JoeFree

Just curious if fish would be ok or not. Tuna to be specific.

Hello to everyone. Sorry I haven't been on in a while. Computer has been a little messed up and I've been busy. Anyway, to all who remember, when I first came here I was scared sh#%less about having taken in a grey. I just wanted to stop in and let everyone know that things are coming along nicely. As you can see by my new profile pic, Joey and I are bonding. As a matter of fact, he is perching on my shoulder as I am writing this post. I thank everyone who has given me so much good advice. We're still having plucking issues and I figure it will take a while to get through it. But I have much confidence that things are going to be just fine. And I am still trying to improve on his diet, but he is a little stubborn about that. Anyway. Just wanted to give everyone an update. thanks again.

Just curious as to what beak rubbing means. Joey is always rubbing his beak on things like his cage and the wall behind the cage. Just wandering if this is a sign of agitation or something else.

Joey is a hard core plucker. as you can see in his pics. I have learned about many of the different reasons why a bird will do this, and it is my opinion that Joey has probably experienced them all. So here we are. I know its going to take time to try and get him out of it, and I'm cool with that. What I was wandering was, is there a chance he may do this for the rest of his life. As I watch him, it seems that this plucking has turned into a very deeply planted behavior. I've read about all the different things we can try to get him out of it, and as time goes by, I hope these things work. But I'm worried. And I was wondering about that stuff I see at the pet store. "Pluck-no-More" or something like that. I haven't read anything about it on here, so I assume it's bulls$#t. Anyway, I know I've probably read as much info on plucking that I can. But I like hearing from you guys personally. So...Any reply would be nice. Thanks

Hey everyone. Things are going ok with Joey and I. I kinda feel like we, or I, am at a bit of a stand still. It seemed like for the first four days or so, we were making progress daily. Now it seems that we have reached a leveling off period. Ever since Joey perched on my hand the other day, it seems like that was all the further either him or I is willing to go. The reason I say that it is either him or me is because I think I'm a little too afraid of getting bit. I understand that we need to take things slow, but I keep thinking that I need to take it a little further. I'm sure that I am just being impatient. I just don't want to miss and opportunity to progress in our relationship just because I'm afraid. Any responses to this would be great. And one more thing. . . .Does it matter at all that he is at a higher elevation than me. I ask this because most of the time that we are attempting to bond, he is on top of his cage. It's his comfort zone. Wasn't sure if this would make a difference or not. I just feel, for some reason, that him being over my head might make it difficult to bond. I don't know I feel this way. I think it comes from a lesson I learned a long time ago, that if you want to show someone respect and be viewed as an equal, you should bring yourself to eye level with them. I use to work with the developmentally disabled, and this was one thing we learned to help us better communicate with our residents. I just thought maybe the same principle might apply here, and that I may either need to stand on something, or find a way to bring him down to my level. Just a thought. What do you guys think?

Well...I'm not sure if he was handled much by his original owner. I don't think Georgia handled him. But he was stepping up onto my hand the other night. He seemed to know what he was doing. And when he flew off his cage today he stepped up onto my hand with great ease. If there's more to it than that, then I don't think I know what your talking about. Sorry.

Thanks for all the comments guys. REALLY!!! Joey is one of the biggest things going on in my life right now, and I don't think my friends really care about all these little details. And I can't expect them to. So you guys are very important to me right now. Thanks!

I petting Joey today and when I moved arm back, I hit the door of his cage. He was on top of it, at the time. When I hit my arm on the door it shook the whole cage and scared him. His auto pilot kicked in and he tried to fly, and evidently he can't. He kinda glided to floor and landed on the other side of the room. This was the first time that he was off of his cage since he got here. Scared the s$#t out of me! He started walking strait back to me and tried to climb my leg. I was a little scared and didn't want to get bit, but despite my fear I reached down and offered my hand to him. He climbed on right away and I walked him back over to his cage. It was kinda cool. Not that either of us got scared, but that we kinda had to trust each other to get what we wanted. I don't plan on forcing him into situations like that, but I must admit that I really enjoyed the opportunity to "have" to trust each other. Anyway, just thought I would share that with anyone who is keep an eye on Joey and I. I am very grateful for all of your support. I kinda feel like a new parent here and I am still very scared of screwing up, so your help and advice is priceless to me. Thank you.

Thanks for the encouragement guys. Means a lot, really!

Wow. That's one heck of a play tree. Wish I had something like that when I was a kid! LOL

After only four days, Joey perched on my hand today. I don't know if that is quick bonding or not seeing that I have never had a Parrot before, but it seems quick to me. It was weird, I just moved in to see if he would let me pet his head like normal, and when I did, it was almost like he didn't want me to stop. So I continued creating more contact with the petting, and when I stopped, he looked up and started the whole regurgitating thing again. Then he started breathing very loudly. It almost sounded like a whine or a whimper. He then reached out with one of his feet. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but I took a chance. He put one of his feet on my hand then took it right back off. He kept doing this, all the while making that whimpering sound. He also dropped his wings real low. I don't know if that means anything, but I never really seen him do that. Any way, he kept with just the one foot for a min. Grabbing my finger then letting go. Then he eventually stepped up with both feet and was on my hand completely, as you can see in the pics. He was also bobbing his head up and down the whole time. I was kinda like he wanted to bond, but still had a lot of fear. Which I'm sure is true seeing that that is exactly how I feel. I kept my hand there for him until my arm was just too tiered to continue. Then after I left him alone for a min, he seemed kinda agitated, rubbing his beak on his cage very aggressively. I wasn't sure if he was angry or just trying to calm himself down. Him and I both got pretty worn out during this process. He wasn't very receptive to another try at this right away, but again this evening, the same thing happened. I am very excited and hope I'm not reading him wrong. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Now that we are kind of bonding, I'm seeing a very different side of Joey. I like this side of him. It's almost like he is two different birds. There's the Joey that is starved for affection and really want's to get to know someone, and there's the Joey that just sits there with his feathers ruffled, chewing and plucking on himself and just want's to be left alone. It's kinda sad actually. There is a very loving creature in there just dying to get out. I hope you guys are up for walking me through this. I am going to need all the help I can get.

Thanks guys! I'll see what he's into. I would like to use some of that aloe spay on him since he has a lot of skin exposed, but I don't think we're there yet. I'm kinda afraid of upsetting him. Once we build trust, I will certainly try and start doing that.

So the decorations would be for me huh? That makes sense. I suppose I'm putting a lot more thought into it than he his.LOL I just want him to be comfortable.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess I just try and figure out what works best for him.

That's funny. So...When he does regurgitate, I should accept it as a gift and allow him to place it in my hand or something. I didn't know this. I just said "I love you too Joey". I guess next time I'll try that. Thanks

Thanks again everyone for your warm welcomes and words of encouragement. I feel very comfortable here. And I have posted a couple of pics of Joey on my page. So feel free to stop by and check him out.

What about bath's? Obviously I don't plan on dunking my Joey in a tub of warm soapy water, but I know little about it. Do I need to provide anything for him. I saw a bottle of stuff at the local PetCo that was called "BathTime". Is there actually a bath time? Or will he just use his drinking water to bath himself. Will he bath himself like the birds outside do? And if so, do I need to put a dish of water in his cage? And if so, how often and when? I'm confused. Please help.

I was wanting to get some decorations for around Joey's cage. It looks really bland and boring as you can see in the pic. I was thinking about getting some plastic foliage or trees or something. Not for him to play on, but just for ambiance. But I don't want to get anything hazardous or dangerous. Any advice on this at all would be great. I do plan on getting him a play tree, but I cannot find any locally. Looks like I might have to build one. Any advice on that would be great too.

Should I, or should I not cover Joey's cage at night. I've read where it's ok to do and helps him know when to go to bed. But I don't think he likes it. And it seems that he already knows when it's getting close to bed time because he will say "It's about night night time". So cute! Anyway, what about cage covers? Yay or nay?

Thank You Judygram, as this is great news. Joey was regurgitating for me earlier this evening. I'm so excited.

Wow! Thank you BaxtersMom for the welcome and the encouragement. I'm glad you mentioned diet because I have a ton of questions. As you read in my story, Georgia took fairly good care of him, but all she handed over for food was a seed based feed, and she said he loves peanuts. But some of the research I've done suggests that seed diets are potentially harmful in the long run and that don't provide enough nutrition. I've read on hear where people are feeding their Greys just about everything they eat. I'm a little too scared to jump into that, but I did go and buy some dried fruit pieces at PetCo. He likes some of it, but is still partial to his shelled nuts. I read about some kind of organic pellet diet that is said to be the best diet a bird could have. So I ordered some. Seems a bit bland, but I was sold. Anyway, thanks again for the warm welcome, and I will certainly be asking all types of random questions.

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I feel very welcome and accepted here. I do have some pics of Joey and will try and post them soon. Since you guys are the ones I'll leaning on, I'll need you to know what we're working with. But right now it's getting late and I'm afraid both Joey and I must be getting to bed. Again, thank you for your kindness.

I heard that regurgitation is a sign of affection. Is this true?

Hello everyone. I'm Joe and I am new to the parrot world. Some of you may cringe at the situation here, but never the less, I am the proud new parent of a Grey named Joey. And here is our story: About a week ago I received a phone call from my mother. She said her friend Georgia had just bought a local business and was looking for a home for Joey, as she would no longer have the time to care for him. Now, I had met Joey before. And to be completely honest, I didn't care too much for him. As bad as I feel about it now, my first impression of him was that he was an ugly bird. You see, he is a plucker. I'll get more into that later. My first response was that I don't know if I would be willing to take on a commitment like that. But in my mind I was thinking "Why would I want an ugly bird". And I also thought of what my friends would think and say. But after a day of thinking about the situation, I started doing a lot of research on Grey's and on parrots in general. So I began learning about Grey's and their behaviors. Now, I'm not claiming to have any extensive knowledge about the behavioral psychology of birds, however I did learn a great deal. And as I learned more about Joey's history, I began to feel for him and started to romance the idea of having him around. And why not? After all, come to find out, we have a lot in common (Besides our names). LOL. After considering taking on a new relationship, I called my mothers friend Georgia to get a little history on Joey, as I new that she hadn't had him that long. Now, Georgia has been in the exotic animal business for quite some time, though she specializes in monkeys, she has had quite a few different animals. Come to find out, Joey's original owner had him for most of his life. And the best anyone can figure, he is about 16. A little more than a year ago, his original owner got into trouble with drugs, meth in particular, and had been arrested. At which time the neighbor had feed him, but he was pretty much alone for about two months. After it was evident that his owner was not going to return any time soon, they began looking for a new home for him. And that's how he ended up with Georgia. To the best of everyone's knowledge, Joey started plucking around the time his owner went to jail. Understandably so. And there's no telling how much abuse or neglect he suffered before the abandonment. He is also a biter. Georgia loved and cared for him the best she could but has always had a house full of different pets and lots of business trips and chores. And now that she has bought a local business, she knows that she will not have the time. As I mentioned earlier, Joey and I have a lot in common. You see, I myself, have had a very unfavorable past. I have not always been the person I am today. Four years ago there was no way I would have agreed to be responsible for another living thing, as I was barely responsible for myself. I too have had a rough history with drug abuse. I am now 4 years clean and a very different person. So when I mentioned earlier that I had a soft spot for him, it was because of this. I, myself, at one time, needed help and love and a chance to heal and grow. I truly believe that If someone like me can change, then anyone, or anything, can also. So here we are. I went and picked Joey up 3 days ago. We are just starting to get to know each other. I know that this is a very scary and stressful time for him and I am going to need all the help I can get. I have read many of the forums and I am learning more and more every day. and just to give you a feel for where we are at, Joey has already allowed me to start petting him on the head. Sometimes just briefly, but sometimes he acts like he don't want me to stop. He will turn to nip at me when he has had enough, but he has not tried to hurt me. I began letting him out of his cage the other day. He plays around on top of it and looks like he enjoys it very much. Getting him back in the cage is a chore sometimes, as he doesn't allow me to handle him. As a matter of fact, he kinda held me hostage yesterday. I had some running I had to do and he wouldn't go back in his cage. I learned that if I am going to let him out, that I better not need to go anywhere for a little while. LOL. But I have quickly grown very fond of Joey and love him very much. As a matter of fact, I told my friends the other night, that when they meet Joey they better watch their tounge. And if they say anything other than "Pretty Bird" to him, that they will have to deal with me. Anyway, that's our story and here we are. Sorry to anyone that might be cringing right now. I do understand what kind of commitment I am making. I am not looking for anyone's criticism here. But if you feel need, I won't take it personally. I would appreciate any advice or friendships that I can make through this. I look forward to hearing from you all, and I hope you won't mind the constant nagging and stupid questions that I am going to have. Much love to all out there. Joe free