Eckobird

OH dear! How long have you had this grey? Thats horrible how your mom said he has to go by 2010 if he doesn't do certain things! Greys are very sensitive and can't be going from home to home! Did you and your parents know what you were getting yourself into before getting this grey?? OK let me TRY to help you the BEST I can for the sake of this grey. 1.) How to tame it? All greys are different and all have different personalities and different reasons for not being tame. Do you know if it was handfed as a baby? Are you able to hold him at all? Does he step up to you? Was he in a previous home where he wasn't taken care of well?? A little more background info will help. You are going to have to learn to read his body language so you can avoid the bites. There is a thread on here called Body Language that you should read through. 2.) Teaching them tricks? Well this takes A LOT of time and patience to teach them tricks. Sometimes the pick them up fast other times it is not so easy. You can't depend on them to learn these tricks so good luck on that. There are books out there to teach them tricks though. 3.) Teaching to talk on cue? This would be very difficult for you to teach them that. They talk when they want to talk and it's usually when there isn't many people in the room. It takes them YEARS for them to talk very good and have an actual conversations with him. 4.) Potty training? This also takes time and lots of practice. The good way to do this is placing them over a certain place you wanted him to go potty and telling him to "go potty" and give him a treat if he does. Rewards and lots of praise is the key. This does take A LOT of time so don't expect him to do it right away. 5.) Charging like a bull? This is an instinct they have and you can't teach them not to do it. He should grow out of it though. 6.) Fruit and veggies? Keep offering a different variety of fruits and veggies to see what his favorites are. Try giving the veggies to him cooked maybe he would prefer it that way instead. Have you tried giving him scrambled eggs or oatmeal and mixing fruit and veggies in there? Just keep trying maybe he will start to like them soon, don't give up on him though because he NEEDS fruits and veggies. Its very important in their diet! What is he eating now?? Pellets or seeds? Have you tried any nuts? A couple favorites for my grey is pine nuts, pecans, and walnuts. 7.) Play with you instead of dad? Are you the one feeding him daily, and cleaning his cage daily? Are you playing with him? Are you kind to him and talk to him in a sweet voice? Some greys can be one person birds and choose their favorites but don't give up on him, he is young and there is still hope for you too. 8.) Scared of toys? You have to slowly introduce the new toys to him. Place them in a place where he can see them for a while. Maybe play with the toy in front of him to show how fun it is. But do not force him to like it, he needs time to get use to the new things. I hope this helps you a little. Please be careful not to raise your voice at him if your angry, they can sense the anger. Good luck and please keep us updated!! Oh and btw what is your greys name??<br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/06/20 00:20

Very cute pictures of Chikki. How is she doing now? It does take time for her to settle in. Good luck!

OMG! noo way!! Last year it was at $4 a gallon and it went down to $2 for awhile and now its going back UP!! Thats it I'm moving to England LOL!

Aww poor Chimay. It can take up to a year or more for them to be grow back fully. Atleast he can still glide and land safely.

If gas was really $1.59 I would be SOOOOOOOOO happy! It's almost $3 a gallon here! :angry:

You know what I think would be a great update? If we could give karma to anyone we want and not have to wait 6 hours in between.

Do you have one for Emma or Sachi? If so do they like it? I think Ecko would be scared of that big scary purple ball lol.

Hi deebondlvn and welcome to the forum! Congrats on your new baby Sunny. She is still a baby and needs to rest in the cage often. I wouldn't have her out for too long, she needs her sleep at this age. I got my baby at 8 weeks old and I kept him in the cage most of the day so he could play in there and get use to it. I would take him out for about an hour at a time to play with him and then I would notice he would get tired so I put him back in the cage to rest. Also about playing with toys, she is still learning these things so as she gets older she will be more playful. You said the vet checked her and said she is healthy? Thats a good sign, if she isn't more playful as she gets older I would take her back to the vet. They know how to hide an illness very well. Is she on 3 feedings right now? Is she eating well and gaining weight? Has she started eating any pellets or fresh fruits and veggies yet? Lol sorry for all the questions, just curious. I look forward to hearing more about you and Sunny. I like your avatar, very cute. Do you have any more picturs of Sunny to share with us? We love pics. <br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/06/19 20:17

All greys grow and wean at a different pace but the average of weaning is 14-16 weeks. I weaned Ecko myself and he was completely weaned and stable by 16 or 17 weeks.

Thanks Jane great idea! I did have my sister do this last night and he did take it from her so I guess thats some progress.

Haha too cute.

{Feel-good-0002006E} Hahaha ohhh dear Spock you must be related to Ecko!! You sound so much like my hyper little Ecko. I think they might have ADHD!! Can birds have ADHD?! LOL! Thanks for the laugh guys.

Thank you all for your help and advice! I am going to do everything you guys mentioned. I will put him in the cage before we have a visitor over. Yes he would step up to me when I asked him to but he would run all the way up to my shoulder to hide and puff up. So I know he is scared of them but I don't understand why all of a sudden. But I will do what you said and show him who's boss. Thanks again for the advice.

Happy birdday to Alfie and happy parront day to Alfie's daddy!

Woohoo I am a "Bird of Prey" LOL. I love this forum too and of course the updates are always great, I look forward to the future updates. Thanks Talon and Ceasarsdad for your hard work. <br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/06/19 16:01

Thanks Carol. :kiss: Oh yea did you see you got 3rd place in the toy making contest! CONGRATS I forgot to tell ya.

Haha thats funny! He sure hates that ball lol. Thanks for sharing.

Aww Carol I missed your updates and pictures of the twins. I'm so glad they are doing good. Boy is that Lil Ahmani a diiiiivaaaaaa lol. Ahjari sounds so sweet like my Ecko. I'm kind of sad though because I can tell Ecko likes my boyfriend a little bit more than he likes me, and whatta know I'm the one that cleans his cage, prepares his fresh food and cleans up after him most of the time. Lol but oh well we still do have a special bond and I love Ecko so much. Isn't it amazing being a parront? Well I'm glad everything is going good with you and the family! Take care Carol and can't wait for those more pics you promised.

Hi and welcome to grey forums! Your a member on AnAG forum right? I saw your siggy before lol. Everyone here is very nice and helpful so don't hesitate to ask questions. I look forward to hearing more about you and your fids. Hope you enjoy the site.

Ecko is still divebombing people when they come into my house. He isn't biting them yet but he still puffs up, gets scared, and goes for the heads. Also, he now has a disliking to my sister and we don't understand why the sudden change. She didn't do anything wrong to him, could it be that he is scared of her because she acts scared of him?? This also proves how smart they really are! My sister looks just like me, talks just like me, but is slightly taller than me and he can still tell the difference between us. How weird! Why why why is he doing this?! We socialized him so well, we brought him everywhere, we made him step up to everyone and he did it fine. We brought him outside in his harness everyday, we went for walks everyday, we went for car rides everyday. We made sure to do these things with him so he doesn't do this and he still is. I'm very upset I don't want him to be mean. What can I do??

I'm not sure, I've never posted a blog before, I only post threads. Maybe Talon can help you, shes admin.

I put a couple drops of RPO in the oatmeal and Ecko loves it! I also put it on a piece of toast and spread it like jelly. I cut it in half and put it in his foraging toy and he goes crazy for it! Other ways you could do it is if you make some birdie bread you could put like 1/4 teaspoon in it or just drizzle some over his veggies. I did that with Ecko and he loved licking it, he loves red palm oil lol! Good luck I hope Tuki likes it as much as Ecko does, it is fatty so make sure not to give him that much in one day. <br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/06/18 19:57

Aww what adorable pictures! Make sure to take lots more pics when you go visit Sloopy on Sunday. Oh and FIY your blog isn't authorized to be viewed by us, or well I can't see it atleast.<br><br>Post edited by: caitb2007, at: 2009/06/18 18:12

Aww what a great video of Emma, she is so sweet! I'm going to have to play this for Ecko tonight, he loves listening to other parrots on youtube. He will love Emma!

Very informative site! Thanks LindaMary, karma for you!