Chris and Matt

Ooh, we haven't tried pine nuts. We'll give that a shot!

Thanks Inara! She's great with me, just not so keen on the hubs right now. I hung her boing up in the kitchen (away from dangerous objects) and she's been having fun hanging out with us in there. She was a little nervous this morning but after moving her back and forth a few times she was swinging and climbing all around by this evening. She picked up with me again right away but maybe she's associating female to female and she's just more comfortable because of that. The hubs is just getting frustrated and his feelings are hurt more than anything, I think. I'll encourage him to hang in there and keep on taking it slow, hopefully it'll help. He's been trying to offer her treats but she's never been a big fan of treats, anything that I've found anyways. She'll take a bite and drop it right away. Oh well, we'll keep on working on it and take it slow. Thanks for reaffirming things for me!

Hello all! Maggie has been settling back into our home pretty nicely, it's so nice to have her back! She whistles and clicks and pops and says all of her old familiar phrases. I hear new things pop up on a near daily basis. We have a problem though... My husband was always Maggie's favorite. I could hold her and care for her but he was the one she loved. She even threw up for him once! Well, it seems that Maggie is holding a grudge. She's pretty upset with him and has drawn blood more than once in the last few weeks. My husband is pretty bummed about the whole thing but I'm convinced that there must be a way to bring her back around. I couldn't think of a better group of folks to ask. So, any thoughts or ideas on the matter?

I nervously made the drive from Tucson to San Diego yesterday. I spent the night with a friend and picked Maggie and her cage up this morning. The woman who has been watching her for the last year shed a tear or two, I nearly did as well. Maggie was an excellent road trip companion and it wasn't long into the drive before I knew, without a doubt, that she remembered. I swear I drove all 6 hours with a smile on my face! I got her home and got her cage set up and she's been contently watching us for the last several hours. We're giving her some space and some time to get adjusted and talking to her just like we used to. I checked on her earlier and she let me scratch her head and everything. I need to clean her cage, replace her perches, get her new toys into her cage, etc, etc but it'll be a long, slow, drawn out process so she doesn't get too stressed. Her plucked patch seems to have healed up as well! So much good news all around. I'm so glad that she was SO loved while we were out of the country but I am so very happy to have her home to love on myself! Thank you everyone for the encouraging words and I'm looking forward to being active on the forums again (even if it was mostly lurking). I'm already itching to break out the toy supplies

Hello all! We got to see Maggie today!! She definitely recognized us from the start. As soon as we walked up to her cage she came running to the front and was excited. She let us both hold her and I even got some snuggles in. Eventually, she gave me a few GOOD bites and I let her retreat to her cage. She kept lunging towards my husband and he got close enough to get a few good bites. She was obviously a little overwhelmed with the whole situation and we kept our distance for a while and let her sit on her door and out of beak's reach. She didn't say a whole lot while we were there but she made a few familiar whistles and noises. She does have a patch on her belly that spreads under her right wing where she's been plucking but I'm hoping with some baths, humidity and some aloe juice we can get that healed up. Does anyone else have suggestions? I really can't wait to bring her home now. I think we'll hold off until July when we can get out there with our truck to get her with her cage and everything that comes with her. That seems so far away!

Thanks everyone! I'll have an update next week. So excited!

Exactly, it's about Maggie at this point. We've come to terms with the fact that we may need to leave her behind. It wouldn't be easy but it's always a possibility. Time will tell!

Thanks everyone! We're doing our best to keep realistic expectations. We'll definitely be taking things slow and doing our best to help her readjust. It was incredibly difficult to leave her behind and we knew there was no way we could make that a forever decision. We did wonder if that was a selfish decision on our part but I would like to think that it wasn't. Her caretaker for the last year and a half has pretty limited technological knowledge. We did get pictures once. I was concerned that she had a spot on her belly that she had been picking at but the spot never got bad. It just nice just to see pictures of our girl though. I've spent far too much time over the last year and a half looking at old pictures and videos I still have of her. I can't wait to have new memories, pictures, and videos to add! Our bird nanny has expressed repeatedly that she'll miss Maggie. I feel a bit guilty taking her away but the selfish feelings take over Maggie will love our new place in Tucson. We'll have to get an extra cage for outdoors on the patio when it's cool enough. She used to love to sit on our patio in San Diego but from what I've read there are lots of prey birds around Tucson and we wouldn't want to risk it!

I know no one would remember us, but man am I glad to be back! We moved out of the country about a year and a half ago and couldn't take our baby with us. Maggie Mae is about 4 years old now and is currently living with a woman in San Diego. She was recommended to us as a "bird lady" who takes in birds from deceased and otherwise put out friends. I can't even begin to describe how much I've missed our girl, especially with how much she would have loved it here. After nearly 2 years we're headed back to the states and we'll finally get to pick her up and bring her home. My fingers are crossed, so very crossed, that she'll remember us and she'll be OK with our return. She's gotten close to another grey in her current home but her living conditions aren't anywhere near what she had at home with us. At least, that's what I like to tell myself. We'll get to visit our girl next month when we're in San Diego and I think we'll get to bring her home in June or July. If I were to say I can't wait, that would be an understatement. I just had to share with everyone, since I figured at least someone here would be able to share in my excitement.

Maggie loves to taunt the dog, "Guinness.... Guinness! Come here! Go! Go lay down! Go away! Goooooooo!" She also calls the dog over, tosses food out of her cage so the dog will eat it, she'll climb down and hang off of her door and bite the dog. She's definitely a resourceful one.

Katana, you must be reading my mind because you took the words right out of my mouth. I couldn't have possibly said it better myself. I came here because I trust your input, and I definitely value everything you all have had to say. Thank you so much! Dave, I wasn't trying to be rude or argumentative or anything of that nature. I appreciate your input. And Katana, thank you so much for everything you've said and your offers for help.

Well, Maggie's well-being and happiness is definitely my major concern. That being said, a year is a drop in the pool or our feathered friend's (hopefully) long life. I think we also tend to underestimate the resiliency of our birds, much like our children. I would not be opposed to a sanctuary type situation, I'm open to all suggestions at this point. I'm really just trying to get an idea of the options available to us. There are many, many greys, even here on our board, who have come from horrible situations and turn out to be lovely birds. A young grey being moved between two loving situations in a year's time hardly strikes me as an abusive traumatic situation. But again, I'm still just mulling over ideas. The last thing we would want is to harm Mags in any way. The way she snuggles my husband, I'm pretty sure she'd remember us, even after a year apart!

I guess we've gotten quite lucky. We've had Mags for 2 years and cussing is at a moderate level in our house. She has yet to say anything inappropriate. *Fingers crossed!*

I'll start looking for some reputable rescue organizations as well. Thanks! I'm going to talk to the boarding facility here that took care of Maggie when we first moved here. They have ties with some of the parrot rescues and such around town. I think I'll ask around at the avian vet too.

My husband is retired military with very specialized skills. Unfortunately, this means that we have to go where the jobs are and when a job ends, we're on the search for another. This hasn't proven to be an issue thus far as birds can go most anywhere and most rental houses aren't opposed to parrots. Well, we're looking at a 1 year contract on an island and, although I'm going to try, I don't think there is any amount of persuasion that will convince them to let me bring Maggie. We've had her for two years now and I can't imagine our home without her! Has anyone heard of a foster type situation? A fellow bird lover who would love and cherish our Maggie, expenses provided for, until we could get back to the states? 2 years is such a short amount of time in her life and I would hate to have to say goodbye to her forever. She has become an essential part of our household, and although it would be difficult to leave her for a year, I would be much worse to leave her forever. I know this can be stressful for her as well but we have left for a few weeks at a time and I believe that as long as she's in a situation with someone who is patient and loving, she'll pull through it just as we will. Sorry for the long post. Does anyone have any advice? These forums have always been the place I've turned to when I needed help. Thanks everyone!

Just a short update, I went back to this establishment hoping for the best for this poor 'too. I was pretty excited to see a new cage with perches and dishes for food and water, better shade but still no toys. Wondering why the 'too's cage was empty I asked one of the men who work there. Turns out a small raccoon got in to the bird cages overnight and killed the 'too and the macaw. Sad, sad day for those poor birds. Why the birds were left overnight outside in Alabama to begin with is beyond me, but I certainly felt bad for them and couldn't help but think how awful their last moments must have been.

We're about to move across country with Maggie so I'm very curious about this as well.

What a beautiful butt he has! Maggie's got a good 2 or 3 bent tail feathers now from recent crash landings (in the last week or so), poor girl. I love how vibrant his new tail is!

Thanks everyone! I ordered her some new toys and treats as a late hatchday present. I need to get her some new foraging toys, she can dismantle her wheel in less than a day now. Little miss smartypants.

We're guilty of taking Maggie outside as well. She hasn't been clipped in many months so I won't take her outside anymore. She just loves being out there though, she listens to all of the bugs and the birds. Lollie's so pretty!

Could someone put the pictures of this toy up again? Or give me a description? I need to make some new toys for Maggie and I'm looking for ideas

I'm placing an order now too. Sully is only about a month older than Maggie. I bet Maggie will love a noodle ball and the nuts and bolts as well!

Maggie and Guinness definitely have an interesting relationship. If Maggie hops off of her cage and goes for a stroll around the house, we don't encourage this but sometimes it happens, Guinness will walk with her like a body guard making sure she's alright. Maggie will get on the bottom of her boing and call Guinness close enough so she can get a big beakfull of Guinness' fur and give a good tug. Maggie loves to swing! Guinness always looks mildly irritated but it's hilarious. Maggie has given both of the dogs a little nip on the nose to keep them in their places. Neither of the dogs will go within beak proximity unless they have to, lol

I'm looking for some tried and true rescues in the Flagstaff, AZ area. This is for Matt's brother in law's grey. They have 3 kids in the house, including an infant, and they don't feel like their grey is getting the attention it deserves. I would have to get some more information on the bird, I can't remember his/her name for the life of me! I know it's not sexed and I believe it's in its teen years. If anyone has any experience with the rescue, or has any resources I can pass on to them I would really appreciate it. We had offered to take their grey before they had their last baby but they weren't ready to let it go. Now that we have Maggie and live so far away there's no way we can help them out.

Man oh man, life has been quite busy! With the recent tornadoes that blew through Alabama, working, school, kids, animals, etc etc life has gotten hectic. Maggie's hatch day was last month and we totally forgot! (Not that she minds much I'm sure). Maggie's finally molting. She made this very apparent to me yesterday when she bit me, quite hard. It was the first time she's ever drawn blood! She certainly got her point across though, she wasn't too keen on our visitors near her cage. She has gotten better about socializing with other people. There are still people she wants absolutely nothing to do with but she has allowed some of our friends and even our 11 year old to hold her, so we're making progress. All progress is being made on her time schedule of course, we're not forcing anything (although treat bribery certainly helps). She has also learned to say a few things, she's still very big on the whistles, clicks and pops. I hear her mumbling stuff in her cage too but nothing that's intelligible. She says "Guinness" (which is the dog's name), "Chris", "Gimme kiss" which she follows by a kissy noise, "Come here", "Whatcha doin", "hello" in a strange voice I don't recognize, and "chirp chirp". The chirp chirp is probably one of our favorites. Every morning when I come downstairs after getting ready for work she would chirp at me. I usually mimic her noises back to her (who's the parrot now?) but I can't very well chirp, so I would just say the word chirp. Everyone thinks it's hilarious. We had to go out of town for nearly a week and I was really worried about her. We had a friend stay at the house to take care of her. The first couple days went alright and then she started getting very upset and wouldn't let him near her cage. She bit him when he was feeding her, she was most unhappy. Towards the end he broke out some crackers and bribed her and was able to pet her and hold her again. I noticed when we got home she refused to speak to us for a few days. She would give us some whistles and let us hold her but for the most part she was really quiet. She warmed up after about 2 days, thankfully. I never though I'd get the cold shoulder from a bird! As she's gotten bigger I've noticed some of her tail feathers are changing color. She has a lot more black in her tail than she ever did before. I have also noticed some red down near one of her feet, I'll have to try to get a picture of it when she's not so irritated. Here's Bri holding Maggie for the first time since Maggie was just a baby