katana600

I wouldn't think you developed a behavioral problem with Motu, it is their nature to choose one special person. He is wise enough to know when you are not at home and that his efforts in getting your attention are lost so he may be reticent to draw attention from the people with whom he has not built trust. You have been the one motivated to win him over and give him the chance to create a bond. We have had to leave Gilbert with a sitter and it helped a lot to have someone come in to our home where everything else was familiar at least. Also, since it was a neighbor and she knew how long it has taken for Gilbert to accept me, she was not offended by the suspicion with which she was viewed. If you have a friend willing to come in, or if you have to take him out, maybe you could take him for an overnight, come back for him and do that again just so he gets the message that you can leave and come back. Maybe then the three weeks wouldn't be quiet so unbearable to him if he has a history with you to compare that it will be okay.

If not for all of you believing in Gilbert and offering encouragement I wouldn't have been able to see her potential and take that leap of faith to bring her home and commit to forever and hope for the best. It would have been very quiet in my home. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. As small chains fall away from her locked in heart, it is almost so hard to see but it all adds up to something special. It has been too long to remember her chest trembling. Its one of those things that happens less frequently and then suddenly there is a realization that "hey, she isn't shaking any more". She is having a small bit of confusion or indecision of her name. She starts saying "Night night Gilbert" and stops short, chats a bit more and says "ready to go night night Gilgirl". Its hard to know what is right for her so I just reinforce her in letting her figure it out and work through it. I don't have an issue with a girl named Gilbert. I do like the Miss Gilbert too, or Gilgirl or Silly Gilly. It just thrills me to no end to see her working through it and changing her ideas about things. She is also becoming so much more affectionate and asks for head rubs every time she sees either of us come through the room. For days now she will initiate the bomb drop and watch for me to clap my hands. She has an obsession with the floor. If I sweep near her cage she has from the beginning asked "What are you doing?" When I lean over to get the dustpan she says "Whatter ya doin' down there on the floor?" If anyone drops something or tips over something or makes a sound she declares "sh*t on the floor" I usually name what it is on the floor. But she and hubby both get a pretty big kick out of making me uncomfortable with that one. I may decided to use it for every sentence for about a week and see if they don't lose the power of it. Holiday visit with mother in law might be a good time. That would take the secret funny right out of it for both of them.

I will never understand football. They have plenty of money to buy a ball for everyone so they don't all have to fight over the same one.

Thank you for posting those two videos. That is a testament to faith, patience and building trust. Well done. It is heartwarming to see the bond that can be formed even when we often get so discouraged in the beginning with a rehomed grey. Wonderful update. Thanks again.

I am a believer. They are clearly more evolved than we are so I would never say never. You are getting an early start, its going to be a wonderful ride tagging along with you while you have new discoveries together.

We have more up days than down days and I can see clear progress with her now. Yesterday went down the tubes in a hurry and I am pretty sure it was partly due to her waking up cold and grumpy. Then I spent way too much time away with sewing and although she could call out to me she was annoyed with that. I try to take her down with me and she has a big cage down there and can climb all over outside of it just like upstairs but she isn't happy outside her comfort zone yet. She told me to get out a few times, but I think she was determined for me to get out of the basement and get up here and make her a sammich. LOL. She has learned to slam her door so much harder now, with authority. She will slam it from the outside and make it latch now. I worry if she might get a toe caught but cage manufacturers seem to have planned for that with the gap in the door frame. She can also get inside the cage and slam it so hard it makes me jump and it latches now when she does that too. I think the funniest thing is when she closes her own door and then tries to figure out how to get back in. It won't be long before she figures that one out, and then I am going to be seriously outmaneuvered. Once yesterday in her antics, she had the door partially closed, it looked like it was only open an inch. She climbed up the outside of the door, grabbed the frame and swung inside through that gap and astonished me. I swear, she was like a shape shifter, out one second and in the next and that door didn't move. I know she is only perfecting her craft and analyzing that door system so there will never be another time that I can lock her inside unless she wants to be in there. For weeks now she has been asking for really long sessions of head rubs through the bars of her cage. Soon, I am going to start offering her a wooden perch to step up and just sit next to me on my chair. In the past when we have done this, she has been so scared and nervous and just wants to go back but I am seeing a window of opportunity to meet her half way. The day she sits on me all warm and relaxed and lets me touch her head while she is outside the bars of her cage is a milestone marker of trust. I won't push it too hard, but its coming.

It was pretty funny watching "Bonnie and Clyde" getting into that drawer. I thought they were opening one drawer at a time to make a ladder to get to the countertop. But no, they just wanted to rummage around in the drawer and were quite the team getting after Pat as he intervened in their intended plunder.

When I read your thread I remembered reading once about a knitting group who was donating time to knit sweaters for penguins. I googled but the link was gone for the instructions. At one time I was knitting hats for premature babies from a thin cotton specialty yarn, so it might be possible to knit something or repurpose a sock like this article shows http://www.ehow.com/how_10027809_make-parrot-sweater.html Then while I was looking, I found a link to our very own forum http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?191845-Sock-Buddy-Sweater-sock-for-plucking-parrots There were a couple of other search results mentioning that the flight suits can be used for a plucked parrot. Some respond favorably, some may get worse. Gilbert's plucking was anxiety based and there was nothing to do to decrease her anxiety when she first came to us. That would be the acute plucking Dave mentions in the other thread. She went longer and longer between bouts of fear and gradually the chewing and plucking have lessened. Hopefully when Smokey has been with you longer he will also get calmer and more secure but with a Michigan winter coming on, hopefully you can figure out how to make a little less expensive sweater for him.

The inmates have taken over the asylum. I am one of the formerly unaware, LOL. I know I am sound sensitive which is why Gilgirl gets along with me so well. I thought the macaws were the ones shouting to get ahead of Pat with the drawer until he walked over to calm Gus(?) Bongo was on the back of the chair but I think my favorite part was when you panned over to the floor stand by the window and there is a long piece of maybe adding machine tape will a little grey feathered one hiding behind that. You do such a good job calming and defusing the whole party. My heart is still pounding five minutes later and I wasn't even in the room. LOL Bless you, either you have done something really bad in a former life of you are getting karma for eternal bliss.

Believe me, when I see her changing after waiting so long and thinking it was already as good as it gets, I am wanting to climb to the tallest mountain and shout to the world, she is here! Not so long ago, she would freeze at the sight of anything new, large or small. The first breakthough was the sip of limeade that she clearly enjoyed in spite of her determination not to like ANYTHING at this new home. Then she played with Cheerios in a clear apple juice bottle. Again, purely self serving to get an interesting new tidbit. Then... maybe she would look at one of the old toys that have been waiting for a decade. Well, yesterday she was finding things to play with and playing for the sake of just playing. It was the most awesome thing. She tossed foot toys, then climbed down to retrieve them and just played with them. I was beyond delighted but I tried not to look at her and break her stride. She has been a little chatterbox. No sooner than I say "she isn't making any sound effects from her previous homes"... well, she must have heard me play Dayo's video and then she did the car alarm. I had not heard that before so it either reminded her of something or she liked it well enough to do a new sound. Then she would do the bomb drop and I would clap my hands at the "explosion" end. She nearly jumped out of her feathers the first time and then she did it over and over again. She knew she was making something happen. This morning at four she was a chatterbox and made sounds over and over again trying to get me out of bed. The themostat on the furnace went bad and she was cold. I got up, swapped the one upstairs for the one on the main floor and she has been sleeping since then. Well good that SHE can sleep. LOL. She is really getting the hang of running this household and tells me soon I will be redundant... well, except for odd jobs like making it warm in here.

Good thinking Dan, I have gotten some audio recordings of all my parrots and haven't been able to get them into a format to share off the recorder. I will renew my search for software to convert the files and leave the recorder on voice activated for Gilgirl. The video isn't working because if she sees me move she immediately will freeze. One thing I have been wanting to ask about your new home is if Dayo has his prefered kitchen faucet design yet.

I am so glad this thread has been refreshed. When I read it the first time, I was thinking of a baby and his development process. Now, reading it anew with Gilgirl in mind, I see some things she missed along the way and her development process was interrupted causing some frustration and changes in her demeanor. Its a lot easier to think of starting from the middle than hoping she would become transformed into what she "used to be" or pushing for change that a rehomed grey is not ready to accommodate.

I enjoy Dayo chatting away. I love the part on the second video as he is narrating mommy's routine, hair combing, watering the flowers, etc. I thought Dayo was mocking Jake when I was watching his beak as he was talking and realized Jake must be in the room adding his two cents. LOL. I find myself leaning in close, watching his face while I am trying to determine if you are in the room talking, or if its all Dayo. Then, I heard your voice at the end and the volume is different when you come in. It is just the coolest thing to listen to a snippet of Dayo's day. Your video also helped me to come to the realization that in the beginning Gilgirl did a lot of sirens, foghorns and outdoor sounds from the coastal military base where she originated. I have not heard those sound effects in a long while and she doesn't have many from our home.

Aw poor little stub wing for Piper. You are so observant and proactive that you caught it early. Great ideas for fixing up his cage area so it lessens the chances for bumping his booboo while he heals. And yes, ouch on the unscheduled "maintenance" fees. If that was for both visits though, I was thinking its less than one annual visit for ours. Glad Talon got a great checkup and that her "kiss" from Nilah is healed and looking good. Its always good to have another set of trained eyes watching over your little ones so while you see the small daily changes, your vet sees the the time lapse version and together you are the very best you can be.

What an exciting day to be bringing home a baby grey. Every parrot is wonderful and unique in its own way and the African grey is something even more intriguing and delightful. You are going to have a fascinating journey of greytness. Congratulations on your new baby and thanks for joining us.

When we discovered Miss Gil was a lady, I had every intention of choosing a new name for her, but nothing fit and she identified herself as Gilbert so there was no hurry to make a change just for the sake of change. When she first called herself Gilgirl, it was hesitant, only a handful of times has she experiemented and changed up the wording of new concepts. One of those times was after a long travel and I was sleeping in by an hour the next day when she kept asking if it was night night time. In exasperation she said "Quit night night!" In the past three or four days it is becoming ever clear that it was no mistake nor did she misspeak. She has heard me tell others on the phone that she called herself Gilgirl and she has said it a few more times. But last night, she let me rub the back of her head and neck and then turned and looked me right in the eye and said "night night Gilgirl". I do believe she has chosen her own name. In the event I am mistaken she has the legal rights to change it again. LOL. So many times I read about birds in rehab suddenly making a 180 degree turn and I suspected they changed slowly over time and it just crept up on us until we noticed it all at once. The acceleration of Gilgirl and her changes has me rethinking my position. Some of it was gradual over time, but she definitely has taken a turn and is more engaging. It was late last night when I went to finish a sewing project. While I was down there I could hear the tremendous flapping of wings. It was David bringing Gilgirl down to see where I went. He said she launched herself off her cage and came walking on over to him and asked for a step up and then was leaning and leaning toward the door to come find me. It was her sitting on his hand and vigorously flapping on her way down the stairs. She looked wild eyed with trepidation and I offered her to step up to my hand when she said "No". She just was giving me notice it was time for her evening snack and head rub before bed. I loved her from the first day but she is making me wide eyed with awe and wonder these days. I knew she was capable, I just wasn't sure she would be so motivated.

When she chooses to put on her charming side, I can scarcely believe this is the same parrot. I like to think that she was in a witness protection program and now she is resuming her true identity. LOL. She can certainly decide to be a toot sometimes and that just makes me appreciate all the more when she is adorable. She has worked so hard to overcome her trust issues and I thought she was wonderful on the first day so it only gets better.

I feel your pain. Round and round with U-Verse trying to say yes, I would love your package but they could not deliver to my house. Neighbors on every side, but my house was an anamoly. A year ago, they finally made it "mandatory" to join U-Verse and I said "do so at your own peril". If you mess me up again, I am going to drop AT$$T and we have had you for thirty years and have spent this many tens of thousands on your services. Messed up and I dropped them after being loyal for our entire marriage. And yes, its the automated phone systems that get my blood pumping when your answer doesn't fit the script. In your defense though I have heard that if you drop a four letter word, some of the systems will connect you automatically to a human due to the frustration levels. I say pool, boat, spit, ship.... hasn't helped yet.

I am all for the updates when you get time Ray. If you have one extra minute in your day, it should go to Cricket even if it means letting her stay up late and have your full attention instead of computer time to give us an update. I will still give you a bite when you come back to us. Are you kidding though? Once they see the work you get done in four weeks, the next WalMart out is going to hear about you and want a piece of your time too. You'll have to get a contract that includes hotel time and Cricket can keep you company on the job.

When I look real close and careful into Miss Gilbert's eyes I do see the devil in there. I thought that was my own reflection. LOL. Hhahahaha. Along with her attitude and new behavior, she is also changing things up a bit in her verbalizations. When David went to plug his computer in on the floor outlet near her cage, she leaned over and said "Hey.. whatter you doing down there on the floor?" He laughed and told her what he was doing and she replied "Sheeeit". She only says that word to him now. But really, with all her frustrations, changes and while she evolves into a normal grey, she is more interested in interacting with us. She knows exactly what she is doing to use that one power word to her best advantage when he comes home from a business trip. While I was typing this, the dog got his ball under her cage and is whining. She said sharply "Mick!" "Stop it." "No" "Whatter ya doin'" "hey" "Shhh" "C'mon Mick. Mick" "Wanna go outside?" It is so funny. It seems like she is saying everything she has ever heard in the years she has been with us. As she seems to have finally accepted us, I think she is going to be more likely to repeat things we say. We are definitely getting reactions from her now. The scary thing is I have been looking at her like she is a fragile little character and that I need to move slowly and softly and to have compassion, patience and a gentle approach. I am beginning to see her cunning ways and how she is looking at me from an entirely different perspective, sizing me up, categorizing my weaknesses. LOL. Yes. This is great!!!

Happy birthday to Talon! It is hard to believe she is eight years old. I love that she is a jokester. Can you even begin to wonder how you got along without her? I am celebrating your milestone marker and all the smiles she brings to your life.

It is hard to get through a weekend when you want to have Piper evaluated. Hopefully you will have some answers and relief for Piper and have Talon cleared at the same time. Keeping my fingers crossed that you will all be comforted tomorrow.

Somehow, I missed all the posts except the first one when I replied yesterday. Good for you getting through college and preparing for a lifetime companion! One thing I did before getting our first baby African grey was to read "The Parrot Problem Solver" by Barbara Heidenreich. In her book she describes some of the issues that come up by inadvertently "training" a parrot to have some unsustainable expectations of us. LOL. You know yourself better than any one else and you are researching and being very considerate of the long term effect of adding to your family. Dave's link is a good one for some of the factors that will be part of our lives when we live with an exquisitely intelligent creature such as an African grey. When your eyes are open to the pitfalls and hard work involved and you have the desire and commitment to pursue it anyway, you are one of the many forum members who have learned the rewards are as great as the challenges. Good luck to you as you sort through your thoughts and thank you so very much for taking time and making this a lifetime commitment and not just an impulse.

You did great with your introduction and leave me wanting to know more. Thanks for joining us. Its tough to move and get resettled and familiar with a new home. We moved about twelve times in a fifteen year period. After the first one, the rest were expected and it does get easier. Well... more streamlined maybe. Your flock is interesting. I also love the avatar photo of two affectionate greys.

Yes I am elated at the changes in Miss Gilbert, both in her newfound confidence and mobility to her ever evolving communication. She was mischievous this weekend. She has been roaming and is intent on returning to finish her remodeling of the legs and decorative trim on the dining room furniture. We have gates to keep the dogs out and she can go up and over and then be assured that the dogs can't even see her to come tattling to mama. She surprised hubby this time because he was watching her and she challenged him and tried to chase him away when she was close to her coveted prize. I had a brightly colored umbrella opened next to the doorway thinking something new in her path might deter her long enough to guide her in a different direction and as skittish as she is about a new toy the size of my thumb, she had no reservations about strutting right past that umbrella. There just is nothing to compare to the delight I have in her sassy new persona. Right when she is being a pip, she will scuttle into her cage to her favorite perch and tuck her head asking for a little scratch. After the altercation in the dining room last night she was in a sore mood. First she let me scratch her head at her request, then she said "Awww Gil-gurrl" and in an instant tried to bite me. I chided her and told her it wasn't nice. When I turned off her lights, she did her usual "hey" and barks and whoops in the dark. Then there arose such a clatter. Still in the dark, she pulled out her food dishes and forcefully flung them to the floor of her cage. I didn't respond and she went to sleep but this morning, what a mess she made. She certainly has come a long way in learning to express her frustrations. Messes are progress. I don't mind cleaning up for her but feel a little bad for her being so upset. It doesn't last long and she quickly recovers her composure, but for a minute it seems like she is a tasmanian devil.