We are also developing a sort of peekaboo game with the cage door: with the door swung open, I'll put my face on the outside of it by the hinge, and he comes up to the hinge on the inside, and then I slowly move out along the outside of the door, chatting tohim, and he follows me out along the inside. I can't wait to get him out of there and home where we can focus a bit more and things are more relaxed! It's starting to look like I may be able to bring him home by Thanksgiving - that's my goal anyway - I think his cage will arrive in a couple of days. Mary and I will be going back to visit him again today - looking forward to it!:cheer:

How about : Buster Burke - dweller at the fortress Beau - handsome one Ben - son

Hey Erika, just thought I'd drop in and tell you too how thoroughly you and your husband have warmed my heart with your new adoption. Like you, I am especially touched by your husband's willingness to take on this burd who was not his original dream - and that he seems to really be bonding with it well, also! There's something about an animal in need that just makes you rise above, I think - if you are an animal lover at all. Bravo to both of you! I'm glad I finally woke up and found this post. Congratulations on your new Amazon! {Feel-good-000200BB}