katana600

What a great idea, thanks so much for posting it. I am just getting to the phase when Gilbert might be interested in trying new food. It will be a great way to use up some leftover rice and I do believe I may mash in a little peanutbutter. Thanks for the idea.

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining us. If you have contact with the ex-wife, ask if they have been out of the cage at the same time. Even if they have been, they are going through a rough time and no doubt miss the man they loved. I don't know what they are doing, I have only one grey and its a tough call without seeing them together. They are still new to your home, you might allow them out one at a time for a little while and get to know them a little better. Then let them out again together and take them away from the cage area. In a neutral area such as your kitchen where they are intriqued by new visual stimulation, they would be less likely to focus on each other. Our Miss Gilbert is very territorial about her cage, so maybe this is location dependent. Greys are such intelligent and emotional beings that it might be helpful to tell them that their owner is sick and you are going to take care of them. It is astonishing how much they understand. Its going to be a fabulous journey to get to know Keto and Gracie with you.

Thanks Ray! I did not know this. I must admit, I have been so preoccupied with our greys, that while I love the Amazons on the forum, I know little about them except the things our members share. You are going to get me to have MBS yet!

In your care, Cocoa had a full life experience with an abundance of love. All your videos show the pure adoration your family has for Cocoa. Your videos are beautiful and inspirational. There are so many people, young and old who have been touched by meeting Cocoa and your family. I smile at all the children on the playground learning about African Greys by the sensitive way you created opportunities for to meet new people. I take the greatest pleasure in watching from afar through this forum and greatly appreciate what you have shared with us. Your pain must be unbearable and fresh, yet you take the time to share beautiful moments with us to ease our loss of a flock member. You are a great example of a compassionate, creative and generous man. Thank you for touching us with your care of Cocoa and for sharing these beautiful videos.

What lovely changes we are enjoying. Along with the paper and the acrylic puzzle toys, she has taken an interest in the birdie kabob balsa-like chew toys. She has had one in and out of her cage for more than a year and has steadfastly maneuvered around it, giving it wide berth. She chewed it up in one sitting a day or so ago, I put in a new one, and another new one when that one was destroyed. She stacks pieces in her water dish which she usually doesn't "play" in. I find it so endearing, but there is just a moment when I think she may be trying out new building materials and techniques to plot her strategy for escape or to build up a fortress to keep me at bay. Or perhaps if the oatmeal is not forthcoming, she is making spitballs to launch in my general direction. LOL. The paper lace "spanish moss" look is back with loops of tattered paper hanging from above. I don't know, maybe she likes that haunted house look. She also has been putting some interesting words together. She quickly accepted the gender designation but backtracked a little and seemed confused so I have dropped it and will let her sort through it at her own pace. She used to sing out "Gilbert's a good boy" in a lilting sing song. She would also say "night night sweet boy" with a real emphasis on the boy. She stops herself in the middle and seems to think about it. She starts Gilbert's a good b... and then says good Gilgirl. Night night Gil.... go Gilgirl. Sweet boy has become Sweet Gil pretty girl. The funny thing is when she says boy, she has a ladies voice that sounds sweet and like a song. When she says Pretty Girl or Gilgirl it is a raspy gravelly kinda spooky tone. Time will tell and she will sort through all permutations and come to terms with new things.

This has been such an amazing journey and I think we reached a minor pinnacle here and have a way to go in some respects and a lot to be grateful to have earned. Since Miss Gilbert had oatmeal one evening she has decided it should be a twice daily event. Last night as we were shutting off lights and she was joyfully exhorting it was time to go night night, she then asked me for a treat. I knew what she wanted and couldn't resist. I made her a nice warm bowl of oatmeal and was so richly rewarded. Not only did she rush out, wings outstretched and happy, her face turned red. I have not seen that since we had Juno in his early weeks. It would be nice if I could maintain the illusion that she wanted to see me, but I know the oatmeal is now her currency and will use that to build trust and let her know she can get what she wants by asking. There was a moment, just a moment where she was so close to me that I could smell her fresh linen scent and I almost wanted to reach out and touch her but she does have her boundaries. LOL. I just so enjoyed the newness of the rapid eye pinning and posturing and little pink face. I am not permitted to speak while she is gulping and slurping her oatmeal or she stops short, puts the stinkeye on me and walks away. You know I can barely contain myself and I asked "is that good?" and she stopped and gave me the walk. I stood very still and she couldn't resist coming back for another bite. It's awesome and inspiring and I know we are changing and breaking ground for a better future together.

Miss Gilbert has been partial to her warm bean and grain mix with red palm oil. She previously has turned away the sweet potato mash, sweet potato with peanut butter, banana etc. and she has dissed the warm oatmeal, but she is suddenly obsessed with the oatmeal, so we are looking to try some new warm "fixin's".

Glad to hear Isaac is getting his feathers back and will soon be his glorious beautiful self again soon. Mr. Poop-O-Matic, makes me laugh to think of it. Your neighbors must think you have some mad skills in the kitchen tearing around and practicing to be on one of those Iron Chef shows or something. Isaac is a true treasure, I'm glad he found you and brought you to grey forums.

Gracie is such a treasure. I think her attention to you is giving you a reminder that although the trial was a stressful time, the bad news gets headlines and the really good stuff that is in our life is quietly and gently keeps us steady. Regardless of the catalyst for change, Gracie is enjoying your closeness and having her world brought back to Daddy time. I am so happy for both of you.

Nothing compares to finding her sweet spot and getting such a positive reaction from her. Life is good.

Today we had a contractor in the house, Miss Gilbert didn't want to eat her morning oatmeal. This evening, she apparently still had it on her mind. She asked for a cracker, asked for a treat. David gave her a pine nut, and she nipped him. After about a half hour she was still asking. I realized she was wanting some oatmeal and she had heard him heat something in the microwave that made her think of it. She was frustrated at how thick we were not to get it for her so when she saw me coming with the familiar bowl and spoon, she was swaying and her eyes were pinning wildly. I have never seen this with her. She ate with such enjoyment, making smacking sounds. Once, the bowl touched the door of her cage where she was standing and for just a second she looked like she might run away. I stepped back and for the first time ever, she stepped forward and leaned to come to me from her cage. The best part was yet to come. She finished eating and was doing a strange stretch and "yawn" look. Her face was messy with oatmeal. Then, she looked almost like she was choking, she stuck her tongue WAY out, and she "licked" the outside of the tip of her beak. I had no idea her tongue would go that way. I was grinning at her and she gave a satisfied little chuckle, and our moment in the sun was finished.

What a nice way for you to get acquainted with Mazi and adopt her. It such a heartwarming change of scenery for her and a beautiful companion for you. When you are out looking for wonderful people to share your love of your grey, look in the mirror. You are pretty special too. Welcome to the forum.

I so thoroughly enjoyed her new fascination and energy that I left it a little longer, mainly because I didn't want to hinder her progress. The last photo with all the paper on the mat in front of her cage was her response to me picking up some of the strands from the seed catcher around the outside of her cage and some draped inside her cage. I was taking advantage of her being topside. Her response was to drag her paper and fling it to the floor. She certainly is showing personality plus. In my cleaning I tried moving in a previously favored foraging toy. Rather than putting inside in a familiar place, I changed the direction from a merry-go-round horizontal installation to a ferris-wheel upright. She had that thing emptied of treats in ten minutes. Now she stands on the rail and spins it, opens and closes the doors on it and gives it a workout. She likes the creak it makes. Since she has accepted the paper tape, that's what I am using to wrap up some almonds and pine nuts to encourage her to be more curious. Playing is great, but the renewed interest in coming off her cage and especially to use her new ladder is real progress. Today she must have heard you cheering her on. I had a contractor in the house and he got to hear her so go Gil girrrrl, pretty girl. Pretty sweet, I love it.

Here I was thinking, my cage is too big and thought you found a solution. Congratulations on making Beautiful a focal point in your home and in your lives. Now I want to discover the secret in getting my husband to be the one to clean the cage and think its his idea. I think I need to speak to your wife. LOL.

When we had our second baby CAG and he was suffering from PDD it affected his liver and our vet gave him milk thistle to aid his liver. It did help shrink the liver down to normal size as seen on his xrays. Just wondering if you might ask your vet about it for Zoey. She is not ready to leave you yet.

Thank you Nancy. Miss Gilbert is writing her memoirs "1,083 days studying my captor. Have found some soft spots I can use in my takeover plan. It will take a long time, she seems simple and difficult to train. I am certain I can outwait her." Life with a grey is a series of challenges. I am sure they are keeping notes on us. I would love to hear more as Willie figures out how to use the newcomer to reach his goals. Gil's most recent caregiver gave birth to her fourth child just after taking her in. When we have a quiet moment at night and Gil wants a head scratch she will stop and look at me, then cry like the baby. It's the only time I hear that and it is just precious the way she uses it.

This is so funny. Of course, I am not the one running to reset the alarm. We really need to have a thread for "Tricked Again". I love these kind of tricks. I've been tricked into responding to contact calls, but it wasn't the parrot, it was my husband. We both thought we were replying to Miss Gilbert.

This was at the pinnacle of her paper tearing campaign. She made a mound of paper and then she and Java stood on the edge of their cage tops, swayed and talked smack to each other. Things are changing between them too. Java pretty much stays on her own cage and flies to be with me now. Miss Gilbert can climb to the floor and back up her cage, but not up Java's. The more Gil plays and finds things on her own cage the less Java will bother her. It works pretty well. Java doesn't go to the floor and Gil can't fly, so for now we have the house covered from top to bottom. Miss Gilbert got into a little pout today when I cleaned up her mess, but when I got out some more toys for her playtop, she forgot about it and played with a foraging toy. I count it as a great accomplishment for my husband to grumble to Gil about her mess. I have waited so long for this, I have to admit I left it for a couple of days.

This is one of the things I like best about our forum. Everyone has a unique take and perspective and when we share our thoughts they add up or come together at just the right point for the next person to take some or all and think about their grey and what will suit the situation best. Every grey, every home, every day is a learning experience. There were things I read early on that didn't help Miss Gilbert at the time, but later someone may have mentioned it and we tried it again and that day it was magical. It really does take a village to figure out what these complex and wonderful companions are doing sometimes. Miss Gilbert seems to be reading ahead of me, I just scramble and try to keep up. LOL.

The objectionable language will come and go and gradually disappear as he doesn't get any reinforcement. When Miss Gilbert came, she would call the dogs idiots and tell them shut up. Over time, that became "Quiet, stop that". When she would shout "idiot", we would pretend to be dumb and say "Elliot!"and she never said that, but stopped for the most part calling us idiots. We have a cabinet full of toys we have tried over three years and for the first two years, she rejected everything. Slowly she has started to accept and play with things that may have been rejected forty times or more. It all depends on Smokey. Some things, it has helped to place down low in the cage and leave them until they weren't so intimidating. Birdhouse recommended to me not to hang anything higher than her line of vision on her perch and that did help. You will find an ebb and flow with Smokey and he will open up in time and you will find opportunities to draw him in. I have to say the hardest thing of all was for me to "do nothing" and let her come to me.

Happy HatchDay to Sterling Gris. How time flies. He still is your baby and ours too through your posts and photos. I love that your daughter believes she has Sterling in training. I let my kids think that too, but really I am training them to be Miss Gilbert's retirement plan and I am teaching her to tell them things later. LOL.

This thread has made me have the biggest smile. It also brought back memories from when we first got Java. She got real quiet and we found her looking very much like Toby but she was tail up in an open jar of peanutbutter. Sometimes the unexpected brings the greatest enjoyment. Thanks for the smiles.

It is amazing when she starts taking a step forward. Early on, it would have been impossible to measure, but with every tiny increment of trust or courage or whatever moves her there is a greater potential on the next attempt. For a couple of weeks, I have seen a thaw in her shroud of icy behavior. She is shedding her thick protective garments and seeking the warmth of the sun. After a couple of forays into the kitchen in as many weeks, she is starting to cautiously and slowly climb down her ladder to the floor. Sometimes she stays with a five foot radius, then she is moved to return up the ladder mysteriously, silently and with an abundance of caution. Once she gets back up there she stands perfectly still for hours at a time. It seems to be her way of processing and regaining her composure. I have read about flight/fight adrenaline rush and how some instincts include a third option of freezing in place to avoid detection by a predator. I also saw a nature program about antelope. If one has a close call with a lion, it will lie still and then it will tremble tremendously. The guide said, theTh antelopes that do not shake, die. The fear is just too much. Interestingly enough, often what I was reading as her chest shaking with excitement of some sort... usually not good, it could be just the aftereffect of going into some scary territory for her. Regardless, we see less and less of that frozen behavior and each brave little move she takes forward helps for the next time. Another really great benefit of her climbing off her cage is she will step up to either of us from any other place in the house. She is even seeking out a "lift" back to her cage. She also has been allowing me to carry her from room to room, out to the screened porch and has had a view of every spot on the main floor. She has gotten brave enough for me to lift my hand high in the air and cheer for her to flap flap flap gentle descent. Three times yesterday, she flapped so hard, she released her grip from my hand. My husband aptly pointed out, she isn't actually "flying" but she is descending more slowly and for greater distances. Regardless of what we might call it, Miss Gilbert is broadening her horizons. She also has had a flurry of activity on the playtop. The way I see it, the greater the MESS in and around her cage, the greater our success in bringing her to a happier place. I love her mess just a little too much, perhaps. LOL.

Regardless of intrique or emotion, a combination or many other factors, I believe you will find a way to take advantage of Willie's interest and build your bond through opportunity. All our flock and family benefit from the ebb and flow that is the dance of our ever changing life. My baby days are well passed but I so look forward to grandchildren that will know Miss Gilbert from their earliest memories and someday one of them may be the perfect person to join me in the love of all things grey and feathered. You have some wonderful times ahead watching your little girl, "Betty Boop" grow and who knows, maybe in a few fleeting years she will be the one Willie loves best. I appreciate you being part of our forum and look forward to how this plays out over time.