Greymatter

This is beautiful! I forwarded this on to Husband - he adores the trio of birds I brought into his life (along with me!) and totally gets that they're not "just birds."

Cutting with a nice edge - you would probably need a really good Band saw blade - the thickness of some tubes could wear this down rather quickly. it IS difficult to find anything larger than 3" Bagels in person for me, so I have to bite the bullet and buy online - not in bulk pricing, unfortunately. But hey, if one of us became a distributor for Birdie Bagels, good deals could be made

My distributor is local - so I just advise what I need when I need it, and pick it up. There are plenty of online stores that offer online sales of bagels as well (if you don't need hundreds at a time!).

Welcome to the board! He's adorable

What a handsome grey! And younger too . Welcome to the board fellow grey owner!

I am a bit paranoid when our cat (beautiful DMH) is out when the birds are close to her (i.e. we're on the couch with Merlin and Kitten jumps up onto the couch) - she just has that LOOK in her eyes. She enjoys watching the birds outside, and she gets that glazed look in her eyes when the birds are out. So we just ensure one person has the cat in their lap and the other holds the bird, or at least keeps them from pecking away at Kitten . We also have two Rhodesian Ridgebacks who mainly can't be bothered (except for Fynn & his Hoover action around the parrot treats & fresh foods). I think if you're at least aware of your cat's behaviour, and when they're around to be a bit cautious, it should be fine.

Oh she's beautiful! It's nice to hear that she seems to have fit into your household so well too! Welcome to the forum!

I can go into Merlin's cage to take him out, but he gets rather offended when I rotate his toys or clean the cage, so generally Husband takes him to the Man Room when the cage cleaning is going on - otherwise I can't do a great job. We also have to move our Caique to their playstand while his cage is being cleaned - he just would rather be dirty and tries to take the sponge away angrily otherwise! I've been lucky in that he has only bitten hard enough to draw blood twice - in almost 12 years - but I also took him home at 6 weeks of age, and know his body & eye language. I taught him from the get go that he was never allowed on my shoulder - Husband will attempt to put him there sometimes (as he lets Merlin on his), but Merlin just WON'T as he's been conditioned it's not okay to be there. I like my eyes/ears/lips/cheeks...you know, facial features. One of my friends has a Grey who won't let anyone else but family pick him up - I'm the only non-family member who has had the patience and understanding to take the time to get to know Dakota from afar in order to pick up his queues - and can hold him & spend quality time with him. Even though I don't see my friend & Dakota often (we live 600km apart now), he does remember me when I visit. Over time, you'll learn how to read each other, and come to a more natural understanding and appreciation for each other It just takes time, and a lot of observing.

Merlin wasn't a big toy player for his first year - then I started making my own - with shredding materials, soft woods (I was told when I got him that he should have hard wood - not for a beginner!), straws, and material, and he started playing. He also LOVES acrylic toys - I think partially because he can see through them, and partially because they make a great noise when he bangs them across the cage. He does have a pair of keys hanging off the front which he also loves clanging on the cage. He is wary of new toys, but once you figure out what he likes, and ensure at least one or two of the "desired" material is encorporated into his toys, he's pretty quick to play. Recently, he started really enjoying the Birdie Bagel Bites. Good luck!

Merlin will beep or make the sound of a playstand being moved across the floor (years ago I worked with birds, and brought Merlin in with me - he sat on this boring T-stand, which would get moved around depending where I was...hence the sound) if he's unsure of a situation or doesn't want to do something. I think he just means "move it!"

Merlin sounds just like Fynn & Gideon (our Ridgebacks). He'll even tell them to "Get OUT" when they go in the bird room. The dogs generally ignore the birds in the cages, and are vaccuum cleaners for the food the birds spill on the ground (It's great!). Outside of the cage, Gideon is afraid of the birds, and Fynn is still very curious about them (Fynn's almost 9 months old, and a rescue pup, so he has weird issues of his own). I figure if you don't go in with fear, neither the birds nor the dogs will be excessively fearful when they're out at the same time. Just don't leave them unsupervised. It also helps that Rosco (Caique) bit each dog on the nose when they stuck them into his cage on separate occasions.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to step in and say hi! I'm here with my menagerie (African grey, cockatiel, caique, and budgie...amongst our cat and two Rhodesian Ridgebacks!) to have some fun discussions, and hopefully learn a thing or two. As well, it will be nice to discuss bird topics with real bird people! Talk soon!