Jason

Thanks Dave. Thats a great post.Very informative Cheers Jason

Hi, I have 2 lovebirds. One of the is losing alot of feathers around their neck area. Im not sure if they are pulling them out of molting. Only around the neck seems to have most feathers missing. Has anyone any experience of this ? Thanks Jason

Whats the deal with the yellow Fruitblend pellets. I have read so many owners on here say their greys will not eat them. Ernie will throw all the yellow ones on the floor of his cage and eat the others. I end up throwing out heaps of yellow pellets.

To celebrate his achievement I bought Ernie a ring stacker toy where he can remove and replace the rings. He loves it :lol: My wife thinks im crazy for making a fuss but i caught her last night secretly praising him about how much of a great little boy he is for going into the shower

Ernie took a shower last night for the first time. I have been spraying him for the past few months with Aloe Vera and he is now used to it and enjoys it. Last night I decided to take him to the shower room instead of putting him back into his cage and let him sit on the side while i took a shower. I knew from before that he hates the shower hose, so i didnt even bother to move him closer. As i was taking a shower i noticed him moving closer where he could feel the spray. He seemed to be enjoying it. Suddenly he just looked at me and stuck his foot out (signals he wants to step up) I reached down and picked him up and he just stuck his whole body under the shower and started washing himself. I was amazed. He was soaked to the skin and loved it. Im still in shock:laugh:

Thanks Dave. Ill take honey off Ernie`s menu so .

Update on Ernie`s talking. Last night he started imitating our cuckoo clock. It was so funny. I think he is catching on to the fact that when he speaks he gets lots of attention. ) Hes getting to be a right little chatterbox now.

I never thought when i got my grey, Ernie last year that it would be so much work. Its honestly like having a child. However, I really enjoy it and do not regret it at all. I love spending time with him and teaching him. When i come home from work each day (6pm), he gets let out of his cage and goes to bed when i do (around 12). So each day he would get about 5-6 hours out of cage time. On the weekend its more. He loves being out and watching tv. Its so cute the way, he waits at the door of the cage to come out each evening. He really knows the routine now.

Thats cool. Its really shocking when they say something when you dont expect it.

Hi all, Ernie seems to be talking more and more now. His birthday is on Jun 20th and he will be 1 year old. Thanks for all the kind replies.

Last night, my wife was out with friends and I was at home on the internet. Ernie was in his cage, making whistles, duck and cat like noises. Suddenly, out of the blue, I just hear my wife`s voice saying "Erneeeee", "Erneeee" I nearly jumped out of the chair with fright and then realised Ernie was talking. I immediately switched my phone to record and recorded his first words Im so proud of the little guy

Just received delivery of the Aviator harness in red. Im going to give it a try on Ernie tonight after looking at the DVD. For some reason he gets very interested in red objects and is less afraid of anything which is red. Ill update later and let everyone know how it goes.

Just found out that a parrot symposium will be held in Dublin, Ireland in June. Details can be found at www.parrotssymposium.com I'm not sure whether to go or not. The fee is expensive. Anyone think it's worth it ?

Just wondering if anyone knows if honey is ok to give to greys and in what quantity. I searched on the internet but could not find anything about giving honey directly. Ernie tasted a bit off my finger last night and loved it but i did not give him too much as i was not sure about it. Thanks Jason

Hi all, Im trying to teach Ernie to go back into his cage when I tell him. At the moment he is ignoring me I have tried putting food in there and tapping the cage saying "go to cage" but he just looks at me from across the room as if to say "theres no way im going back in there" Any tips on how to train him to go into his cage ? Thanks in advance Jason

Thanks again. I am going to replace the whisltes with words from today on. Last night Ernie has started to make a noise i have never heard before which sounds like the begginning of him trying to talk.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I will try all of these out with Ernie. Thanks again Jason

Ernie (CAG) is 9 months old now and for the last few months I have been whistling to him. He now has learnt lots of different whistles. Lately I have been labeling items in the household such as saying "milk" and showing him the milk carton and letting him touch it when im making tea. Should i continue to encourage whistling or talk to him instead ? At the moment I whistle to him more than talk (cause he is so young). Any advice ? Thanks in advance Jason

Ernie eats Zupreem Fruitblend. He will only eat the Cockatiel size ones and for some reason he doesnt chew them, he swallows them whole !! Also he will not touch the yellow ones.

Heres the reply I got from Northern Parrots :- "Thank you for your email. The 20lb bags of the Zupreem used to be £36.99. When you purchased your bag at £29.99 they were on offer. £29.99 was the offer price we had them at. There has been a price increase of £6. The increase is beyond our control. For months the suppliers have been increasing their prices but we have held back but now we have had to increase ours." I have trouble believing this, as the large bag seemed to have always been 29.99 for about a year.

It seems the Zupreem Fruitblend are back on 24parrot.com with a brand new 43% price increase. It now 42.99 for the same amount as you got for 29.99 a month ago!! I have emailed 24parrot to see what the reason for the price increase is.

Thanks for the reply. I have been googling Miami but its always good to get a residents view of where is good to see. Im happy thats it should be warm because here in Dublin its raining heavily and freezing cold.<br><br>Post edited by: Jason, at: 2009/03/06 21:09

Hi, Maybe some Miami residents could help me out here. I am from Ireland and I am planning a trip to Miami at the end of this month (March) and was wondering if it will be warm enough to swim on the beach (south beach) ? Is the weather warm around that time ? Also what would be your top recommendations for interesting places for me to visit or things to do ? Thanks Jason

Hi, My grey Ernie is about 9 months old now. When he was smaller my wife handfed him every morning. However in the last 3 months he has bonded closely with me and wont let her even touch him. He will happily step up on her but he she goes to touch him he goes mad and tries to bite. On the other hand I can do what ever I want with him and he never gets crazy. I have noticed that when my parents/brothers/sister comes over, he is very friendly with the men but screams when women come to touch him. Has anyone else noticed this behaviour where greys prefer one sex over another ? and also what causes them to switch bonds they had while handfeeding ? Thanks Jason

Myself and my wife have started using the rival model method on Ernie last night trying to get him to understand the word "Toy". Its very interesting, even though he doesn't say the word you can see his pupils dilating bigger and smaller when we pass the toy and say the word "Toy". If we just hold the toy on front of him , he looks at it with normal pupil size but as soon as I say "What is this?" to him, his pupils start to dilate very fast and he cocks he head to look at the toy. Amazing so far. Just thought Id share this experience with you all Cheers Jason