katana600

Thank you for loving this little wisp of a soul with the wisdom of the ages and the cunning of a warrior. A long time ago, on this forum there was a topic of myths and a thread about greys not only being a "one person" bird but also having a strong preference for humans of the opposite gender. I chimed right in that Gilbert didn't seem to follow that theory, but I was wrong. She has a definite preference for men. From the Schwan driver to contractors to visitors she lights up the room for any man that comes in the door. She isn't as defensive and abrasive to most women as she was to Sarah and to me but she definitely prefers men. She went out of her way yesterday to regale Ryan with quips, appropriate laughter and a well placed cuss just to add the icing to her performance. Any time he was in her view she posed and asked for a head scratch. He is justifiably wary and has the instinct to know when to approach and touch her but didn't want to ask for a step up. I think the little flirt would have gone right up to his shoulder if he stepped close to her cage. Can you just see the look on David's face when I tell him "Alas but your travel schedule leaves me no choice but to entertain many men in your absence... For Gilbert of course." Hahahahaha

I so enjoy bring in a household with two vibrant and resourceful parrot companions. My daughter came for a visit and brought the man she has been dating for six months. It's the first boyfriend she ever brought home to meet mom and dad. They flew in last night and didn't get her until nearly midnight. Ryan has had no parrot experience and would you like o know how he was greeted by Miss Gilbert? She tucked her head and asked him for a scratch. 95% of the time that I ask her for a scratch, she refuses but ten minutes in the door, literally and she is asking him to scratch her head. Not only that but any time he enters the room she asks him for more. She stands on one side of her cage receiving attention from him while I am changing her water dish on the other side. She coos sweetly to him and runs quickly to try to bite me as I am trying to feed her. The little pip. She certainly gave him a warm welcome and I am glad he got to see her sweet side.

You are his flock, his mama, his everything. It may be that he is begging, but less intensity than when he wants food could be he wants you. He is learning everything about the world from you. It's a tough call when to hold him and when you give him toys and textures to explore on his own. If you hold him too much he won't learn to become a parrot and be independent later which could lead to insecurities. If you don't hold him enough he may be insecure and clingy. He will learn when it's cuddle time, meal time, sleep time etc in your life. You do have great instincts. Unfortunately I didn't have a healthy baby from that age so I am not much help to guide you. Others will check in with more experience. My advice is to love him and cuddle him as much as you can because it will be a blink of an eye and he will be mature and not like the snuggles and hands on time as much as he does now. You are learning just as much from him as he is learning about you.

Oh what a fun night after all that excitement. Gilly was more talkative than the past three months combined. It was all directed toward Java, more so after the fact and it was very funny. "Get out. Go on. Get outta there. Who dere? Who dat be. Come on. Come over here. Come on now" Shut up. Get out." And on and on and on. The very best part was in a two hour torrent of jabber, there wasn't one cuss word. Not one. That tells me that while she was excited, she wasn't stressed. She is on top of her cage today. She has taken herself out of her self imposed exile. Our neighbors are getting trees cut down, the noise is horrendous and Gil is sitting topside all relaxed and happy. When the mulch grinder takes a break, I can hear the sweetest sound of beak grinding contentment. My thoughts are to make this a community perch, I may add some levels of PVC for separation, but my two may be ready to coexist away from the cage zone. It's worth a try as long as a change is taking place naturally.

Your number one goal of a healthy happy parrot is already in fruition. As you make changes, it may be months ahead before you see change that may or may not be directly related. It's like being on a diet, it's not for the short term to get a result on the scales, it's for the long term twenty years ahead. You have lots of time. Also, with both my parrots, after a severe wing clip coming in, or Gilbert's nervous habits, sometimes it takes a year or more for full feather form to come back with a natural cycle. There could be a host of changes going o. With your little buddy. It could be partially a natural molt that coincided with your initial illness and with all his hormones blazing your little guy wasn't sure which end was up. He is certain to benefit from healthy eating choices regardless. I found that I naturally have trimmed off a few pounds just because our household went to whole grains and of course eating all this veggies in the fridge that weren't quite up to "parrot standards". Hahaha, I use that for an excuse to coerce hubby into eating them anyway and his feathers are shiny and lively now. Take it all with a grain of salt, you and Isaac are the best team ever.

Oh ho ho, what have we here? Miss Gilbert has been staying in her cage again today. Then Java flew to the new floor stand. Gil was making some atrocious racket warning her to get off! Java promptly took a luxurious bath in the large water dish. I went to Gil's cage and offered her a step up to see if she would be motivated to get on her stand. She offered to send me packing with a bloody stump. She has been watching silently as Java preens happily on the stand. Eventually I will need to buy a second one, but for now, this may be incentive for my girl to get a little wiggle on her tail feathers and branch out of her comfort zone just to one up Java. In a happy note, today when I was offering Miss Gilbert some pine nuts she revealed her excitement by pinning her eyes wildly all the whole, gently taking them from my fingers one right after another. It's such a new thing that when I first saw her pin her eyes, I thought I just might get bitten, but I hung in there and it was all pleasure.

Not I, that's why I hurried in here to discover if you found one. I was only wanting one to organize my own schedule. It would be wonderful to find out what others use.

I looked at those photos. Congratulations on bringing up baby Echo. I went and looked at his album and it nearly makes me cry to see your beautiful baby and to know what you went through to get through those long nights of uncertainty and worry. You are already a valuable contributor to advise newcomers that its not easy and not the best way to get initiated. We all have different life experience and you have really made the best of your circumstance with Echo. All this while having a difficult course of studies. Well done.

Oh be still my heart, she is sure to become a favorite with all of us. Just like every other feathered friend is also a favorite. And she is a LuLu, Gilbert has been predicting! This certainly is a surprise of the best kind. I was just looking at several Amazons. One came right to the front of the cage and it looked for all the world to be entreating me to take a chance. They are so beautiful. I still have so much ground to cover with my girl, I couldn't bear to jeopardize the progress we are making, but when the time is right, I will know it. It's going to be such a joy to watch her thrive in your care.

I like what you did to stabilize them on the cage. They look really strong and will last a long time. You are not only handy, you are tuned in to the needs of your greys and making your life together in their best interest. Way to go!

Understanding Miss Gilbert is a tall order. Right when I think I have her figured out, she throws me another curve ball. When I think about it, she probably thinks the same thing about me. When she retreats into her cage, usually that means she wants time to herself. Yesterday she even went so far as to pull her door closed behind her and with much effort she got it to latch. However, last night and again this morning, I heard a familiar sound from Java and realized it was the contented beak grinding from Gil-girl. I believe I could count on one hand the days she has been that much at ease. Sometimes weeks go by with little change. Sometimes she has long brooding silences and I wonder what I can do for her. In our case, even though its against my nature, doing nothing but waiting for her next acceptance of an overture is the best course for her. She has let me know that nobody is ever going to force her against her will and I respect that. One thing that never changes is the way I wake up and think of her every morning, this may be the day her final vestige of fear melts away. Those moments when she grasps my hand to get a lift off the floor, or off her stand recently are my greatest rewards for waiting for the right moment to offer her my heart. She has been grinding her beak for more than fifteen minutes. She shared my oatmeal and is ready for a little nap.

Since her original floor stand is considerably lower, I figured the height of the handle on the ice chest made her feel secure at this phase of our relationship. So of course I found a typical parrot floor stand. We put it together Sunday and I left it in the kitchen and asked her to come off her cage for me. She panicked and jumped but was ever so happy to step up and then to step up and stay on the new perch. It's tall enough for her to see above the countertops. Shortly after she settled with me in the kitchen I noticed she was bleeding from a tail feather that must have broken off when she hit the floor earlier. I watched carefully and it quit bleeding on its own and I have been watching carefully since then. While she was on the perch, I wanted to bring her into the living room. She happily stepped off the perch onto my hand and the sound if the wheels, nor the physical moving of the stand startled her. She was happily sitting near David's chair talking, whistling, hooting when she startled leaning toward her cage and he offered her a step up, she was a little nervous and seemed relieved to be back in her home. She is not wanting to come out of her cage today and that's her usual after she takes a big step forward. We just have to wait for the right moment and offer her an adventure.

You have had more than your share of heartache for a year, let alone one month. I am so sorry for the loss of your friend, it's never easy but at that young age it's a shock as well as a loss. I know you were really looking forward to sharing the progress of you peacock clutch, I feel sad for Hannah's loss. Your whole family must be reeling. My laptop was rendered useless because of a problem with Windows XP and I have been using a tiny little tablet and pecking with one finger. Glad you could join us again. Of course all those technology glitches pale in perspective to losing Cricket. She was such a vibrant and vital family member. Hope you have a whole year of good things coming up to balance things out.

Oh Howardine, that's just the scratch on the surface of my undependable memory. I have great coping strategies though. When I boil eggs, potatoes etc. I put a digital roasting thermometer in there, set it a couple of degrees below boil and set the alarm. When that goes off, I set a timer for cook time so I don't just head down to my sewing and forget it. This isn't new or simply old age creeping up on me, I used to set a timer to go off when it was time to pick up kids from school or activities and when that darn alarm went off it would take me five minutes to remember why I set it in the first place. Thank goodness for technology. Now I can set the alarm in my phone with a reminder of what I am supposed to be doing. I am still chuffed that Gilbert came to me and stayed for a spell. Today she accepted my warm oatmeal offering again and seems to be coming out of her recent withdrawal. I definitely recognize the two step forward, one step back dance routine. She is really focused on the "Jim" cycle. I'm not sure whether she is reminding me that we will never be Jim, or if she just had some kind of reminder herself and is pining for Jim. One thing is for certain, I don't think it's a game and I don't engage and say David to get a rise out of her. Now I just ask if she misses Jim. The intelligence of these beautiful and fragile creatures has brought me to my knees.

Any rice cooker will work. I started with a plain Jane and liked it so much I upgraded to a small Sanyo brand with different cycles for brown rice. We have a Korean grocery store near Atlanta and they have Sanyo brand. This one had a heavy bowl, was non stick and has a timer, different cycles for brown rice etc. and will keep warm for up to twelve hours. I have memory issues and will walk away and forget what I'm doing. My husband and I were never big rice eaters but that changed with this rice cooker. I started making brown rice, then steaming vegetables in it, then making rice pilaf, mixing in the small red adzuki beans on a mixed cycle and then got the idea to do Gilbert's beans. I used to do the whole 2 pound bag, figure out how many days of servings, measure that much red palm oil and make a day of food prep that would last six months. Now its so much simpler with the rice cooker, I make a cup of the dry mix. Experiment until you get the texture Isaac likes. My biggest concern is that I read uncooked or undercooked kidney beans were unhealthy for parrots. If you have a rice cooker with only a white rice cycle, I would just soak the mix overnight, add more water, check after one cycle and if necessary, add more water and run a second cycle. There are oat groats and other grains but I cook it until you can take out a bean and bite it to see if its tender. All I know is this is our staple food. I usually serve it warm first thing in the morning but have occasionally forgotten to take it out and it does not have any odor or get spoiled.

Now I want this cookbook too. Stephen, I do use what Sterling mentioned Volkman soak and simmer. I have a really nice rice cooker and can set it up on a timer to soak the beans and grains and automatically steam cook to just the right texture. It was a lot more difficult to get the texture right by boiling and simmering and I always seemed to have to cook it longer than the directions specified. I will cook about two cups dry mix, drain it in a colander, then package about 1/3 cup into snack size zip lock bags. I freeze them. My routine is to thaw overnight, microwave for 15 seconds, stir in a 1/4 teaspoon of red palm oil. I believe this has been one of Gilbert's magic potions to help her feathers grow in straight and she is looking better than ever.

Oh Miss Gilbert. @kittykittykitty tossing food, slamming doors and attempting to reach out and touch me have been relatively recent developments. I think it's as Greywings pointed out along with the growling. She is feeling safe enough to act out more appropriately when she is ticked off. In the past she would get frustrated and bite herself on the foot or yank out a feather. Now she finds other ways to shake it off and regain an equilibrium. With all the downsides lately we had an over the top upside today. I had defrosted the freezer, forgot the drip pan plug and flooded he utility room. So pretty much all day was in the kitchen area out of her sight. I heard the sure sound of wings rustling. I went right to her cage and she was gone. As I turned back, she was in the kitchen. From the spot where she left droppings, she had to have flown around a corner! She willingly stepped up and since the wheeled ice chest had a handle extended vertically it made a handy perch. She stayed with me just happily chattering away for more than an HOUR! That's a real record for her to be away from her cage. There was no nervous flapping. There was no plaintive "Wanna go back?" She looked every bit a self assured grey just hanging out in the kitchen. That ice chest may become a permanent fixture/perch. She came to me! She stayed with me! After the thunderstorm, this was our rainbow. I know she has more promise still, she is my little pot of gold.

That is such an accomplishment. Treats all around, lets celebrate with Talon. Cheers! What a wonderful affirmation that the bird room is accepted and appreciated. Well done mama bird.

I don't know how to help you because my rehomed Timneh about same age is opposite. She is withdrawn and doesn't take to new people well after our three years together. My only thought is based on what I have read in here where some of our members have whispered to their grey and they had to stop what they were doing with the loud noise in order to hear. Maybe if you whisper, give her a treat and get her to associate whispers as a good thing. You do sound like a very dedicated and loving companion to Elwood and I hope it helps just a little to know we care and can identify with the frustration of this one thing that she is doing to drive you to distraction. The little pip! Dave is much more experienced and I may even give those videos a try.

I have an ugly week coming up and then it will get better. The brackets come off in three weeks when the retainer goes in, but that is removeable. The good thing is those colored plastic bands called chains are gone, and the wires are gone. When I remove the other elastic bands, I come show her and you can see more teeth than steel. She is not impressed. Too funny. Today when I opened her food doors, she was like a little jack-in-the-box popping her head through that door so fast, I thought she had me. She does that often but she was closer than ever to nabbing me. When I walked away to give her time to compose herself, she slammed doors, flung food and had a mini meltdown. I think this is more of a reaction to our recent absence, she has been really quiet and withdrawn and just let her hair down this morning. Next, she came out of her cage, made her way to the back on the seed catcher tray to sit there all day. That's unusual, she generally prefers to go topside.

This girl is wickedly funny, with the emphasis on wicked. Then again, my own sense of humor is a bit on the same side as hers. We were made for each other. I feel so lucky to have her and I know she is taking one step at a time in my direction. Today was my happy day when the orthodontist took the first step toward removing my braces! It will take three weeks and I am as interested in Gilbert's reaction as I am anticipating my freedom.

Awww, she is beautiful. I either missed her arrival or am out of my mind forgetful. What is her name? I have never used Craig's List, but you are certainly good at "it", great timing for both of your treasures.

Even though Miss Gilbert is "touchy" and a bit on the grouchy side, she has the most perfect sense of humor. I should call her Maxine. This morning I am hearing "David. David. Jim. hehehe, mmmm hmmm". It's like she is letting me know she remembers but its not the full blown all day mind bender she was using to torture us. She has posed nicely for a long head scratch and approved of her breakfast for the first time in a month. I told her about Dorian flying. She has this way of saying mmm hmm, hmmm hmmm hmmm. I pretty sure it's skeptical. Not of Dorian, but don't think she is going to be a copy cat jumping on that magic carpet ride. Mmm hmmm.

Yes, I was thinking of them on the whole trip. I was thinking about them on the plane. I opened the door and the only tail wagging was my own. It was almost like "Back so soon? Did you forget something?" When my husband travels, we give him a ticker tape parade when he walks into the house. Apparently I am the one to conduct that orchestra. LOL It really is a great feeling to see Miss Gilbert developing trust and faith that everything was okay while she was cage bound with a sitter coming four or five times a day.