CongoMongo

Found a recently weaned four-month old at a parrot store. The location was not as clean and well kept as where th 14- month olds are, but the baby there was a little nicer to us, didn't bite us at least. The online ratings for that place are a bit lower. Oh yea, the 14-month olds are all talking, according the breeder helpers. I'll contacting 2 other locations to see if they have any AGs. CongoMongo

We paid a visit to the breeder. We told them about our other birds etc. and they were nice enough to bring out their CAGs to show us. One person there realized that I had been the one who called yesterday, but this time seemed a bit more open to us adopting one of their birds. The birds are a bit older that one year, around 14 or 15 months. They said that they weren’t planning on having any babies this year until they find homes for the ones from last year. This seems reasonable. AGs are beautiful birds, as you all would agree. Those we saw were no exception. They seemed like happy and healthy birds to me. However, I don’t think any of them “picked me” or my wife as their human. One was shaking, and another one was yawning and puffed its feathers (two extremes) when I had each on my hand. Another one’s attitude was in the middle, just a little nervous, but kept trying to go back to its perch. None of them would let me or my wife handle them directly, the person helping us had to pick up the bird and pass it over to us. When I tried to do it myself, all of them tried to bite me. One actually bit me very gently. Maybe we were handling them wrong or expecting too much too soon. However, I’ve read about people walking to a grey at a pet store etc. and the bird just warming up to them on the spot. That’s what I was hoping for with at least one of these kids. We may come back another time to see if the birds get used to us and start to like us. However, neither my wife nor I were particularly drawn to any of those Greys (due to their indifference towards us). The good news is that we are leaning towards adopting an AG. However, we need to look around for a bird that’s a good match. Thanks for all of your support. CongoMongo Post edited by: CongoMongo, at: 2009/08/02 01:36<br><br>Post edited by: CongoMongo, at: 2009/08/02 05:11

judygram The person I talked to on the phone was different that the person I talked to when we came in. rayyan We have 2 kids, the other one is 11. Thanks for all of your support. I’m planning on going to the breered’s location in person soon. On the phone, I didn’t mention that we already have birds in the house, and that our kids are very respectful of them. The breerer had mentioned that it is very important to match a bird to the right person. We just have to prove that we'll be a good home for an AG. CongoMongo

Hello everyone, We are a family of four (people), one green cheek conure and two parakeets. Adopting an AG is under consideration. When I was a kid, my parents brought home a couple of yellow-fronted canaries. One of them developed a habit of peeping very fast when it saw me come near its cage, as if it was mad at me. Its name was Gyro. One day, I decided to put my finger inside Gyro’s cage out of curiosity. To my surprise it started to bite my finger with its tiny beak, while still peeping fast. Yes, this was a canary not a parrot. Its bites tickled my finger, if that. To this day, I’m not sure if Gyro hated me the most or liked me the most, but it wouldn’t bite anyone else, or do the crazy peep for anyone else, but me. Needless to say, the bird and I developed a bond, it may have been a bond based on bird rage, but it was a special bond nevertheless. By the time I became a teenager, Gyro was still in the family, but unfortunately the other canary was gone. Gyro had been the singer out of the two, so we were happy that it was still among us. At the same time, as a teenager, I became more interested in my social life than in Gyro. I would pass by its cage and ignore it, even though he was peeping at me with its beak pointing up wanting me to come by so that he could bite my finger. One day, my younger sister was cleaning Gyro’s cage, and she decided to take it out of its cage to play. Unfortunately she was doing this outside in the back yard, and its wings hadn’t been clipped for a while. So Gyro flew away. When I found out what had happened I was devastated. I remember crying for a while that day. I also remember being sad for a few days after that. About a week after Gyro’s escape, I spotted it standing on a tree branch right across from our house. It was harassing a finch (not surprisingly knowing its temper). I called Gyro, but it ignored me, just as I had been ignoring it for the past many months. Gyro seemed very happy though. Soon after, Gyro flew away, and I never saw it again. After I officially witnessed his flight to freedom, I stopped being sad. In fact, I was happy that Gyro had the opportunity to experience freedom for at least a portion of its life. I never thought I’d have another bird after that, and certainly not one as special as Gyro was to me. But they say to never say “never,” and here we are with three birds and possibly one more on the way. I’m happy to be a part of this forum. CongoMongo

I called the breeder to setup a time to come and see the AGs. I mention that we have kids (the youngest one is 8). The person on the phone said that she didn’t recommend an AG in a household with kids that young. She said that sudden movements and too much noise tend to startle the Greys etc. All of which is true, based on my research. I was somewhat disappointed, but at the same time I appreciated her honesty. It shows that they really care for their birds. On the other hand, when the whole family paid them a visit last week and I asked about having an AG as a pet, that person didn’t seem to have an issue with our kids. Our kids do fine with our other birds (GC conure and a couple of parakeets) , but they can be energetic playing with each other at times (the parakeets get noisy as well sometimes) . In any case, we’ll have to give it some time, think things through and perhaps wait for our human kids to become a bit older before getting a Grey (talking about being ready for a long wait ). We really don’t want to have unhappy kids though (of any species). Thanks again for all your responses. I’ll be happy intro myself at some point. CongoMongo

Thanks a lot to those of you who have responded so far. Very useful information. The consensus seems to be that a one-year-old AG is still a baby, or at least young enough to bond with us, which is great. Plus a very young baby would require more attention, but has its own merits. I'm going to find out their exact ages, mostly out of curiosity - they have a few of them, we are considering adopting only one of course-. Most importantly, I think I need to come in and spend some time with the birds, to see how we feel about each other (as suggested by dancq). Maybe one will pick me. Based on the research that I’ve done so far and a visit to their location, the breeder seems to be quite good. I’d still like to get to know the breeder better though. A little background: I asked this question because our Green Cheek had just turned 1 when we got it from a pet store. There were minor issues at first, but he-she is very much a member of the family now, and a very happy bird it seems. He-she is more business than play, but that could just be his particular personality. However, the personality theory doesn’t stop me from thinking that we might have missed out on the baby stage (which he-she spent at the pet store), and maybe that’s why he is not all that playful with us. Something that just occurred to me is that due to their different lifespan expectancies, a Green Cheek and an AG may be at very different stages in life at one years of age. E.g. a 1-y-o Green Cheek = adolescent, a 1-y-o AG = baby. Can’t compare apple to oranges Thanks again, CongoMongo<br><br>Post edited by: CongoMongo, at: 2009/07/31 17:03

Our family is considering adopting an AG. A local breeder has some younglings, which hatched in 2008. I'm assuming they are about a year old, or so. Would it be easier to socialize a Grey if we waited for the 2009 clutch and got one as a weaned baby? Or would a "kid" from the 2008 season be just as good? Thanks, CongoMongo