oblivion

Lucky birds!!!

Very interesting.

Yes, usually a one-legged stand is a chill/resting pose. Especially if the other foot is tucked way up against the body. In my experience, if the bird isn't resting it's foot due to an injury, they usually hold it midway - neither putting it down nor tucking it all the way up.

I think you should ask your question in a different thread here where more people may see it. But my sincere advice is to cancel the purchase if the seller will not wean the baby. Too much can go wrong with very little to gain. That's one man's humble opinion. Good luck.

LOL, I can't even get him on a stand. And that's after 15-20 months, not minutes. Two entirely different situations. Thus the (friendly) envy. For now, I'm just basking in being asked for scritches every couple days. For example, right now he's been sitting by me for about 3 hours, pretty much pretending like I'm not here. Snot. Continue to enjoy that new parrot smell.

I was really confused and thought you were responding to me or even a recent post. Woah. I'd better duck out of the crossfire here.

Gwen (sorry for the hijack, Scooter!), I recently updated my original "Greetings!" post in the welcome forum, so it should be pretty easy to find if you're interested in Spencer's 'origin story.' I have to admit, I have a touch of envy seeing Scooter's pics of his kids holding Buzz. That 'new/baby bird honeymoon' sure looks fun. My daughter (5) very much wants to be able to pet Spencer, but it's just not possible now. Luckily she has our cockatiel Anya to satisfy her a bit. That all said, despite the challenges of adopting a more mature bird, I wouldn't give up him or the last year and a half of 'challenges'/learning for anything.

Thanks so much, Ray. My previous pics were with a good camera. The most recent ones were just from my cell phone. Use what's handy, I guess.

I currently have a Bull Terrier living in my pet room. Spencer's former family had one.

Thanks, DawL! I've used that name LONG before the game came out and even have it on twitter. As you can imagine I get a LOT of mis-directed tweets from people referring to the game. I just had someone recently ask me how much Bethesda has offered me for it and what I'm holding out for, though honestly, I've never heard one word from them. BTW, my aforementioned honeymoon is over, the little snot ambushed and bit my pinkie yesterday. Ah well, he still came in for scritches later in the evening when all was forgiven. VERY much like my 5-year old.

Gwen, it is very much an evening/wind-down thing with Spencer, too. Also, so far it's only been when I'm alone with him and my 'tiel is already up in their room. I don't know if that's simple coincidence or more significant, but I'll keep track of it as time goes on.

With my rehomed grey, I've been bitten more than I care to think about - in fact the little snot just nipped me yesterday after a couple days of being an utter sweetheart. I was reading on the floor of his room resting my hand behind my back and he just strolled up and bit my pinkie. For that, he got calmly escorted to his cage and I left the room. He was audibly upset to lose my company, but that's what a bite will get him. :cool: The WORST bite I've ever gotten, believe it or not, was from a neighbor's cockatiel who ended up in my serviceberry bush. The little sweetheart was calling and calling to my 'tiel (they often yell at each other down the block when the windows are open or they are out getting fresh air) but sounded WAY closer than usual. I went out front and tried calling it down, but it was slowly climbing higher up the tree and was ready to take off, so I lunged and grabbed it. That little sucker chomped RIGHT THROUGH MY THUMB NAIL. TWICE. I was bleeding like a stuck pig. I managed to get my front door open and (gently) threw the bird inside. I let it roam my house a bit until I could crate the dogs, lock the cat in the bathroom, and bring up a spare cage and towel from the basement. Oh, and find a few band-aids. I recaptured the bird without much fuss (thanks to the towel) and walked the precious little thing home. The owner was VERY surprised to see my daughter and me stroll up with her bird - she had no idea it had escaped from the cage on the back deck - though I'm not sure how/why they ignored the racket their other 'tiel was making trying to call the missing one. That was about 3 years ago, and every once in a while I still find a 'Thank you' gift from her on my doorstep.

Amen! I just posted earlier today about my first head-scratch about 18 months in to my rehoming experience. It really is a cool feeling. Congrats!

Thanks, Judy. I know that the progress was actually built up over the last 18 months, but it really is pretty astounding to see it all pay off at once. I will try to check in more often.

Welcome. You being nervous is a GOOD sign, it means you're not entering into this LIFETIME commitment lightly. I love to see such thoughtfulness in a future caretaker. BTW, I'm also in Illinois - north of Chicago, just about to Wisconsin. Always nice to see a 'neighbor.'

I can't believe it's been a year and a half since I've posted here. Recent events have brought me back, but I'll get to that after a brief recap of the 'lost time' - but don't worry, it's all good. Things progressed slowly with Spencer - taking it at his pace as well-suggested here. His out-of-cage time was usually just him running around the floor playing with empty bottles and things and he'd either put himself away before needed or I could herd him back into his cage. Due to his footing insecurities (again, only the front two toes on his left foot are fully grown - and none on his right), I never pushed the 'step up' issue. After about 6 months, we'd developed a rapport to the point that we have a 'beak shake' greeting through the bars where I grab his beak and lightly move it side to side and he lightly (usually) grabs my finger and will occasionally head-bob (though has not regurgitated for me). I figured if this was as good as our bond, I could be happy with that. He's entertaining and nice to have around, even if he isn't a "little old man in a feather suit." By the way, speaking of entertaining, he has a decent vocabulary of "Hullo?" in about 5 different voices, including former owners and having recently picked up my wife's. He's also got a few different ways of saying his name - my favorite is a melodic, "PENCE-errr." He has my little's girl's 'little girl squeal' down pat, of course, as well as the microwave at his old house, Nextel phone chirps, other phone ringers, etc. He's also got a "Good night, go to bed!" routine. Quite entertaining. He does screech occasionally, but that's generally limited to times he wants to be out (but can't be for some reason) or if I'm playing music too loud (or, of course, if the vacuum is running). His previous owner passed him along to me because she felt he wasn't getting the attention he needed and had started to pluck wing and tail feathers (though not chest feathers). That's all stopped as far as I've seen, which heartens me. I had been concerned that, with all the other pets, 5 (now) year old, etc., I might not be giving him enough attention either. He seems well-entertained during the day by his roommates (cockatiel and bunny, in their own cages) and a low-playing radio. Some evenings he calls for us when we get home, others he seems content to sit quietly in his room. Though he will occasionally clamp down a to test me, the only bites in the ensuing months have been due to my stupidity of trying to be as casual in unfamiliar situations such as when in his traveling cage on vacation. As for other people, he gets on very well. He allows anyone to change his food and water even if he's at someone else's house while we're away. I do seem to be his preferred person - he contact calls to me and will let me know if he wants me to hang around. And that's been the way of things until about a week ago. Last week, I had him down in the living room during TV time (in his travel cage with the door open as usual - that's how i shuttle him around without him having to step up). It was getting late and he was settling in, beak grinding, etc. At one point I looked over at him and he was dancing around a little trying to get my attention for a beak-shake. As I put my hand up to the cage bars, he bent his head all the way down instead of offering me his beak. I very slowly, gently, cautiously started to pet his forehead - nearly convinced he was suckering me in for a bite. but he never did bite. As I was petting him, I nudged my wife who was on the far end of the couch and she said, "Wow!" I got a few more scritches in, and then he seemed done for the night. I soon put him back up in his room. I was elated. Fast-forward about 3 days and we got to this point: The first time he's ever been 'on' me for more than a few fleeting second - and he stayed there a good 15 minutes. He also hammed up a bit: The next evening, I teased him a bit by giving our other bird, Anya, EXTRA scritches, praise, etc., with the help of my daughter. By the time I put her back on her cage, he was essentially BEGGING to be pet!!! Quality family floor time. I don't know why the sudden breakthrough, but I'm not going to waste too much time trying to pin it down. Too busy playing with my 'new' parrot.

So glad he's bouncing back! He had me worried!

Thanks for the comments, danmcq and luvparrots! Another Friday, another update (two full weeks with Spencer). This morning, from before I even uncovered him, he's been a real character. As I was getting the cover off, he was working on his "Hello." I let him out for a bit. When I had to head to work, he was out on his playtop and Anya was on hers (across the room). I put Anya away and said, "Spencer, do you want to put yourself away, or do I need to chase you again?" As I was closing up Anya's cage, he was already climbing down off his boing. He stood at the edge of the tray eying up the situation a bit and then lowered himself over the edge and climbed on to a perch in the cage. He put himself away! Of course I showered him with "Good birds!" and some extra Nutraberries. As I was leaving, he started going through a huge routine of new-to-me sounds. After I left, my wife (who works from home some days) told me that at one point he when through a whole phone conversation from ringing, "Hello?," *mumble mumble mumble*, "Good bye!" I made this for him to hang out (literally) in the kitchen with us: (Don't worry, the plants/shelf are much further away than they look.) I set his carrier on a tray on top of the dogs' crate and have a rope and chain ladder up to the perch. He hasn't gotten to climbing up there on his own yet, but he eyes it longingly and when I lift the carrier up when he's on top of it, he eagerly steps onto the swing. I need an overall photo of it, but the swing is mounted to the ceiling joists with two stainless steel eyes, suspended by sisal rope, and the rope to the ceiling (about 20") is protected by PVC pipe. There's an untreated pine 2x4 spanning above the perch holding the hanging toys (again, stainless steel eyes) which he's free to chew on if he ever climbs up there. It shouyld all be parrot-safe/consumable. I made the whole thing with new stuff (eyes, perch, rope) and stuff I had around the house (2x4, PVC, toys) for about $30. My wife thought I bought the whole thing and spend at least $75. The only thing I need to figure out is how to mount a treat and maybe water cup - though he's not up there for long stretches of time. So far, for treats, I either hand-feed or hang a veggie-skewer-holder. I've got dog pillows on the tile underneath him in case he bails off (which he's done once). The dogs love cleaning up whatever he drops. Another great thing is that in the last week, I think I've only been nipped once, despite handling him to get him back in his cage when he DOESN'T put himself away. When I grab him, he makes a heck of a racket, but doesn't bite. The one nip I DID get was after he jumped off the swing onto the floor and I helped him back up. He was fine for the 'rescue,' but afterward I got bold and tried petting him. I got two good scritches in before he let me know that was enough/too much and gave me a good pinch on the palm of my hand/thumb. I couldn't get mad - I knew I'd pushed too far. He's done a few step-ups and even stayed on-board for about 5 seconds once, but we still need to work on that. Anyway, still lovin' this dude and he just keeps getting cooler, thanks in part to all of the help from everyone here (been reading all week, though not posting much). I hope everyone else is having a happy Friday!

Just a clarification of what Dan said, SOME (well he said "many") greys do not like water. Others like being sprayed just fine. Just depends on YOUR bird. Also, one thing I noted was you mentioned dried fruit - depending on the source and the fruit, some have preservatives that may not good for birds (e.g. sulfur dioxide), so you may see those on a 'bad food list' or two - that's why.

Saw some funny action from my dude the last few evenings. When on top of his travel cage visiting with us at a distance, he'll get really low (kind of looks like a lunge, but no one/thing is near him) and then start weaving his head back and forth banging his beak on the bars like a convict with his tin cup. Again, there's nothing nearby so it's not directed AT anyone/thing, and it's similar to, but not the same as beak-cleaning rubbing. Just wondered if any one has seen that.

My 'tiel has been a raging hornball lately. It's 'cute,' but I do what I can to discourage it since I don't want any egg-laying or egg-binding going on. It's late for her (usually more in the spring and fall) so I wonder if it's displaced interest in the new Grey.

I used to weigh mine every a.m., but that was just because I knew I wouldn't remember to do it less than that. It's a habit I need to get back into (for me and them).

I would think either of those should do the trick. I bought an older version of this one many moons ago: http://www.amazon.com/Sterling-Hobbyist-Bird-Scale-Kit/dp/B000KZLACM Don't know about the others, but the nice thing about the one I got is it has two plates - one with the T-stand, one without for weighing non-bird things (or a bird in a basket, etc.). The 5KG of those two is more than enough and the 1g increments are fine enough (IMHO).

I'll be running the Chicago Marathon (10/10/2010) and it's televised, but I won't be anywhere near the front-runners they only show. I run about 45% back in my age/gender and usually in the top 1/3 overall, but certainly not elite. It'll be my 4th full marathon (second Chicago). Last one was May 1 and I just ran a half (13.1 miles) this past Sunday for a new PR (Personal Record). It's amazing what we can train our bodies to do. 2 years ago, I couldn't run around my block without stopping. Now I can do 26.2 miles. My wife's a recent runner, too (May 1 was her first full, she really loves half marathons) and our daughter really loves to run, too (has been in 2 kids races so far). Thanks for the interest/awe.

When I can get Spencer on the scale (or to the vet, whichever is first), I'll chime in. I'd really like to know myself to see if I fatten him up at all.