reggieroo

I have been doing just that, telling him "I'll be back in minute" I have probably been mixing it up on what I say as sometimes I can't remember what I say on different situations. For example I may go into the garden for a while to do a little gardening or just nip out to the garage to get something for a second. I may go into the nursery to change Ella-Rose. I may go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea or the bathroom for a shower. Then there's times when I go out shopping or take Zeus for a walk. Should I have something different to say for each different scenario?

How old is Pepper Brittany?

Thanks Dan, that has helped put my mind at rest. I some times worry about doing the right or wrong thing as I know how sensitive this little guys are. He does have lots of toys that he plays with & you can tell because everyone of them is chewed, just recently he has started beating them up & hanging upside down from the roof of his cage screaming with delight. How should I respond with the contact calls? At the moment I call back a few times & then leave it.

Some of you will have seen my post about Murphy & his high pitched shrieking & my questions here are related to that issue still in some way. The shrieking has gotten less & been replaced a fair bit by a whistle. What I want to do is too make sure I do the right thing for Murphy & his future patterning with regards to his confidence & independence. Before, the shrieking was while I was in view & even in the same room but now that & the whistles are 99% while out of sight so safe to say they are contact calls. As soon as I go out of sight he does the whistle which I return with either a whistle or something along the lines of "I'm here, just down the hall won't be long" Now after a few whistles from him he then starts the shrieking almost in desperation & then maybe the whistle again followed by the shrieking & so on. He does this non stop until I'm back with the only exception being if he's eating something he really enjoys like corn on the cob & I don't hear a peep out of him. Now the whistles are not a problem & the shrieking is a lot less & tolerable but my concern is Murphy's independence & confidence & how it may affect his personality in the future. I worry about him developing behaviour problems like plucking etc. I know that parrots contact call as part of a flock & it's normal but is it normal for them to constantly do this every time you go out of sight until you come back? Do I contact call back constantly until I'm back, contact call once or twice after letting him know I'm not abandoning him & then ignore him? He's still only 22 weeks old & appears to be very needy & not to happy about being left to his own devices. Will he develop into an insecure parrot if I ignore his calls? He will eventually start playing with his toys & stop the calling if say I go outside & close the door but not while in the house. I want him to be a secure, confident parrot with the independence to play alone etc & not worry that I've left him. The last thing I want is to go shopping one day & come back to a half plucked bird knowing if I had done something different he would be fine. How often do your greys call you in the house & for how long until you come back in sight? Sorry for the long post guys, it's just been on my mind & want to make sure I do the right thing for Murphy

Hi Tanya, I know how you feel :mad: My neighbours have tried giving me a hard time since I moved here about my German Shepherd barking when people are to close to the house! It's always something with some people, noisy parrots, barking dogs, kids playing! I told my neighbours a few weeks ago to get a life!

Murphy enjoyed the video, he came down & stopped what he was doing to listen

Murphy does the same thing with 99% of his food, even goes as far as chucking most of it all over the place. I often give him bits of food by hand, he takes the smallest nibble, drops it then shakes his head as if to say "Ugh didn't like that" Gave him some corn on the cob the other day & he held it until he ate the lot so it just seems some are fussy about what they eat. Murphy obviously likes corn on the cob as he spent the best part of 10 minutes holding & eating it until it was devoured. Sometimes when I inspect his cage I see the contents of a whole bowl of apple on the bottom of the cage with very small nibbles taken out of the pieces & I think wasteful little sod, how come he didn't eat that?

That is so funny, I look forward to some silly games with Murphy when he's older.

That's sweet, hope he stays that way for you.

It's difficult to remember not to swear around them isn't it? I heard a story a while back, not sure where but it was a funny & went something like this. A vicar was putting up a picture frame in his house & while using his hammer he hit his thumb & let out a few swear words by accident. When he had some people over for tea one day his CAG started swearing. Imagine the embarrassment of the vicar who doesn't normally swear, trying to explain that one? So don't feel too bad it happens to the best of us.

Alfie is probably attached to that cage now anyway & would tell you off if you got another one

While I was out last week with my daughter Ella-Rose, my dog Zeus & Murphy riding on the pushchair through the village, this lady stopped & just said "gosh I've never seen that before!" She couldn't believe her eyes

Great pictures, looks like you had a great time. Alfie looked right at home & I thought Murphy had a good weekend, didn't show him the pictures otherwise he would have been jealous.....lol

I read somewhere that if you teach them to whistle lots they will more often do that than talk as they find it easier to whistle. Does anyone know how much truth there is in that? Murphy only does the one whistle at the moment, I taught it him as a contact call instead of the shrieks he was doing. He has also been doing the mumbling thing a lot, since we got him even but this last few days he has done it loads more. I tell him "good boy" when I hear him trying to speak so his first words will proabably be that, he is 5 months now.

There's normally always one partner who cares more about our greys & then other just tolerates them........lol. Kate take the micky out of me "on that parrot forum again!"

Still hot here this afternoon, just put some sunscreen on little Ella-Rose & we're off out in the garden again. Murphy just sits on his stand looking around, taking it all in. If a pigeon swoops down low Murphy ducks & looks up as if to say "Oi watch where your going mate!"

We have had some very good weather here in the UK & Murphy has been loving it (me also). My parents came over yesterday for BBQ & Murphy spent most of the day out with us, then yesterday evening he had some good interaction with a neighbour & his relatives. I try & get as many people to handle him as possible while he's young so he's well socialised.

Great news that you were able to get her out & about with you.

It can take them some time to settle in, I have had Murphy my baby grey for just over two months & I still feel he is settling in. They are very sensitive little guys, something you don't realise till you get one & they require lots of patience. I have had my ups & downs with Murphy but you just have to think to yourself once we are over these little hiccups things will be great & I'm sure he will start talking but they normally don't until around 1 year of age. All of us that have greys that are not yet talking all look forward to that day, I would be lying if I said I don't care if Murphy talks but he if doesn't then so be it. I will still love him just the same & enjoy my life with him as part of our family. If you want your wife to handle him, then try & do it in the evenings as they are a little easier to handle than the morning when they are bursting with energy. You have to brave with them & you need to trust them just as much as they trust you. My Fiancee Kate was a little scared of Murphy when we first got him, she would shy away from his beak but with some encouragement from me & some patience with Murphy she can now do quite a lot with him. He loves her to bits & is always trying to fly to her for cuddles. Just take a deep breath & keep on trying otherwise you may regret selling him as they are amazing little creatures & he would be heart broken if he lost his family (flock). This is a great place for advise so any problems just post it on here & people will help as much as they can.

I think the buckle should be on the other side so if she flys it can slide round easily to the back of the harness if you get what I mean, somebody correct me if I'm wrong though. I watched the vid recently & that is how they have their harness fitted. Well done on getting it on & persisting, she will love being outside

I hope Murphy is like that with my baby daughter when she's older.

I would also like to see some documentaries or TV shows featuring greys. I have only know of this one documentary with African greys http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=42569 Also this movie documentary featuring wild Parrots http://www.wildparrotsfilm.com/index.html

Lucky girl getting to go camping with Mum & Dad.

I bet she loved it

I will have a read Jay, are the posts in the health room?