yoyo1106

My father passed away suddenly earlier this week due to a heart attack. He lived in Taiwan and I am also currently here to take care of all the necessary business. My dad has a 2 years-old Grey that's been with him since it was a baby. It is obviously distressed now not understanding why my dad is not home. I really really want to bring this Grey back to my US home because I love Greys and it is also in a way to continue a connection to my deceased father; maybe even hear a word or two that my dad has taught the bird. I have been researching on what's the legal requirement to import an exotic bird to US. So far, it seems the followings are needed: 1) A WBCA permit 2) A health certificate 3) An application to reserve quarantine spot at the arrival port However, there seems to be some rule from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that the requestor must submit proof that s/he has been out of US for at least one year, which I am not. Also, I don't have any other documentation on how my father procured the bird, so not sure if that will be an issue too. Does anyone have any experience on importing a Grey to US and can offer some advice and insight on how the procedure works? Really appreciate any help on this!

yes, he sings in shower! just like his mommy! :laugh: I think he likes the acoustic and surround sound in the bathroom

Been trying to teach YoYo some new songs in the past 2 months. Finally caught him practicing them in the bathroom last night. He has perfected them yet, but sounds quite entertaining already :laugh:

"come over here, Jake", "what's the matter, Jake" :lol: hehe Dayo is such a smart birdy!!

Beautiful pictures! Ecko's got very pretty wings!

This is NICE! I really wish I have a bigger house and dedicate a room for my baby. Gonna look for a patio in my next house for sure!

I'm sure many have said this but just to say it again - love and patience is the key. We adopted YoYo a year ago; he's about 10 years old and had been with the same family all 10 years. We also got his original cage, toy, travel cage, cage cover, pellets, everything from his previous owner when we got him. Still, it took YoYo almost 3 weeks to start getting out of his cage after he arrived our house, and about 2 months to start getting on my hands (had to use a mobile perch before that). Today, YoYo still won't let my husband touch him, but he loves listening and learning words from my husband and we think that's just how he shows his affection for my husband. YoYo certainly brought with him a lot of habits from previous owner, but he also taught us a lot on how he likes to be interacted with.

I totally understand what you all mean. Every time I mentioned to co-workers or friends that I have a bird, the first question is always "Why did you get a bird?" And they would have this you-are-a-freak kind of tone and look on them. I feel really annoyed and almost offended when asked that question. These days I just responded with "so why did you get a dog/cat?" to that question. It's the same love and companionship that anyone seek in pets; I just have my interests in Greys B)

Welcome Scott and Alexander. Nice to have someone from the Bay Area too! YoYo and I are from San Jose, so we are practically neighbors! :laugh: You must have LOTS of stories about Alexander been with him for 25 years. My YoYo's a baby (10 yrs) now comparing to Alexander. Looking forward to hear you both soon at the forum.

Haha! :laugh: Love the video! Especially how Dayo walked over to the faucet while making sure no one's looking. This is SOOO CUTE! Thanks for sharing.

danmcq wrote: YoYo does exactly what you described here. He put his head down for me to scratch him, and when my husband gets near him, he does the same thing. But the subtle difference is he doesn't "stare" at me at all. He just seems relaxed and "I am here for a good scratchy from mommy" versus if it was my husband, the look in his eyes is like "I dare you to touch me". I think we have that one figured out pretty well now. :lol: And yah, I think YoYo's secretly keeping a tab on every scar he made on my husband.

This is kinda fun. Like writing a resume for my bird :laugh: YoYo Age: Approximately 10 years old Vocabulary: About 50 words/phrases (I didn't count by word), not including singing and whistling He knows.... I want/I wanna go - He has come up with: I want...some (for any objects he wants, foods, toys, sometimes soliciting a scratch); I wanna go....home; I wanna go....shower; I wanna go....nite nite (these all kind of mean the same thing to him - basically get me outta here and take me somewhere else!) He knows..... Let's go - He has come up with: Let's go....home; Let's go....shower (again, he wants to be taken somewhere) He knows..... Can I have some? - He came up with: Can I have some....kiss-kiss? Can I have some....yoyo (I haven't figured out this one yet) Other words he knows the context of: - Hey There (when he sees guests in the house or strangers on the street) - Hang On (when he needs to steady himself on the perch) - Come Over Here (he wants me to go to him) - umm..that looks good (when I'm cooking or eating and he wants my foods) - Go nite nite (go to bed and to be covered up at night) - Stick'em Up (when I point my finger at him like a gun and he'll lift up both of his wings) - Tickle Tickle (he wants a scratch underneath his wing) - I got you! [followed by an evil laugh - I swear!] (when he fake or, maybe for real, to bite me and I jumped like 3 feet away from him) - Gotta go bye bye (when we are leaving the house) - Snowball (when he sings and dance; he thinks snowball means dancing; I'm a bad teacher )

Haha, soooo cute, keep the logs coming! I really enjoy reading them :cheer:

The one that happened this morning was weird though. My husband usually asks YoYo for kiss before he gives him a treat. When he says "kiss-kiss", YoYo would say "kiss-kiss" back and lean his head toward my husband then touches his upper beak on my husband's face. This morning, my husband did the exact same routine and YoYo said "kiss-kiss" back, so my husband thought it was okay to get up close for a kiss. Then all of sudden, YoYo did this pecking motion instead of his usual gentle "leaning" and slashed my husband's jaw. Now my husband has a cut on his face that's the shape of YoYo's upper beak; a piece of his skin is literally "scooped" out by YoYo. He bled quite a bit. I wasn't far from them both and saw the whole thing but didn't really notice any difference in body language from YoYo. What do you do after your parrots bit you? How do you let him/her know that it's a bad thing (seems yelling 'No' at him isn't very effective) :unsure:

YoYo's been with us for almost a year now (he's about 10 yrs old). He's pretty mellow and we totally respect his personal bubble (we always ask first before scratch or kiss). He's never bitten me but my husband's got quite a few DEEP cuts from him. I don't really understand why he does that because clearly YoYo doesn't hate my husband. He enjoys being on my husband's hand and getting treats from him. He learned a lot of words from my husband too. Then, every once a while (probably averaging once every 2 months), he bites my husband out of blue; no warning whatsoever. I've asked the vet and she said "that's just birds for you", which really isn't very helpful. I really don't know what to do to improve their father-and-son relationship and so my husband wouldn't be so afraid to get near YoYo. Any suggestions?