katana600

Gilbert seems to be the exception to talking in front of strangers and when he is traveling and in unfamiliar places. He talks when his cage is covered and he talks sometimes after the lights are turned out. They all seem to have such unique personalities and even with those innate traits, they seem to evolve and change and give us surprises all the time. Tui is still a baby and will continue to give you the most wonderful and unexpected pleasures.

This is my first forum of any kind and it took a lot determination to overcome inertia or reluctance or something. Since I hadn't had an African grey, the moment I came home from meeting my very first one ever, I was googling to find out more. That is when I found all of you and have never looked back. Ray, you are a balm to my soul and a ray of sunshine and joy. Thanks for telling us how you feel.

Gosh, how muddled is my memory. I had forgotten all about asking for the DNA. I just called and they said it usually takes about two weeks so they will call me when they get it back. Maybe we will get an answer on that next week. Thanks for jogging my memory though. As far as the cold shoulder from Gilbert, it seems most obvious to me when I leave him for a couple of days. Even if I spend the day out of the house, which is unusual for me, he will get very distant. The perplexing thing is that our daughters have been finishing their education, moving in, moving out, coming home for holidays and he is the opposite with them. After an absence, he is loving and solicitous and goes to great lengths to seek their attention. I take what I can get where he is concerned. When he rebuffs my approach, I give him his space. When he is really contrary, even offering him an almond of his favorite, pine nuts, will send him right into an full attack mode. He signals when he is approachable by a particular way he says "hey" very soft and gentle and then he goes inside the cage to a specific spot, grabs the bars and tucks his head. Last night he let me give him twenty minutes or more of prolonged contact. The warmth of his head, the scent of grey, the gentle submission is intoxicating. I can barely describe the joy it brings because I know what an internal battle he has to relax and accept our touch. He practically looks like he is going to chew off his own leg the way he gnaws at this leg when he first gets in his position, then changes his mind, draws back and repeats the process over and over. There is definitely a change in the wind when he stands for more than a thirty second contact. After our session last night, I got into bed and he sat in the dark and said "hey". I could not resist getting up, turning on the light and coming to him. He must have done that three times. All the patience and holding my breath waiting for his trust is repaid in these touching moments. He is asking me to come close. Is that not the most awesome affirmation? I love him through the ups and downs that are the path of a rehomed, uncertain and frightened little guy.

Can you imagine what she was thinking? Some big kind of predator must be coming in through the ceiling. I love how they have thoughtful quiet time while they figure out what is going on. Josey may surprise you yet with her newfound knowlege. It was really thoughtful of you to work from home so she had the security of knowing you are there taking care of things and watching over her.

Misty sure knows how to have a good time. I loved your video.

With a weekend of travel, vet visits, company coming and going Gilbert has been a little more standoffish than his usual. He was incredibly loving and attention seeking toward my daughter at the same time. We used that to our advantage and when he would spontaneously ask her for a step up, she would bring him to a neutral zone. Then he was doubly affectionate and outgoing toward me as well as toward her. He has been doing some things I have not witnessed since his arrival. He has stayed away from his cage for up to an hour at a time when his previous limit was five minutes or less before he was shaking and asking to go back, pleading to go back. Now, Rachel went away for the weekend. She arrived back home about two am and Gilbert went into a chorus of happy tweets, whistles, good-night-sweethearts and other sweet nothings to her. The dogs woke up and needed to go outside. When I came back in Gilbert postured for the first head rub he has solicited from me in a very long time. I stayed next to him for almost twenty minutes because it was so sweet. The scent of his head, the warmth of touching his head and neck is simply too much for me to walk away when the opportunity presents itself. This morning, it is the same thing. He is coaxing me over and quickly bowing his head. He closes his eyes and just melts my heart. He has a way of stopping and turning toward me to make what I can only describe as a human baby crying. He looks up, softly does his "waaah" and then tucks again for more contact. He seems to be a man of extremes. Either he will bite his bars and fling his pellets at the mere sight of me a foot from his cage, or he will be a cuddle muffin. There is no mistaking his body language when he is grumpy and he seldom breaks up a grump fest with a surprise of gentleness except the occasion when he will feign a solicitous posture just to get me lured in close enough for a bite. He is pretty subtle about it too. If his eye is looking up, he is waiting for me to get close to spin around and try to bite. With just the slightest change of posture and his eye looking down, or closed he is genuinely soliciting and embracing my touch. It is magical when he goes into a more relaxed and accepting spirit. After he has had a long, five to ten minute session of closeness, he seems to celebrate with a flurry of activity. He is happily climbing around inside and out of his cage. He hangs upside down and swings his head and cheers himself on. I love those days!

Your posts make me smile, your pictures are enchanting. Bubba and Oliver look like bookends on the perch with their mango cookies. I wish I had some words of wisdom for you to stop Oliver from being a bugger, but I think we are going to learn something from you. You have a lot going on but I think your house must have much laughter and fun. I just noticed again that you are in the DFW area. My husband is on a business trip to Dallas where he goes frequently. We lived in Fort Worth for a while while my kids were in elementary school. Plus, my daughter will be flying through DFW on her way to a job interview in Odessa. It is such a small world.

Welcome to the forum, you really know how to get started. The pictures are beautiful and your little guy Keeco sure has a great setup. I love how you already have play dates with Skippy. I think we will learn much from you too. Your house looks like a fun place, Keeco is blessed.

It is just joyful to watch Skippy in action. The way the two of your interact is delightful. You are both very very lucky to have found each other. I am almost eighteen months in with a rehome with a lot bigger issues than Skippy and I still don't have the hand's on or exuberance and outgoing personality. I know it is in there but Gilbert still acts traumatized and timid. You two seem like you have been together forever. Great job you are doing with him.

Gosh, I missed this original post while we were traveling too. My thoughts were along the lines of everyone else, to reassure Brutus that you would come back but not to get stressed about it any more than you can help it. By leaving and coming home you are building trust with him and he is able to predict that you will reappear. And poof, just like that, you were gone and back in three weeks and to me it only seemed like the few minutes it took to read your thread. LOL. I am so happy it worked out so well for you. Congrats on your happy homecoming.

Kim, I am so sorry for your anguish, suffering and loss. You were courageous to accept Xandir knowing he had health issues and you did an awesome job with him as long as you could. Then you made a brave choice to turn to his breeder for the experience in caring for him. I love the name you chose for him and the love and caring you gave to him. You had hopes and dreams for this little spirit and you must be just stricken. It will take a lot of time to come to peace, I hope you get some answers from the necropsy. We only had Juno in our home for seven weeks but he was in my daily thoughts for six months leading up to bringing him home and he is still a bright spot and a smile in my heart forever. Xandir will be with you always.

Oh, this iPhone has been a wonderful invention. I can save my lists, categorize my lists, write down my parking spot at the airport so I have a hope of finding my car less than an hour after parking it. LOL. Actually, I am picking up and dropping off at the airport at least four trips in as many days so it is all a blur to me. I used to park in the spot closest to my age when we went to Six Flags or any other place with a huge parking lot and everyone was impressed at how quickly I could find the car when it was time to leave. LOL. I may be a tricky ole broad, but that doesn't work for me any more because it is too far to walk. LOL. Hahahaha. I keep telling my husband that someday when I lose my list I will be spontaneous and I will guarantee he isn't going to like what that means. LOL. We have been having some company again. Gilbert met our friend Coulter. He was polite and took treats from Coulter but they became buddies when Coulter gave him a spoon full of his warm oatmeal. Not friends as in "you can scratch my head" or a step up, but it is nice to see that he takes new people in stride since it seems our house has a lot of folks coming and going.

When they say a picture is worth a thousand words. This is the picture. I have been laughing until the tears are streaming down my face. Gilbert must know what I am doing. In his most disparaging way, he told me "Quieeeet". Even sweeter. Thanks for the big laugh.

Oh goodness, Timber is as close to Gilbert's twin as I have ever seen. That is exactly the look. My husband will say Gilbert is putting the ole "myoke" on me. I am not sure what that is but it must be bad when I get that baleful, one eye look. We have picked up on saying the "stink eye" that I have seen on here. I thought it was called that because from the look on his face I can surely believe he thinks I stink at that moment. Now the whale eye is a new one on me. Your cats are beautiful.

Hahaha, Maggie is just "lucky" Salsa is willing to share and she got her teeth back. We had a pet skunk when I was a child and he stole a family member's teeth and buried them with an assortment of coins and other stolen items and we didn't find them for two years. This was as funny for me as it was for Jay, Joe and Tango. Of course that is because it wasn't our teeth being spirited away.

She is lovely. Great addition to your home.

I love your post and pictures! Jager is just adorable with his little topknot. What a stroke of luck for Shyra to find you too. Glad you got a place of your own and out of grumpland. Did you ever know how much parrots could make you laugh and smile? They are very lucky to be with you.

Aww, what a sweetheart. Good idea on starting to file those sharp and pointy nails. Eventually she will be on the concrete perch enough to tone down her tips but finding a way now while she is compliant and eager to learn new things is a great idea. I love these baby stories.

That was some quick thinking and a scary day. It sounds like you have it covered. What did we have to worry about before we got parrots?

I loved your video and so did my parrots, they are imitating the whistling so I will have to replay it again and again. Your whole family is on board to welcome Lola. If I ever lost my parrot, I would want you to be the one to find him. Some things are meant to be. The timing was perfect for you and for Lola. Thanks for the video.

I was holding my breath hoping there were no serious pinches to little toes or nose. That kitten was straying into parrot territory as marked out clearly by the bite marks on the map. LOL. It was amazing to me to see the parrot charging at the kitten and of course was all too funy when the kitten would jump over his head. Thanks for the morning chuckle Judy.

I have to say that photo in the trash can was made funnier by knowing Bubba was already in there when Oliver climbed in to join him. You just have to wonder what Bubba was thinking to lead the way and what he was thinking when Oliver popped in there too. A guy just can't get any privacy around here. LOL. It is a complex issue to understand plucking when it is just one bird and that seems to magnify by tenfold when there are two. Hopefully everything will level off and you will get a break and then patterns may emerge that will give you clues to his behavior. You are doing such a great job working with these three parrots. My hat is off to you. You are an inspiration. Kudos.

While we were at the vet, he washed her head. Since then there has been no recurrence. It is a mystery. I don't think it could be a reaction to meds because it showed up just as we got home from the first vet visit. It is likely that in the first vet visit she was struggling so, she may have broken a tiny blood feather. Then, it didn't change for a couple of days so maybe when she was feeling a little better she was scratching that spot and started it up again. It never looked like blood and it was sticky and wet on Friday night. But, it has not come back. Thank goodness. I will start experimenting with orange juice on a spoon. All my bigger birds have been excellent at taking meds. Java is not only small but she also prefers hard, dry food and is a dunker so if I put something on her pellets she would dilute it in her water. I have never had to give her meds in the six years she has been with us so I hadn't thought much about it. She seems all perky and back to normal and has been happy to be out of her cage on my shoulder and is interacting with everyone again. I will try all sorts of stuff with her in the coming weeks to see if I can find something to spoon feed her in the event we have any more issues with giving meds. Thanks so much for all of the good ideas. I don't know how I would manage to stay calm and focused without all of you.

It makes me so happy to read that he is on the mend. This has been a scary ordeal. His cheek rub to you is just the most awesome thing. I hope his tongue heals quickly and he soon forgets all about this, but I am sure you won't forget it soon. It does show you that you can handle a crisis and everything is okay, you did great!

I've taken Java back to the vet today. I have been closely watching what looked like a tiny discoloration between her eye and ear, but above the ear. When the vet called to ask about her progress after a couple of days, I told them I was watching this spot they said if it changes, bring her back in to look at it. It got a tiny bit bigger but was still smaller than a half grain of rice. Last night when we went to do her bed time, it was spread over the side of her head and was sticky. It doesn't look like blood, but she let me look into her ear and it doesn't look like any discharge from there either. Since her antibiotic would finish today, I didn't want to take any chances so I took her in to the vet. He said it is a mystery. There is some irritation on her skin, but no break in the skin. He provided another five days on the antibiotic just because she responded to it so quickly and her white blood count is up for some reason. He said in all his years in avian practice he has seen only two ear problems, it is not probable given his exam showed nothing in her ear. All in all her behavior is similar to normal and she is eating so this may remain a mystery. Glad to have a chance to take her in to the vet for reassurance before weekend hours. So far so good.