dmkrieg

Hello everyone, Well I think the decision was kind of made for me. Yesterday my friend was told they were getting deployed and has an incredibly sweet blue 9month old quaker that she just loves and can't take him or her(hasn't been DNA'd) with her. So I have the quaker in my office (DEFINITELY IN A SEPERATE CAGE) but in the same room as Oliver. Oliver (my Grey) really likes the quaker and hates when I bring him in the other room away from the little quaker. so I put Ollie next to my desk on his play stand and the quaker in her big cage...then I will rotate handling them all day in and out of their cages. They actually said Hello to each other...then the quaker looked at Ollie and said "What??" Ollie just laughed at the quaker. It was pretty cute. Let me know your thoughts

Hello everyone, I have a 3 year old African Grey Congo Ollie and just adore him. I have been trying to decide if I should buy another African Grey and if so if I should get a baby or another adult? Ollie is 3 years old now but I always wonder if Ollie would be happier if he had another bird with him? Having 2 birds together does it change their personality? Also if you think it would make him happier should I get a baby since Ollie is so passive or should I adopt an adult?

I am going to try and begin making this mash today for Ollie, can you tell me how long its good in the freezer for? I only have one African Grey so not sure if I should try and cut down the ingredients or just be thankful I don't have to try and make it so often. hahaha. Anyone have any awesome parrot recipes to share cookie or meal??

well tomorrow we are making an Ollie Play pen with carpeted sides. I will post pictures when I am finished. Should be pretty cool. He is always in the same room with me unless I am sleeping. Then he sleeps in my home office, its his favorite room to be in if Im not with him. I actually thought about putting his cage in my bedroom. Tonight I bought him another playstand so now he has 2 playstands, a cage and tomorrow a playpen to keep him from being bored in the same place. The only place he really isn't allowed is in the kitchen area. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Hello guys, I have a question.. I bought Ollie from someone a couple of months ago and he is 3 years old. My daughter and I sit on the floor and he will walk in a circle across our hand and fluff up making a noise sounding like a low pitch squeek. Not sure why?? Then yesterday my daughter was sitting on the floor in my office, I was on the computer and she wasn't sitting far from Ollie and he walked over and bit onto her hand and wouldn't let go..I ran over and told him NO BITE and he let go. I immediately put him up and told him OLLIE WAS BAD - NO BITE - Mommies Mad. Then about 30 minutes ago, he was on his perch in the living room my mom walked by and he stepped up, walked up to her shoulder and then bit her in the face and when she went to put her hand up - he bit her hand. He has never bit me but has bit my daughter, my mom and my neice. Does this mean I am the only one he will let handle him? I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if its just a hormonal phase he is going through??? Please help. everyone loves to see Ollie and he really is an incredibly sweet bird, he is just acting goofy this week and Im not sure why? Please help. Debbie

Well actually i was trying to follow the directions on the bag of Lafebers Nutriberries and then provide a variety of different fruits and vegetables. He really was afraid of the Kate that I tried to give him. I will try and add more vegetables. He eats most of the nutriberries and just pics at the fruits and veggies I put in there. I've given him oatmeal and some days he eats it and other days he doesnt. I give him egg and he eats some but not a lot. He loves apples but I try not to give him a bunch due to all the sugar in it. I really want the very best for him and am willing to give him whatever he needs but I honestly have no clue what that is? do I just slice up a bunch of different veggies and put it in his dish. I try to give him some of what I eat however; I have read so many things about sugar being bad, or too much salt. he loves pizza but i don't want to make him sick with all the salt in that. Please help me develop a good meal plan for my boy. Im not sure if its his diet or what but the first month I had him he was perfect and just recently he started biting everyone but me. He will actually let them hold him and then he decides it is ok to try and bite their face. Once my little girl was sitting on the floor and he walked over across the floor and bit her hand. this is the same boy that likes to walk back and forth across her hand or sit on her leg while watching tv. And it was a bad bite, broke the skin and almost took a chunk out of the top of her hand. I had to tell him NO BITE when i heard her screaming - then he let go. Ive read diet can change their personality. I wish I knew what the problem is.

Thank you so much for responding to my posting. Oliver seems to only want to be carried. I bought him 2 months ago and just adore him. but he seems to have a problem with stability. He only wants to walk on my carpet in my office and one time down the hall. I have a pretty big atrium that you can see everything in the front of the house from where his playstand is. He just chats up a storm when he is on there. but as soon as he gets in my office he climbs down his cage and on the floor and decides he wants to preen and pull at my carpet. So I put some toys on the floor to help him but he still likes to preen the floor, if I try and get him to stop he yells "Hey- backoff" and then if I try and make him stop he will go over and pick at the wood. He loves to lay on the floor with me and my daughter while we watch tv so that is where we typically go is in there to watch tv with him. I just didn't know how common this was. And your right, he does have his wings clipped. they clipped his wings before i got him.

Hello, My bird Ollie loves to walk on the floor whenever I am in the room mostly. But he has been known to walk down the hall. I typically bring him in every room just about every room with me so when I am home he is always pretty close. I work from home 2 to 3 days a week so its very nice spending time with him. My only fear is he is going to go under something or chew on the baseboards (which he has already done a tiny bit) Is this a normal behavior for a parrot to want to be on the floor??? This weekend I am going to try something new. I am making him a playpen (carpeted sides and bottom that will be the same flooring as the one in my office (which is the floor he always wants to walk on) so he can go in there when he wants down with all his little toys that he likes to play with. I will put a picture on the forum when its complete. should be pretty funny. Has anyone else ever had to make one of these for thier bird that can offer suggestions? Is there anything I need to look out for that could be poinsonous to him? Any help is greatly appreciated? thanks Debbie

I was just curious if I was overfeeding/underfeeding my bird Ollie. Here is Olivers planned food schedule for today: He had a scrambled egg w/shell for breakfast 1/4 of a Kiwi cutup a baby carrot - cut up in small pieces 2 pieces of broccoli 10-12 pieces of Nutriberries (Laebefers) i think that is how you spell it. Then tonight he will get: 10 - 12 pieces of the nutriberries 2 slices of apple (no seeds) cut up 2 pieces of broccoli cut up and a very small amount (about a tbsp) of cooked macaroni. and a peanut (no salt) at bedtime - to get him back in his cage. lol

Thank you so much!! This really helps. I absolutely love this forum!! I am looking forward to a long life with Oliver so any information I can obtain to make his life happy and healthy Im all for. He is an incredible bird, Once I learn how to post pics I will post one of me and oliver. Thanks again.

Hello everyone, I bought my first African Grey Congo named Oliver. He is 3 years old and is sweet as can be, However; he likes to get walk around on the floor and pull at my carpet. Not sure what to do about that but I do know I want to give him the best life possible. I thought I did plenty of research before deciding to buy my Oliver but after I got him in I realized there is so much I don't know how to react to and so many questions I have so I was hoping you all could help me. so here goes... 1. There are so many books out there, is there a book that is best suited for someone with a new african grey that will cover just about everything? 2. I have been feeding a mixture of pellets and seeds and he is sooooo picky that he picks out what he wants and leaves the rest. He is afraid of green vegetables. I know that sounds weird but everytime I try to give it to him, he freaks out and trys to get as far away from it as possible. I want to put him on Harrisons High Potentcy food but am afraid he just wouldn't eat it. What should I do?? 3. How long does it take them to settle in. He is 3 years old and mostly mimics noise, he says a few things but most of what he says isn't very clear so I sit around and talk to him all day long and when I can't talk to him I put on those train your bird to talk CD's. 4. What do you do when they bite. He hasn't ever bitten me but has bit my 9 year old when she tried to get him to step up and bit my 14 year old neice for touching his toy. What do you do to prevent biting? I appreciate any information you can provide or if you can direct me to a good book that will help me.

Hello everyone, I am so glad I found this forum. I'm looking at getting my very first African Grey Congo but I am faced with a dilemma. First, let me start off by saying I work from home most of the time and it gets lonely. I really want a bird that will keep me company that will chat it up with me and love to just be spoiled. So I started my research and decided the best bird for me would be an African Grey. Now here is the dilemma. I found a baby that is 8 weeks old that would need to finish being weaned (which I have done before it just was about 9 years ago.) THEN, I talked to a wonderful lady this evening that has a 3 year old African Grey Congo. She stated he talks up a storm, mimics, no bad habits, perfect feathers and loves everyone. Is there a downside to getting an adult over getting a baby? I have heard that if you get a baby you bond better with it. But then I have read that it doesn't matter. I really want the forums thoughts. Does it matter???