esknomoe

Welcome Paul. Sounds like you have a house full too. Murphy is a cutie for sure.

I have no idea. It absolutely fascinates me. Brutus immitates my voice, my girlfriend's voice. My Shih Tzu's bark, my Cavalier's bark, a rooster, an owl, the voice of the elderly lady that had him before, her cough (she must have smoked a lot), a car alarm, and various electrical dings, bells, and whistles around the house; all perfectly. Just sitting and listening to him is better than watching tv.

I wouldn't be able to do it. There's absolutely no way I'd be able to go look at baby anythings and not come home with one.

How cool! Welcome! Stick around and you will learn lots here.

Welcome Greymatter. I just found this place a couple days ago, and love it here! Nice to have another dog person too. Ridgebacks are great dogs.

I was never a "bird" person until last year, when we adopted Phoebe from her previous owner. My girlfriend has had a Quaker and a Cockatiel, years ago; and kept talking to me about how cool parrots are. I was raised on a farm, and was always around larger animals; horses, dogs, etc. The only birds I was ever around was chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. We currently have 5 dogs. After getting Phoebe, I began doing a lot of reading about various parrots, and decided I wanted a Grey and a Ringneck. Last Christmas we got Echo, from a breeder. About 6 weeks ago, we became aware of someone looking for a new home for Brutus, our Grey; so we quickly became "bird" people.

I'm a newcommer here, but I ran across the poem as I was perusing the threads. Thanks so much for it, Dave. I have 5 dogs and 3 birds, and out of the group, only 1 of the dogs, a Black Lab, and one Parrot, an Indian Ring Neck, were purchased from a breeder. Everyone else was a rescue, for one reason or another. All were either neglected or abused, to some degree. Our latest addition, Brutus, a 12 year old CAG, has been with us about 6 weeks now. He had been somewhat neglected for the last few years. He was with us just 3 days when he climbed onto my shoulder from his cage top, and burried his beak in my shoulder for a head scratch. It brought tears to my eyes. Every day I'm grateful that we found him; and he found us.

I let Brutus, my Grey, on my shoulder; but he is well "step up-step down" trained, and will get off when I want him to. My 8 month old Ring Neck is a different story. He/she (we don't know yet) is also hand tame, but is still nipping; and that little beak is needle sharp.

Welcome! I just joined here a couple days ago myself, and I am also a new Grey owner. I've already read numerous threads which have given me some great info. Good luck!

Does anyone have a recipe for a homemade poop cleaner? "Poop Off" is too expensive, IMO, and frankly isn't worth the money. I've been using lemon juice, white vinegar, and water, in a spray bottle. Any other good ones?

We bought Echo from a breeder. Phoebe, the Conure, had been quite neglected and just left in a spare bedroom for about three years. She was only fed mostly seeds, and has an overgrown beak because of fatty liver disease. We're working on the diet; and trimming her beak back, little by little. The Vet doesn't know if we'll ever get it back to completely normal.

Brutus: Echo: Phoebe:

Guess it worked. Here's Brutus:

I use ground wallnut shell litter. I sift it out at least once, sometimes twice a day, with a slotted scoop. I change it about every week and a half. My birds are only in their cages at nite, and when they're eating. So the litter stays pretty clean.

I live in Central Florida, so summers are too hot for the screened porch during the daytime; but this time of year, it's great. I keep the outside screen door closed, which annoys the dogs, because they can't just run in and out at will. But I sit out there all the time with Brutus. I have one of his play perches out there; but he usually just sits on the back of my chair, looking for head scratches.

I haven't figured out how to do it yet from my computer picture files.. When I click on the "tree" icon, I don't get an option for "computer", just a place for a URL.

I'll just bet he will! My dogs already know what a "softie" I am.

Thanks! I think I'll like it here. The young fellow who had owned Brutus since he was a baby got married a couple years ago, and had no room for Brutus in his apartment. So Brutus was left with the guy's elderly Grandmother. I surmise, just by some of the things Brutus says, that the lady was somewhat intollerant of him, climbing the curtains, etc. He says things like "Brutus is a BAD BOY!", or "BAD BRUTUS!" in the old lady's voice. It breaks my heart when he says that stuff. Since bringing him home, I am very careful to never scold him; and only give positive reinforcement. He seems not only happy, but grateful, to be here.

I just found this forum as I was Googling some information about the Grey mating dance. I am fairly new to birds, and even newer to having a Grey. We have 2 other birds; a 6 year old White Eyed Conure, which was a rescue, from a very neglectful previous owner, and an 8 month old Indian Ring Neck we purchased from a breeder. We've had Brutus, our Congo, for about 6 weeks. He is 12 years old, and we adopted him from a previous owner whose life circumstances had changed, to the point where he became more of a chore than a priority. He has an extensive vocabulary, as well as a repertoire of sounds. He has quickly become quite attached to me (Hence the research about the mating dance). He is awesome! We also have 5 dogs. 2 Black Labs, a Standard Poodle, a Shih Tzu, and a Cavalier King Charles. We are quite the "animal" people!