kaeurl66

Hilarious! Miss Gilbert sounds like a riot! Yep... I've kept the dog away for the most part, and even leashed her so when we have to walk by the cage to go downstairs that it doesn't start all over. So far so good. In fact...Cookie is currently walking around the bottom of his cage right now calling the dog over. LOL Such an instigator.

Thanks for the response! I used to have his wings clipped, but haven't done so in probably six years now. He doesn't fly...but definitely could if he decided to. Hopefully he'll get over this little scare soon. Things had settled down until the dog decided to walk across the room...LOL. No screaming this time, but I could hear the growling ready to go. I actually just leashed the dog and have her attached me while I work for a bit, just to ensure she doesn't walk over there. It's so funny because the dog's crate is in the same room...every morning I come upstairs and as I'm taking the dog out, Cookie is over there like clockwork..."Hi, honey. Hi, Hazel..." just like me. Never been an issue. We have all three spent the better portion of every day together in my office while I work for the past four years since Hazel was a puppy. So maybe Hazel just busted in too fast this morning. So weird. Cookie has never freaked out about new toys, nothing, not a plucker, no known anxiety issues. Until now. LOL I think he's making up for lost time. (Side note...we used to have a mini Doxie named Oscar who Cookie still calls to this day. )

Hey y'all! I've had my Grey, Cookie, for about 10 years, and he was about 8 when I rescued him. He's not a super cuddly bird, and REALLY likes his cage, but we have an understanding. I'll leave him alone for the most part, and communicate from a distance, and he won't rip my digits off. LOL He'll come out with the doors open, but really has no interest in being anywhere other inside his cage or on top of his cage. He has a pretty good vocabulary and whistles a lot...gives kisses, etc. He's not a screamer -- except for mimicking the little girl he used to live with who apparently cried and screamed all. the. time. We've also always had dogs, and obviously have kept them apart. When our current dog (Boxer/American Bulldog) is in the house, the cage is ALWAYS closed. Not just closed, but we actually put clip locks on the doors because Cookie had learned to open them. So sometimes Cookie walks around on the bottom on his cage and eggs on the dog to come over, which she does, and then I break it up before it even becomes a "thing." He basically teases the dog. That's the extent of their relationship. The dog will occasionally pick up food scraps under the cage. All that to say that the dog and the bird are in the same room a lot (I work from home and we're all three in the same room most of the day) but not interacting, and they are never in the same room alone unless the dog is in her crate. This morning, as dog and I were walking upstairs, the dog made it upstairs before me and Cookie went ballistic. He was growling LOUD and basically screaming. I was only about one step behind, so I know there was not a physical altercation with them. I thought for sure he was hurt though. I mean... it was scary!! I think I've heard him make the growl noise one other time in the past 10 years, and that was when I was cleaning the carpets and the machine apparently scared him. This growling lasted today for at least 20 minutes. Every time the dog even looked at the cage, the bird lost it. Even when the screaming stopped, the low guttural growling was still going on. Now he's in his cage, making happy sounds, and seems fine. Usually he knows our routine so well, and this happens every morning and he calls the dog, etc. It seriously freaked me out. Like, a LOT. What a horrible sound that was. I'll take the little girl high-pitched scream any day over that. Could it just be that when the dog came in the room it surprised him and caught him off guard? I know this is long-winded...thanks for all who read thru it all! Let me know what you think!! Thanks!

We recently cut a bunch of our hackberry trees and have HUGE amount of sticks/branches laying around. I would love to use some of them as perches for my grey, Cookie, but I'm not sure how long to put them in the oven for. Can someone help me out? Do you put them on a cookie sheet...just lay them in there on the rack? Temperature? Cookie is a wood eater...he loves to absolutely destroy it. I could save a bunch of money just by making foot toys for him. His favorite thing right now is a leftover piece of wood from toy he mutilated, that has a big screw with beads screwed in it. He carries it everywhere. Thanks for the help!

Cookie and don't really have "real" conversations...but we are trying. He speaks pretty well, but he still also does a LOT of practicing. When I'm out of the room, he'll "talk" and I'll just respond randomly. We go back and forth like that. For a while my husband actually thought I understood him. However, if I end any sentence with the word, "okay?" He'll respond back... "Okay." He will say "what?" when he wants us to repeat. Just basic things. The funniest thing from recently was I was working in my office, and his cage is right next to my desk. When I work, I wear headphones, and can't hear much other than my actual work. Well, I was in a hurry, and not paying attention to Cookie. He was just in a normal voice saying, "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom." He wouldn't let up. So, finally I face him and take off the headphones, and got sort of loud with him. I yelled.."WHAT?!?!?!?!" There was silence for about 3 seconds, and he yelled back at me... "MOM!!!!!!!" I thought that was pretty funny.

Thanks everyone! He's not waving in the picture, just a lucky shot. We are, however, trying to teach him how to "High 5" so maybe he was practicing.

Hey Judy, The guy I got Cookie from basically said he didn't have time enough to devote to him. He was recently divorced, and had full custody of his two small children. It was also close to Christmas time, and my feeling was he was in need of money for gifts for the kids. When we went to see him, Cookie (of course) was on his best behavior. He looked healthy, and happy, and we decided to take a chance. He was, however living on a diet of regular sunflower seeds (like salted in the shell). I don't think that was an all the time thing, but more of a deal where the previous owner knew he was getting rid of him and just didn't wanna buy more food. He said he had had him since he was born. I imagine it was difficult for him to let him go, but I'm thankful he did. We are an animal family... we have 3 dogs: a lab who is outside all the time, a dachshund/basset mix, and a new mini dachshund, we have a few guinea pigs, a hamster, some finches, and we own a horse as well. Our daughter took up riding a few years ago, and luckily we have barn less than 5 miles from the house where she rides, and where we board her pony. I've wanted a grey forever, and my husband finally caved. It didn't hurt that his "adoption" fee was about $300 less than buying from a breeder. How many birds do you have?

Hi everyone!! My name is Carol, and I've had my grey, Cookie, for about a 1.5 years now. He's about 10 years old. I actually got him off Craiglist. I was a little wary...but we went and met him, and he seemed pretty mellow. After we got him home, all was good for about 2 months, then the honeymoon was over. LOL He was raised by a man, and he really took well to my husband, but that wasn't working out so good for me. Hubby backed off, and after a lot of struggling with Cookie wanting to take my fingers off....we finally broke through. What's funny is, Cookie knows who feeds him, and who plays with him, and he loves me to pieces, but he REALLY loves my husband. If hubby walks in the office and even LOOKS at Cookie, the regurgitation begins. Completely grosses out my husband! :laugh: I wish he was more "cuddly"...but you know, for adopting him at age 9...I think we're doing pretty good. He has no bad habits, he's not a plucker, he talks [and belches] up a storm whistles, sings, and just seems to be a genuinely happy guy. He's pretty quick to learn new sayings and phrases, but much to my daughter's dismay, he won't learn her name. What's funny, however, is a lot of the things he picks up, he gets from her. He calls me "mom," and hubby "dad," and he actually does call me from the other room. He repeats all her ooohs and awwws... and "pretty bird", etc. He even sounds like her when the phone rings. It will ring and he will say, "Hello? [pause] mmmm-hmmmm. [pause] okay!" I figure that's me calling her after school every day. :laugh: Look forward to getting to know you all! Carol P.S. Here's a pic of him as he's hanging out watching me type this note.

Will do, Judy... on my way now

OOOOOOOH!!!! Thanks for all the ideas!!! Dave, thanks for the advice on the perch! We are about to take a chain saw to some of the bigger branches.... maybe i can make him some "chips" to chew as well. I never even thought of baby blocks! What a great idea!! I do have some of the plastic baby "chain" links in his cage, he likes those too. He's a big love, this bird...it's such a hoot to see him playing with his toys! Oh!!! Would I need to "cook" the branches to make them safe, or would they probably be okay as is just following Dave's formula?

Thanks, Judy!!! There are just so many "bad" trees...i'm scared to gdo anything until i figure it out. On a good note, I was able to get a dowel from Lowe's to replace the perch he destroyed...untreated wood (from the safe list)...and MUCH cheaper than from a bird store.

one more time before i give up.... LOL

That didn't work. let me try the pic again...

Hey everyone! My grey, Cookie, is a totally destructive bird, in that he plays, and he plays HARD. He ate thru the huge main perch in his cage... 3 ft long, and about 1.5 inches thick. I have huge trees in my yard, that I would love to give him branches from to play with, but I don't know what kind of trees they are!! I just took a picture out of my office window. Can some smart tree person help me? Thanks! Carol