katana600

The most difficult task I have had to overcome with Gilbert is that I want to "DO" something to make a difference to him. With his particular circumstances and personality, what I have learned is less is more. It has been especially hard to just back off and let him find his own way. He is slowly making his way to finding his inner strength and learning he can make his own decisions. As we reach milestones together, his pace is picking up a little and he is trying something new every week. I guess an onion may have a new meaning when we get to the tender layers and it makes my eyes water, in a good way. LOL. Maybe better to think of him as a strong palm tree, growing new fronds and dropping the lower ones that are no longer productive and necessary for him. It just changes day by day in such small almost imperceptible ways. I learn so much from him. I don't believe the word subtle was in my vocabulary until our time with Gilbert.

Thanks for joining us. It is heartwarming to see an older grey so comfortable in her new environment. The fish tank idea is wonderful, I like that she is enjoying her view. You will learn so much from her and we will be learning about Ozzy with you. Welcome to our forum.

Isn't it great the way she has won your heart as you have earned her love and devotion. Happy to hear from you and Whitney. It is lovely to see progress and joy in your life together.

Simon is just getting started, there will come a day when you can't recall when he was quiet. The "I love you" will melt away a multitude of mischief making. It sounds like he is doing great and loving his home and flock. Good for you.

So far, so good. Rachel left early Monday morning and Gilbert has not seemed to be suffering. He has tried climbing the stair steps so he might be trying to go up to find her since he hasn't done that before. He is gradually coming down off his cage more. Early in the morning and just before bed time when it is partially darkened and quiet, he slowly creeps to the floor and explores a little further each time. He has only gone up the first two steps and then he asks to step up because he will not go back down. The carpet on the steps helps him climb, but I am right there the whole time to be sure he doesn't get a toe nail caught. It is a tight berber, but I am not taking any chances and I take off the rope bridge to his travel cage if I am out of the room. The dogs seem very patient and keep a wide berth from him, plus they usually follow me to the basement. I am not going to take any chances though, if I am going to be out of the room and preoccupied, I close the door to his cage and since he is reluctant to move about, it doesn't seem to make any difference to him. It is so cute to watch him get on the floor though. He crouches down and does the "GI Joe" sneak. He looks around keeps his beak to the ground and is on red alert. He moves a few steps sideways, then straightens up tall to look around. You can almost see his sigh of relief that he has not encountered a monster. As the exploration has taken him a little further afield from his cage he is noticing and grumbling about a stray dustball or cobweb under the furniture. I expect to see a white glove on his little talon any day as he critiques my housecleaning like a frowning mother in law. LOL. Just kidding, I think he was grumbling because he saw a pistachio and when he got there, it was an empty shell he had tossed over earlier.

Karen, we are on much the same path with Gilbert as you have been with Sam, except Gilbert is very quiet. It isn't so much I am aiming for a "happy" bird as in joyful, bouncing, exuberant or playful. I am striving more to see him be able to relax and not just huddle on one perch shivering with nerves. Slowly, slowly that is changing and he is peeling away layers of fear like the skin from an onion. I believe the day will come when he is mostly showing us fresh new layers that are untainted by the baggage of his past.

I am glad to have come back in to see what others are doing, it gave me the idea to give some of the Harrison's birdie bread a try today for something different.

How nice to see that Cookie is willing to have human contact, her attitude is certainly remarkable. We have an older rehomed Timneh too. He is not able to fly, but without any other physical constraints, he still doesn't want to go far from his cage nor to sit with us. His balance isn't great. He does seem to prefer rope perches with wire inside that we can bend and secure to both sides of his cage. We do also have wooden branch perches in lots of different sizes and placed them so he can easily step from one to the next to get anywhere in his cage. Cookie is going to reward you in many many ways for taking the time to care for her and help her live up to her potential.

Oh Ray, those photos are a balm to my soul. I was born in Ohio and grew up in the snow country of northwestern Pennsylvania. Your pictures look just like home. As we moved and moved for David's job, every move took us to a hotter climate. When we were far from home overseas, it would get up to 120 F, and we watched the "Grumpy Old Men" and "Grumpier Old Men" DVDs over and over again to hear our own language and see familiar landscape and seasons. We've made a big circle around the US and are close enough to get to snow in a day's drive. When I look at your pictures, I can smell the crisp cold air. My husband says the only reason I think I loved snow is that I didn't have to shovel it. Point taken, and I see no reason he would think I would be the one volunteering to do it now.

Hahaha, I would rather hear Gilbert say his no-no naughty word that the foul word called exercise. But, when I read your recommendations, pretty much all but standing on someone's shoulder seems within my abilities. You know, I could probably manage to get on a shoulder if I only could get hubby to lie down on the floor. Too funny, Dan.

Happy birthday Talon. She is such a sweetheart, and well behaved too, that is awesome.

Great link Dan, it was a wonderful story. I liked the part on the video where he comes hopping right in the front door with the family. Great way to start my day, thanks.

Many of the food companies will send you samples if you ask. Also, if he is just weaning to pellets, others might have suggestions. We have tried many different pellets with different parrots. Gilbert is offered Harrison's High Potency coarse and that has been our success to date. He is rehomed several times, older Timneh. I put two dishes on opposite sides of his cage and keep pellets in both, plus I add some of the Pretty Bird Natural gold medium size because our other parrot likes them best and I want a fall back plan to keep each of them accustomed to trying new things. With that said, when I put pellets in Gilbert's dish, he runs down there and flings them out and keeps asking me for a cracker. I do see him go to his pellets first thing in the morning and last thing at night. So, while he doesn't "seem" to eat them, he does actually.

I sought out information for my first parrot and found the descriptions of African greys to be closest to her behavior. Then I searched for more information about greys and this forum came up in the search and I joined my very first and only forum. I joined to learn, but I stayed because of the community of really intelligent caring people and the parrots that love you all. All of the reasons you shared Ray are spot on. No one else besides our vet cares if Gilbert climbs off his cage for the first time. We learn, we share and we care. Great thread, thanks.

Well, for all my careful plans of backing off on Gilbert and making slow changes with the Rescue Remedy and his attached "apartment" he has stepped up his game. Since Rachel is leaving tomorrow morning, I didn't want to make any other changes so we could let him adjust to that and not confuse things further where he is concerned. I had a day mostly out of the house yesterday which is not my usual schedule. Last night at bed time, Gilbert was sweetly saying it was time to go night night. His usual is to ask to go night night, then scamper inside to his favorite "treat" perch to await his almond. Last night, he refused to go inside. He got a little sassy. When the usual offer of an almond was rejected, I just waited and tried again in a few minutes, repeated a couple more times. It was getting late and I wanted him inside, I offered him a step up on his cage top and he offered me more than one bite. So, since he is the king of subtlety, I took a cue from him. I got a towel, folded it and put it on a stair banister a few feet away. I talked to him gently and gave him the option to go inside, to step up or to consider leading him in with the towel. I have never toweled him. On the occasions when I need to leave the house etc. when all else fails, I may fold the small towel and put it on the far corner of his cage top and he gets in such a hurry to get away from it, he will run inside. I doubt I have done that three or four times total. I hate doing it because I think it scares him and is threatening. Sometimes just seeing it has made him just fling himself off the cagetop to the floor and that is too stressful for both of us. So, from a few feet away and a non threatening position, he looked at the towel, looked at me, back and forth rapidly. I was a little concerned he was going to get himself in a panic. To my surprise, instead he put his foot out for a step up and let me place him inside his cage and never gave the towel another look. Then, to surprise me further, he went to his sleep perch where he will occasionally permit me to rub his head and stayed for a long time to have some closeness. The towel was long gone at that time. I am not sure which behavior surprised me more, for him to work up the nerve to decide not to go to bed and have a little sass for me, or for him to suddenly change his mind to cooperate or for him to suddenly become affectionate. Phew, what a range of emotion for him to show all in an hour or so. He is gaining some sense of confidence and autonomy. You go Gilbert! About fifteen minutes after lights off, he was out there talking in the dark with enticing words meant to get me out of bed again. Then when I answered and held my ground to stay in bed, he laughed. It is so amusing to hear him lately when he talks in the dark.

I came looking to see how Romeo was doing and this is just the best news ever. His pictures look like he is willing to be cooperative and now he has shown you he wants to be with you. How wonderful for all of you. Congratulations on working up the nerve and letting him "test" you. You passed! O Happy Day.

For it is not good to be alone, I will be your companion, your comfort, your entertainment and treasure thus the noise, the mess the naughty deeds and neck pinches are instantly forgiven.

Romeo is a gorgeous boy and I am just delighted at how well he is settling in with your family. Gilbert was here almost a year and a half before he let us hear this potty words, LOL. To see Romeo on his cage eating a grape, interacting with you and other family members is awesome. Knowing he is comfortable enough to be talking already in your home is a healthy sign too. His wing trim is notably brutal. We brought home a baby parrot with far worse and she became flighted and never skipped a beat in her confidence after a molt and regrowth. You just never know where Romeo is in the growth cycle, it could be much sooner than later. I am just as pleased as can be at how well Romeo is taking in his new surroundings and loving forever home. Great job to you and your family.

I don't know when I have seen such an adorable picture. They are cute little laundry helpers.

It is like a "sense" that something is off without hard cut evidence. I used to take my kids to the doctor, he would smile and tell me I am young and nervous, all is well. It seemed to always happen on a Friday. I would take them in Monday and by then the "something is off" turned into a raging ear infection. He started joking that I might be psychic, but looked a lot closer when things seemed off. Thanks for the insights to Gilbert and the skype thing. I have shown him Kelsey on Skype but he was never enamored with her, just okay with her so he didn't seem interested. It will be a good thing to try with Rachel. I am not going to make any big changes to his environment until she is gone for a couple of weeks so we can see one change and effect at a time. On what may be related... or not, last night he went down to his attached travel cage "apartment" but bypassed his treats and climbed back to his cage complaining and grumbling. I took the dogs out and came back in to find the biggest spider I have ever seen in my house. I trapped it under a clear plastic shoe box and tried to find a picture online because I suspected it to be a brown recluse. It looked like the photos but was bigger than the descriptions but I didn't want to take any chances that it might be venomous. I was going to just keep it captured until my husband came home. He is the official spider, bug or rodent man about the house. I do think that this spider had been under Gilbert's cage, so possibly that would explain his nervous spell. Time will tell. I did join a feather loss study group and have been tagging and bagging feathers and keeping a journal, so it might be helpful to look at the whole picture month by month rather than trying to focus in on every day changes. Gilbert has been asking me for head rubs every morning and every bed time and he has not had any trembling or nervousness during our prolonged sessions. He closed his eyes and got so comfy this morning, he kept falling asleep and sliding forward as his grip on the bars relaxed. I put my finger below his foot to help keep him balanced and he wrapped his claw around my finger like a baby. He has this "thing" he does where he stops, pulls back and looks at me and makes the sound of a human baby cry. Sara said he did that with her as well. She had a newborn just a few months after she got Gilbert and the baby was 2 1/2 when I adopted Gilbert. It is an endearing little ritual. I have to admit when he was holding my finger inside the bars of this cage, I was a little apprehensive because I knew I couldn't get my knuckle back out through the bars if he suddenly did his cobra strike. I just had to over ride my brain saying it was not a good idea and let my heart enjoy the moment with Gilbert and it worked out just fine. I really couldn't love him any more if he were more cuddly, more talkative and more of anything. I love him so much just the way he is that any progress we make is a bonus. This forum is the closest we are going to come to having an "owner's manual" or quick start manual. All of you who have walked before me and beside me are helping Gilbert's journey to be just a bit smoother.

I have never seen an African Grey jack-in-the-box. It isn't likely Neytiri is going to cooperate with that game any time soon. It must have been just a little funny right up to the chomp though.

Our little guy is such a complex little bundle of nerves. Along with his newfound energy and courage, I discovered he has plucked a bald spot on his chest and he has never done that before. I have not seen him picking and at first I thought it was because he asks for a scratch and holds tight to those little fluffy feathers while he is in his preferred position. He has been especially lovey lately, so I thought maybe that was why he was "worrying" off his feathers. However, when I got close to him this morning, I noticed he is expanding his bald spot to the opposite side, so I will be rethinking what is going on in his little head. The Rescue Remedy drops and the new attached "apartment" are the only changes in the past two months for him. I am going to first move the apartment, even though it may give him a little more area to explore and he seems more active, it may be too much for his nerves so I will let him back down and see if it changes his plucking habits. Unfortunately this is coinciding with Rachel's imminent departure and that is going to add to the complexity of his emotions. It is so hard to know when to stop and when to proceed with him, but plucking to a bald spot is new and definitely worth backing up a few steps even if he is being more friendly.

Oh goodness, that would be really scary. I am just enthralled to see Gilbert on the move. This morning he came out of his cage, perched on top of his door and permitted me to rub his head. He was really jumpy and alternately tender. He doesn't give me any warning from being warm and relaxed to spinning around for a nervous bite. This is the first time in a long long time he has permitted me to touch him without the bars between us. I am seeing some big changes coming for this little guy. He tries and tries to be close but it must scare him senseless. The best thing I have done for him is to spend hours and hours near him doing nothing and giving him the chance to overcome his own fears. I just love seeing that he is exploring and looking around and seeing that this is not such a terrible place after all. Bless his little heart and his pointed little beak.

Priceless!

These are the kinds of surprises I can embrace. Today Gilbert spent the day quietly sitting in his usual little sentinel pose. I have noticed he has to pull back and regroup after some changes or milestone moments. Yesterday he came out of his cage and offered Rachel a step up, then came to sit with us on the sofa. He was eager to step up to me from her and was unusually calm, no trembling or looking back toward his cage. I did notice he has made a bald spot on his chest the size of my thumbprint. I don't think he has been picking, rather that he has been more amenable to asking for a head rub and that is where he holds on to himself when he is accepting human touch from any of us. After quietly keeping to himself most of the day, he is now climbing all over inside his cage again. He has a rope boing stretched horizonally through the bottom third of his cage. I can not say I have ever seen him climb on it until this evening. I am nearly in tears after seeing him climb on it and then twirl and hang upside down. This is as close as he has come to energetic "play". It feels as if we are having an "awakening". He is not making a sound in there, just climbing everywhere, touching his toys and giving me a glimpse of what a normal, active Timneh might look like. He got himself so winded he actually went over and gulped some fresh water. He is making progress and I feel as if I am watching our history being written.