Gryphon

Carol I believe you are misreading my post. At no point in any of my posts do I say that you or anyone else should not get a baby grey. Nor, if you read my follow up to Dave's post, do I disagree with him.

Wow BaxtersMom. What a great post. Though it raises my blood pressure a notch or two. :evil: I've followed Baxter's story, but not your amazon's. How is he doing now? I just don't know what some people are thinking or how they can't respond to an animal in pain. I've seen even informed people with the best of intentions who come in with screamers, biters, pluckers. We should start a "raising a parrot is hard." thread. Wild animals are wild animals and while they teach us so much (including what it means to be a human animal) no one should ever expect it to be easy all the time. They definitely aren't the right companion for most people. Though as my husband says, parrot people are the BEST people! :lol:

I hear what you're saying Dave and unfortunately there are many birds with behavioral issues in rescues, as I well know. I've fostered birds with what some have considered "minor" problems and found them overwhelming. It is all about the match! However, there are also, believe it or not, birds with relatively minor behavioral problems in need of good homes and birds who need to be rehomed that have no behavioral problems at all beyond normal parrot behavior. It is true that the moderate to severe problems outweigh the others, in part because the other birds are placed first, but if you contact a local rescue, many will keep your info and contact you when an appropriate bird becomes available. My larger point is that new owners who have done their research and decided to find a parrot could be better off looking and waiting for a well adjusted adult. For some reason many folks out there seem to think a baby parrot is for "beginners" when in fact (as you seem to know) babies that are mishandled early become those very hard to place parrots. I'm suggesting an application with a rescue (and ideally volunteering!) would be the ideal place for prospective new owners to BEGIN their search. It might not work out, but why not start there? There has been too much discouraging information put out there about taking in adult birds and while there are many horror stories, there are also many who have found well adjusted adult birds. No parrot is problem free, including those adorable babies!

doubletefarm-- kudos and karma to you for adopting Sydney. With any parrot it will take time and patience, but the feeling of having given this bird a loving home will last a lifetime. Every grey is different, but depending on his age and the intensity of the aversion, you may find that Sydney does well with men. Gryphon was 18 months when we adopted him. His owner had gotten married and Gryphon didn't like her husband/other men at all. After a few weeks, Gryph was and is as much my husband's bird as mine. They like to rap and dance together and only Andy is allowed the privledge of putting him to bed at night! :lol: They have a wonderful relationship. My advice is to gently and patiently socialize Sydney with other people, including men. Make sure they are calm and keep their distance (not a lot of eye contact until Sydney is used to a new person) and go at the his pace. Once he is comfortable and out of his shell (so to speak), I would also suggest clicker training (a good bonding tool for bird and owner) or some similar positive reinforcement training. We use a book called "CLICKER TRAINING for Birds & Parrots" By Melinda Johnson and I'm amember of her yahoo group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/ This kind of training is for all parrots and I can tell you that they love it! You start with target training (touching a stick with his beak) and go from there. One warning: greys learn fast! He'd have me training him all day if I would do it. Good luck to you and ask questions here at the forum! There are some brilliant and experienced owners here and I've learned a lot already.

Thanks Judy! I'd also love to hear more from others who have rehomed/rescued. Especially first timers! Many of the bonds I've seen between owners and second home parrots are stronger than any others I've seen. Parrotdise, I think that is a beautiful metaphor for rescue. And someone who successfully rehabs a 'Too is a special person, in my book. They are fragile little souls.

I thought it might be useful to start a conversation about the benefits of adopting a rescued or rehomed bird vs. babies. I think there's a lot more that goes into this decision than is sometimes acknowledged, particularly given the myth that a rehomed bird won't bond to its new owner as readily as a baby, not to mention the strange notion that a "second home" parrot always comes with baggage and needs special care. I can't tell you how often it is said that new owners should buy babies. This can be a very misguided and often tragic piece of advice! The abused and neglected birds we end up with at rescues and sanctuaries were once those "easier" baby birds. With this in mind, I'd like to make an argument for the adoption of older birds rather than babies. It is certainly not the only argument, but it should at least be a part of the decision. First, raising a baby parrot correctly is much much more difficult than most inexperienced people realize. Many prospective owners (even well informed ones!) purchase a baby with wonderful loving intentions and end up with a "problem" bird. I and many of you know this from first hand experience. So the notion that a new owner should always or even usually get a baby seems misguided to me. Many rescues have older parrots that are well-adjusted and emotionally secure. These birds are perfectly capable of bonding to a new person and can be a better choice for new owners than a baby. I've seen it happen over and over and experienced it myself. Why would such a bird be given up? Let me count the ways: money, death of owner, new baby, moving, new spouse. I'd bet there are a million reasons! The other category of rescue/rehomed birds are certainly experienced-parrot-people-only! A responsible rescue organization will be upfront and frank about whether or not an inexpereinced person is capable of adopting such a bird, with the added benefit of a home visit and/or interviews with the potential new owner. Any potential new owner should at least consider a well-adjusted adult rehomed bird. Babies are wonderful, but in a way, there is some false advertising there. (Same with the human babies, but that's another story ) Like every animal, parrot babyhood is brief and demands an ability to to responsibly love, care for, and learn to give appropriate space to the bird. Love alone is not enough. When that baby changes, the real "problems" begin. We must teach them how to be adult BIRDS. Not an easy task for a primate, not matter how well informed you are going into it! A person who is not able to handle the huge time, financial, and emotional demands of a well-adjusted adult bird has no business with a baby. Where we get the idea that babies are "easier" is beyond me. This is not to say buying a baby parrot is wrong! There are many wonderful, responsible parronts out there. My point is that it is a much more difficult task than conventional wisdom suggests, especially for new owners. And for those of you who take in abused and neglected birds, or even just birds that have had negative behaviors reinforced, you are truly the saints of the animal kingdom! P.S. Local rescues can be easy to find (try petfinder.com) and the rewards of parrot companionship are just as strong with a rehomed bird.

David, That's good to know! We don't have kids, but I know from taking care of nieces and nephews that, culturally speaking, "terrible" means asserting their independence and they seem to need both space AND a little more love and reassurance as they do so. It really is kind of beautiful to watch. I'll just give Gryph the same thing!

Gryphon turns two this month, so I would also like to hear about it!

Gryphon will be two years old this month.

Shanti looks greyt in the pack! I know you had a wonderful time.

Gryphon's pack came yesterday. He was all over the cage by itself, but the backpack is giving him pause. We hope to have him up and about once the weather is a little better. I wish I had a beach! The Mississippi just doesn't cut it. :lol:

Too cute! I can't take the cuteness!!!!:lol:

Hi Kipsie, I would add that you need to consider all of the expenses of ownership, especially what you'll need from the very beginning. On top of what you pay for the bird you will need a vet check (please do not put this off!), lots and lots of toys, a good, large cage, food, etc. I would say you want to have at the very least an additional $1000-$1500 saved up before you buy the bird in order to give the little dude a good environment from the get go. The kind of start you make will determine your bird's future behavior and happiness. Most people would also advise against buying an unweaned baby. I would strongly agree! Good luck with the job hunt!!!

Awesome. Thanks Dan!

Hi all, Gryphon (23mo TAG) has been showing me some affection today: wing drooping, soft clucking, regurgitation (yum!) and I wanted to ask some questions. At his age, do I need to be concerned about his hormones? I realize these are courting behaviors and don't want to encourage inappropriate bonding or any kind of frustration. My response has been to put him back on his branch, but I also don't want him to have hurt feelings! As I'm writing this, he's in the sun room saying "I love you." :lol: Thanks! Stephanie

Gryphon had a very bad clip when he came to us at 18 mo. I also suspect he was never allowed to properly fledge by his breeder. Our house is very old and we have 6 leaded glass windows which pose a threat. Plus I am super paranoid about losing a parrot. It is my worst nightmare. Soooo, after much deliberation, we've decided to let the feathers come in. It will mean careful oversight, and I am still open to a (modest) clip if the risk outweighs the reward, but for now I would rather take on added responsibility and vigilance and let him have his wings. P.S. David I am a fan of your blog. And LisaM I am a fan of your sunroom.

I hear you on the price tag of legos. I was surprised! But you can buy them in bulk online, places like ebay sell them. A pound of legos is more than we needed. Although Gryphon really has his heart set on the lego community people set. Maybe for his Hatchday.

Gryph does this but only during cuddle sessions. I've seen Macaws do it as well when they are excited or revved up, but it doesn't seem that way for Gryph. He's always relaxed when he blushes. It makes my heart melt.

Ha Dave! The really evil thing is that he climbed all the way down from his net, across the cage, and onto his branch just to drop one on my head. You know that poop was premeditated!

That grey pointy thing is a lego. It is a plastic pole that used to have a little stop sign on it. The sign went away fast!

That bell is his biggest frenemy. He beats it up, makes it scratch his head, screams at it, then beats it up again. I can't believe it is still in one piece either! It's a comfort to know that you've suffered through this as well.

Since my last post I have done nothing but put together lego structures for Gryph to destroy. I work all day for very little pay except the occasional beaky kiss. My fingertips have tiny little lego shaped bruises and yesterday he pooped in my hair while I was picking up legos from the floor. No joke, he pooped right on top of my head. Please learn from my mistakes. DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!

The legos were actually cheaper than any of the store bought bird toys. I read an article about them that said they are safe plastic...made in Denmark or something like that, so no lead. I'm thinking of ways to make hanging toys out of them as well. Gryphon asks that I pass on the bird rules for legos: Your job is to build them in interesting shapes so that they can be destroyed and dropped all over the floor. After that, the humans get to step on them and scream while the bird laughs at you. It is major entertainment! :laugh:

My vet recommended removing the band. He's seen too many accidents where they get caught or tangled in toys. It was also a solid band and very thick, but he cut it off in two seconds and Gryph seemed to not even notice. There was no charge or putting him under anesthetic of any kind. I had him microchipped and the band info recorded.

One more!