DavidH

Amazing video. Thanks!

Good for you, Steph! Great pics of the babies. Welcome!

Hi Lauren. We have a 6-month-old Grey named Shanti (pax in Sanskrit). We almost went with Paz.

Jadewolf, I suggest you avoid a personal confrontation with the breeder. You're under a lot of emotional stress, and she isn't. That's an advantage for her. You could not only put her on the defensive and allow her to cover her tracks (i.e., destroy evidence), but also allow her to cast herself as a victim of harassment, threats, etc. Gather the evidence, report her to the proper authorities and consult an attorney about your legal options.

Shanti is starting to make some garbled English/Spanish type sounds (we are a bilingual household). I think he's getting "hola" and "wow." It's true that they never stop learning. Alex, the most famous CAG, was still learning new words, meaning and CONCEPTS till he died in his 30s. After two weeks, I'm still working hard on "step up." Making some progress but not as much as I'd like. Shanti loves to be touched caressed and bathed, but has not made the great leap yet. Any suggestions?

Maybe we can set up a memorial for Shadow on the forum with a button to click on to make a donation to a pro-parrot cause in Shadow's memory.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Shadow is in my heart and prayers, and so are you.

I'm of the mind to give Shanti plentiful healthy and nutritious food, but my wife and daughter are concerned that if we keep feeding him all he wants he'll get fat (like the family cat). I've read that weight is usually not an issue with Greys, so my tendency is to keep as much food as he wants in his bowl. (I worry that he'll wake up hungry in the middle of the night). Is obesity ever an issue? David Blogging about Shanti http://http://congo-african-grey-parrot.blogspot.com/

It's always better to get references and verify what people tell you no matter how knowledgeable, professional and genuine they seem. That's the smart way to go. So I'm going to be really smart when I get my NEXT bird. I just sort of "winged it" with Shanti, trusting the pet store owner/breeder (he's the same person) on a handshake. I got lucky.

Thanks to everyone so much for all the support and encouragement. The forum is really amazing. I have a new blog post up, and I'll try to write about life with Shanti frequently. Of course I have our Grey community at the top of my LINKS list. David http://congo-african-grey-parrot.blogspot.com/

Well, I'm clearly obsessed with Shanti, and I've started blogging about the adventure. Hope you all will have a look, make some comments and help me improve the blog: http://congo-african-grey-parrot.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Poppy. I wanted black too, but it was vetoed by my wife.

Here's what we just ordered for Shanti: I'd be grateful if some of you experienced Grey people would have a look and tell me the pros and cons: http://birdcages4less.com/page/B/PROD/Large_Bird_Cages/PA5710<br><br>Post edited by: DavidH, at: 2008/12/26 21:21

I read "Alex and Me" about a month ago because I was thinking about life with an African Grey. I was maybe 70% convinced at the time, and the story of Alex's relationship with Dr. Irene P. got me a lot closer. Then I found this forum, got help and support, and now we have Shanti, a six-month old male CAG. Total joy so far.

Happy Holidays to everyone and thanks again to the whole forum community for all the advice and support as our family acquired and welcomed Shanti.

Yes, took all of 24 hours. I'll work on the video.

I have to admit that when I first posted here I thought you were all a little crazy (in a good way) to want to see so many pics of each other's Greys. I assumed they all looked pretty much alike. What was the big deal? Now I am totally into seeing new photos of other folk's birds. They are all so awesome! Thanks and Happy Holidays to All! -- David

I hope I got this right. Some early photos of Shanti at six months. I will take better ones soon. http://s407.photobucket.com/albums/pp155/DavidHoward_photo/

Oops. That didn't work. The jpg was too large. I'll try again later.

These are two quick shots my daughter took of Shanti, age 6 months, on his second day with us. He is a prince.

Hi Everyone, I am ecstatic to announce that -- after lots of research and lots of help in this forum -- we brought Shanti home from his breeder in Los Angeles tonight. Everything has worked out perfectly so far. The breeder swears that Shanti is a male but has not been genetically tested. We are thrilled with either gender, so may never know. Shanti is about 6 months old and makes lots of clicking, dinging, ringing and whistling sounds already. He does a perfect telephone ring. When we arrived home, he marched right out of his transport cage and let my daughter and me pet him after the briefest of initial pecking and nervousness. Naturally, we fell head over heels in love. When he got hungry, he went back in the cage on his own to eat and is now resting quietly for the night. I will post some pictures as soon as we get a little more organized around here. We are a family of four humans, two parakeets and a cat. Thanks to all of you for early encouragement on this wonderful adventure. I know it won't all be sweetness and light, but so far it's been a great joy. David

Thanks to everyone for all the great suggestions and photos. I will keep you posted on how things go. Thank God I found this forum. You guys are great! David

We may get our 6-8 month old grey tomorrow. Big day!!!! We're not 100% sure this is the one, so it may be a no-go, but in any case I think we'll have one within a week. My question is what size cage should I get? I don't want to spend a few hundred dollars and then discover two weeks later that I need a bigger one (did that with the parakeets), and I definitely want Grey to have all the space s/he needs. What do people recommend? Also, if there's anything else imperative to know on day one, now's the time to tell me I've done a lot of reading but have never had a parrot before, so it's going to be a steep learning curve. Thanks, David

Hi again everyone, and thanks so much for your thoughtful responses. I am really gratified to hear from all of you and encouraged that I'm making some good decisions. This parrot is a BIG DEAL for me, so I want to do it right. With the help offered here I've located a seller-breeder in my area. The bird he raised is a 6-month old, hand-fed Congo. This is a small pet store, but the owner/manager bred the bird himself. So first off, my question to you disinterested objective observers is, are there any RED FLAGS I should look for when I see the bird? What questions should I ask? I'm thinking my starter kit is a big cage and food. What else do I need to know on Day One? Here's what I'm going on with food and shelter: "A cage approximately 30" W x 30" D x 36" H, with metal bars spaced no greater than 3/4" apart, makes a good home for your parrot" "Specialized pelleted diets are highly recommended and should consist of 60–70% of the diet; Fresh fruits and vegetables should be given daily; discard when not eaten within 24 hours; parrots appreciate quality and variety in their food" Thanks again for any insights you can offer. David

Hello Everyone, I'm new here and do not yet live with an African Grey, but I want to. I'm a lifelong birdwatcher and birdlover, and I've sort of really fallen in love with this species, so I'm on the verge of going for it. I live in California and am not sure how to go about acquiring a bird. I've looked in some shelters, but have found nothing available for adoption. Should I just walk into the pet shop and plunk down $1200? Thanks for your thoughts. David