katana600

What is going on? This went from a health question that the original poster was satisfied with to some lighthearted joking to this? Nancy if you are serious google the tea tree concealer, http://www.thebodyshop.com/make-up/face/tea-tree-concealer.aspx Please keep the family friendly language in mind and send private messages if you are having a personal issue.

At only one month into it, you are doing fantastic with step ups from the cage a fourth of the time. Gilbert has been with us more than two years and he will step up from his cage about 50% of the time to other family members but about 1/10 of 1% of the time for me. Yet off the cage, we have a 100% cooperation rate... you know, when I am cooperating with him. LOL. And I agree on the regurgitating. There is love, agape love that is brotherhood and family love and then there is "hunka burnin love" regurg love. Gilbert came in for the first couple of months with that and he was stepping up every time even off his cage. That is when I learned about the honeymoon period. When Gilbert offered me up a "saved" kidney bean in the beginning I would graciously thank him and say, I love ya buddy, but not that way and return him to his cage with a distraction so he didn't get any more "interested". I saw where that was going and it would end up with a frustrated parrot. Nothing to panic about or feel like it is horrible because it is just displaced affection and mixed signals. We were told not to pet down his back, to keep touching to head scratches or it might give the wrong signal as he was getting to know us.

I am sorry I was missing this thread while I was away. I am getting caught up again and thoroughly enjoyed reading about your introduction with Oscar. As moderator of the Rescue Bird Haven I think your experience and a thread over there would be an excellent complement to the other folks over there successfully navigating the slow process of building trust and loving "a parrot with a past". If you link it to this thread, newcomers just reading and thinking and wondering about offering to adopt a grey will have a more complete overview of similarities in the process. It would be lovely to have several threads going of rehomes in different stages of progress. Thanks for journaling your experience, it is a lifelong commitment and journey and I appreciate seeing others who understand that. Great job with Oscar and Ellie. I am looking forward to catching up some more on her threads.

Gus, I got such a smile from your introduction. I have to admit, I had to look up pluff mud and it is described as having a "very characteristic bouquet". I have red dirt between my toes year 'round in Georgia except for forays up to Pennsylvania in the winter to walk in the snow in my bare feet to remind myself how great that feels... for a second or two. Hahaha. I am looking forward to hearing more about your life with Echo and Nesta. I had a surprise nip a couple of days ago and let me tell ya, my colors aren't any brighter right about now. I've read that if one of our parrots wants to put all they've got in a bite, they can sever a finger, so consider yourself lucky that they just drew blood this time and if it didn't need stitches its a nip not a bite. Hahahaha... easy to say when the injury has healed and you are looking back about a year later maybe. Welcome to the forum.

CharlieLaw, I am so sorry you are going through this with Sydney. Try hard to keep positive for this little guy. When we lost our second baby to PDD, at that time there was not a test to rule out PDD. The more I have looked into it, it is controversial and very confusing. One of the questions I ask when any vet or doctor suggests more tests, I ask "What do you expect you can learn from this test and how will that change our course of treatment?" Ask what the statistics are for the test and what are the chances of a false negative. It helps a lot to accept a necessary test when you know why it is being suggested, what can be gained from it and how it will change the treatment plan. It also helps alleviate some of the fear and panic from our natural tendency to jump ahead with teh "what if". You can get the information and think about it for a day or two to help you get a little distance from the emotional aspects which will help you make the best choices for Sydney. I do know how it feels to be treating the second sick companion. It made me relive the illness and loss of the first one and put me in a panic. I had to keep reminding myself to just breathe and take one day at a time and not jump ahead of myself.

That was delightful Dan. I thought I recognized Tom Selleck narrating that clip. Beautiful photography.

I love that you posted this. I have a brown thumb coupled with a house in the south with windows coated so no UV comes through to fade and alas no sun for plants or parrots. Also, after many cross country moves when I haven't had time to watch my outdoor plants bloom before leaving and when I have to leave all my houseplants behind, I said no more, I will get silk plants. Well... I have one solitary hopeful little plant in my care. It is a hoya. When I stayed with my friend Martha, she loved hers and was so happy to see it bloom. When she passed, her daughter offered it to me and I had to decline because I was afraid I would kill it and that would be horrid. What I did though, was to take a cutting. I read and read what to do and I have kept it alive for eighteen months. It started with two leafs (leaves?) and on the anniversary of her passing it budded a new leaf. When I came home from my recent travels, it had grown another leaf! I now have a vested interest in this little plant and read that it will take seven years for it to bloom from a cutting.

I agree, I have read the news and pray for all involved who witnessed it in person or on the reports as well. Senseless ghastly craziness, yet in the midst are good people stepping up and giving hope.

Just one good thing after another with Gilbert. Rachel was so happy that he still has the same affection for her after such a long absence. Come to think of it though, she flew "home" to stay with us twice and saw Gilbert while we were staying with my sister. So, he did see her briefly. Last night after she told him good night and went upstairs he was calling to her trying to get her to come back, it is so endearing. Today, I am cleaning his cage and the floor and walls around him so the cage is shut. (See I did learn something from his sharp little reminder, LOL.) He is hanging upside down and asking her to help him. As soon as it is all dry so I can roll things back, I will let her rescue him. It will be interesting to see if he will climb down to seek her out once he is free again. I just can not dampen my enthusiasm for his new outlook on life. For so many months I worried about him being a wary sentinel guarding himself in his cage, seldom moving from his rigid stance. Now he is a different character altogether. It seems like it happened overnight but I know it was through tiny, almost imperceptible steps forward and fewer and fewer backslides and regressions. I wouldn't even want to do the math on that or count the days... I just accept it as grey time.

I bet your husband felt like a million bucks when she flew to him for protection. If it is anything like the relationship my husband has with Gilbert, he would have really really not wanted vet duty this morning. Fantastic he could get her in for an exam and although the collar is unpleasant for everyone, it will give her poor little preening gland and tail a chance to heal. Good that you have a long weekend to try to keep her occupied and keep an eye on it. Poor thing, it must itch like crazy and she doesn't understand all this. If one really good thing comes out of it after she heals, I hope it enhances your husband's role in her life along with yours.

Bless her little heart, I want to cry for both of you. Friday just seems a long way off when you know she is uncomfortable. Hopefully she will get some relief and certainly when she does, you will also. Her plucking is a distress signal to you and you are paying attention and have it under control with the best help available to you through your vet. I have never heard of an infected preening gland so I will be learning about it from you as you get it treated.

So much for him having cage aggression or being territorial. Our daughter walked in the door, hasn't seen him in seven months, and he rushed to step up to her from his play top, way up high over her head. He has the same affection for her that he has for my sister. He is much more reserved with my husband or with me, but he is stuck with us for the duration. LOL. He is building a new life for himself one day at a time. I think he is going to surprise us even more in coming months. When he comes off his cage and walks across the floor with confidence instead of hiding under chairs and being wild eyed with fear, it just makes me feel like I could fly.

Okay, so this morning, I am recalibrated after the shock of receiving an unpleasant reminder that yes indeed, it was my fault. Gilbert does have a "cage thing" and just because he is getting out and about, being brave and sooo much fun, the cage is still off limits for the time being. I am a quick study, of course a nip will do that for ya. I was lulled into a sense of complacency with his reserved motions up until now, that little guy is FAST. This morning before I opened his cage door, I took the opportunity to refill his foraging toy where I was in a protected environment. I really am in awe of his newfound courage and curiosity. He has played more in the past two weeks than I would imagine he has played in his previous five years total. He is playing with hanging toys, with bells, with foot toys, with sisal and leather and beads, oh my. I can barely stand myself watching for him to learn more and expand his little world.

Way to go Felix and flock! Happy happy happy. You deserve these proud mama moments. Felix's avatar picture makes him look angelic. He is a lucky little boy to have such a loving family. You have so much to look forward to as you watch him grow.

I'm thinking a rain poncho would be appropriate for these wonderful bonding sessions. Oh the things we tolerate for our flock, LOL. Half of me is saying Yuck and the other two thirds are saying awwww, Cricket misses you when you are working.

First, you are doing a LOT of things really well. Kudos on seeking alternative methods and working so hard to understand Fred. When Brian approaches Fred and lifts his foot, he may be "obeying" as he was taught in a previous life. He may not have been given choices. Something I read early on is that a grey is a subtle creature and will give cues before reaching a level of frustration to bite. They watch us so intently and are vigilant to see every nuance of a facial expression to "read" us. Watch Fred's other "expressions", his posture, his eyes and his feathers. It is a tough duty to try to figure out all the cues, sometimes his chest may quiver because he is excited, sometimes its fear. Once you get to know him better, you will be able to understand the cues better. One thing that I believe is true is that biting is a learned behavior and sometimes it becomes habit. If you give Fred some time, in my experience and observation, it will pay off big dividends in trust. It seems like it has taken eons to get Gilbert figured out (still working on it two years later) but I am seeing some progress lately. Our greys are more complex and wonderful than any living creature I have encountered in my half century of learning. I am in agreement with the "no gloves" approach. In time he will be devoted and loving and that's the goal. They build trust slowly, depending on how he was handled before your home. Fred sounds really like he is an agreeable and fairly well adjusted fellow, he is still new and getting to know his new family.

If you have had her for eleven years and this is the first of this, you most likely haven't destroyed her trust. The box cutting may have been the catalyst for her disturbance, but she may now associate that with the new television? Did you move the room around to change the position of her cage or the placement of the new tv? My guess is if you give her some time, try to not get emotional about it, leave her door open and she will settle herself and come back to her regular self. Don't be hard on yourself, we can't read their complex minds although I suspect they can read ours.

Wow you have quiet a variety and an interesting household, I can imagine. When Cheeky was looking askew was she just trying to get you to "straighten up"? Silly cheeky parrot. Thanks for joining us, I love your introduction and am interested in learning more about your flock.

Oh this topic is going to make my husband very happy. He detests my stainless steel cookware. I did give in and let him get one ceramic coated pan and he enjoys using it to make eggs on weekends. Up to now, I am being a little lazy about it. I couldn't find any reason not to use it and I compromise by making sure the outdoor vent fan is running and the whole house fan, the same as when I ventilate the house to use the oven clean cycle. I love love love my stainless steel still though.

My husband has a saying "mess with the bull and you'll get the horns". He said the same thing as you Karen that I shouldn't have been messing with his toy and food. Then he went over and had a long talk with Gilbert reminding him who cooks his gourmet beans and brings him treats. We went out to dinner and came back to be met with all his LuLu greetings and "sorry" but I am pretty danged sure he ISN'T sorry. He is saying stuff tonight I haven't heard from him, saying "four" over and over again. I recently read somewhere, I can't recall where, that he isn't biting me he is biting his bad memories. Well, the way my finger was throbbing, it felt kinda personal. Come to think of it Ray, I have been mooning over all the pictures of the baby greys and thinking if Juno and Kopi were still with us, they would be four this week. So who knows, Gilbert may have been mind reading and let me know what he thinks about that. In all seriousness though, many times the excitement of a breakthrough or reaching a milestone will cause a stress reaction much like what we had tonight. I am trying not to hold a grudge and he let me scratch his head. There must be something seriously wrong with me to get my fingers close to him again after that surprise nip, but I can't let him go to bed while I am mad at him.

I have been told 'be careful what you wish for'. As I have wished and wished for Gilbert to have confidence and freedom he has been getting more and more courage. I have been hoping it would help him be a little sweeter to get him coaxed off the cage where he is defensive and territorial to a more neutral zone. Well, as he has been expanding his horizons, he has been laying claim to new territory. That cage is mine, the floor stand is mine, the box by the stair MINE, that shoe near the box, mine too. While he was off his cage, I refilled his little acrylic puzzle toy and he came back and had some fun with that. I noticed some of the pine nuts were stuck so I took it down and he came over to the edge of his cage to beg for a treat. It was only when I handed him the pine nut that I realized the errors of my ways. He bit my finger and snatched the pine nut at the same time. The little thug. His razor sharp beak when right under my fingernail and while it was smarting the most he ate his pine nut then he grumbled mightily as he stood on the edge of his cage and postured and held his wings up high like a bear when it is trying to look bigger. Next he intently plays with toys on his cage top, climbs around being active and right in the middle of it he stops and hunches up and leans toward me giving me the stink eye and an earful of unintelligible grumbling. I am pretty sure he told me to get out there in the kitchen and make him some pie, and then some. Yesterday I had a small preview of his bluster when he appeard to chase the dog. I thought maybe the dog walking a few feet from him may have startled him and he was reacting to that, but I am now painfully aware that he is becoming a little more "assertive". I am going to be sure to wear shoes when he is out and about and will get the dog's crate back out for them to have a safe place to keep out of his reach. This should be interesting to see where he is going with this. I won't hesitate to remove his floor privileges if he isn't going to behave himself. Hopefully he is just letting off steam after being keyed up at his new freedom and he will settle down when he sees its okay.

This was the best weekend ever for Gilbert, he just stayed down off his cage for six hours a day. The box of file folders has been destroyed, so I put another box in the same spot so he has a little job to keep going back to work. I thought he was going to withdraw again yesterday and for a while he was very subdued. But he was just resting. He has been playing with that new acrylic puzzle toy on his cage top and starting to act like a regular grey. He hung upside down so he could get that thing turned up and he shook it and beat the living daylights out of it because he could see inside and there was still a pine nut and the slides were not releasing it the way it was supposed to work. I can't bring myself to take pictures of the huge mess he is making but I can't clean it up either because it is evidence that he is growing and changing and I am just beyond delighted at his progress. The coolest thing of all is that he is starting to branch out and walk all over the living room and will pleasantly oblige me with a step up when he comes to my chair on his own. He doesn't want to stay long, he is just testing to see if he gets what he wants when he wants it. And of course, he does.

Congratulations on getting confirmation on his gender and giving him a name. He has already stolen your heart, it just keeps getting better and better. What a beautiful baby. I know they look similar, but all that potential and sweetness makes Thane irresistible.

Your training is going very very well. Slowly, step by step and before you know it, you will be completely in his control. LOL. There is nothing as heartwarming as watching all your babies become more dear to you every day.

Hey... I caught that reference to getting another zon. A female? Louie may like that a lot. I love living with all your zons through the forum, they do seem to have a gregarious outgoing personality. What's not to love about that? Now Ray, you are giving me cause for pause... what if Gilbert really really can fly and he is training me to be his domestic help here?