Aly~

ok, so... 1 chicken salad 1 veggie salad and 1 chicken bone.... Got it!! I'll try to get pictures. Rebel doesn't much care for the camera, but I keep clicking. I end up with a bunch of bad pictures. I keep thinking one day one of them will be good. Aly~

Harvey is sooo awesome!! I can't wait to get home and offer Rebel one now! I guess I'll be making chicken salad tonight!!

Maybe I'll try to give Rebel one and see how she reacts. She does like chicken.

I'm addicted to all of the Greys on YouTube. Is it really ok to give your bird a chicken bone to chew on? Aly~

Mine certainly mimicks the sound of a sleeping boyfriend. I come home and Rebel makes farting noises all night!!

What is the best heater to use in your bird room? The nights are getting a little chilly now and I want the birds to be comfy warm. It's not cold enough for me to turn the heat on yet (I love the cold nights). But I don't want them to freeze either. Any space heater idea that are ok to use around birds? Aly~

Normally she does the dead bird thing while hanging from your finger. You point your finger at her make the gun sound (not really bang, but I have no idea how to attempt to spell the sound we make)and she plops her head back and hangs it down backward. Then she peeks up at you and comes back to life. This was the first time I've ever seen her on the floor on her back. Where's a camera when you need one right? She has been a joy so far. One adventure after another but I'm so glad she's a part of my family now. I'm glad we found this group too. I would be pulling my hair out without some of the information that I've found on this site. Thanks everyone Aly~ and Evil l'il Rebellious Grey

Send your puppies on over. At least you don't have to sweep up at every feeding time. Now I know when I hear that evil little laugh that she is up to something and not just making noise. When I found the broccoli, she sat up in the corner of her cage and did that nasty little laugh. I'm seriously ready to get a video set up so I can watch her all day. Do any of you have birds that lay on their backs? There is always something new with this creature. I actually thought I had stepped on her or something. She was climbing up my jeans, so I lifted my leg to put her in her cage (cos she was really getting in the way) and she flopped on the floor and just layed there looking up at us. I was gonna panic until Missy pointed her finger and did the "bang" sound. Rebel "died" and then peeked up at us. Then she flapped and flipped back over and went about the room like she owned everything and everyone in it. Is there no end to the antics of these birds? Aly~

Something new in Evil's cage. Rebel has one of those toys that is basically just paper in the form of a giant flower arrangement, it hangs in the corner and she shreds it to pieces. That being said.....I was so proud that I finally got her to eat her broccoli! I ate it in front of her, gave it to the tiels while she watched so now Rebel likes her little green trees, she eats every single bit of them up now. Proud Mommy momment right?? NOT.....all of her broccoli, and I mean every piece I've given her for the past 3 days is in that damn paper toy flower thing, and not just flung on it, burried down in it. HOW DO THEY DO THAT??? Aly~

I did find the lock down bowls today. Great little invention these are. I have to get something to hook them to the side of the cage now. The pieces that come on them are small and the place I want them is on the sides where the bars are horizontal. The bowls were made to fit best on the vertical bars. By tonight She'll be having a fit to throw food. She'll pick it out and throw it at Aussie, but at least it's not wasting the entire bowl of food. Thanks again everyone!! Aly~ and Evil Rebel

Thanks, I'll try the bendy thing. The crock bowls that I have don't have a rim on them. Her old cage had a shelf type holder with sides that prevented her from playing flying food super hero. My poor german shepherd thought he won the flying food lottery, only to dicioer that he doesn't really appreciate broccoli and corn all that much.

I find a new issue with this little monster everyday. She will not leave a dish unturned. She pulls them out throws all the food at me and the dog and clanks the bowl to the bottom of the cage. Oh she tries each morsal that is in it and then just decides she's done. I'm sitting here listening to the evilest little laugh I've ever heard!! How do I save her food? It's a new larger cage but the bowl holders are less than desirable. How can I change this little tantrum of hers?

When you spray her with aloe, do you use it cold straight from the fridge? Is that to cold for them or do they like the cold? How long does aloe vera juice last anyway? Aly~

I was reading another forum and someone on there suggested that because the bird was bathed using tap water (hard water) that it has caused the bird to pluck it's feathers. Can that really happen? I shower my bird with tap water and our water is pretty hard. Am I causing trouble? How do you bath your bird if you have hard water? I mist her with distilled water, but a real bath is hard to do using distilled water. Aly~

We were really not playing rough at all. I brought home some shredded paper from work and put it in a big bowl for her. She was digging through it then sitting on her perch chatting. I thought it was the perfect foraging opportunity for her so I was going to get her treat to hide in the paper shreds. She loves making a mess of paper. She was on her perch by the open door when I turned to get the cookie. So much to learn from these little guys!! It took me 26 years to learn my daughters moods!! Am I in for another 26 with Rebel? Aly~

I know there are any number of reasons why a bird may bite. I've only had a couple of truely get out of my space bites so far but last night when I was sitting in Rebel's room chatting with her and playing with shredded paper she played normally until I turned around to go get her a cookie and she grabbed at me from behind. She only got my shirt, but I felt it through the shirt. It would have been a good bite had I not had long sleeves on. She was playing fine, so I assume she didn't want me to go away and thought that maybe I was leaving? I don't want her to think that she can bite me to get my attention or make me play with her, so I closed up the cage said good night and left the room. What should I have done?? She basically sneak attacked me from behind. NOT NICE!!! Aly~ and Sneaky L'il Rebellious Grey

Rebel talks more to herself than anyone else. When my sister comes over she barely says one word, I think we've gotten a "hello" and a "Rebel" out of her. Of course I talk about this bird that won't shut up. Normally she sits in her cage and has phone conversations, the one sided "hello.....ok.....alright....see ya later" I'm very curious to know what goes on when I am not at home. You can definatly hear her ringing the phone when I'm in the yard and lately she's taken to screaming "help...help", when I walk back there and ask her if she needs help with something, she puts her little foot up and says "let me out". I can't imagine what the neighbors think is going on in my house. This morning when I went in to turn the light on (I turn it on early on cloudy days) she said "did you brush your teeth?....go to work....see ya later" She's a silly little creature with a huge vocabulary, but only uses it on her terms. If you want a friend to hear them talk, record it!! Aly~

Thank to EVERYONE for all of the responses and ideas. We did survive the vet and everyone there loved her. I had no trouble at all getting her to the vet. Her mood was a little better. He's the scoop for anyone interested in our adventure: First, I had to go shopping for something to transport the little booger in. PETCO is the only place we have in my WV town and it's new. So, i'm looking at all the little cages wondering how I can possible get her IN one of them. I settled on a large enough "inside" for her keet cage. We won't be using the normal doors tho. Pop the entire cage off the bottom and there you have it, instant travel carrier. OK, getting her in the little keet cage was gonna be the fun part. I was planning to coax her out of her cage and while she was sitting on the door to her home, just pop the top over her thinking she'll climb up the bars of the little cage and then I'd just set it down on the bottom and click in it place. Wha La....Grey in a cage...... Uhmmmm, no!! With a perch in the keet cage it was not as quick as we thought. The good thing is, she loved the game and wasn't at all afraid that I was trying to "trap" her. Moving on to Plan B....We put the bottom of the keet cage at her doorway half in and half out. Rebel is a curious little thing and with all the treats in there, she had to have a look and a little munch. She picked at the sides, reached for the goodies, but refused to take both feet off of her cage. She has a good reach for a bird!! Finally she felt comfy enough to step on the bottom of the little cage and get her goodies. I talked nice to her, picked up the bottom with her on it, set it on the table and simply set the top on her and clicked her in. NOT ONE PROTEST, she steped up on the perch and gave me a look like "what now?" Of course we've done this an hour early (I thought I'd need the extra time to get the vicious birdie out). So I thought, we'll make this a positive experience and go outside and play. The weather was great, so she got to sit on the porch and talk to everyone who would listen. I'm hoping she'll look at the little cage in the future as outside time and not Vet time. Everyone at the vet ooo'ed and ahhh'ed over her and she was just as nice as can be. We go into the examination room, and I set the cage up on the table. The Doctor starts asking me the normal questions and I ask a few back. My daughter (the smartypants) chimes in (with everyone in the room admiring the bird) "I keep saying she needs a bigger cage for her" Some of the looks of disbelief that I got were pretty funny, so I walked over, opened the TINY cage door and said, I stuffed her in there you guys get her out. One girl thought I was serious and started to put her hand in to get her out. No way would she fit out of that door. I said I'm kidding and popped the top off. Now, here is where I am glad that I did not have to use a towel to get her. They did that to flip her over and check her out. I have never heard such sceaming and carrying on. That would have terrified me. I thought they were killing the poor bird. All in all she is a fat healthy bird. Apparently I am doing all the right things so far and she'll settle down eventually. SamsDad: I have done exactly what you described and it's amazing how they hate to be ignored. I walk in, chat with her in a calm I don't care if you like me or not attitude and now she's jumping on the bars and practically begging me to take her out. As soon as I walk in the room that little foot goes up. Last night I heard "help...help", I walked back and there she sat with her foot up "let me out" I laughed and said maybe tomorrow. I really would have let her out, but I was cleaning and didn't want her hanging around the windex and clorox clean up. Thanks again for all the advice. I think I'll hang out around here for a while. Aly~ and her Funny Little Rebellious Grey

No, but only becasue I don't let her out when I'm not home. I will be leaving work a few hours early tho, so I can do that when I get home. She has a play gym on the top of her cage. I'd never reach her up there. I do plan to take it off tho. I'm not yet ready for her to be up higher than me. She doesn't really like it anyway. When she does come out, she either sits on the open door, or climbs to the bottom to terrorize the cats as they go by. I'm crossing my fingers that she was just in a mood and she'll be ready for my company again soon. I thought she was starting to pluck her feathers when I first got her. Now I'm not sure if it's plucking, molting or over preening. Molting might cause her attitude right??

We had a really good evening. I took the laptop in her room and stayed in there and played games with fun noises. She did come out of her cage and seemed to be in a much better mood. I didn't force the issue of picking her up, just chatted with her and watched her play around. She was very curious about what I was doing, but I left it for her to decide if she wanted to venture farther out of her cage. We'll see how it goes. Maybe she'll be out of her bad mood by tomorrow and things will go smooth getting her to the vet. Thanks for all of your advice. I'll get some pictures up soon of the little booger!! Aly~

I believe she is Italian mafia.....she shoots everything. I hear gun sounds from her all the time.... "commere dog.....shooting sound"..."gimme that...shooting sound"..."here kitty kitty.....shooting sound" She really is a sweet, very entertaining bird. She loves to talk, on her terms. When my sister comes over she barely says hello. When no one is around she has phone conversations by herself. I sit in my rooms and laugh constantly at the things she comes up with. She makes the ringing noise, and then answers herself with a "hello", then you hear, alright...ok...see ya later... I suppose if I got through my own childs terrible 2's, I can handle a birds, right?? Aly~

She's only gotten me twice and I bit my tongue and left the room to shake my hand and swear under my breath. When I first got her, I went through these forums and soaked in as much info as I could. I'm glad I read that I shouldn't be her clown when she makes bad decisions and bites!! If she evens pecks at me like she's gonna be nasty, I turn away from her for a few minutes. If however, I can't get her to step up. How can I get her safely out of the cage? Can I use a towel to grab her and do I put it completely over her. I'm not looking to stress the creature out. I really don't want to cancel her appt. she's new to me and I really want to know that she's healthy. I did recently change her food (not completely), she still gets some seed just not as much. The previous owners were only feeding her seed and pizza, as far as I can tell. Her main bowl is now pellet (plain and fruity mixed in). Her side bowl is her beloved seed, but I put a paper plate over it so she has to work to get to it. Am I changing things to quickly. I don't really think she ever had to work for food before. When I got her she had a few small plastic toys hanging in her cage, now she has lots of different things to pluck and play with. Too much to soon?? Thanks a bunch for all of the advice. Aly~

I was told that she is 2 years old. She really doesn;t come out of her cage on her own. I go in and open the door for her, but she stays in there and plays with her toys. I've only had her for a couple of weeks, at first she stepped up all the time and rode around on my shoulder ot sat on her perch in the kitchen. Now all of a sudden she's JAWS. I do put my hands in there to give her water and she eats out of my hands, but I have to admit that I'm a little beak shy about telling her to step up right now. She's bites and then says "OUCH". Based on what I've read, I try to avoid any song and ouchy dance in front of her. It's just been this past week that she's being nasty. I thought I would try the perch thing to get her out, but she was having none of that. She pushed it away with her head, attacked at it, and told me "no". I sit with her with the cage open and hold my finger up to her as close as I can, when she stops her show I tell her good girl and give her a bite of wheat toast with organic PB (her favorite stuff). She has a vet appt on Friday. I have to get her out of the cage by then. I'm afraid that that is gonna make it worse (not so nice experience when she comes out.) Any ideas??? Aly~

What is the safest way to get a bird out of a cage, when said bird refuses to come out? and she really means business when she says "nooo"!!

I should start a blog, I have a feeling there is going to be alot to talk about with this creature!! I have read that you can give them phone books to play with and shred, is that safe to do with the large amount of ink in there? Pictures will definately be coming soon.