Tigerlily

i gave up on the harness as it stressed her out 2 much and the vet said it wasn't worth spoiling our strong relationship over. i got the adventure pack from here http://flyingsouth.com/ it's worth getting a few extra covers, i have 2 buy another one as tigerlily has allready bitten a large whole through it, in my opinion thats the only problem with the pack and it was a little smaller than i expected, i wouldn't like 2 keep her in it for a long time. i've put a small toy and food bowl in there but yet 2 figgure out what 2 do with water as it spills everywhere and there's not really enough room 2 add these no spill water bottles, prob just keep offering it 2 her from a cup is the way 2 go.

When i'm home Tigerlily is out her cage almost all the time. the cage door stays open and she has water outside the cage but food stays inside. quite often i'll leave her in the living room whilst i'm in the bedroom on the computer, i've taught her 2 come into the bedroom so if she wants company she comes in or she'll spend hrs ontop her cage throwing all her toys on the floor or standing ontop my tv trying 2 destroy it and biting my curtains lol. when she wants company she'll spend a few hrs perched on my knee whilst i'm on the computer and we have lots of kisses and chat. i've noticed recently that after several hrs out (5-6hrs) when she's with me she'll get very boistrus, biting me quite hard when i pick her up or go 2 touch her and flying places she's not alowed. if i put her in the other room she just comes straight back in. so in an attempt 2 calm her down a bit i close her in her cage where she goes straight for her food. could she b seeing the returning 2 her cage as punishment? does anyone else have similar problems and is there anything else i could b trying? it just seems like 2 much time out her cage gets her 2 excited and out of control and she needs some quiet time to calm down.

well Tigerlily and i took our 1st walk and posted a letter today. i got soooo many odd looks and i checked myself in the mirror b4 i went and i must admit i did look pretty silly with a parrot cage on my back and nearly didn't go out lol. but i think tigerlily enjoyed it even if she did spend all the time trying 2 balance on one foot whilst trying 2 eat. here's a pick of the cage for those of u who don't know what i'm talking about

my vet suggested that i get one, which i did last month and tigerlily LOVES it. the perch that's next 2 it is now her favourite perch, even when it's not on lol.

i'm yet 2 find someone that tigerlily trust 2 babysit so leaving her is a problem. at the end of last year i was in hospital for a few weeks and the only person who could visit was my dad who tigerlily HATES, it was very stressful for her (one day my dad said he chased her round the room 2 exhaustion trying to get her back in her cage and at other times tigerlily spent days out of her cage, all very upsetting. with that in mind i now have 2 carry cages, one of them being the adventure pack and over christmas tigerlily and i spent several days at relitives. tigerlily hated it at first and i don't think she slept the 1st night but she got better and better. i have to socialise her and get her used to strangers incase i'm in hospital again. and in summer this year we plan on going camping and tigerliles comming too much to the amusement of my family lol. as to the 2nd question, i work full time and leave tigerlily alone sometimes for most of the day, she has music and plenty of toys and foraging oppertunities, and she seems to b a happy, well ajusted grey (apart from not liking strangers, which is natural lol)

for the 1st 7months tigerlily and i slept and lived in the same room with the cat going in and out the cat flap from the same room all night so i made her a cage cover for her security (i couldn't believe the price of brought ones!) when we moved into my new flat Tigerlilies cage naturally Tigerlily had prime place in the living room and i now have a seperate bedroom. now when i go to bed i draw the curtains, close the door so the cat cant get in and leave tigerlily uncovered, on the rare occasion i have visitors tigerlily gets the cover put back on as they have 2 sleep on the sofa. Tigerlily doesn't seem 2 bothered either way but i prefer not 2 cover, i think it's more natural.

took the grate out the 1st day and never used it since. i've not had any problems with not using it.

When Tigerlily bites my ear hard she gets a firm no, taken off the shoulder and i walk out of the room. if she bites my finngers hard sometimes its just off the hand or others into her cage with a firm no. but what does make me smile is her latest thing of biting me then saying "oi, don't bite me";) u've got 2 admire these guys.

hi deanna. yes ur very lucky with the new toys. there's another thread going about new toys in the other room. i also don't have any problems with new toy but hav heard what i consider horror stories of some greys taking weeks 2 accept new toys:S

from what i understand ur getting a cage 2 go in the house and were woundering about the garage for flying space. in my opinion the garage might be a good place for ur grey to get some exercise ASLONG AS UR THERE SUPERVISING. and NOT when the grey is alone. when ur not there the cage in a well used room is the only option for our lovley greys.

yeah i'm lucky too. although Tigerlily HATES new perches in her cage and can take day's 2 use it, toys are a different story, she can't get them quick enough! I open the new toy with Tigerlily on my shoulder and cautiously bring it up 2 my mouth and pretend 2 play with it. Tigerlily wants everything i have, she can't bear 2 miss out on anything and within seconds we're both fighting for the toy with our mouths

Sorry pressed the wrong button, here's Tigerlilies cage

here's Tigerlilies cage

hi. yes nail biting is normal and i think looks quite cute! i have great problems with Tigerlilies nails, having tried every perch going and tried filing them myself but tigerlily was far from impressed with that! she's now been 2 the vets 2 have her nails trimmed 3-4 times and the vet really knows what she's doing and only charges around £10. Although Tigerlily doesn't like the experience, it hasn't freaked her out in any major way and she recovers in no time. it also gives the vet chance to give her a quick general check and for me to ask questions. so i'm probably resigning myself to a trip to the vets every 2 months or so to keep her nails and a more comfortable length for me.

Well we just got back from our playdate, without incident. bobby stayed in his cage and Tigerlily stayed on my knee. i put Tigerlily up to the cage a few times and she lunged at him once:whistle: but no contact. she just spent most of it on my knee taking everything in. everyone was empressed with out party trick of tigerlily asking to go a poo then going when told;) i've given bobbies master (ian) this website address so hopefully we'll see him here with tonnes of questions to ask;) hopefully this will be the start of a long and happy relationship, between the parrots that is;)

but it now has red vet wrap around the perch and the metal for the toy to hang from

WOW now that's what u CALL a playstand. that's one lucky grey to get that. maybe u could make one for me aswell;) this is a table top one that my dad made. it's small enough that i can take it to their house when tigerlily visits.

Tigerlily is going to meat another CAG tomorrow and wonderend if there was anything perticular i should do. i've not met them before (friend of a friend) but spoke on the phone. he's a 3yr old cag and aparantly looks healthy and is livley but unsure weather he's been tested for dieseses (owner's not had him long) obviously gonna take it slow, not even have them touching on first date, don't want Tigerlily getting a name for herself:) but really looking forward to it any advice?

and here we enter the great shoulder debate! i think most people here will tell you its a personal choice in allowing your grey to be on your shoulder. some say it's a bad idea as those beaks are quite sharp as also are their claws and i'm asuming you value everything on your face and want it kept there and in one peice. others will say that a grey on a shoulder is a domanance thing and not to be encouraged. also some might say its not safe for a grey up their, they might stumble and fall. but bearing all that in mind I LOVE MY GREY ON MY SHOULDER and i think it's part of the joy of owning such a great bird. i move around a lot when she's on my shoulder (we can even play the Wii together) so she's stuck on tight. Tigerlily will go to nipp my ear so she gets taken off my shoulder and told no bite. when i turn sideways to kiss her she also thinks she can climb on my nose and chin so we've had a few scratches there. and when she gets too boistrous and just wants to bite anything she firmly gets taken off and put on her stand and told off (with a kiss given a few seconds later) In my opinion as long as you train the bird to behave on your shoulder i'd say go for shoulder every time.<br><br>Post edited by: Tigerlily, at: 2009/01/27 09:42

thanks that was the impression i was getting from these threads. and although i think i would like another grey i don't think i could cope with two of them hence thinking of a small bird but one that tigerlily could relate to.

hi i want to do my research before getting the bird this time! am i really better off getting another grey or is there just as much chance that she'll bond to any bird. when i say bond, i mean prean eachother. i was thinking along the lines of hahns macaw. amazons. jardine sengal, sun conures or timneh grey. whats putting me off getting another grey is the initial cost and it would be nice to have a different parrot with different caractristics but i do love greys.

yep thats a better cage

i'd only get a fully weaned grey. i brought Tigerlily from a pet shop at 6 months and we bonded from the word go.

I know exactly how you feel Tigerlily seems to be going through the same stage. She'll fly onto the sofa where she knows she's not aloud cause she chews it then bites me quite hard when i get her to step up. but she gets ready for it as soon as she's landed so she knows whats comming, which i think is the clue. i think i'm guilty of getting frustrated with her at times and upset her by being rough and a teany bit rough when she doesn't step up and forcing her to by just moving my hand closer when she bites not away. i've read over some books i've have again and it's just reminded me that everything we do with these amazing birds has to be gentle and calm. and i'm going back to not letting her do the bad behaviour ie on the sofa in the first place. As it's only really a problem when i'm doing cross stitch i'm trying her in her cage whilst i'm doing it. that way the negative interaction doesn't happen and when i'm just watching telly and she flys down i can take more time and care with teaching her she's not alowed there.

Is the cage too close to the storage heater? i know they shouldn't be too close to heaters but how close is too close? it's either next to the heater or i rearange the room and put her right next to a window.