jessdecutie18

Oh Reggie, how I feel for you. Your post keeps bringing fresh tears to my eyes, it has all morning. I logged in today hoping for news of Murphy's return but instead see this and its just brought a giant ache to my heart. You move on, but that hole is still there. I didn't actually lose Yoshi, just had to find her a better home, but at least I know she is loved. I really can't imagine how hard it must be for you and I know you love Murphy. I still really hope you find him somehow... You definitely miss them. There are so many times when I miss having my feathered friend on my shoulder or knee and scratching her head, getting rid of any itchy new pinfeathers. I miss having her fly to my hand, I miss her mischievousness and even cleaning up poop from random spots in the house. It's a difficult thing though when you are married and your spouse doesn't want to be inconvenienced by a noisy bird and just doesn't have the love for birds that you do

AWW Reggie I wish you the best of luck finding your baby

Love you guys

Just a note to say hello from Afghanistan, currently deployed and browsing the Grey Forums and realising just how much I've missed the world of Greys. I hope you and your babies are all doing well. I think my hubby is gonna have to let me get another bird someday when I'm older and more settled, as I don't think I can stand to live forever without one!

Wow I LOVE all the toys and fun things in there! I'm so glad you gave Yoshi such a loving home and that she can continue her spoilt, happy life Looks like she has a lot to do and plenty of other goofy birds to watch Thanks for the video, it really is nice to see her doing well. I miss her so much but I know that you have totally given her a better home.

Thanks for the update I'm so glad things are working out. Yoshi sure does love her ability to fly around. One thing though, if you read through some of my older posts, Yoshi WAS clipped as a baby and after her first few flights. Very clumsy her first year. It took a long time for those flights to start growing back and if you check her wings she should have two or three clipped feathers still? Unless those have now fallen out? She was a crazy flier at first but quickly learn't control and now flies pretty great. That was a long process though I would really like to see some pictures!

Thanks for the update It's great she seems to be having a fun time there and eating well and everything I hope the appointment went well and Yoshi is in good health so she can become a proper member of the flock Very interested in hearing how the introduction and stuff goes!

I do miss Yoshi very much, but I know it has already improved my husband and my relationship so far. He is happy for the quieter household. I don't miss the yelling, of course, but I do miss the scratches and 'Peek-A-Boos' and showers together and just her presence in my life. It makes me cry thinking of how much I miss her. Maybe someday I'll volunteer at a rescue place taking care of birds or something. Even if having them in my home isn't going to work out in the relationship I'm in, I still love birds and want to do something with them. I don't know, I'm pretty much reassessing what is important to me and what I want from life. I love reading Robin's updates, I read them over and over. I'm glad the trip home was safe and that Yoshi did well. I'm excited to hear how the introduction Thursday goes too! I'm glad she is being friendly with everyone, I hope it isn't just because of the honeymoon stage and she does grow attached to your family, or at least some of your family. It's good she is willing to get head scratches from even new people to her, she sure does like a good scratch. I'm happy so is being well taken care of, I'm grateful she is in Robin's hands even though I really miss her a lot. Looking forward to more updates! Sorry guys we didn't take any pictures together when she was down, it all went by so fast. But I'm sure Robin will post some pictures of Yoshi soon in her new home

Sounds like you are all set and ready! I've still got to give Yoshi's cage a good clean and make sure all her stuff is together. I sure will miss her. Mike is very excited about Friday of course. I'm excited but also a little sad. I'll miss her a lot. It does make me happy to hear of all the preparations Robin is making though. It'll be nice eating dinner together Friday night. Probably going to pick Pizza Gallery for dinner. It's a nice local restaurante here, very friendly service and lots of crazy pizzas, as well as an amazing Antipasto Salad. I hope Yoshi is relaxed, she always seems to sense when something is up and gets a bit wary. I know she will be okay in the car and everything though. Yoshi needs to be vet checked, hasn't been in a year. Luckily she has never had any issues that required going to the vet during the past year, and seems to be in good health. She only has two clipped feathers left, her flight feathers are so lovely She has plenty of food for the transition until she gets used to whatever Robin feeds her. She loves food and has always been pretty good about switching. She was raised on Zupreme and seed, and I switched her to Roudybush and seed last year. Then she eats pretty much whatever we eat. I bet Yoshi is going to love mingling with the flock Hopefully she doesn't feel intimidated by all those other birds! She has been around another grey in a pet shop and seemed quite interested in being friends and she has been in her cage around other birds and squawks and chatters away to them. I'm guessing she will be nervous at first and keep to herself a bit but you never know, after the quarantine and hearing the other birds she might be excited to join the fun!

It's really cool that even Paul is excited and doing all that to accommodate Yoshi LOL about the bannister. Yeah Yoshi is a goofball. I'm sure she will find something to dance on Bet she would love that rope door thing you have after she got over being scared of it lol. I also have a Yoshi shirt I believe its the right decision too, I couldn't be happier about this, having someone from the Grey Forums take Yoshi that I know has some of the same values and love for birds is great, and I look forward to updates on how she is doing with you guys Yoshi actually learnt a new word as of yesterday She says 'No' in my husband's voice, drawn out, like 'Nnnnnnno!' which is what my husband says to her when she is getting into trouble slowly inching toward something she isn't supposed to. She used to go for the blinds in our old house all the time and Mike would say 'Nnnnnno!' and she would turn around and go back to her cage until he wasn't looking again

Yoshi is usually pretty interested in my computer screen and the noises coming from it. She likes to edge down my arm and beak the screen or the mouse, probably wondering what I'm doing with it. After a minute she realizes it's not a fun bird toy and climbs back on my shoulder

Congrats with the good progress It shows they just need time and love and a chance to work at their own paces

So it looks like it's final, Robin (rbpittman) will be comming down to take Yoshi to her loving forever home soon. I'm SO so happy someone I trust from the GreyForums will have Yoshi, and that I can still get updates and stuff on her. I know Robin is very excited and I really like her views on birds and it's obvious she is a good parront and will take good care of Yoshi. It's almost too good to be true I was worried that the new owner wouldn't want her out of the cage as much, would want her wings clipped, that she wouldn't get all the yummy foods she loves. Looks like I don't need to worry as all of Robin's birds are flighted, have lots of out-of-cage time, and get lots of good food. I'm really excited for Yoshi. This is what I wanted for her. I will definatly miss her. I've got a week and a half to get everything together for her and to fill Robin with a ton of information about her likes and dislikes. It is going to be a bit of a drive for Yoshi but she has always been totally good in the car, used to riding since she was little, so I'm not worried about that. I really do feel good about this and comforted in the fact that I know Robin loves her 'babies'

Thanks guys so much for the support. I live in Central Florida, near Patrick AFB.

So this is going to be a difficult post to do. I've honestly not had the heart to be on the GreyForums much in the last two months. Things just haven't been good here. For those that know me, they know that I love my African Grey Timneh very much. Yoshi means the world to me and I want the best for her always. I'm also married, and I want the best for my husband too. Most know of the issues I've had with Yoshi yelling and constant attention seeking. She doesn't like my husband, just me. She can be the cutest, most fun, exciting, friendly, and lovable bird around if she is in the middle of the action, getting attention from me and from guests, etc etc. Yet a few minutes alone, and she feels abandoned and yells and screams and has picked up a lot of weird noises. She hates being alone. She wants to be out all day with the family. Mike is tired of trying, completly fed up with Yoshi's noise. He honestly feels like its him or the bird that needs to leave. It's a tense, frustrating, torturing situation. I have come to terms with the fact that she needs a new home with a caring family that have bird experience and that can pay a lot of attention to her. She really demands it. The problem is finding someone. I just want her to be happy. I'm going to feel horrible forever if I can't find someone who will care for her properly. It's so hard... I've had her on Craigslist pretty cheap, I've listened to tons of people's stories and ideas of what they want to do with Yoshi and Yoshi has even met about 5 people. But most people on Craigslist just want a cheap deal, or don't know a thing about birds, or aren't willing to meet up a few times and get to know each other before discussing rehoming Yoshi. I've actually also had several people reply to me saying this is so sad, they can see how much I love the bird and wish I could keep her. They can see how much it hurts to get rid of her and how important it is to me that she is taken care of and has lots of out of cage time and showers and that her wings aren't clipped again and that she eats well... but you know life sucks sometimes and with the problems going on in our house if I really just think about Yoshi, its in her best interest to be with someone else. I'll miss the hell out of her, and want pictures and updates, but I'll be satisfied if I know she is in good hands. I was asking $800 for her, the huge cage, the stands, toys, harness, and everything else that is hers in our house. Pretty good considering we have spent about $2000 on her. But she needs to be worked with. Basically she just needs an overload of attention, a lively (but not hectic) household, and a lot of love. She talks a lot, nothing bad thank goodness. She has been picking up a lot of squeaks and whistles lately, and has started saying things in both my voice and my husband's deeper voice. In November Yoshi went to this one really nice lady for 2 weeks who wanted to pay me monthly because she said she didn't have much money at the time. I said that was fine. The money isn't the important part. We had been calling each other and texting each over and she sounded like such a nice, genuine lady, I really hoped she would be the one. She worked from home and had a little girl who was also super excited about Yoshi. It broke my heart to see Yoshi go, I was sure this was the end. I was a bit of a mess for a couple days, and my husband got frustrated because he couldn't make me feel better. He even said for me to get her back then if it was going to be that bad for me. But I held out, just said it was going to take a while to get over that loss. I was in constant contact with the lady. At first apparently Yoshi was quiet and spooked easily but by the end of the two weeks she was fitting in, talking, barking like their dog, having a good time. She was sharing apples with the lady's daughter and the lady was impressed at how socialized Yoshi seemed after getting over the initial fear of the house. She said Yoshi was noisy but that the noise fit in over there and was fine. Yet then she calls me to say Yoshi's food ran out (the food I brought over) and she couldn't afford more. Couldn't afford $25 for some food? Long story short she was a nice lady but was in financial problems and should never have tried to adopt another pet. I brought food over and she said she would pay me the next week. But the end of the week came and she didn't have the money. She actually told me she was worried that she would lose the apartment because she was behind on payments. This all scared me very much, so 3 weeks there and we went to collect Yoshi and bring her home. Not at all how I wanted that to go. She was fitting in there and then I had to take her back because the lady had no money for her and wouldn't have money for a long time. Having her home again was bittersweet. I honestly was so happy to see her again and that she still let me love on her. She gained some weight because they fed her a lot of junk food over there but a month later she is back to normal. Of course things at our house are problematic again. Mike wants her gone ASAP. I'm trying to find someone... It's stressful. We moved off base to an apartment in Dec and still have some unpacking to do. We leave late Feb for two weeks to spend with family as in June I deploy. I soooo wanted to find Yoshi a good home by now. I really need to find someone. I'm not sure about payments now after what happened with the lady. Also, I'm sure now to ask about financial situation and whether adopting an animal is a good idea for the individual at the time. I guess I'll just be highly stressed out until I can find a happy resolution for this. If any of you live anywhere near Florida and feel like you could help please let me know. Yoshi is such a sweet bird and really deserves a stable, happy household. I apologize for abandoning the GreyForums for the last while, I've just had a heavy heart and haven't wanted to participate really. I need help though. I don't know whether to repost Yoshi on Craigslist again or not.

Im glad you loved it like I did we showed my brother and he was just like 'what is she doing'? Haha

Sometimes they just do the cutest things though

Haha if only we could get her to stay when we dont want her on us! Comming isn't a problem she loves being attached to me and rarely plays by herself like that

Here is the links for some Youtube videos of her on the stair rail! She even does her gremlin talk. I haven't caught that on video in a long time It's funny how entertaining running back and forth is to her I think she is learning to moonwalk in that last video lol

Just thought I'd share some recent stuff about Yoshi It's awesome seeing her flying so well. She flew up on the curtain rail the other day and surprised me when I was having a shower She seems to really enjoy showers now so she is in there with me almost every day. She only wants to get wet once or twice a week, but the other days she just sits on her shower perch with one foot up relaxing and chattering away. She is often very vocal in the shower and it's a fun 5-10 minutes with her Flying means she has easier access to everything, she we have had to be more careful making sure she isn't getting into trouble. Her cage is downstairs and she like to fly upstairs and onto the railing where she can check up on us and run back and forth. I'm collecting some videos of this I also changed around her cage today and made a couple new toys for her. The whole time she sat on her cage top and stared at me or played with her foot toy ball. She would then come over every so often and say 'Yoshi' or 'Peekaboo' as if to say 'don't forget about me!' Yoshi on the bathroom rail Isn't she pretty? Admiring herself in the mirror She seems to like that mirror now that her cage is in its new location but we have moved her away a bit or she tries to chew on it! Yoshi's corner with some of her favorite toys. I just made the one on the left Finally finished rearranging her cage She is just chilling with her toy. Another cage pic! Plenty of perches and a ladder I think she is turning into a bat for Halloween It's alive! Weeeeeeeeee!

A couple months ago, a friend of mine gave me a nice sized black cage that I would love to use as an outdoor cage occasionally so Yoshi can get some sun in the mornings. Problem is, it was left outside for a year and is rusty. Now, I know rust is dangerous. Is there a way to recoat the cage in something and make it usable? It's a nice cage, never used, just rusted. My friend planned on getting a conure but never did and the cage just rusted outside. It's one of those simple black square ones. If it is going to be a ton of work then I'll just toss it, but I was hoping I can use it! Don't know much about painting Any ideas? I'll post a picture later if I need to. Thanks!

Wow, where do I start? You guys are so helpful, it really warms my heart to know people like you are out there and are trying to help. Mike put some of our lunch in Yoshi's treat bowl today, and she just ran away. He was commenting on how she is so obsessed with him being a scary monster that she wouldn't even eat, but then we ignored her for a moment and were talking and she crept back over to her bowl and started eating. I think it's hard for Mike when he tries something and doesn't see results. Right now Yoshi is downstairs in a big open area, and it had frustrated Mike because when she flies off of her cage, she can fly all over the house. Our house is pretty open. I will not clip Yoshi's wings, or I think Mike would have had them cut by now. He would like her in a room that can be closed off so she can be controlled more, or just so we can shut the door and walk away for a moment and calm down without hearing her screaming and knowing that she is okay. I'm seriously considering changing our storage room entirely into a 'bird room'. She would have her own room then and I can bird-proof it. Still debating this idea... Also, I have inherited a nice sized black cage that I would love to use as an outdoor cage occasionally so Yoshi can get some sun in the mornings. Problem is, it was left outside for a year and is rusty. Now, I know rust is dangerous. Is there a way to recoat the cage in something and make it usable? It's a nice cage, never used, just rusted. My friend planned on getting a conure but never did and the cage just rusted outside. It's one of those simple black square ones. If it is going to be a ton of work then I'll just toss it, but I was hoping I can use it! Don't know much about painting Any ideas? I really hope this is a phase. I can see now that several people have had similar experiences in a way, and it's interesting to see what the 'other' or '2nd' people here think and how they have learned to get along with the household bird without being the main person that the bird looks for Reggie, thank you for your posts. I think you and I have had and are having a couple very similar situations with our birds. They would probably be pals! I will write up a post on the average day in the life of Yoshi soon! Barbara, I know, it breaks my heart when Yoshi and Mike get all frustrated and unhappy now. They used to be so good together. Yoshi would even do tricks better for Mike than she does for me. I've always been the caretaker, and payed Yoshi much more attention. After all, I'm the one that really wanted her. Mike went along with it for me. We have had so many good times, Yoshi has become such a part of our lives, and I love her so much. I try to stress to Mike how much she means to me because he doesn't love her like I do. If we gave her to someone he wouldn't shed a tear. To him she is a fun toy that isn't fun anymore but instead a hassle. Only for me is he trying to make amends with her. I really can't imagine giving her up though. I really don't want Mike to think I love her more than him, it's just that I feel she is part of the family now. Giving her up would cause much grief on my part, and I wouldn't give her up easily. It would have to be someone I knew would take good care of her forever. That counts out all family and friends. Only a few of you guys do I think I'd accept giving Yoshi to. Even then it would be hard and a big thing... I think the idea of Mike just leaving Yoshi alone a little while is a good one. I really hope this all works out because I still have a lot of fun with Yoshi and when it's just me and her she is totally fine. Nice comment about patience too Dave. I know these things take time. I just think I have much more patience than my husband, haha.

Do any of you guys even live in Florida or close to it? I would never be able to put Yoshi on Craigslist if it came down to it and there is no one I know of here that would spoil Yoshi and give her the proper love and care she always deserves. I'm just curious if anyone on here is close to me as several people don't have their location on their profiles... she has a lovely big cage and 3 stands and a ton of stuff. I could only imagine giving Yoshi to one of you regulars on here. Just the thought of giving her away though breaks my heart I'm going to stop thinking about this but I guess I do need a plan.

MY POST: > I agree with what Reggie says on stuff like catching her not helping > Yoshi build confidence in you and you chasing her and putting her away > making her afraid and reluctant to be on your hand. She needs positive > experiences with you. If she flies away when you are trying to put her > back, instead of chasing her step away, let you both calm down, and go > back and say step up. If she still doesn't get on your hand then I'll > come and put her straight back in her cage. > > In Reggie's case, his wife Kate is always getting bit by the bird > while he can do anything he wants with it. She is afraid of the bird > now, so she just has a verbal friendship with him and leaves > everything to Reggie. She does want to have a better relationship > though, and was advised to try a couple things. Mainly just to try > giving the bird treats in the cage, then trying to get the bird to > step up without biting or flying away and another treat and back in > the cage after a positive experience. Working slowly and not expecting > too much. At first this failed, as the bird lunged at Kate or lunged > at the treat and threw it to the ground. But as the bird realizes > what's going on it accepts the treat, then accepts stepping up. Now > she can get the bird to step up and move it around without getting bitten. > > Just 10 days of trying a couple times a day and "Kate can now get him > to step up with no bites, not quite sure how we did it, maybe > persistence or just a phase he was going through? I think it's > important for Kate to handle him on a regular basis, which she is > going to do. I can tell Kate is a lot happier now that she can handle Murphy." > > Yoshi has to get over that fear of you by understanding that she can > have positive experiences with you and you have to ensure you don't > add to the negative experiences by lunging to catch her or taking away > the little trust in you she still has. > > I hope this phase ends soon too! MIKE'S RESPONSE: I've tried letting her calm down and then calmly asking her to step up. Doesn't work. You say Yoshi has to get over her fear of me. I don't think she's really scared of me as I think she's more just not wanting me around. I think if she was scared, she wouldn't let me do anything at all including tricks and night scratches. That's probably why she's always flying away when she seems totally fine and flying to you.

Well I showed my husband all the responses. He just says this: "She used to bite me when I caught her mid-air but now she doesn't. As I said before, this phase better end quick or one of us is gone." I know he is sick of it but I really can't imagine giving Yoshi away... I really do love her Of course I love him more but don't feel I should have to give my bird away. I think he feels he has already tried everything. I showed him where you are Reggie with Kate and Murphy and how everything is improving for you guys. I explained some of the tips you got in your post. I also said if he couldn't get Yoshi to step up and go back in her cage then I would.