Tucker5590

I thought it was a good sign that Grumpy is verbal with us. I just know that in time he will talk to us and let us hold him. He seems quite content most of the time. His cage has been sitting in front of the Christmas tree since Micah brought him to us just before Christmas. Today I re-arranged a few things in the den and sat his cage beside the couch. He seems to like being right here beside me. he has been in and out of his cage all evening. He even took a bite of carrot from my soup off my spoon as I ate supper tonight. I sound like I did when my babies were little! Every little thing excited me. LOL! He did fly off the cage this afternoon and sat on top of the aquairum for a long time. (it has a grate on top so he can not fall in) I think he was visiting with the other birds- their cage is beside the tank.

Thanks for the tip! Butch will be glad to hear that! Grumpy has bitten him several times. He had to help him get his nail out of the carpet tonight and managed not to get bitten- so maybe we are making some progress :lol:

Welcome Lambert! I have just been here a few days myself, but am enjoying it very much. Glad to have you here!

I believe Grumpy talks, but he hasn't spoken for us yet. He has whistled a few different things, wolf whistle, bob-white, and Butch said today he whistled Red River Valley. He also has quacked like a duck, and growled like a dog. He waves at us when we say hi. He is quite skiddish of new things, but I know that is normal. I got him a new toy and it scared him, so I took it out of his cage and hung it on the outside with little bits of it sticking in through the bars. I will move it inside when he starts to pick at it. We have a 7 year old cockatiel, Sunshine, who we got when she was still being hand-fed. Grumpy watches as she comes out to play. I think this will also help him. We also are keeping my parents parakeets, Pete and Gracie indefinatly.

Thanks for all the encouragement! We do realize this is goign to take time, and we have a lifetime...but the being patient and waiting is tough. We know it will be worth it though! Butch has been bitten several times. I have not been yet. He takes food from our hand. We open his cage door every day and he goes in and out as he pleases. The 1st time I let him out was early in the morning, before anyone else got up. He got down and walked around the house checking things out. I just followed him telling him what everything was. He and Rascal(the dog) checked each other out closer than before without any problem. Instead of chasing him an putting him back in the cage, we took it off the stand and sat it in the floor until he got back on it. He hasn't gotten off the cage again. Today I finally took the Christmas tree down and he was very interested- I thought he was going to help. I was very close to him back and forth and he never offerd to bite me. Someday he will be relaxed enough to let me hold him.

Thanks for the welcome. I will get some pics posted later. I love photography about as much as we love our pets so there is never a shortage of pics of our babies. Grumpy's first owner handled him, but the guy we got him from, who only had him for 3 months, was not able to handle him. Also, the guy we got him from is single and lived alone, so Grumpy was alone a lot during that time. Fortunatly, he realized the need for attention. He will never be alone at our house. Most of the time some of the humans are here, but when we are gone - we have a cockatiel, 2 parakeets and a long hair chihuahua to keep him company. I believe we will be able to bond with Grumpy in time. We spend a lot of time sitting close to the cage, talking to him. He is not ready for us to hold him yet, but we do open the cage and he comes and explores. Hopefully I will have time this weekend to read some of the threads and learn some do's and don'ts.

Our grey was named Grumpy as a very young bird. He is now 18. About 3 months ago a friend of ours bought him, and called him Happy. He quickly found out that being home alone all day was not good for him, and just before Christmas, brought him to live at our house where he gets a lot of attention. We were trying to decide whether or not to change his name. I asked him. "Are you Grumpy?" and he nodded his head excitedly- so he gets to keep his name. We are doing all we can to make Grumpy a happy bird!

HI! My husband Butch has wanted a grey for as long as I've known him. We finally have one. He is an 18 year old, who is still getting used to us. We are excited about having Grumpy as part of our family, but are aware we have a lot of work ahead of us. I am sure we will learn a lot from some of you! ~Ashley