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Darwin's vocabulary is expanding by the minute. It's hilarious the things she comes out with. Anyway, two days ago I started playing peekaboo with her. She LOVES it! I hide behind my hands or whatever is in my hands, pop my face out and say "Peekaboo!" in my best high pitched, excited voice. She is so enthralled by this, I think it's her new favourite game. Her eyes pin like crazy and she tilts her head almost all the way upside down. Well today I was doing some studying and Darwin was sitting on top of the couch beside me. She was in chill mode, which is always when she's the most vocal. Well among duck quacks, woohoooos, weeees, gobbles and "Hi Darwin!", she pauses and out comes a "PEEBOOO!" Not peekaboo, not peeka, not boo....peeboo. I think it's not only her favourite game but now her favourite word. I'm trying to get it on video, it's probably the cutest thing I've ever heard in my life. Just thought I'd share

What a little sweetheart, Tiki is just adorable and I'm so glad she has you to look after her. And I agree with what everyone has said - I'd like to get my hands on that kid. My goodness, how cruel must you be to taunt a poor creature like that. I look forward to hearing more about Tiki, I just love sun conures.

Congratulations on your new little one! He is a beauty and Fiti is a cute name. I look forward to hearing more stories about him!

Another interesting point I was told by my vet is how they can learn to speak and other animals cannot. Apparently it is because all other creatures are born with instinctual calls and cries; parrots are not. The only noise they know when they hatch is a small chirp that they know for food, which they abandon when they are weaned. From then on, they pick up the sounds they hear from their flock. In the wild this is the noises from the rest of their flock, in our homes it's our voices, phones, etc. You could say they are just better evolved to communicate in any walk of life.

They can often be easier to get along with then your housemates

LOL Jill they learn faster then you can imagine! My 12 year old Westie has this incredibly annoying high pitched bark that she does at my German Shepherd pup when she's irritated. Darwin started doing this bark after hearing it probably two times! The good news is she only does it when my dog does it. Although that's twice the noise. :blink:

Sachi is so beautiful I just love the Pionus. She definitely does not look happy with you! Thanks for the laugh, that was quite funny.

What a beautiful Hyacinth you have there. Blue is a very fitting name for him. Welcome and thanks for the photo!

What a little cutie. Ollie is an adorable name, by the way. Thanks for the update.

Emma is such a sweetheart I love her to bits, she is so cute and they just get adorable around sleeptime don't they.

Those two look like the next Freddy and Spock! Glad to see everyone's beautiful birds getting along. Beau is such a cutie and I'm so glad you took him in.

They are just adorable those two look like they are just in heaven and are loving each others beaks! We do what we can with those scritches but it just doesn't compare to the real things

Argyle is absolutely adorable and what a funny photo. I agree with Jill - his hat is too big!

Oh my god food for thought is right. How sad.

Hello from Cassandra and Darwin and welcome to the family! Kenya and Zippo are two very beautiful greys. I look forward to hearing more about the three of you.

Darwin is almost 10 months old and is smack in the middle of her first moult! I freaked out too, but was reassured that it's perfectly normal! Give it a few weeks, your little Cleo will look like a jigsaw puzzle with all the dark feathers coming in. And I do also recommend extra showers - it seems to be helping her too!

I'm so excited for you! I remember the feeling well and your time has finally come! Please let us see some pictures, and I too would like to know the new additions name! I wish you a happy homecoming! {Feel-good-00020114}

I just bought it yesterday now that it's in softcover! I'm planning to read it right after midterms! I know if I start it now I'll read it instead of my textbooks

Oh my goodness I've been waiting for a picture of this and it definitely delivered! That is priceless, you've got quite the character on your hands.:laugh:

Hello all, I hope everyone is doing well! I have an update coming on little Luna as soon as I get some pictures up on my computer, but this one is all for Darwin! When Darwin hit about 20 weeks old, she began to severely dislike my boyfriend. He has a 15 year old DYH Amazon, Sammy, who was never my biggest fan either. However, she would at least tolerate me! Darwin was not good at "tolerating" my boyfriend. She would puff her feathers up, pin her eyes, and grind her beak aggressively. He did not take very well to this and the two of them have just stayed apart since April. However! I have made some progress with Sammy, working with her outside of her room, and I think my boyfriend was inspired by that! Over the past two months he has continued to work with Darwin, and after a number of breakthroughs, she will now willingly step up onto him and get this - will give him a kiss! She gives me and my mum a thousand kisses a day and will now do exactly the same thing with him. I'm so proud of not only Darwin but my boyfriend for forming a nice bond, and I hope it continues to grow. Just thought I'd share! Cassandra

That's more of a question for Dave's expertise but I'll tell you what I can from my experience I'm glad to hear Coco is doing so well, and keep up that weight gain! They grow SO fast, enjoy the time while she is a little one, and take lots of pictures! A few things I personally might do for a 4 week old chick: continue weighing daily, you can try giving her some cheerios if you want but I'd hold off on veggies etc. for a while, continue keeping her clean and warm, and you can maybe begin getting things together for when she's all grown up! Most of the things you were doing and weren't doing in week 3 are still relevant Keep up the good work and keep us posted!

Janica please remember what Dan and Jill are saying - we are not coming down on you nor am I trying to make you feel bad, I am simply unhappy that the breeder would have allowed you to take the little guy in. There are some very irresponsible breeders out there, and unfortunately it is the people and the babies being victimized. You haven't done anything wrong, and like I said I'm sure you are doing everything within your power to keep him happy and healthy, and it sounds like you are doing a very good job. Keep up what you are doing and I'm sure everything will turn out alright, plus your grey will be very accustomed to all the goings-on of a home. He/she is adorable and it's good that it's moving around and making noises. All good signs I am no expert like Dave but I have had quite a bit of experience with these little guys so I'm just giving advice as to what I would do. Please keep us updated as to his/her progress, we all love watching babies grow, and you will always get a well-informed answer to any of your questions here.

I completely agree with Jooles and Dave - the breeder should not have allowed you to take this poor thing on, I'm sure you will take the best care of it you can but even very experienced people can make mistakes and there are so many factors that have the potential to go wrong when hand-rearing. Especially at four weeks old - that is very, very young. I work at a breeders and handfeed once a day. I worked there and watched for 2 months before I was allowed to try. I would not bother with the veggies or cheerios yet, I would maybe wait until about 6 weeks for the cheerios and maybe try a couple of pellets. You can cuddle the bird but you have to keep its body temperature up. At this point the baby should still be cuddling with clutch mates to keep it warm. Whatever the baby is sitting in needs to be cleaned at least once a day, the risk of infection at such a young age is high if they are not kept clean. I've got a few questions for you... 1. Do you know how much to feed the baby? 2. Do you know the correct formula temperature? 3. What formula are you using? 4. Has it been to see a vet? You might also want to keep the radio on for the little thing during the day, and talk to it whenever you can. Feel free to ask me any questions, I'll do my best to answer.

Darwin sticks her tongue out all the time! She has been doing this since she was a little baby and is almost 10 months old now. She often does it when I just take her out or when she is being silly. I think it looks hilarious and I do it right back!

Please do let us know how little Henry's homecoming goes! I'm thrilled for you - you've got a lot of laughter, hard work and joy ahead of you. Let us know how he is and as you know we loooove photos!