Mingus

Good idea, I'll have to work on my technological saavy. He is a character.

Thanks in part to many of your responses Kofi (almost 10 months old now) seems to be cutting down on the screaming and increasing his talking. In fact he rarely shuts up, having something to say about everything. I know it should not come as a surprise, but it still astounds me just how active his mind is. The more face-to-face conversation I have with him, the more he says and the less he shrieks. He (perhaps grey's in general) seems to be particularly aware of the slightest attempt to manipulate his behavior .Trying to interest him in something else because I'm about to leave for work, for instance, he simply DOES NOT BUY IT! One simply cannot pull the wool over his eyes.

thanks. So far the ignore the negative, praise the positive seems to be helping. I would add that he is starting to talk like a little madman; something to say about everything.

Based on your experience what is the best way to handle Kofi's natural, enthusiastic shrieking (which seems to be designed to get my attention when I'm nearby but not interacting face-to-face, or when I'm clearly paying attention to my other parrot): 1. ignore it and let he shriek until he gets bored (a point which I've so far never seen him reach) 2. cut him off before he starts by giving him the attention he wants (risk teaching him to expect constant face time and yell when he does not get it) 3. ignore him for a minute or so, then talk to him in a soft voice between shrieks (he might or might not understand that I prefer talking to shrieking) 4. learn to live with it, he's a grey, greys' shriek naturally (hope my neighbors don't plot to have me rubbed out by a hit-man) 5. some other response that I have not mentioned, but that you can suggest?

This post is timely for me. At 9 months Kofi has discovered some truly piercing sounds, and shrieks for my attention often. I'm afraid that by responding I will train him to continue doing it. But not responding just makes him more frustrated and louder. I instinctively tried your wait, then respond with soft words approach. He calms down and speaks. Also, if I approach him before he gets upset he will not hollar for attention to begin with. But this is a work in progress. Any suggestions or epiphanies you could share would be great. There is still the nagging feeling that I'm training him to expect to be showered with immediate attention by doing this.

He's a baby. I guess I'll have to discipline myself to stop laughing, and try to replace it with another phrase. Hmmmm, what rhymes with that phrase. One two? Light blue? ??? Fortunately he is the only child in the house. Unfortunately the clarity of the phrase is unrivaled.

It is hard not to laugh when someone 10 inches tall looks you in the eye and makes and verbally tells you off. So, by the time I realized that my 23 year old Amazon had taught my 8 month old Timneh a nasty phrase beginning with the letters F and Y, I guess I had already rewarded him with laughter. Now he won't stop saying it, and has become quite creative in using different tones and pitches. I thanked my friend in New York for teaching my Amazon the phrase 22 years ago, and told him that now I'll certainly hear it for the remainder of my life. Can't wait until Kofi finds a new favorite phrase!

And to Baxter's Mom for the excellent website. Consensus seems to be that small amounts of lactose-free milk should be harmless, and the calcium content might make it helpful. Kofi & I will keep sharing a bit of cereal in the mornings.

Offering Kofi a little cereal I noticed that he really likes milk. Lactose-intolerant myself, my milk is lactose free. Casein might be a little heavy to digest, but it's probably a great source of calcium; very bioavailable. Does anyone have any experience with this? It's low fat, so I suppose its like tiny bits of low-fat, salt-free cheese. Thoughts?

No, actually I DO like the way it sounds. You are right, I am nervous about him waisting away (ridiculous I suppose, given his monumental appetite). He eats everything, but wastes a lot too, making me sometimes wonder how much he is ingesting, and how much he's just chewing & dropping on the floor (plastering on the walls, cage bars, my shoulder, my hair & face, etc.) I've cut him down to one babyfood feeding per day, warm, in a dish, and he now feeds himself, no more spoon. Still, he is probably overeating since he sometimes regurgitates a little bit at night. But he is still pooping a lot, and constantly looking for more food. Plenty of energy, play, and talking, so I'm thinking he is fine. Any more advice would be appreciated. I'm going to try to cut back even more on the baby food.

SITUATION: Kofi is almost 7 months old, was "weaned" on Kaytee pellets, but jumped at the chance to go back to handfeeding when I adopted him. He eats everything now, but most of his diet has been handfeeding formula (at his insistence). CONCERN: he is an extremely inefficient eater when not handfed. He wastes easily 75% of his pellets (which go into a nasty looking sludge in his water bowl). In other words, I don't know if he is eating sufficient calories on his own. GOAL(with your suggestions): get him to be a mostly self-reliant eater. I'll still offer a little baby food if he wants it. He's super healthy, very smart, up to about 9 phrases (often in correct context). Any suggestions?

Interesting. I wonder about petunias, they are sticky and they are related to tobacco. It makes me nervous. Hibiscus are great, I did not think of them.

I feed dandelion stem, leaves, flowers, buds... The root has a sticky substance so I avoid it. Don't know about tulips or lillies. Daylilly flowers are used in chinese soups, but I'm not sure about giving them to parrots. When in doubt I avoid it. Violets/pansies are also edible (it was in your poem so I thought I'd mention it too). Grass is also okay, particularly young grass, but watch out for pesticides. Not sure about impatients, but I'd guess they are probably harmless. Still, I stick to tried and true things.

Don't forget Dandelion greens, flowers, buds, nasturtium (any part), chickweed, water cress, and especially purslane. Make sure you clearly identify the plant, and that no pesticide was used (including lawn pesticides). Apart from that, they are extremely healthy for the birds (and for you), and at certain times of the year, very available (usually for free). Wash watercress well to get rid of water borne pathogens. I never let my birds get stuck on just one vegetable for very long.

Yep, my partner cooks asian food all the time, so there are plenty of asian greens around the house.

Actually the ones I listed are ones I've fed my birds for years. I have checked with vets, most of them had no opinions, but did not feel that they were a problem. Many are probably eated by parrots in the wild, since many are tropical in origin (papaya, bitter melon, etc.)

What less-common fresh foods have you successfully fed your grey? Here are ones my parrots love: bitter melon seeds (ku guo) asian convululus greens (rau muong) asian broccoli (jia lan or gai lan, depending on the dialect of chinese) fresh papaya seeds flowers from arugula, kohl rabi, cabbage, mustard, or related garden plants nasturtium flowers, pansy flowers jicama root (peeled) currant berries (not common here in California) cilantro (common, but you may not have thought to give it to your parrot) any kind of basil flower (they go nuts for this) mints (fresh, as used in asian dishes) perilla (tia to), a minty plant used in asian dishes

A word of caution to friends & Grey Forum participants. I visited this website: http://www.pollysperch.com/index.php Attempted to buy a stand for my baby Grey. Gave them my address, phone, email, and credit card info, got an emailed reciept for the item. Since then (2 months ago) I have recieved no communication, they have failed to respond to 6 email inquiries, they post no phone number of their own, they have no physical address apart from "United States". If it is an honest mistake on their part I'd love to know about it, but I suspect otherwise at this point. Watch out folks! Greg

I left a digital recorder on next to my 6 month old Timneh when I went to work yesterday. I'm really surprised at how vocal he is in my absence, practicing things he is learning, trying new things I cannot identify. Lots of talk and babbling. Very cute.

I bought an Amazon handpuppet. It looked more real to me than any of the grey ones I could find. I'm thinking it might work better (if it works at all). I will definitely try it and keep you updated. FYI it looks like this: http://www.puppetuniverse.com/hand-puppets/sleeve-hand-puppets/amazonparrothandpuppet.cfm

I intend to use it with my Timneh, Kofi. He's just 6 months old now, but he has learned to say "poo poo" when he needs to relieve himself, "tickle" when he wants a scratch, or alternately, when he scratches himself, and has made very distinct efforts as "baby food" as I offer him feeding formula from a spoon. The challenge is to get another person to consistently play along, but my partner seems to be both interested and willing, so we will start soon. I've just finished ALEX and ME by Pepperberg. She describes some of this in the book. THE ALEX STUDIES is much drier and longer, but it also describes the technique. It's not particularly complicated. I'd say keep doing this with Gryphon. I love the idea of a Grey puppet, I was thinking about this myself. I think my bird would figure out that it is me doing the speaking, but just as a human child responds to a puppet, perhaps it woulc not matter. I would love to hear back from both of you on your progress. Our birds are so smart, what a shame not to teach them how to voice their wants and needs! Greg (alias Mingus)

Thanks to both of you. I'll keep teaching him and having fun with him. I'll let him develop normally as his own progress dictates.

AH,thank you all. That is good to know. I never cook, but I want to make some "birdy bread" for Kofi.

Any hints. Of course my Timneh is only 5 and-a-half months old, so a scratchy and nasal voice is probably normal at this stage. Those of you with some experience with this, is there something I can do to clear up his speaking or will it just happen over time, without any particular effort?

I guess nobody else knows either, so I'll just avoid using them. I don't want to make my baby a guinea pig!