Bear

Thanks so much for the nice responses. ;) I know everyone who voiced concerns did it with the best intentions, I just wanted everyone to see that everything is ok and he is a happy boy In all honesty I just carried on with what I thought was best, which has turned out well. Yes indeed Bear may not have accepted Bean (the U2) so readily, however this is a risk anyone takes when taking on another bird, and after getting to know Bear for a few months we were pretty sure it would be fine, and thankfully it was. We had a pair of Vosmaeri Eclectus with us for a few months and Bear was always dying to get near them, so we had a feeling he was keen for a friend Anyway the great thing is Bean and Bear can now grow up together. I can't belive how much he adores her. I must try and upload some video's of them, it's so cute. Thanks again for the positive feedback, as I said I just wanted you to know he is absolutely fine! I know everyone is an animal lover here and I'd hate to think people thought he had been passed around or wasn't being cared for properly. It has amazed me how well behaved Bear is. He has been stepping up brilliantly from the 2nd day, he doesn't shout or cream..but is trying very hard to learn how to talk and do certain whistles now. It's hilarious watching him as he tries and tries, then gets frustrated and takes it out on his teddy on his playstand! It's incredible how good a mimic he is, we leave Animal Planet on for him when we go to work and the last 2 days he has been making sounds which can only be described as a whimpering dog and a chimpanzee! Maybe we should leave a different channel on for him haha. People are going to think we have half the reserve animals in our house

Hi everyone, I haven't been on here for a while. You may remember my posts. I rescued a baby African Grey from some bad conditions (16 weeks old eating nothing but porridge and being kept in a fish tank.) We run a game reserve in South Africa and work 3 weeks on one week off (if we actually get our time off, rarely) and I was basically told here that I should rehome my bird because of my working conditions. Despite the fact he comes to work with me for half the day every day, work is a 30 second walk from home, and I finish work at 3pm every day. Needless to say I did not rehome my bird, I did state that there would be other people around him and taking care of him on our week off, but was basically told he wouldn't be happy and I should get rid of him. Well I just wanted to update you that he is a very happy bird. Michael our chef and friend here takes care of him on our time off and he has known Bear since day 1 so sees him as part of the family. We have had no problems with him, he weaned himself fantasically, is perfectly happy and healthy and is already trying to talk, he can wolf whistle, make doggy noises and all sorts, loves cruising around on our shoulders, he is a cheeky happy little chap and certainly doens't worry about us going away, he accepts both myself, my boyfriend, Michael and our maid as his family and is never short of attention. He also comes down to work where guests pet him and hold him and he just loves it. And he LOVES LOVES kisses :rolleyes: I also said in one of my posts that I was thinking of getting him a friend as extra company and someone to play with, again I was told this was not a good idea at all. Well I judged him on his temperment and got him a ltitle sister, a baby Umbrella cockatoo..and he absolutely ADORES her. From the first second I let them meet he ws grooming her and playing with her. They are firm friends already and they chill ont he sofa together, he literally worships her. She wasn't as keen at first having enver seen antoher bird before, but after 1 minute of being groomed she decided she loved him too. So yes, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not some terrible cruel owner abandoning their birds and leaving them alone. Bear is only alone for about 3hrs of the day, and he does atually like to sleep in the afternoon too! We went away for 3 days recently and he didn't even realise we had gone because he had so much fun with his uncle Michael. It is possible to have a life and still have birds, mine are never short of love and attention and because we socialised our grey properly from the start he is accepting of new people, animals and generally just wants to play. Here are some pics of Bear and the new addition Bean so you can see what I mean about them being happy! :cool: Bear is so funny, he grooms Bean then puts his head down for a head scratch from her, but she doesn't understand what he wants. So Bear is just following her randomly putting his head down after grooming her, so sweet to watch Also a few pics of Bear growing up over the last few months: Anyway I don't mean to offend or upset anybody but I actually wanted to say...see, I'm not a monster! :DAnimals are my life, hence us running a game reserve, Ive shipped my dogs half way around the world from England to be with me because I couldnt leave them, and have never sold or got rid of an animal in my life...so obv being told to get rid of a baby bird we rescued was really not nice for me, but as you can see, he is happy, we are definitely happy and it feels like he has always been here.

Thank you Dave I do appreciate your advice an the points you elaborated upon, just did not expect to be advised to rehome my bird because we take our only days off in the month all at once. Obviously we will not be leaving him any time soon, he is just a baby and we are prepared to sacrifice our days away for him without question, I was simlply trying to think further ahead. And being strongly advised to get another now while he is young prompted me to make this post. I'm not worried about him living in a game reserve, he is an African Grey living in Africa, born outside a reserve, and will not be mixing with any wild birds or animals. As previously mentioned many people have pets of all kinds here, we even have our own vet. Anyway thanks for the input, I am going to see how he settles over the next few months, I had no intention of rushing out tomorrow and buying another. I just know a lot of people (who are not breeders) have multiple birds, and presumably there is a reason for this, to which I thought might have been the birds best interest (companionship).. I didn't think it was wrong to assume people bought multiple greys/ parrots for the birds sake.

I think Dave said, unless I missunderstood, that us being away would simply be something Bear would get used to...adjustability? Bear will meet the staff here so it won't be as though there are complete strangers here looking after him. True he may not worship the ground they walk on, but for company, feeding and getting attention, he certainly wont be going without in our absence. I know people have parrots who go out for 12hrs at a time, every weekday, and the parrot is alone. Then the parrot has his owners all day on the weekend. Bear will never have this, if we are not here, someone else will be, he will never be alone for any great amount of time, and I would hope we can raise a socialised enough bird who will at least tolerate other human company. I'm sure people go on holiday who have parrots, and I can imagine the bird isn't over the moon about it, but surely so long as his existing routine is held to, and he is already secure in his life, it's not the end of the world? I love all my animals but people still have a life too. I doubt anyone could give bear more attention than we are, unless they didn't work, and well, we do, but I think every afternoon/evening with us, and a few hours during the day is more than enough. I mean people go for nights out, meals, to the cinema and so on, out of the parrots routine, it is not the end of the world for any animal surely. I agree going away for a week is a long time, hence me contacting breeders for advice...as a responsible concerned owner would. We rescued Bear from some dire, dire conditions and absolutely only have his best interests at heart.

Hi, Thanks for your advice but I think you missunderstood what I said. We are most definitely not away the whole month. My point was we are ALWAYS here, apart from our week off. I said we are lucky in that we can come home every few hours during the day as we live at work, so he is never alone for long. We do not have weekends off like 'normal people' and because we work 3 weeks straight we then take a week off, it is only this week that he wouldn't see us. He will see us for most of the day, and all night for 21 days of the month. We do not work long hours (7-3pm) and come home every 2 hrs for 20 mins or so, so no worries about him left alone all day. Work is a 20 second walk from our house, which is built next to the lodge. The lodge, and our house is fenced (many people have pets at their lodges) and very safe. As I said my concern was our week off, it wasn't a concern until speaking to the reputed breeder in our area about playstands, and it was he who mentioned another bird might be best with us gone for a week every month. Practically he cannot come with us yet, when he is older and depending on where we are going, then of coruse we can take him as we would the dogs, depending where it was. I'm certainly not entertaining just getting another bird for the sake of it...and I am definitely not looking at giving him to someone else! We are very happy to have him and I think wanting to do the best by him is certainly no reason to be warranting it being suggested we rehome him. I understand he won't be as cuddly as he grows up..is any animal?! I know my horses, dogs, our mongeese, bush squirrel, ducks, and goat certainly havent been. Bear being happy is my concern, hence me calling so many different breeders today for 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinions after the views of the first guy. When the most reputed breeder in the area suggests you get him a companion, well although I'm not just going to go out and do it, I of course want other opinions...as I, like you, thought he would just adjust to us being away. I am aware that the breeder may well just want to sell us a bird, and of course as I said previously, I'm very aware that they may not get on, hence my asking for experiences not just doing it. We definitely are not entertaining rehoming him..I think he will have a very good life here and see us a lot more than many pets see their owners, ie we are not out at work all day, or out shopping and things at weekends (the nearest town is 3hrs away.) Bear definitely is getting a lot of love and attention and we are only trying to make him as happy as possible...

Hi everyone, If you have seen my previous posts you will know I have a young 18wk old Grey. We rescued him from some very bad conditions and have had him about 4 days now. He is settling very well, is a friendly happy little chap and we love him to pieces already. However we run a game reserve, and we are lucky enough to be able to see him every few hours during the day, and all afternoon/evening, the problem arises with our days off. We work 21 days on then 7 days off, no weekends off... so are away from home for a week once a month. It isn't going to be practical to take Bear with us all the time, as we sometimes travel quite a lot on our time off. We do have people here at the lodge who can care for him in our absence, however my concern is, what with staff leaving and coming...he will become wary of different people looking after him each time. We have spoken to a few breeders and have had conflicting advice. One reputed breeder here in SA said that our best option is to get another Grey, now, while Bear is young. He said Bear won't have the same bond with us that he would have done, as it will be with the other parrot, but this is not a concern to us, so long as Bear is happy, we are happy! Another breeder said that we should not get a companion as he will not bother learning to talk....this does not concern us at all. We aren't interested in party tricks and so on, just his well being. Another breeder said to get another bird, such as an Eclectus (readily available here) as they are also intelligent and very similar to greys except not so nervous? We have also been advised to get an Amazon. Finally (you can imagine how confused we were by now)...another breeder said he will be fine alone and just give him a new toy every week. So basically guys, I just want some advice. I know if we do get another bird then now should be the time before Bear gets older and bonds to us...ie jealousy. However we dont want to get another bird if it will make either of them unhappy. I know each bird is an individual and there is no set rule, but would truly appreciate any advice or your experiences. Money isn't an issue and seperate cages/ play stands etc all fine, we have a big house and plenty of room, we just want to do what is best. Thanks so much in advance!

Hi Greymatter....welcome! I am a new member myself but have already had a lot of support regarding my first grey All of your animals sound lovely, I have a St Bernard myself so love big dogs too! I look forward to hearing more about your clan!

Aww that is so sweet! How endearing...and shows just how they use words in context!

Hi everyone, Just a quick introduction I would like to introduce Bear, he is 18 wks old. We have had him for only a few days, he was kept in very bad conditions (an aquarium with no toys/ perches) at a pet shop, never allowed to fledge and basically not a happy boy. Anyway he has only been home with us a few days, but is a delight to be around. From the cowering bird we saw in the pet shop, to a happy, confident, friendly and cuddly little chap in a few days...we hope this continues! He is such a sweetie, very gentle, likes to chat with you, and is busy learning to climb and BALANCE! His wings have been clipped far too much meaning they are basically useless right now, but hopefully they will grow soon. Overall I know we have a challenge, but he has already more than rewarded us in he last 3 days, and we are just happy to have got him away from those conditions I am adding some pics to an album on here if anyone would like to see pics of him I look forward to scouring this site, I have already found so much great advice!

Thanks Jay He is letting us know when he is hungry by finger sucking, he is definitely tucking into his hard feed more today even, he just had seeds at the pet shop and I don't think he even know how to break a lot of them. His co-ordination has improved vastly just in these few days, from never perching to happily sitting on any of his perches. We are just hoping his feathers don't take too long to grow back, so sad seeing him trying to fly when he wants to go and see something in a certain direction, and he can't get any lift at all. He did make a new friend today though...we have a tame bush squirrel who visits our house, Bear didn't know what to make of her, but once he realised she wasn't going to eat him he was fine. He will definitely meet a lot of different animals here. We are very happy with him and he is a little dude, I'm so happy that there isn't too much wrong and that we are on the right track now! Thanks again

Hi Judy, Thanks for the advice. He definitely seems a lot happier than when we first met him. He is practicing climbing a lot. The pet shop clipped him far too much though and his wings are pretty useless, so his balance is pretty bad, not helped of course by the fact he was kept in a fish tank in a busy pet shop, surrounded by other birds. I'm actually surprised at how quickly he has settled and how trusting he has been with us, after just two days he is stepping onto our hands, investigating anything we give him, and having 'chats' with us whenever we talk to him. We had been worried it would go the other way, particularly as he was being picked on and cowering in a corner when we saw him. We are giving him a syringe whenever he seems hungry, he is having about 5-6 a day (10ml), but is trying the seeds and fruit/veg. He is very bright and happy in himself now so I think he is getting enough. I didn't want to take him off it if he wasn't ready, but after hearing conflicting advice regarding this I wanted to be sure it wasn't completely strange for him to still be on the porridge at 18 weeks. Thanks again

Hi Jilly, Thanks for the quick response Bear is eating very well (the syringe feed) so I'm not too worried on that score, just more as to when we should cut him down, or take him off it. Thankfully it is not tube feeding or anything as invasive, just squirting a syringe of the porridge into his mouth. He does not get 4 twice a day though, he has had enough after two and I have not been trying to force him to have more than he wants. After his feed he goes straight to his bowls of mix/ fruits/ seeds and plays around in there, so he is definitely trying to eat them. Unfortunately as you say he did not have the best start. His tail feathers are a mess too thanks to him being on the ground his whole life in less than clean surroundings. He does seem very happy, settled in his cage and out, happily preens in front of us, comes to play, willingly wants to step onto our hands...I think he is glad to be finally getting some attention tbh. He is also vocalising, not noisy but little chirps when we talk to him We have never had an African Grey before but do have lots of experience with animals (we run a game reserve and also have horses, dogs and various other animals who decide to choose us!) I'm definitely a sucker for a sad face, and Bear was in with two others who were picking on him, he was just in the corner with his head down, but since he came home he has been a different bird, loves his toys...and of course everything that is not his toy! We just want to do the best for him so thanks for the reassurance!

Hi everyone, We have recently purchased an african grey who we were told is 18 weeks old. He was kept in an aquarium, no toys, with no opportunity to perch or climb. He also hadn't had the opportunity to fledge and doesn't have the best sense of balance! Since bringing him home 3 days ago he has been doing very well, learning to climb..although he finds up much easier than down! The problem is we are worried about his weaning progress. The pet shop told us he is on 2 feeds of 4 10ml syringes of Av Plus (phase 2) a day, does this sound correct for a parrot of his age? We have been doing some reading and it seems a lot of birds his age are already weaned? He is trying to figure out seeds and has a particular liking to peppers and beans, so is showing an interest in solid foods, however it is generally more trying to eat it than succeeding! He is a very sweet boy and seems happy in every way, loves his new toys and has plenty of time with us every day, we just want to make sure he is getting the best diet, and when to completely wean him off the porridge? Thank you in advance for any advice