katana600

Hi Rob! Congratulations on finding Winston and making him part of your family, you won't regret it. Thanks for joining our forum so we can watch how he changes your life. He is a beautiful boy and looks remarkably well. You have the best wife! I love that she has been hearing your wishes for a grey "someday" and took the initiative to help bring you together with Winston. You are off to such a great start. Your introduction is very well done and I believe you are going to get along just fine. Winston is a lucky boy to be joining your home for a wonderful grey journey.

Sterling is right, Miss Gilbert is a Timneh (TAG) which is smaller than the Congo African Grey (CAG). However, she is also on the petite range of TAGs at 385 grams on a recent weigh in. My mistake on the towel weight, I thought he said he subtracted the weight of the towel. Regardless, there is quite a range between Congo African Greys, so, while your vet could be accurate in wanting to see Alex gain some weight, I just would be greatly surprised if your boy is meant to weigh 2 pounds. Like I said, I never heard a vet express the weight of my birds, or anyone else on the forum express the weight of their birds in pounds rather than in grams. My thoughts are that you shouldn't let yourself worry too much about how much Alex weighs or should weigh as much as keeping a weekly diary so you can see any trend and more importantly you can identify a significant weight loss which would be more of a concern than a stable weight or slow steady gain over time as he gets settled in with you.

Happy happy joy joy. In the wee hours of early morning, Miss Gilbert was making a sound she makes when she wants a scratch through her cage bars. Only now, in the new cage, the favored perch is behind a solid door. That works well to make her feel safe because she feels hidden and can peer through a screw hole or above the door to see who is coming near. So, I opened the door, she rested her head on her foot and for the first time ever, I had an opportunity to scratch her head with no bars between us. At one point she seemed to suddenly realize the plot and she spun around quickly to bite me, but I just held back and waited and she bowed her head once more and I stood there for all of twenty minutes rubbing her head in sheer awe. Omigoodness! She is warming up to me. I don't know why the traveling seems to bring out a little affection from her. It seems like every time we return home we have a big change in her trust.

It is a good idea to wait a few weeks on rehoming prior to the first vet visit. Our vet explained that the stress of changing homes make a lot hormonal changes and is not the best baseline for bloodwork. It was surprising that your vet weighed Alex in pounds/ounces, it is the first I have heard weight expressed that way rather than in grams. It isn't as bad as you think, the vet said 1 pound 9 ounces which is over a pound and a half. He would like to see him gain 7 ounces to get him to about two pounds. Feeling his keel bone is an indicator of thinness as well. You are doing well with Alex, these changes will not happen overnight even though his care and food improved overnight when he came to live with you. I would suggest getting a gram scale and weighing Alex once a week just to keep track. I have a perch to set on my scale and that seems to be the easy way to weigh Miss Gilbert. She is a Timneh and weighs just under 400 grams. Don't let yourself worry, just keep up the good work with Alex, the rest will come.

Nice to see two parrots out together and enjoying or at least tolerating each other. Maalik is cute as a button with his love songs to Ziggy. Thanks for the pictures, I loved them.

Thanks for getting us caught up with you, Inara and Joe. I love how she is accepting him gracefully, it gives me hope that someday Miss Gilbert will become my friend too. Inara loves you so dearly, I think that is why she is trying so hard to please you with her conversations. She sure is adorable. It makes me happy to know how much you still take such joy to be part of her life

I do, I do, I DID see them. They are adorable, the parents are beautiful with those frilly tail feathers. Your family does such a great job with the little ones of every kind of feather. I loved your video. Thanks.

This was my morning to catch up to your posts. I feel like a slouch with only driving 4,000 miles and learning to cook on a new outdoor device while caring for dogs, birds, MIL with Alzheimer's and visiting "back home". Your activity level is upwards of "a flurry". Congrats on the new baby Kane. The picture of Pat looking into the nursery is just endearing. The two of you make a great pair... I won't say pair of what... LOL. Just kidding, you are the best of the big birds in the flock.

Lovely video of Alex playing with the toy you made for him. You are so right about how these greys watch everything we do and figure out how things work. While we were traveling, Gilbert learned to open her locked travel cage. I used a "quick link" to secure the cage door in addition to the lock and she watched me and disconnected that as well. She had a lot more time on her hands... er talons. As every day with her passes I am finding more surprising things after years with her.

It has been a while since we lived in Dubai and much has changed. But at that time, friends had a similar situation and they went to the US military base and were able to get paperwork through them to get their grey home to the US. I have lost touch with them and have no idea where they live now. However, I do still have friends in Dubai. My friend is an American married to an Emirati, she has been there her entire adult life. Also, my nephew married an Emirati girl and they are about to go back for a visit, so I will ask them to ask her family if they have any suggestions of where you could start.

Miss Gilbert my Mississippi Queen has over 20,000 miles logged on her tattered little tailfeathers. We made a thousand mile journey yesterday from Pennsylvania back home to Georgia. She, Java and my two dogs are awesome travelers. We had torrential rains and had to pull off the highway yesterday so our trip took sixteen hours. There was not a single complaint voiced... although Gilbert somehow did manage to poo outside her cage and into the pocket of my duffle bag of clothes. The best news? I am so stoked to say... is she is continuing to step up from inside her travel cage... and then from inside her own cage. In the week prior to leaving, I had decided to move the big cages to my basement and put middle sized cages in my living room. She has shown before she is more confident and feels safe inside a smaller cage. With that said, her big cage is the size for a macaw... and her "small" new cage is 3 feet wide, 2 feet deep and about 4 feet high inside her compartment. But, as with our first travel experience, it seems the more people she meets, then comes home, she gains confidence that she is not being rehomed again. The experience seems to trigger what feels to me like appreciation and her gift in return is a tiny bit more trust. This is all still very new to her to step onto my hand but the added pleasure of permitting me to put my hand in her cage is a bonus. In the past... just three weeks ago, if I put my hand in her cage she would scuttle quickly to me in a defensive posture attempting to bite me... every time. I would have to fill food and water on opposite sides of her cage and rotate. Very seldom would she step onto my hand from the outside of her cage unless she had been started to the floor, then it was only for a ride back and she was scared the whole time. So now, when she puts her foot up and I feel the warmth on my hand, it is thrilling to me. She is quick to want me to turn around and give her the choice of returning to her safe spot. But she will do that ten times in a day now. She is testing me to be sure she is allowed to make her own choices it would seem. It is the cutest thing... she sees me coming, I ask if she wants to come out. Nine out of ten times she puts her foot out. If she doesn't want to come out she lowers her head and protects her feet and I say "Okay, maybe next time." Now she will come running to the front of her cage either on top, or inside and wave her foot to initiate the interaction, so it is a positive sign that this is her idea. It is amazing and feels so thrilling. In the past, I worried that something was wrong because her grip is very light and weak. As she practices this new behavior, just in three weeks I have noticed she is able to grip tight. It seems she was just to uncertain and was always preparing to try to launch back off my hand before. Whatever is her motivation, I feel like we both just passed a test with a really really long study period of four and half years. Who knows what she will do next? I love that she has so many hidden treasures for me to discover over the years. My little string of pearls just keeps on finding a new way to shine in a very understated way. I had the deepest wish that in bringing her home she would simply "be okay" and I am learning so much about grey time, patience and subtle discovery.

Time does fly when we're having fun. It has been a learning experience and lots of fun to follow your flock. No wonder we celebrate anniversaries of happy times. Happy belated hatch day to Ana Grey! She is such a sweet companion. Perhaps she could hold etiquette and behavior classes for Miss Gilbert.

We are traveling again. We are back in Pennsylvania for family support for a few weeks. This little Cajun queen has more miles on her tail feathers than most of my friends. She is once again taking great strides forward with our change of scenery. She is more relaxed in her travel cage than she has ever been in her big cage at home. She has been asking me for a step up from INSIDE the cage three times a day or more. She asks for a cracker but as I approach with a snack, she bows her head for a scratch first and then waves her foot at me. She just wants me to take her out, hold her a couple of minutes and then put her right back. It feels like she is testing me and trying real hard to work up real trust. It's the most amazing feeling to feel her grasp my hand. She will come out, start to tremble and lean back toward her cage pleading to go back. I offer to hold her at the door and she nearly panics in her hurry to scramble back to her comfort zone. But as I wait at her open door she will gather her courage, turn toward me and lift her foot again. Her whole body may be shaking hard but as I put my hand in her cage she grabs my finger and steps up. She may repeat the process five or six times at each sitting up to three times a day. I have to say that after 4 1/2 years of serious cage territorial issues it still makes my heart pound just a little when she reaches toward me with her beak to test my hand before grasping it with her foot. I am in awe of her change of attitude.

It's going to be interesting to see how they respond to being together again with love and attention. It makes me wonder how many moments they will have as they trigger happy memories for each other. There is nothing better than knowing our loved ones are in good hands. You have a great heart and that opens your door to minor miracles like reunitung these greys. I hope you are well rewarded with many delightful moments with them.

There is something beautiful, uplifting, hopeful about a feather. I have saved ours too. I draw feathers, am mesmerized by feathers in quilts, thread painting and artwork. Of course, no feather is as wonderful as those still attached to my raggedy little Cajun queen.

Congratulations on adopting Roux and thank you for joining us. We took in an older, multiply rehomed Timneh African Grey, she was in similar shape to Roux with a little plucking. You are doing amazingly well for just bringing Roux home. Miss Gilbert has stuck close to her cage for four years with us and is still really scared to trust us to step up consistently. She still gets nervous and "barbers" her chest feathers but we haven't had any real plucking. As for talking, she may not have had the attachment to her former humans to want to imitate them. Or, it is possible she is waiting to get to know you before she reveals her abilities. Miss Gilbert has learned a few new phrases since she has been with us but every so often she surprises and delights us with phrases she learned along the way. Well... sometimes it isn't so delightful depending on what she learned. Roux is taking everything in, you may just get a big surprise one of these days. Thank you for taking in an older parrot, it looks like you have a gem there.

Often I think of Peck and Marden and how much they meant to you. One of the top ten pinnacle moments of my life was the day I was told I could bring Juno home. My husband keeps a photo on his phone of the photograph they took when I was holding him on that day. It has been six years since we lost him and his brother. It still takes my breath away. It is a realization that although our time was short it was a lifetime of joy for them to be loved the way your boys knew your heart as well. I believe the joy of our boys lifts me up to be able to be calm and patient for Miss Gilbert while she teaches me the meaning of grey time.

Congratulations on your preparations to set the blocks in place to follow your dreams and make a difference in the lives of your sanctuary birds. I have to admit I had to Google Wapakonetan. :-) My guess is by the time stamp on your post, you are too excited to sleep.

It would be wonderful to know more about our feathered friends. We know so little about Miss Gilbert and Java. I get what you mean about your conure. It is a double edged sword that once we draw close and see the intelligence and ability of our parrots, there are many times I wonder if I am doing enough for them to create a stimulating and interesting life for them. It's nice that you were able to spend more time with him after he spent so many years in your parent's home. I wish you luck in finding anything about your grey's background and extended flock.

That is great news! Just relaxing and understanding her a little better and giving her room to warm up to you again may have helped her to relax as well. I love seeing her move toward you again.

Many of our parrots are one generation away from the wild. With our first baby, his parents had been breeding for thirty years and back then they were mostly wild caught. Since you acquired your parrot twenty years ago it would make sense he is either one generation from the wild or perhaps even a wild capture himself. Was he a baby with black eyes at the time you found him, or were his eyes yellow already? I may be mistaken but I believe a ban on importation in the US was 1992. So, depending upon which country you are from chances are he is very close to his wild kin. We also now have a rehomed Timneh African Grey. She didn't have a leg band when we got her and we have no way of knowing her age or history. Our red bellied parrot was from a pet store. They claimed she was three or four months old. We tried getting information from her leg band and discovered it was impossible.

Devin, you didn't miss her life in the sense that you were out of touch because you kept up her her. Also she was presumably living with you and your mom so her life was similar to when you were home. Looking at it from her perspective and life stage, she was transitioning from being a baby to her "teen years". In the wild she is about the age of leaving the primary nest and integrating into the greater family flock. They may look at their human caretaker as "mama" during baby growth and then change loyalties as they look at a "mate" relationship. When we take them out of the wild, we hatch them and feed them and they consider humans as their flock. It may not be so much about your absence as about her reaching a maturity stage. Sometimes our babies go through the adolescent stage where they were cuddly and compliant to developing their adult preferences. Many of us have gone through that with our greys without any time of separation. A lot of us are wistful for those cuddly baby days because many greys are far less tolerant of holding or cuddling once they reach adulthood. Just as her eyes changed from black to silver to straw yellow, she also has changed from dependence and needing reassurance to being independent and willful. It's really hard with the combination of your being away so you didn't see it gradually and with tiny changes of watching your baby take steps into the big world. Instead, to you it is as if all those changes took place in a fast forward time lapse. Give her time and respect her choices. It seems so easy to say not to take it personally because it hurts, emotionally and in your case physically from her bites. Take your time and meet her where she is. Your mom is going through something similar as I did with our girls. The kids leave for college and right before our eyes they change into adults and are ready to make their own way independently. We didn't lose them, but its hard just the same to let go of the "child" and embrace the adult we worked so hard to nurture to this new level.

Shortcomings? I thought it was a list of credentials. I'm all in.

Well all I can say is, I have seen the terrifying dragon in my house. Not often, but it is memorable. From now on when she cusses I am going to say she is "breathing fire". Just think if they were bigger than us. Now that is a terrifying thought. I am just kidding, I love my little fire breathing dragon.

Our neighbors were laughing at her antics and we were wondering why she says some words and not others. For instance one dog, she learned to call by his name "Mick". She admonishes him to be quiet, to go outside or to come on over here. But his brother Baxter, nary a word. She calls him "Bud" or "Buddy" occasionally but she hounds Mick relentlessly every day. She learned "David" but not Dee. She learned my sister Marilyn's name right away but doesn't mention her husband Mike. What is interesting about bringing up words from her past is that we can just about predict when it is coming. She goes through a real quiet time when she is exceptionally surly and uncooperative, then she regales us with tales and salty words. It comes as such a shock, but a relief that she is okay, we have a real hard time containing ourselves to ignore those outbursts. Then there are those uncanny times she seems to read our minds. She was new to our home when I stayed with Martha for her hospice. Gilbert associates a Geico commercial with being with Martha, it is the one with the little pig. Gilbert would say "wee wee wee". I won't hear it for a year, but then I call one of Martha's kids and while I am on the phone Gilbert will suddenly say it. She seems to know the connection. I do not have a green thumb but I have one small hoya plant Martha gave me and I have managed to keep it alive for almost four years. The day I repotted the plant recently, Gilbert said "Wee wee wee" for the rest of the day. She can't see the plant from her cage, and even so, it was a tiny two leaf cutting and doesn't look the same today.