katana600

This thread is joyous. Way to go Dorian! It made me teary to read how far he has come in flight capability. Watching his progress must be incredible for you. If he did it on purpose he will be showing you more in the near future. He is your brave boy. I am going to tell Miss Gilbert all about it. Maybe she will be willing to try try again.

That picture just took my breath away. You sure do love greys, even your jackets are gray. LOL. I keep going back to look again and again. Please oh please don't reawaken my MBS. We are going to have to coin a phrase for a group of greys. I know its a flock, but like a gaggle of geese, or a murder of crows, there must be another greyt name for this group. The way they are gathered around the calendar it could be a quorum of greys having a vote on the "pinup". They also are noted for intelligence, so a think tank comes to mind when I look at your picture. What a privilege to see your group all in one spot like this, thanks for stopping in for a visit with us.

Wow! Jake is very adventurous and looks like he is enjoying your creation. Our grey is unable to fly, but you have given me a great idea to make one perch in her cage slightly moveable to build her confidence. Thanks. Also, I made an atom using the black plastic lawn sprinkler tubing from Home Depot and then wrapped it in jute. If you life close to Suwanee, you are welcome to have all my leftovers. I had to buy fifty feet of tubing. Its not that expensive, but I still couldn't bring myself to throw it away.

Yes Karen, I think he may be a bird whisperer. I plan to invite the family over often and get to know them and let them have access to Miss G-bird. She seemed very interested and anything that will draw her out is a valuable part of her process. Most people will spend a few minutes and walk away muttering. Some will get it with her just because she is special to me. Few have embraced her as she is and want to get to know her better. They are the lucky lucky few.

Yes, Inara you made all of us smile as little Miss Gil girl is in there putting on beakstick right now. Stringing pearls is such a lovely metaphor as we watch this slow process of evolving from a bit of irritant to a glorious unique gem. I think about holding a pearl and all by itself in a little box it doesn't seem magnificent. But when you put it on a string, wear it often, it becomes a part of you. When you turn it in the light it comes to life and glistens with an irrdescence that defies description. Now there is no way I would call my little Pearl an irritant, let's just say she was easily irritated. LOL. Miss Gilbert is affected by every kind word, every small bit of advice and all the love of our grey forum family cheering her on and making every milestone cause for celebration. When she walked across the new rug and tried to pull the quilt off to get to the wooden chest, we watched with great excitement and anticipation. It seems like such a mundane everyday occurence but it is more like climbing Mount Everest for her. I am definitely going to let her chew the trim off it. LOL... My husband was aghast when I suggested it. He is out of town again. Hahahahaha.. You know, maybe if I turn it so its just the trim on the back? It's not as if it's made of the finest hardwood or anything. Maybe Miss Gil is a fashion designer and she has something more unique in mind.

We have new neighbors next door and we have been sharing during the snow and ice storm. When Jeff came into my house yesterday for the first time, he told me he has a love of parrots and has a deep scar on his finger from a yellow nape Amazon to show for it. He asked about my two being friendly and I told him Java would be a good start but probably not on the first visit. Wouldn't you know she proved me a liar? She stepped up and even permitted him to rub her head and was far more sweet than I have ever seen her to my family members much less a visitor. Next he asked Gil for a step up and she hunkered down and prepare for a lunge and a bite and he recognized her posture and removed his hand from her cage. I gave him some pine nuts to see if she would make ammends from the outside of the cage and she gobbled them right up. I wish I could think the number of times she has been offered a treat by someone, or even me, and flings it down in disdain. She was like a puppy eating from his hands. He was here just a couple of minutes and when he left, I offered her another pine nut and she was testy. I guess she was cranky that I let a stranger into the house while she was still in her nightgown with her hair in rollers.

This is not a situation I have been in so I haven't had a lot of time to think about it. My first response is that it shouldn't make a big difference. Then I think how my kids, dogs and husband felt in the early days with Java when she would vent hostility upon them and crank it up a notch if they sat next to me. We found ways to handle it and made it better. Having a parrot does change our family. We drive on vacations so we can take the dogs and parrots. We have to do extra planning to stay at pet friendly homes and hotels and it does limit us in our choices of vacations. We have family members who are deathly afraid of Gilbert even though she is incapable of flying to "get" them and has never even looked at them because she is the one afraid of them. I try to be sensitive and realize they are the uninitiated and know not what they are missing. Slowly they have become curious and have come closer and closer. I met a new neighbor with teenage girls. She mentioned that her daughter would love to be our pet sitter. When I explained that on occasion I have hired someone, I get them to stay at my house overnight and not just a quick walk in the morning, noon and evening, or changing food and water as if we had a "pet mouse" or I could sense the offer was "cooling". So, I get it that someone looking for companionship on a date may not want to hear about my pets or parrot on the first date or for them to be the only topic of conversation I might be willing to discuss. With all that said, if I was meeting a potential date and he said pets, small children and old people were a turn off, that would be my cue to pay for my own dinner and make it quick. LOL. You are navigating a major life change and your parrots are your steady companions. I like the idea of getting to know someone and when you have approved of him long enough to bring him home, he will meet your companions.

Our girl is on the move again today. She is learning to climb to the floor and back up to the cage again with a ladder that has been in place for six weeks. She likes the metal grate from the floor of her cage to climb much better than the ladder, but it is on the side away from the object of her desire, so she is using the ladder if he is in the room. Today she came down and carefully and ever so slowly made her way first to the small wooden trunk to see if she could pull the quilt off. She soon gave up on that and perched on the crossbar of the tv tray again. When she is flat footed, she is silent and wary. Although her "roost" is only two inches off the floor, once she gets there she is vocal and animated. She can't seem to get back down without help and soon enough she is shivering and holding out trembling wings and asking if it is time to go night night. When I offer her a lift to go back to her cage she is ready. This morning she came down for the third time and I put a table top perch next to David's chair and soon enough Gil had come down and was climbing her way to his shoulder. What a wonderful new milestone! When she starts getting nervous, looking around wide eyed, she lifts her foot to show she wants up. These forays seem so natural for an adventurous grey, but this timid little Timneh is making huge strides to reach out to us. After a half hour out of her comfort zone, she has really loose, green droppings that are not her norm. It doesn't last long. It seems to be just a temporary show of the anxiety she is overcoming. Slow little baby steps and then rest is getting our girl out and about. I have a great temptation to allow her to splinter that wooden chest as a reward for her hard work, but that might set a precedent. I would kind of like to have chairs in my living room so I don't have to sit on the floor. LOL. You Go Gil Girl~

That is just the ticket! Gil has been asking "you hear me?" Now she is going to want a microphone like Misty's. I had to google 'His Master's Voice', spot on.

Hi Sabina and Rio, welcome to the forum. There is nothing like sharing the love of your life with others who understand. Most family and friends listen for six seconds about life with a parrot and can't understand the charm. LOL. We are all privy to a special kind of magic when we offer our home and our heart to such a wonderful companion.

Our divine Miss G came in with a extreme fear of stormy weather. She spent her first decade or so on the Gulf coast and I thought it was probably that she weathered a few hurricanes. In early days, I slept in the living room with a light on so she would be comforted and so the flashes of lightning were not so dramatic for her. Gradually with each storm she had fewer panic attacks and in the past year, she doesn't even blink or make the siren sounds during a fierce thunderstorm. The ice storm we are having in Atlanta isn't giving us any issues as long as we stay home and having David home durning the day is a wonderful treat. Gil has come off her cage in the past few days and it is a rare and much enjoyed experience. David travels a lot and even when he is working from the Atlanta office, he leaves by about five thirty am and doesn't return home until past seven or eight pm. Weekends are time for yard work, car washing, running errands etc. With us in our second day of him setting up a home office in the living room, Gil is really on the move! Today she came off her cage quietly and cautiously and made her way across a large new area rug to get to the farthest corner to perch on the wooden crossbar of his wooden tv tray. That's where her photo was taken in my signature. Her real object of desire is the small wood and leather trunk that the dogs use to get up and down from the sofa. When she was chewing the wood trim, we covered it with a quilt and she was biting the quilt, trying to pull it off and then scratching it. Since she couldn't chew it, she perched next to David and has been there most of the day. I cleaned up after her a couple of times, then put a paper towel down under her. That upset her so she marched back to her cage, climbed up the grate all by herself and in about an hour, she quietly and cautiously made the trek back to sit by him. It is so unusual for her to go on these adventures that I am just feeling blessed to be shut in from the ice and snow. I think her quiet spell was because I was getting her to step up and come sit by me every evening and the anxiety got the better of her. She also has these quiet spells right before she has a major breakthrough. Whatever the cause, I respect her space and keep a wide berth when she needs a quiet spell. Days like today are a reward for the patience and for letting her move forward at her own pace.

Welcome to the forum, your flock is lovely. Judy beat me to everything I would have suggested. It probably is that in six days she hasn't had time to assess the situation yet. She is adorable and your other two are strikingly handsome. Hopefully in a short time she will get settled and you will see her personality blossom as she enjoys her new home.

When you're right, you're right Ray. We had a talk about that this morning. Now that you mention it, I do know where those cobwebs come from and it isn't that I put them there purposely, but I might try that now. Nope. In fact, they were probably put there by the survivors of the dramatic little mafiosa princess when she gave me that spider eating message a few months ago. I had completely forgotten about that week of mayhem when Miss Gilbert was staking out her territory to chew the furniture in the dining room. Thanks for a good laugh Ray, I needed that.

We can start a support group for gender confused parrot companions. They were not confused, we were. LOL. "Hello, my grey is Gilbert and she is a girl".

Oh no! I am so sorry to hear this. Sanggay and his whole family must be devastated. They gave her a beautiful life and she was such a vibrant family member. My condolences to the family. Thank you for the notification Judy.

Little Miss Gilbert is on the move again. When I cleaned her cage yesterday, I leaned the bottom grate against the side of her cage to dry on a towel. We are iced in and my husband and I were watching the news when I said "hey, she is quiet, where did she go?" She had climbed down the grate and was in the dining room pointing out that it was most definitely not my house "cleaning" that was a bother to her. She was pointing out a cobweb under my buffet table. She was swaying back and forth, shaking her head and making a tsk tsk clicking noise and saying mmm hmmm in a disaproving tone. David went into a discussion with her on my lack of attention to detail and commiserated with her and she was so funny. It sounded like a real conversation. I told them I put that cobweb there to catch her before she could chew another hunk out of the leg of my furniture.

That extra time before you usually return home may be her nap time and she didn't want to miss her beauty rest. LOL. She is a character.

This is such good news, I am happy for you and Nilah that she is being a delightful princess for you again. She is just precious.

That is some imagination! I love it. Janet, if we are dreaming, I am going to dream up a maid, chef, gardener, chauffeur and activities director to go with the theme. Alas, I spend my imagination in less joyful ways. Like when an aggressive driver is tailgating in an attempt to push me faster on a one lane road when I'm already ten miles above the limit. In the keyhole of the trunk I envision a new invention like a airbag to pop out, envelope the front of his car and press a rude expression on his windshield. Then quick as a wink it retracts leaving the driver wondering if he is crazy. Meanwhile my trunk monkey folds and reloads fir the next one.

As we have our ups and downs in the life of Riley, oops, Miss Gilbert, I see progress. She was chatty, let me pick her up today and was just a downy little feather this side of charming. I told her she could expect to see Biscotti again soon and I know that's what she is buttering me up for now. When she takes a turn on the foul side, it's hard to see progress. But when she rides out the internal tempest I then can reflect that it didn't last as long nor was it self destructive as earlier in our path. She is more able to express frustration and move past it. She does have a bit of a comical dramatic moment when she has been cranky recently. She goes in her cage and forcefully SLAMS the door closed behind her. Sometimes I don't notice and just before bedtime I will realize she has opened her back door (nesting box door). She makes a drama out of only coming and going from the door too small for me to bumble through and mess up her house. Hahahaha. If I put a voice on her door slamming, she would be rubbing her grubby little talons in a gesture of final "washing" her hands of a nuisance. "Get out and stay out. There's more where THAT came from missy". Easy to make light of it after having a lovely warm head scratching and a kiss on top of her head through the bars. I like to live dangerously. She's baaaack.

Hahaha Rickman, that looks like the paper I had to hand in for doctors orders for bloodwork recently. I had some help with it. When the lab tech raised her eyebrow at my partial copy I told her the parrot would be as happy to draw blood as she was to "sign" for doctor's orders. I love our little destructive dynamos.

I love that! My first thought when I heard it was the old time cartoon depictions of snoring. I will play it over again about a hundred times and see if I can get immune to the charm. I doubt it. Repetition doesn't get to me like the game show "WRONG" buzzer or the abrasive "maaaa". We have one who does the drip or gurgle of the refrigerator water dispenser when she fancies a fresh bowl of water. I would gladly laugh at get up in the middle of the night for that one. Way to go Storm. That is a brilliant imitation.

We have had a better day. There are definite signs of molting here. There is a marked difference to seeing chewed and barbered shards and the sudden gust that blows downy feathers off right before our eyes. Little Miss Gilbert has tried to fly, come to sit with me and tonight while David played ball with the dog Gil said something we didn't quite catch. Then she pulled up real tall and with the voice of authority demanded "you hear me?" She has never said that and it was very clearly enunciated. We laughed with delight and she repeated "Hey. You hear me?" We assured her that we hear her. Then she laughed. She will be thrilled with new Biscotti videos. The iPad on a shelf makes for good entertainment for her. Don't worry, I got a baby fix and fondly recalled the pure adoration I had for Juno for the time we had him, our first, or baby. Then I realized I have that same momentary thrill when Gil shows us she is complex and wonderful every day.

Excellent post as you bring up the value of maintaining a good relationship with your vet, as well as the discussion of the concrete perches and happy occasions in the travel cage. Our vet only does baseline bloodwork, then rechecks in three years unless there is a specific problem. There are more opportunities for pleasant exchanges where our vet can impart advice and get to know Gilda and me better which only enhances that relationship and trust. While you are introducing Inara to an emery file, train her to lift her foot so you can see the bottom of her feet on a regular basis. We do have two concrete perches that help keep Gilda's toenails gently blunt, but whether or not they are in there, a variety of perches are suggested and they rely so much on their feet that its a good practice just to have a look on a regular basis. We do our foot inspection along with the weekly weigh in.

Thanks Ray. Java on occasion will whack me with her beak unexpectedly, or have a vendetta toward a visitor or pet that seems relentless and "unprovoked". In fact, yesterday she was enjoying a little head scratch when a ruckus arose and it was due to a sharp pinfeather. With her, I can usually pinpoint quickly what the issue is and how to make it better for her. With our divine little Miss G bird, it seems to come on suddenly, is breathtaking in it fury and focus. She is winding down. I do suspect she may be molting. With Java where I have her on my shoulder or lap and can rub her head, I can feel the feather shafts coming in and see that it is a molting process causing her distress. Last night she was eager to go inside her cage at bedtime and hurried to her perch for her almond treat. But, she was looking for an opportunity and she quickly whacked that almond from my fingers and attempted to bite me. Then she postured for a head scratch, but was poised for a strike instead of a stroke. After I turned off the lights, she was soliciting me to come back and when I did, she genuinely tucked her head asking for a long head scratch. She does not seem to be directing it only at me, she is uncomfortable about something and is mad at the world. I am still under the impression its a natural process such as molting or spring hormones and will pass soon. She spending a lot of time on her tailfeathers and preening gland. In fact, it really does ebb a little daily and I see her playing and talking with less angst. But, I do have a dirty little secret. Shhhhh.. I went to the bird fair yesterday and held the most adorable little Congo grey and got a card from the breeder. He is six weeks old and really was above and beyond the other six in the brooder. But, no. I am not going to adopt him. I have my hands full and wouldn't want to adversely affect my little Gilda.