Azzie

Oh poor dear neglected Ziva! It's such a hard life being a well loved parrot with a mommy who wants nothing but the best for her baby. Tell Ziva I commiserate with her, being forced to eat yucky vegetables, when all ya want to eat is junk. Good luck with the diet change. Greys can be such stubborn buggers lol.

Cleo in the last 2 weeks has decided she likes playing rough. It starts with her sitting on my shoulder and falling forward. Sometimes I have to catch her, sometimes she will grip on with her claws, hanging upside down. She goes belly up and likes it when I waggle my fingers around her head. She chases them and grabs on firmly. Sometimes she gets a bit too excited and grabs on too hard. She also then makes that aweful crackling noise lol.

Congrats on your new family member! Cleo was the same age when she came home with me, and I recall being very impatient for the night to pass so I could greet my baby again and interact with her. I'm nowhere near an expert on greys, but be prepared to amazed and wowed for many many months to come! AS for the climbing and exploring, then falling down, Cleo was like that in the beginning. She was fledged, but presented as clumsy. Now she's like an acrobat, hanging upside down in the cage and from toys and using her wings for balance. I get the feeling that she developed more strength in her feet her balance improved, as she was able to grip on to things better (including my arm OWW). Good luck and have fun with baby!

Cleo and I were having some cuddle time this morning. She loves her head scritches, and she somehow managed to convey to me she wanted it a bit rougher. I ended up firmly rubbing the skin on her head, ears and throat, and even the bare skin around her eyes and nostrils. She loved it! Cleo twisted into all sorts of pretzel shapes so I could get to all the good bits, and after about 15 minutes she became so relaxed and limp she just sort of slithered from my arm onto my chest (eyes still closed) her big feet all curled up into little balls and laid there on her belly. She was flushed pink the whole time, and was making little throaty rr rr sounds, almost like she was purring. We got rid of a lot of dander, and I am feeling rather relaxed myself after this birdie massage. The amount of trust she showed me this morning is heart breaking. She completely gave herself up to me. Cleo and I have been together for about 2 months now, and with each interaction our bond seems to change and strengthen. Each day she still makes me marvel how "just a bird" can be so...I don't know, I lack the words to describe this feeling. All I know is I am feeling elated and floating on a cloud after our cuddle session.

I'm so glad to have read these warnings about Bird Tricks. It was one of the first sites I came across when preparing for Cleo to come home, and I read it with interest, as he sure does make out like he knows what he's talking about. Even to the point where I was tempted to order some items from that site, but what held me back was my reluctance to share my credit card details over the internet. Then I came across this forum and after some browsing, came across the warnings about Chet and his gimmicks. Is there a stickied post on the forum with such warnings? Just in case other well meaning new AG owners find themselves in the same position as I did (as well as many others). Or would that leave people open to being sued for libel and slander?

Ok thank you for that advice guys! No more pickles for Cleo!

Sorry to hear about the accident Good to hear you are on the mend! The thing with facial injuries and such bleeding, is that the blood doesn't have a lot of places to go due to all the bones in the face. It tends to settle in the softest places, which are around the eyes, as you noticed, and in the sinuses. The bruising you see is most likely due to blood from internal injuries leaking elsewhere, rather than there being injuries where the bruise is. Still, it looks nasty and hurts like hell, due to all this soft tissue around the area. Hope you have a speedy recovery!

"Borrowed" some digital scales from my folks(hoping they'll forget they lent them to me heehee). Cleo at 5 months minus one day weighs 510 grams. I always thought she was quite a hefty bird and thought she'd weigh more. It was good reading over the previous posts to get an idea of what others weigh, and how to check for obesity. I can feel her keel bone, but its not visible. It feels like she's got a good amount of muscle on her chest too. She's on a pellet diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, as well as whatever she can steal off my plate, and a treat of seeds once a week. She's got a big appetite, right from the day I got her. Cleo also has really big feet, but I don't know if that's an indication of future size? At what age do CAG's stop growing?

...510 grams. She is one day short of 5 months old. How does this compare with average weights?

So today I was eating some pickled gherkins. Cleo saw me eating them and decided she wanted some too. I thought they would be too sour for her liking, but much to my surprise she eagerly tucked in and ate some. Her pupils were flashing with apparent excitement at this. Are pickles ok for greys to eat a little of? Does anyone else's bird enjoy these?

Titahi Bay, which is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. http://images.google.co.nz/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=titahi+bay&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=GxIfSoO8D5GctgPf0LSNCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=5&ct=title Some pics if you were interested. The second page has some nicer pics of the beach, which is literally a minute's walk away from where I live. If you take a running jump from my driveway, you will end up in the Pacific ocean.<br><br>Post edited by: Azzie, at: 2009/05/29 00:41

That's a lovely photo! My German Shepherd Jinx is the same, she hangs around Cleo's cage when Cleo is eating and will hoover up anything that is dropped. The dog will also steal any of the lorikeets' fruit that is pushed through the side of their cage. Jinx will even steal the silverbeet even though she does not like eating it, and pulls a face like a bulldog chewing on a wasp. The other day Cleo was eating spaghetti and dropping a lot of it on the bottom of the cage, which is lined with newspaper. Jinx was most eager to get to the spaghetti but couldn't figure out how to get into the cage, so she decided the best thing to do was to pull out the newspaper sheets one by one through a gap at the bottom of the cage.

I has a job interview today. In 3 hours time to be exact. I'm a registered nurse, but haven't worked as one for about 2 years due to health issues, but now I'm ready to get back into it. So far it all sounds very positive, and the whole arrangement has been very informal. The job I am going for was not advertised, but I heard about via my mother, who works for the same organisation. It is a resthome outfit, that has 3 retirement villages around the area. They are looking for an RN who is willing to work in all 3 places, so my mother passed on my details to her manager, whom I called a few days ago, and she wants to meet me today. I haven't had a chance to get my hair cut, so at the moment I kind of look like a long curly haired version of Bert from Sesame Street. Fingers crossed!!!

So, Cleo was tucking into some warm spaghetti yesterday and really enjoying it. Of course, spilling most of it on the bottom of the cage which is lined with newspaper. My almost 1 year old German Shepherd Jinx was anxiously hover near, in case some food dropped outside the cage for her, but no such luck. So Jinx decided the best way to get the spaghetti was to pull out the sheets of newspaper through a small gap at the bottom of the cage.

Jooles what you describe there is exactly what Cleo is doing. She makes noises in the right tone of "voice" and the correct syllables for "what ya dooo-ing?" I told my partner she was doing this, and he just went "uh-huh", because he couldn't see how those noises equated to speech. Funny bird really, my Cleo. She is a bit weary of my partner and won't go to him, unless he has food. Then she will fly over asap and sit on his shoulder and try to steal whatever he has.

Jane, awesome idea about the bell peppers! I know Cleo would eat whatever is inside AND the pepper itself. Are the seeds ok for them to eat?

This little gadget caught my eye. I saw the advertisement on TV late one night. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/225329087/Pedi_Paws_Pet_Nail_Trimmer_Pedi.html It looks pretty good. They showed how to use it, and it seems you put the nail into a little hole, and a rotating file gently shaves off small amounts. I'm starting to sound like I am promoting this product, which I am not. I've never used it, but since we are on the topic of cutting nails I thought I'd share it with you. I don't know if they are available in New Zealand, so I shall do some more research!

Haha you guys are silly It's a great tool when used in surgery. You can cut tissue without any bleeding as it cauterizes immediately, and you can burn shut any bleeding veins instantly. I doubt the average person would be able to buy one though. They are definitely medical supplies, and there are dangers when using an electrical appliance like that.

The gadget sounds like what they use for electrosurgery in humans. It's like you say, the tip heats up using an electric current, and can be used in humans to stop bleeding or dissect tissue.

Haha Ziva is using emotional blackmail. What a hoot!

Congratulations! I am so happy for you! (and a little bit envious too haha).

Yes it's wonderful to know she trusts me THAT much. And she is so lovely...I Know how hard she can bite, but when she's chasing my fingers she's reasonably gentle. She grips on with her talons though and my arms look like I've been dragged through a blackberry bush backwards. And...I am certain she ALMOST said "what ya doing?" earlier this morning. The tone certainly sounded like the way I ask her.

Cleo has taken to playing with me in the last few days. She will chase my fingers, and will also hang from my clothing and end up going belly up on my lap or in my hands. I wonder what this means, exposing her belly and throat like that to me. I'm guessing a bird is very vulnerable like this, with all the soft areas exposed, am I correct in that? Because if that is the case, she must trust me a lot to be able to play like that with me. For starters the playing with me is new, and there there's that belly up thing. Or is she simply having a good time playing?

I so hope Cleo will be the same! Whatever she is eating, I say the name, like...grape, corn, apple, in the hope she will learn the names and be able to ask for what she feels like eating. I am certain she understands several words, like shower, which makes her cluck at me in disapproval. She definitely knows "wanna come out?", it makes her run so fast in her cage she almost falls off her perch. I'm thinking her first words will be "JINX...NO....BAD PUPPY!"...Cleo hears that a lot lol.

I don't know what to say... I am astounded. I knew greys were smart, but the earthquake and cockroach comments just blew me away. Now I am sitting here staring at Cleo in amazement and wonder. I'd love to know what goes on in those little heads.