katana600

I saw it too and when that woman saw her little companion, I just wanted to hug her. It may seem like a small thing amidst the great destruction, but to her it was everything.

I am glad your family are okay. We lived in Tornado Alley for almost a decade and have loved ones in the path of the storm and it is excruciating to wait to hear from each of them and to know that even if all ours are safe, someone else family is forever changed.

In the beginning Gilbert did come to me and sit on my hand but then abruptly stopped. It could be that in that "honeymoon" phase he was trying to "be good" or he was getting closer to me to observe and figure out how to get one up on me. LOL. Just joking there. As far as the first vet visit, if you don't already have an avian vet, find one and visit yourself first without CJ. Mine said to wait about thirty days for the stress of the rehoming to settle down just a little. He said that the stress hormones are so high at that point that it will not be a good baseline for bloodwork. If you suspect something is wrong, of course that is different, but your own vet is the best person to turn to with that kind of advice. It is expected for CJ to be on red alert and fearful right now and the advice you have been given on this thread is spot on. I learned how to handle our rehome from this forum. We have what we call grey time, it is different than any other human or creature than you have encountered before now. Building trust is the main thing now and as you watch him, you will learn more how to approach him. The hardest thing I had to learn was sometimes doing "nothing" is what worked. Let him observe you all for a while. Walk past his cage, give him treats and let him make the next move. You will be rewarded for your patience.

I have the one that Kizzy linked for us. It works well for short trips and I can put food cups on the door. I have had three of them because Gilbert can take the springs off (they hold the hooks on the end panels) and he can also open the door latch from the inside. Now I get some zip ties and lock the folding panels in place for travel and use a quick link on the door handle. I also have the pack-o-bird which is good for short outings but I wouldn't dare to leave him in it at a motel or somewhere unattended because he chews on it. I do love the water bottle Mari, where did you find it?

Just miles of smiles with that little cutie. Nikki is precious. Congratulations on the new addition to your family.

Good news for Tooka getting more settled with you and playing with you. Your mother may be right that it seems like he is eating less food, yet it could be possible he was playing with his food and dropping it and now he is eating what he needs and spending his time playing with other things. Read aloud to Tooka from your studies, he will be ready to graduate when you do. He will love to hear your voice and it won't matter the words.

It is good to have those videos not only to keep from pinching yourself to see if it's real, but to look back later and mark her progress. I still can't get Gilbert on video and can barely get a picture of him from across the room. Good job to have Marco on video and to share with us. It's just precious to hear her speaking in full sentences.

There is something mesmerizing about his warmth and scent when he is relaxed and allowing me to indulge in a close contact. The good news with Gilbert today? He has been on the living room floor for four hours. He is snooping in corners, getting in my shoe, tearing apart a cardboard box, climbing back to his cage for reassurance and then going on another little adventure. He walked right up to my chair and asked for a step up, then whe he started looking around I offered to lower him to the floor and he toodled off again. This is the longest time he has spent lower than waist high and the longest he has been away from his cage. Want to know the best part? When he came to me, I lifted him up and looked into his eyes. His pupils were huge, he was relaxed and confident. As I spoke to him, I saw his pupils ever so slightly "calibrating". He still isn't pinning in excitement, but this is as close to emotion as I have seen from him. Well, other than fear, I mean. That's an emotion that has had him locked down tight. Now he is back on his floor stand, he got up there all by himself. He is grinding his beak contentedly and falling asleep. I am so in love with him, even though I got little sleep myself last night, I can't rest because he is mesmerizing me with his outgoing behavior today.

It's very complicated to me because it depends on how much time I have and if I think someone with more direct experience will come in and have a connection and advice that I couldn't offer. Also, sometimes I can see there is more behind the question and I want to wait until I read related posts from the member because it is more complex. Just as each parrot is complex and each relationship of companion to parrot is complex, sometimes I want to think about it a little and consider if what I have to offer is going to fit the particular thread. From my absence and lack of internet for four months, I am still reading and catching up.

My first experience with a parrot was "accidental" and I was smitten and drawn in by her ability and desire to communicate with us. She didn't talk, but she certainly had her own will and could find creative ways to let us know what she wanted. Also, she challenged me in ways no other companion has in order to keep up with her energy and curiousity. Now that we have been together longer, I am watching her eyes, as well as Gilbert's and you are right Ray, they are a window into our own soul. Of course they are also close to that sharp and pointy beak too. LOL. Good thread for some thoughtful consideration into what our two parrots mean to each member of our family.

He is so adorable on his perch for the first time and looking calm and confident. Every one of these baby days is precious. Its a wonderful world for Pookie, glad you have him and are enjoying every "first" with him.

We had severe thunderstorm bursts overnight that had Gilbert unsettled. When he came, his former caretaker let me know this was a huge stressor for him and would usually result in a plucking mania. From what we can piece together and from what we know, he spent all of his first seven years or more in Biloxi MS and weathered major hurricanes next to a military base. With that in mind, the first time we had a thunderstorm when he came, I turned on the inside lights to lessen the impact of the bright lightning strikes. I would sleep on the sofa where he could see me and through the night he would make the sounds of sirens and other danger signals and posturing. We haven't had more than a handful of these occasions so it is memorable and is a good guideline to see his growth. He hasn't resorted to plucking with any storm, but he went from being severely distressed, to later just being vigilant and upset, to being vigilant and self-soothing with "Gilbert okay". Last night since it was so bad out, I came out and turned on just the light in the upstairs so it was dim in the living room near his cage. He was visibly shaken by the storm, but this time he was looking for a little reassurance and he let me rub his head through the bars for twenty minutes at a time. He made long sad mewling sounds like he was crying, but he then melted while he let me give him more of a head massage than he would normally and he surrendered himself and closed his eyes. It is the first time I could stand there and imagine that he would let me scoop him up and take him to my chair and just hold him until the internal storming subsides. Ha. Dream on. The second or third time I came out and responded to his cries, he was warm and softly sleeping, nearly hypnotized by letting me rub his head and shoulders. I quietly opened his door and tried to reach one inch into his cage to rub his head without bars between us. Psyche!! No he was NOT sleeping, he took a swipe at me. I just said okay and closed the door and in seconds he was "in position" for another head rub. Nosiree missus, there will be no taking advantage of him and turning him into a lap dog just because of a storm. LOL. Thanks again to Ray for reminding me to look back sometimes when I feel like we are not making progress.

When I had a previous unflighted, sick grey, I was trying to give him courage to come out of his cage. His cage was a different type that was like he had at the breeder and he was younger, so the cage was more like you would use for a rabbit to accomodate his needs. When he started climbing out of the top, I wanted to expand his space, so I put his floor stand right inside of a small playpen. It is the kind like a "pack and play" for human infants. That way if he fell, he was still contained, he felt safe from our small dogs and it kept them safe as well as Kopi. The only thing with that is I had to be in the room the whole time because I had a concern if he could get caught in the netting. If you don't have a travel cage or the room to sit one next to your big cage, you might find a grate of some sort, a dog gate comes to mind. You might be able to us zip ties to attach to the side of the big cage to fill the gap between the floor and the main cage for him to get up off the floor by himself should he startle and find himself down there. Another thought is something like the cargo net I use for my motorcycle. Its made of material like bungee cords and has four hooks where it can be attached to side rails and the wheel base of the cage. You might even be able to make something with sisal rope or with pvc and vet tape. Gilbert built the most confidence and trust by being able to skittle back to a safe height on his own. Twenty six months together and though he has come far, he still isn't consistently cooperative with hands.

Gilbert did spend a lot of time under the sofa or chairs if he startled off his cage. He is still not flighted but he is finally making progress getting away from his cage a little. At first, I tried attaching a ladder from the floor to bottom of the cage. I couldn't convince him to try it to get back in. Even though he would get in a panic because he was on the floor and he would accept a step up to get back in, it was not a trust building endeavor. Eventually what we hit on here was to put his travel cage right next to his big cage. He likes his travel cage and he will climb up and down and if he startled to the floor, he could come back and climb in on his own and that has really increased his confidence. I did put a perch inside his cage attached to the door. I used that every night to hand him an almond in the shell that he loved for his night time treat before bed time. Over time, I would leave the latch open so the door would flutter a bit when he climbed onto the perch. He eventually got accustomed to the motion of the door, then I started leaving it open a crack and then handing the almond in through the crack in the door. It took months and months, almost two years for him to get to the place where he would come out and put himself back inside when I asked if he wanted a treat. The almond is his treat and I would only give him one when he went to the perch on his door whether he was inside or outside. That gave me the ability to close the cage while he was standing on the perch when I needed to put him inside the cage without touching him.

I just found this thread, I don't know how I missed it, but my mind is not with me since my return home. I typed a big long response and it disappeared. I will try again though.

Yes, thanks, it filled the gap brilliantly. Now I am plotting to ingratiate him to the grandchildren so when he outlives me, he will have a familiar loving home. Mind you, neither of my daughters is married, nor thinking of giving me grandchildren. But, I put him a clause in my will to make arrangements for him. My daughter loves him and would take him in a second and said "Hey, why would you pass me over and think of grandchildren?" I said, hmmm, think about it, he could live to eighty, he might outlive you too. LOL. Good luck as you consider bringing a parrot into your family, once you have spent time with one and understand how incredible they are, you will be planning ahead for the time you can bring home a grey. It took me almost thirty years to realize the dream and nothing satisfied my longing until I brought one home. It is a lot harder than I imagined and now when I travel, I drive to take him with me. It was a life changer.

If Earl likes the sleep cage, I wouldn't see any downside to letting him sleep in it. It gives you the option of putting him to bed in a quiet place if there is late night activity in the room where his main cage is located. It also gives him a predictable routine at bed time and that is good. It also gives him the idea his roost cage is a safe and cozy place. If that is going to service as his travel cage, it will help him to have good experiences associated with it because when you take him to the vet, you will use it and he will dive right into it after an exam etc. If he likes it and goes in there to sleep and you like it and it serves you well, I can't think of any reason why it would be wrong. When I had a new baby I wondered if I was going to do something wrong and "break" him.

Every time I see threads with new babies, I am enthralled all over again. There is nothing like that introduction to your baby and the anticipation and hopes and dreams of bringing this little one into your life. I'm with Dan, I get the flutter in my soul that says "DO IT!!". LOL. It wouldn't be good for Gilbert, so I will take all that cuteness vicariously from your forum posts as you bring him home and bond with him (or her) and imagine Gilbert as a baby long ago. That is my secret weapon to living with the complex slow process of building trust with a rehomed fellow on an off day. Give that baby your heart, you won't regret it.

You hit right on the nose what prompted me to fulfill my dreams of getting a grey, my youngest left for college. Don't wait quite that long, you will be missing out on something really special, LOL. Maybe just until your youngest gets toward the finish of elementary school near ten years of age or so.

Bless his little heart, I wish for his wings to regrow today! I got my gel mats way cheaper from our local Super H Korean grocery store (about twenty dollars) but I also have the inexpensive foam ones from Wal-Mart. I wish I had a nickel for every new idea I get from this forum. I feel like I am getting to be a seasoned parrot owner when something works for someone else. As for Piper thinking you caused his plight, I actually have read that somewhere (back in the day, when I was first searching for help for Java). The red-bellied parrot is prone to have "night frights" and if you go right to them, they associate the terrors with the well meaning owner and sometimes get neurotic. So the recommendation is to see if they can calm themselves first and not rush to pick them up or rescue them during a fright. I don't know if that would apply to Piper but every little thing we can do to calm the little guy, the better. If only you could do "face-time" on your cell phone with your daughter and he would accept his mama bird in cyber space, but I think he is wise enough to know the difference. If I could stand on my head and recite the alphabet backward to give Gilbert the smallest relief from his own demons, I would do it and it sounds like you would do the same for Piper.

I have not had experience directly with small children in the home with a grey, so I don't have any advice from that perspective. However, I do have adult children and I now have a grey. My girls would have been hurt and rejected that they were not the favorite if they saw a close relationship with one and not the other, or with a parent but not the kids. I think that might be the case with many younger kids that wouldn't understand. Gosh, that is true even with adults when a couple adopts a grey and it chooses one over the other. It is so good that you are thinking through the decison rather than acting on impulse because you can evaluate it from many different angles and decide when the time is right to make this kind of commitment. We have had other members (one or two) with positive experience with having babies after they had a grey. Not so many bring home a new grey with young children. More often we have posts seeking new homes for greys when a new baby comes in. Also, we have a rehomed grey, Gilbert. He was in a home with four small children and they referred to him as "that mean grey bird" and they were more than happy to see him go out that door. While he may not have bitten any of them, he just was not going to be friendly or cuddly. Unfortunately when there is a rehome, life for the grey goes downhill and that was his third or fourth home. I am living with a close up view of a damaged grey so my view is more from his perspective today. If you are not really really sure that you can devote yourself at this time, it will break your heart to love a baby grey, then part with it. If you have doubts, wait. You will be glad you did. Follow your heart, only you know what you can handle, and you may be the one that brings it together. Thank you for putting so much thought into it to come in and ask.

Penny, have you seen any feathers molted from the other wing? The reason I ask is that when we got Java, she had a brutal cut, both wings to the bone. There was only a tiny little bone on either side, it still makes me tear up to think of the person who could do such a thing. It took at least eighteen months to two years for her to molt and regrow enough feathers to regain flight. She is a red bellied parrot and they may molt at different intervals than a cockatiel. I was just thinking if Piper was molting out one feather at a time on the opposite side, they should molt and grow on the other side simultaneously. That may help you as you watch for change in his But in the scheme of things, there isn't much you could do differently than you are doing now. We did get the anti-fatigue gel mats to put near Java's cage and floor stand so if she did startle off a perch, she had a cushioned landing because she is heavier stocky bodied parrot and it was a hard landing that made me fear she would break her keel bone or split her chest. She also squawked and thrashed when she fell to the floor and Gilbert is flightless and does the same thing. I haven't seen Piper so I don't know, but I do think my two were shrieking out of the indignity and fear of being on the floor.

I am still on the fence about this one. It could potentially be a link to find an owner if a conscientious person found our grey and took him to a vet and asked for a microchip check. It's a peace of mind issue for each of us. We have to rely on the technology that is only as good as the company who manages the data. We have friends with a beloved cat they microchipped and when he went missing she tried to check the database and discovered they had gone out of business so even if someone found him and checked the chip, they would still not be able to find her. They were not reunited. We also have had three African greys, have been to at least four avian vets and not one of them has ever (to my knowledge) checked for a microchip. While its possible they took them into another room and scanned, I am the one standing there to pay the substantial vet bill. Its the devil's advocate in me asking if it is a false sense of security. Glad this thread was refreshed because now I want more, I want more. I want to read more and see if there are any reports that show the number of chips installed, number of happy reunions and numbers and statistics. Having said that, whether it was one in a million, and I was that one that brought home Gilbert and chased away my tears, it would be worth it. That is why I bought one PowerBall ticket last night. Now... you also have me thinking that on Gilbert's next vet visit, I am going to ask for a microchip scan because what if... what if his sketchy story and unknown origins include his beloved Jim and they were separated not by choice? What if he was microchipped and even if he was voluntarily surrendered, what if I could get some information that would assist us in understanding Gilbert better?

I haven't gone back to catch up on all of Irwin's threads yet, but I will today. What I want to offer for now is that I have been where you are. We got Gilbert (Timneh African Grey) with a sketchy history, not sure of his age, his band is missing and he is our first rehome/rescue. He scared the beejeebers out of me with his fear, biting, plucking issues. I spent many anxious nights wondering did I do him any favors and do I have what it takes to go the long haul with him. Then, I see Gilbert ever so slowly begin to trust and change and I know that even if I didn't do everything "right", I have always just tried to right by him. It is slow, it is painful and it is also working. The unvarnished truth is I often wonder even today, should I get another baby and try again. We had two babies that were wonderful and my first experience with greys three years ago and lost both of them. It was magical to bring home a baby and those memories tug at my heart string. The truth is, had either of them survived, we would have gone through the terrible twos or changed loyalties or a host of other changes that would have me... on certain days... longing for the "feeling" I had back in the beginning when I was dreaming of how our life together was going to be. Gilbert is my reality and I love him so much and a small thing like this morning when my husband walked up and Gilbert spontaneously offered a step up is an awe inspiring moment of confirmation that its going to be okay and we are making progress with him.

Don't you just love those moment when you have to wonder if you imagined what he just said or if it is real? Sometimes we don't hear it again for a confirmation, but it is such a funny thing to hear what they are thinking. Esher is just as cute as he can be.