Elvenking

Yes...he doesn't keep repeating it like Pedro does. He does it once or twice. Thank.....goodness!!!

I actually got Issac right around 10 weeks and what a little sweetie he was when I brought him home. He wanted nothing more than to be next to me at all times. I suppose our petting sessions at the breeders got us closer before coming home. For the first week, he would just perch on me or lay on my chest while being cuddled and stroked. I would place him down at one end of the couch. and sit down at the other, just to watch his clumsy little legs run over to me as fast as they could. A very precious and short lived period or total cuddle-muffiness. That is not to say that he is not cuddly now, there are just no nested little naps on my chest like the one in my avatar photo. About 10 1/2-11 weeks, he took his first flight to the cieling and I was running underneath him knowing that his first landing would be rough. He was okay. I really loved watching him get better at it. I almost took my breeders advice and got him clipped.....soooooo glad I didn't do that. About the 12-14th weeks I could hear him starting to make some sweet little baby noises and begin to try babbling. He is also off the floor of the cage at this time an perching for sleep. It was a trying time finding foods that he preferred. Veggies were always hit and miss, like one thing one day and different on another day. (He is till like that I suppose). Also around this time, I had to start really moving things around in a better effort to bird proof the house. I pad the bottom of his cage because he will simply drop to the bottom of the cage when I have to leave in a dramatic protest where he claws at the paper and makes a little whinning 'coo' at me. Ohhh my heart. Between the 15th and 20th week, the suprises leveled off as far as his physical growth. He was regularly taking veggies and a good blend of dry food I get for him, as well as his formula. He never ceases to love formula time. He regularly makes tons and tons of flights to me, especially when entering the kitchen. Around this time I am finding out that my time on the computer is strictly at Issac's discretion. Sure I could stick him in the cage and get it done, but I simply love having him out. I would also have to say that you begin having your patience tried in some areas at this time as well. They starte testing their boundries, and you will be faced with forming starategies to keep them from getting into stuff that they shouldn't. I pretty much know it is time for more or new toys when he is rotating between every single thing he shouldn't get into. Find the right things that keep them chewing, there will be great peace. For example, Issac loves soft plastics he can destroy. Milk carton caps, the cap to anything really, ropes and twine, small wiffle balls, and anything that gives way under the power of his beak. Ohh...and if you can spare a computer keyboard...lol....you get the picture. Around Issac's 6th month. He has his own personality, or seems to be set in certain ways. What is his is his and what is mine is his. He will actually be a bit defensive if I have to take a certain object away that I cannot let him have, even going as far as biting in protest. If you haven't recieved at least one bite by this time, that is highly unusual in my book. I think i got my first one when a girl friend came over and gave me a hug while he was on my shoulder, and he bit my face. Having someone new in the house should always be had with caution. With Issac, I have to let people just get close at first, he puffs up and growls for a minute, then realises that his display is all for naught. As far as the growing relationship I have with Issac, I can't hold it in any higher regard. If you would like to see my little tribute to my baby you look up 'My African Grey Tribute' on Youtube, and that will give you an idea about how much I love him. Anyway, you are on a very cool adventure. If you want more details I would suggest using advanced search on this site and look for posts that have 'Issac Week' in them. I think I started keeping weekly updates around 14 weeks. Good luck and I cannot wait to see what unfolds.

Cool. Yes he seems to be a very happy bird. I will continue to let him enjoy his formula.

LOVE the image of the Palm Cockatoo, you just don't see one of those every day. If you have more pics of that one, please post them. Beautiful and uncommon. Also, how in the world did you happen upon one of those rarities? As I believe their numbers in the states are in the hundreds at most? Maybe someone could correct me.

Over the last week I found that Issac was a major chicken lover so he eats that with me sometimes now. I also got a new grill, so more chicken will be cooked. For the first time I had more than one person come over to my place. It was a curious experiment because Issac has not yet had a lot of company other than me and my daughter. He was super good. He puffed up and growled for the first minute, but then he realised there was nothing to be afraid of. He flew to one of my guests shoulder and sat and looked him over. This guy says, "Uhhmm...should I be honored that he flew to my shoulder?" I say, "Yeah for sure!" For the most part, Issac was just sitting and observing, which was what I had hoped for. For him to study us. He was making some cute noises for us and being a good social member. I was proud of him. Speaking of noises, uhhhgg, the inevitable happened, he picked up the most undesired sound from my Conure. It takes everything I have not to make a big deal of it. I just stop looking at him when ever he does it, and immediately respond to all other pleasent sounds. I am not sure I will ever get rid of that one though, since Pedro, my Conure, will be there to remind him of it. Sometimes I can't tell who is doing it. LOL. On a final note, he still loves his formula! 28 Weeks and he is still gaga over it. Is this a bad thing? Is it okay to let him enjoy it so long as he likes it? Does anyone still give their Grey formula this far out? The comforting thing is knowing that he doesn't require it, he will eat solid foods just fine. But I feel it's sort of lucky that he still likes it as it takes me about 5 minutes to get him his nutrition. Let me know your thoughts. Issac has been really cuddly this last week too, as well as super energetic at times. Dive bombing and making Ptarodactyl noises. What a character. Thanks for reading again. Cheers.

Excellent references JayD...I found these among searching for grey intelligence a while back and love reading about them. Cheers for this post my friend!

Our world makes things like this sit in the background, so many other things going on...it is my sincerest wish..that this was not true. I am just happy that i can find people...who find the greater of things sacred. Thank you all for being here.

The fact that I am hearing your breeders advice along the way, and it seems that he has been doing this for 38 years and operates this way, deeply saddens me. Nothing against you at all because you are the proud owner of one of the greatest creatures on the earth and aparrantly are here to make sure you do good. But I would like to have a few words with your breeder for sure. Callous is a word that comes to mind. Take care of your baby and just try to make your Grey know no fear. Cheers.

LOL..that is so awesome, there is a great sense of satisfaction when you find something they really enjoy. My goodness how I love this bird.

You can get queen palm nuts on the Bird Paradise web store. Issac loves them! Keep em busy for like 20 mins a piece. http://www.mybirdstore.com/FOOD_TREATS_FRESH_PALM_NUTS.html I personally have never seen one ripen yet, they always seem to come green from there...however, he loves them quite a bit, and he has figured out how to get the nut out of the middle.

Yep, I keep building on my array of distractions. The quick one is a palm nut if I need 20 mins or so to get something done.

Ahhh yes, there's that look. Priceless. @Jill...look at his eyes on that chicken, that is certainly a focused effort. Great picture!

That is hillarious. I would have been on the floor! LOL.

He LOVES Chicken! I was sitting at the table having some chicken and I could bearly keep Issac at bay with good chunks of white meat. I would hand him one and he'd be done with it before I could even get a good couple bites cut off for myself. He was pumping his neck and everything. This is the second food that I know he will completely eliminate all scraps. On a side note, he went into super cuddly mode again and was in 'scratch me' heaven last night when it got later. It is the most amazing thing to see this wild bird, bending his head down for me for rubbing and scratching, eyes closing with pleasure. It really gives you a sense of total happiness. I truly cherish those moments as he also has a knack for freaking me out sometimes!! Sometimes when I see him murdering a toy....I wonder if I AM NEXT!! LOL. Anyway...thanks for reading. Let me know if your feathered friend has this affinity for chicken.

One of the first things I got when I brought Issac home was a digital thermometer that you use to take meat temperatures. Do not go by feel, you could burn the crop if it's too hot. It's important to keep it in the range that JayD said of 105-109. So if you don;t have one already, I would get one for sure. Oh and congratulations on your new baby, nine weeks was about when i brought Issac home. He flew to the ceiling in his 10th week.

LOL...cute...what a beautiful Too!!

Awesome news, I was super excited about getting Issac too. I would visit the breeder so often just to see him in his 7th and 8th weeks. Then mid-ninth week, I could wait no longer...I brought him home and life has not been the same since. Congrats on your new baby Congo!!

He hung there like that for at least a minute...long enough for me to grab the camera cold and catch him doing his bat impression. Cute lil guy

Ohh my...I love it! I play the peek-a-boo game with Issac all the time. I hope he picks it up like this. Too cute.

So Issac has had a thing about flying atop the center channel speaker to my home entertainment center, pulling the grill off the front and threatening to chew up the rubber surrounds of the speaker drivers. I am not sure if he just wants to play with it or to just know that he can get me up off the couch. Either way, to prevent him from doing this I place a folded towel over the speaker so he can't get at the corners of the grill to remove it. So, here is his latest reaction to this:

That is super cool that Spock has picked up such a sweet sound. I like it when Issac coos really close to my ear, the sound is so pure and sweet. On the flip side, he is picking up some of my Conures annoying noises for which I am not so grateful...lol. And he does it perfectly, sometimes I cannot tell which one is doing it. Thankfully he only exercises them around feeding time and stops. (This would be one of those noises i do not respond to.) I was afraid that would happen, but it's only one among many other very pleasent noises Issac makes.

He hasn't refused it just yet, and I will continue to give it to him so long as he likes it. I have also wondered if that is what keeps him so beautiful. I do constantly marvel at his beauty, he is an amazing specimen.

I just order from them online, I live is San Diego, CA. I get the plam nuts and ultimate blend from them.

This is about the best thing i have read all day, I am going to have to try this. I get on and off days with Issac and his veggies so any suggestions are great...thank you for this.

One thing you can take heart in, and as others have said, is that they move on to other noises. I find that 95% of the noises Issac makes, I like a lot. But lately he has picked up some that I do not like. I do not tell him 'no' or to stop them. I merely do not acknowledge anything that he does that I do not like, and praise lavishly for the ones I do. They do recycle noises. I was just watching a video I made of Issac about 10 weeks back, and he is making noises there that I have long forgotton. Don't worry, just ignore the annoying noises consistanly.