Buffy

The bad part about it is I love every minute of it. When I talk about her to my nonbird loving friends, I know they think I'm lying. You never understand how truly intelligent they are until you have birds.

So manipulative and I fall for it every time. She doesn't say 'I love you' much, so I get so excited when she does, and she knows it! You could just see an 'I got you' gleam in her eye when I got her out of the cage.

I don't know what was going on this morning, but Echo, who is usually my best behaved bird, was acting horribly this morning and eventually got banished to her cage. Here is the conversation between the two of us that followed: Echo: Stop it Thumper! Me: Thumper didn't do it, he's being a good bird. Echo: Jubie, you bad dog! Me: Jubie's not doing anything either, don't blame it on her. Echo: Stop it Jubie! Me: You leave Jubie alone. Echo: Come here! Me: No. I'm upset with you. You are being a bad bird. Echo: Thumper you bad bird! Me: Thumper's being a good bird! Echo: Come here! Me: No. Be quiet! Echo: Gimme a kiss. Me: I don't want a kiss right now. I'm angry. Echo: I love you! Me: I didn't say another word and out of the cage Echo came!

I'm gonna try that one. I put mine in the bath and cup my hands with water to pour over their back. I never thought about using a scrunchy. Thanks for the idea!

Echo is in her terrible twos so I know exactly how you feel. She nipped me hard a couple of weeks ago and I instantly yelled a horrible curse word at her before thinking. I am so careful what I say around them, so I am so worried that she will say that word, but so far so good. Overall, Echo is a very good bird. I call her my good child. I must admit, I am terrified as to what Thumper is going to be like. He is 7 months old now and is constantly into something, and already nips at me when I'm trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to do. I can't imagine what he is going to be like in a year. Luckily he is also my comedian. I often tell him that he is very lucky he makes me laugh so much!

Congratulations! I love Greenwings!

Welcome and I thoroughly enjoyed the blog. I especially like what you posted about cat people, dog people, and bird people! I agree completely.

I go crazy when I see those things. I know them as seed moths. Many years ago when I had birds, I frequently had problems with them. I naively thought I wouldn't have problems with them this time as my birds are on pellets. Boy was I wrong. They ruined a whole bag of pellets once. I've gotten them completely out of the bird room, but am struggling with ridding them from my pantry.

Thanks Spock! May the new year bring much joy to you, your siblings, and your parronts too!

I was reading through one of the threads a few weeks back, and saw someone mention 'Parrots' magazine. I ordered the magazine and just finished reading my first copy. This magazine is amazing! It's so very different than 'Bird Talk' and I loved every single article. I can't remember who mentioned the magazine, but thank you so much!!!!!!! So, this got me to wondering, are there any other great bird magazines out there that I have been missing out on? If you know of any, please give me a recommendation.

Congratulations on your boy! I have one of each. My girl came first, so when Thumper and I chose each other, I hoped and hoped he would turn out to be a boy. I was surprised by how many people asked me if I was planning on breeding. Like many parents, I just wanted a girl and a boy!

Love the post, and so glad to see you back on here!

Thank you all for your kind words. I've thought seriously about rescuing a bird or two and would gladly take this bird in my home. Unfortunately, the bird is on consignment. Just as Danmcq said, the owners no longer want the bird. Unfortunately, we don't have many options in my area for reporting this. There is no local humane society. Our animal control is currently under investigation for some issues of their own, and will not 'rock the boat' by investigating a business I'm sure, but I did call them anyway and report it. The guy on the phone just said ok. I called my avian vet for advice. She said they have gotten many complaints over the years from this pet store and seen many sick puppies that came from them. She confirmed that I didn't have many options as far as reporting it, but did give me the number to the Department of Agriculture to call. I was also thinking about calling a bird rescue like Phoenix Landing for advice. If anyone else has any ideas as to who I can report this to, please let me know. Unfortunately, this bird will just be sent back to its owners as soon as the pet store gets questioned about it. I wish I had handled it differently, and pretended to be interested in the bird. I could have then asked if it would be possible for me to call the owners and ask questions about him. Maybe then, I could have appealed to the owners. I'm thinking I may get a friend to go in there and do that. They may not release the number, but it is worth a try. I was just too mad to think on my feet at the time. I think what is bothering me most, is it looks like this issue could be cleared up with some basic care and a quick trip to the vet. This bird's skin was so dry, it appeared he was just itching himself to death.

I went into a pet store today that had a Congo Grey that was in horrible condition. He only had feathers on his head, tail, and sporadically on his wings. The rest of him was covered in matted looking down. He was itching constantly and couldn't even stop enough to eye me the whole time I stood there and watched him. So many people walked by and pointed at him laughing. He was oblivious to it all, just itching and scratching the whole time. He was absolutely miserable. When the store clerk came up and asked if she could help me, I told her I was a little concerned about the grey and asked if he had been vet checked. She told me nothing was wrong with him as he was just moulting. I told her that the state of that Grey was most definitely not a moulting issue. She then told me that he was damaging his feathers because he was sexually frustrated. At that point I just sat down what I had in my hands to buy and left. I know that the worse thing I could do is buy that Grey and further promote this horrible pet store, but the state of that poor bird is driving me crazy and breaking my heart. Its all I've thought about all day. This is not a pet store I ever go into, and I just keep kicking myself and asking what in the world possessed me to go in there today.

Both of my greys are very quiet also. Echo, my oldest does exactly like Ana Grey. When she does her late morning, early evening talking, it is nearly impossible to quieten her down. I love those times of day! My youngest is just 7 months old as well. He does exactly what you just described. He will chatter and practice his speech, and then I don't hear a peep out of him for a while. Mine also hate bathing. I tried every method I read about. What they seem to hate the least is for me to run a bath with the water level being a little below chest level, and then just cupping water in my hands and rubbing over their bodies. They still growl through the whole bath, but with every other method I tried, Echo screamed like I was trying to kill her. I'd recommend trying several methods and finding out what works best for your baby. Good luck and welcome to the exciting world of being owned by a Grey!

I have a sign that I made hanging in my foyer that says 'The animals live here, you don't so if there is a problem, guess who is going to be asked to leave?' I know it sounds a little rude, but I made it specifically for one friend whose company I do enjoy, but that friend went through a phase of getting nasty with my cat when he tried to sit in his lap. Once I hung the sign, he never complained again and seems to enjoy petting my cat when he jumps in his lap!

Both of my fids love to sit on my shoulder too. I've read so many negative articles about it that I've always kind of thought of it as 'my dirty little secret' and don't mention it to other bird people. I'm so excited to read all of these posts and realize I'm not a horrible parent!

Echo was my first Grey ever and my first parrot in 10 years, so I researched tirelessly and went to multiple bird shows resulting in Echo having a huge myriad of toys before even coming home. I had the exact same experience you are having right now. Echo played with nothing unless it was very shreddable. I was so worried about her because I had read all this information about the importance of stimulating a grey. I really worried about her. I read everything I could find and posted on several bird websites which resulted in me poking holes in several shirts, hanging toys from the holes, and playing with those toys like there was no tomorrow. I never really got a response from her at all with any of my antics. I even mentioned to one close friend that I loved Echo unconditionally but was starting to believe that my Grey had some cognitive deficiencies. However, within a year there was no toy that was safe and no puzzle toy that could stump her for more than a day. When I brought my second Grey home, he was the exact opposite from Echo. He relished toys at a very young age and has always loved hard wood whereas Echo will chew hard wood toys but still prefers shreddable toys. Each Grey is truly unique. give Took some time, sounds like Took and Echo are a lot alike.

What a great thread to start Domyoburk! As a devoted dog and bird lover, I know I will love this one! I have two dogs and two greys. As Judygram stated, I continue to be constantly vigilant when dogs and Greys are together, I just didn't realize to begin with that it would be the dogs I'd have to protect! My dogs give the birds a wide berth; they have learned the hard way! My oldest, Echo, is very jealous of the dogs and will attempt to bonk them on the nose any chance she has! I love your story about them playing on the bed because I have to be super vigilant then, Echo will try to sneak to the bottom of the bed and attack the dogs if I'm not very careful. One day, I was loving on Jefferson, my oldest dog, and both Greys had enough, and it seems, planned a sneak attack. Both birds flew down, one landed on one side of the dog and the other grey landed on the other side of Jefferson. Jefferson immediately knew the danger he was in and froze looking at me in wholehearted fear. My greys have also taught me that I talk to my dogs entirely too much. Echo calls both dogs, tell's Jubilee (the puppy who is 10 months old and always into something) to behave, calls both dogs constantly, barks, and tells both dogs 'it's just on tv! (both of my dogs bark like crazy when they hear a doorbell on tv). Thumper, my baby grey, only 7 months old, said his first word two weeks ago, 'Jubie' (what we call the puppy). My life with birds and cats have been completely different, and unfortunately the cats have been shunned from most of the house when the birds are out. Although its never safe to leave your birds and dogs together unattended, the beauty about dogs is that they are truly a pack animal and once it is clear that the birds are part of the pack, I've found found dogs to be very accepting despite those blasted bonks on the nose!

I researched and worried too extensively before getting my first grey, Echo. I had experience with birds, but she was my first grey. I was super paranoid about doing the wrong thing since greys are often described as more emotionally delicate than other parrots. I soon learned that was a load of bull. My best advice is to not let them manipulate you. During Echo's first six months I was manipulated into not giving her regular baths with horrible results. Her skin was so dry that she did start plucking. Once regular baths were non-negotionable, her feather issues ceased. I also let her convince me that she wasn't getting enough to eat resulting in me feeding her too much of her favorite foods. Once I realized I was being bamboozled, she was back to eating a healthy diet! They are incredibly smart birds and know how to pull at our heart strings LOL!

I took my 4 year old neice to Wal-Mart one day. We were looking around and she says 'Aunt Buffy, what is on the back of your shirt?' I knew immediately what it was and was so embarrassed. I had made three other stops before picking her up and heading to Wal-mart. There is no telling how many people wondered why that crazy woman was walking around with bird poop on her.

I put the TV on a children's station. My birds don't seem to interested in most of it, but do seem to enjoy the Wiggles. They love it when I play them utube videos of parrots, so I've always thought about getting one of the parrot-sitting DVDS but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Definitely keep your bird on Roudybush pellets. That bird breeder must not read any current literature on bird nutrition.

I love my birds BUT: Would love to be able to eat my dinner without having to fight Thumper for every bite. Wish I could occasionally use the bathroom in peace without Thumper flying in demanding attention. Wish I didn't have to constantly protect the innocent dogs from bonks on the nose when they come to me wanting a pet and Echo attacks in a jealous rage. I miss my ceiling fans. Wish that for just one day, Thumper would stay off the fireplace mantle where he knows he is not allowed but always runs to as soon as I turn my back. Wish that Echo would realize that I don't need to wake up at 7am on Saturday and Sunday. I get embarrassed when Echo announces to company that she has to go 'poo poo'. Wish that just once, they would not decide that they both want the exact same foot toy at the exact same time even though I have a foot toy box filled with 50 foot toys! LOL! I could probably go on and on, but those two keep me on my toes and laughing all the time!

Tamara, I SO relate to the mixed emotions you are having right now. I toiled over this same decision for the first year of my bird's life who came to me clipped. One day I was positive I wasn't going to clip her wings after her molt and then the next day was positive that I was going to clip her. It really was a heartwrenching decision, and I don't think I ever made that final decision in my mind, but when it came down to it and her flight feathers did grow out, I knew that there was no way i could clip them. It just seemed wrong to me. She has been flighted for about three months now and it isn't easy some days. Parrot proofing has proven both fun and frustrating. Mine is still having difficulty with landing which has created some pretty scary moments. However, if you never let the breeder clip the wings to begin with, I doubt you'll have the issues I have had with teaching Echo to land. The bottom line is that it is a decision you have to make.