Lambert58

We have a flock of 1-year olds. 7 of them. I'm not going to give advice, but just want to relay our lessons learned. First: any rapid behavior changes will result in a trip to the vet to see if there's something internal going on that has them frustrated. Second: Our greys get grumpy when they don't get enough attention. That attention can take many forms, talking to them, playing with them (we have a few games we play together) Third: They get grumpy when they are hungry or thirsty, and I've caught myself drinking a glass of water when someone lands on my shoulder and grabs my ear...and it took me a few ear nibbles to figure out that what he wanted was a drink. What I've learned is they don't do something for no reason. It's very cause/effect, and it's on me as a parront to understand the cause; and many times it's not obvious and requires some analyzing of my behavior and the environment in which our fids live. That may or may not be helpful lol.

Willow and Leo are 15 & 16 months old, respectively. They're the calmest, most well-behaved fids in the flock. They're recall trained, love to play rough but never bite hard. We play "GOTCHA!" and they are very careful to only gently use their beak in play-mode. So I post this to ask: We're going to soon be sneaking up on what I've read as the "terrible twos" where they'll reach maturity and totally change their behavior. I had one friend who was a grey owner that said his fid absolutely loved him until he hit 2, then preferred his wife. We've gone to great lengths to make sure our little ones get the best care/environment, but there's this little nagging voice in the back of my head (based on what I've read and anecdotes) that makes me worry that they'll hit 2 and it'll be a whirlwind. Should I be nervous? Or just keep doing what I'm doing?

Pippa is gorgeous! You've obviously been a great parront. I love the pics.. and will just say that the #1 ingredient to caring for a fid is love and it appears that you've applied it liberally Good work!

Just adding my 2c: We don't clip. We have a very very large great room for them to fly in. When they're out of the cage we use a 2-door entry/exit through the garage religiously. I realize our situation is optimum, and not everyone can do that, so you have to balance your fid's safety into your decision, but if you can let them free-fly, that's, of course, the best option.

Our 3 sun/jenday/gold capped mutts (they're mixed, not one is a purebred) took to potty training like... conures to ice cold water: easy peasy. Our greys want to drop the bomb the instant they leave the cage in the morning, so we put the trashcan near the cage to start with and gradually moved it back to its proper place and that worked. And yes you're on the right track. Make a whole Broadway Epic out of it when they poop in the trashcan. In our house we have fireworks, bands playing, strippers... did I say strippers? Those might be for me. In any case, yes; make a huge production out of it

Our 2 greys have 5 feathered buddies: 2 GCCs, a Sun, Jenday-Sun mix, and a Gold Capped-Sun mix. The Grey's also L O V E the Sprout channel (we leave it on the TV when we're gone). They get a ton on non-human speech stimulus, so their vocabulaires are limited to what they want and what they get for input. This means our 15-month old greys say only a few words and it's only when they want to. They prefer the theme to the sprout channel above all lol. It's fine by us As long as they're happy.

Wow! that's late for our fids. Maybe we should keep them up

I play this with both Leo and Willow and they're both very gentle with their beaks. They barely grab my finger. They make TONS of noise and make a whole scene of it, but they're very careful

What do I think? I think the pop ups and ads that I was inundated with on that site made me want to close my browser, grab an AK-47 and head the nearest McDonalds. Seriously LA Times? All your web developers deserve a beating. And when I say a beating, I mean a.la Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels beating. If you've seen it you know what I mean. and: "It was late afternoon, and Lola and Charlie were perched amid the bamboo on Alexis Readinger's back patio, pecking at a clove of garlic. Readinger left them there — she had a meeting with a client inside — and when she came out, Lola was gone." She left a fully flighted grey outside alone? Is she retarded? People like this don't need to be parrot companions. Alexis is a an unfit parront and a moron. I'm sorry to be so harsh, but I have a low tolerance for stupidity that costs lives. In particular, feathered lives.

I think they like this to clear out their sinuses (sp?) We have a very small guest bathroom that I shower in every morning (even tho it sucks) just because the greys love it when it gets all steamy and humid. Willow will actually refuse to step up for about 15 minutes after the shower because she likes to just sit on the shower rod and soak up the water.

We learn, we just sometimes decide to take the punishment because it's worth it ;P

We normally put the fids in their cage for bedtime around 6-7 PM, trying to link it to sunset. Inevitably, they arise with contact calls at 0600 (which is about sunrise), on the button, every morning. Every now and then, we have them out a little late (8 PM or so) because they're full of energy and want to play, but the next morning.... they don't sleep in: 0600 I hear the whistle. Their cage is in our great room, which has 9 windows, so there's no hiding the Sun, but we do have a large blanket over the cage for them. I haven't slept past 0600 in 2 years. Makes me realize the value of naps

I'm ok with snakes in general. We have lots of bull snakes, some as long as 5'. They look just like rattlesnakes, though, and I actually sent one to snake heaven last year due to a case of mistaken identity: they pound their tails on the ground and sound almost exactly like a rattler. I've gotten better at identifying them, and they're great to have around as they keep the mouse population down. I am scared spitless of rattlesnakes, though. Our sheppard got tagged on the snout 2 years ago by one; it's was just a nick, and her nose swelled up like a balloon, but she was fine. That snake was on the receiving end of an entire clip (15 rounds) of 9mm from my Beretta 92E. I was 5 beers into a cookout when it happened, and there was lots of screaming + running about + gunfire. Bought my 12-gauge the next day lol. I'm going to go buy land mines if they get any worse this year...they've been really really thick.

Dan, It's exactly the opposite in our house. Willow and Leo both will nail my wife in a heartbeat, and they've never bitten me. Today, in fact, I got a call from a *very* upset wife who'd come home for lunch and had let everyone out to play. Leo refused to go back in his cage. My wife is exactly 5' tall, and and the greys' cage is 7 feet tall. She was moving a chair back and forth and Leo would just run to the other side when she tried to get him to step up. I made the mistake of laughing. Good thing I have a comfortable couch!

ignorance isn't funny.... unless you can take advantage of it lol!

agreed: no cure. Our german sheppard has to have gained about 20 lbs from nutriberries.

Every evening, around an hour before bed, our greys act like cats and go into crazy play mode. When this happens, Willow and I play a game I've played with her since she was 6 weeks old: GOTCHA! If I touch her on a wing or on her chest I say "GOTCHA!" and if she grabs my finger with a beak or talon, I make a whole dramatic scene of it and say "OH YA GOT ME!" When I make an attempt, I've always made a little sound that's hard to explain... it's a little like a squishy sound I make with my tongue. ANYway... now, when Willow wants to play, she makes the same sound lol. It's so cute and she gets so excited when she makes the sound and I come running to play. God, I love my greys

Thanks greywings, I'll contact your friend to see if they can help.

Dan, Our greys: a CAG(F) and a TIMGO(M) have never broken 400g. They've had 3 visits to the vet over the last 18 months and everything has come back just spiffy. Just a data point.

A friend of my mom's who had several fids, including a grey, shot himself. He was 72, suffered from depression and lived out in the middle of nowhere in a trailer. What he did do right was care for his birds (aside from abandoning them when he died). So, we have some friends in NM that are currently temporarily housing a Macaw and a 6 year old grey. They're older folks and can't take the responsibility, so, if anyone is in that area and is looking for a grey, or a macaw, let me know. We already have 7 fids and adding a 3d grey would be the straw. My wife and I work full time but have jobs that allow us the freedom to come home as necessary to take care of our fids. One more would absolutely do us in. You can pm me if you're interested.

Hello, Justin. Greys whistle. They LOVE to whistle. Your fid is probably contact calling, as has been mentioned, or is just whistling for the joy of it. It's what they do. Spend as much 1 on 1 time with him as you can, is my best advice. Let him know he's loved and talk to him. I really recommend you visit the posts here dedicated to our fids' diet. Salt isn't good for them and can cause problems. Same with sugar. Do some dietary research and get him some good pellets and balance that with fresh veggies as much as you can. There's a lot that goes into the responsibility of caring for a grey, so the more you know, the more your fid will be happy

In our flock, the little fids rule. Rusty, our GCC, owns the entire house. He chases off the greys and our sun conure trio every morning. Hell, he chases me off...

If you look at my edit at the bottom of the post... it's kale

Attack photo:

I'm really hoping they were distracted enough by the balloon to not have picked up the 30-second solid streak of profanity I screamed as I ran up the stairs.