GoDiego

I love the way you seem to have such a deep understanding of Riamfada and the way you have changed your way of thinking rather than trying to change his. I would love for Diego and I to have the same understanding of each other in the future, but I have a lot to learn from him at the moment.

I think this is absolutely right, although my 2 boys are very calm and understand that Diego is not the same as our cat and dog I would never leave them unattended or unsupervised with Diego.

Thanks Shanlung for your reply. I would love to have Diego out of a cage at night, but it just could not happen in my household. I have 2 children that often get up and sneak about the house before me and I would be scared to have Diego out and about with the children unsupervised, plus I have an awful image of the children opening the patio door or windows and letting him out. Also he does not have his own room but does have his sleep cage in a quieter part of the house. I loved the videos and would love to get Diego to fly back to his cage on his own accord. Yesterday Diego did half take himself back, I think he now knows that there will be a little something for him to enjoy once in bed. I have been training with Diego everyday since he has joined the family. The training is doing so well with helping us to get to know each other and both myself and Diego are feeling much more confident and comfortable with each other. I had to smile at the "allowing them to training you too" comment as I have said on another thread that it seems to be me who is the one who is learning the most and that all parrot books, videos etc. all say how important it is to train your parrot but only now am I realising it is me that is being trained to understand him. I've been really studying and researching parrot body language and am loving the insight I am getting into how Diego is feeling. Before I got Diego I think I was to quick to humanise parrots, because of their talking abilities and funny characters. Now I know that this cannot be done and I have to respect him for his full unique wonderful self

This was not how I read your post at all Tweedle Shanlung - All I can say is Wow! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! Your photos prove to me that treating any kind of creature with respect and a kind hand is the only way!

This made me laugh as Diego is so clumsy (He's not quite sure why he has such big feet and often trips over them!) that I don't think it will be long before he starts saying Uh Oh or Ouch LOL

I agree Jayd and think it should be the owner that is disciplined, that is disciplined enough not to force themselves onto these wonderful creatures. I personally believe that one of the greatest wonders of owning a parrot, is that you are the closest you can be to having something wild in your home, this fascinates me and rather then forcing a behaviour onto them I think we are the ones who need to be trained to understand and respect them.

This is a really interesting topic, I have never had or given my children Soya due to hearing a lot of negative things about it. The number 1 that put me off giving it to my 2 boys and husband is that I had heard it can cause cancer in men. On the basis of this, I kind of dismissed it as a food item to give to Diego purely because I would not give it to anyone in the family. It's great to read up on this as what I had heard before I suppose was just hearsay rather then anything concrete

Mmmm, I personally feel that it's sometimes to easy to forget that our feathered friends are not humans and therefore cannot understand punishment like we do. Personally I feel respect gains respect, if Diego is not wanting to play or interact then I respect this and let him go his own way, just the same as if I don't want to play his biting or screaming game I go my way and let him think about it for a while. Normally when I return he is much calmer which I praise profusely and treat him with a scratch on the head. So far by doing this, Diego and I are getting on great guns and seem to be bonding more each day.

Great information!

What a beautiful photo of Izzy. It looks like a picture you would find in a magazine!

Thanks Jayd, you have really given me a lot of confidence with feeding Diego and your opinions and advice you give after your personal experience with caring for parrots has been invaluable to me

Thanks Jayd, this was the confirmation I needed. I will give him one later today

Thought I would give everyone an update on how Diego is doing with his food. Over the last few days he has been tucking into most of the veggies I have put in front of him and now excited when I put his fresh food out for the afternoon, I'm soooo happy with the way he is now eating as he is also loving the pellets that I am putting in his bowl. Now that he is happily eating pellets, should I now be giving just pellets with fresh veg and limited amount of fruit and restrict the seed and nut mix to giving him some every other day or still give him it everyday with the pellets and fresh food? Also since he has been enjoying the pellets, his appetite for the smash in the evening has reduced, is this normal? Also how much pellet is normally consumed in 1 day as there are no guidelines in the box?

I've also seen this listed as an ingredient in this treat mix, there are also a lot of online parrot stores that are selling them as individual treats. However, I'm completely confused as there are quite a few sites saying that Cinnamon, especially the rolled bark can be dangerous? I think to be on the safe side I will avoid them until I see something concrete that they are safe. If they are dangerous, the parrot stores really should review what they are selling!

Hi everyone, I have just been looking online at some of the online parrot stores and came across one selling cinnamon Sticks as a tasty treat and foot toy. Are these safe to give to birds, if so I have loads in my kitchen, but would like to confirm first. I've done some searching on the internet but have found nothing so far confirming that they are a safe treat.

I don't line the bottom of my cage with anything, however I do hose the tray down 2 -3 times a day and disinfectant with apple vinegar every other day. Is this OK to do this or is it better to have a liner in?

Do you have a grate at the bottom of your cage? When I trim Diego's nails I put his favourite treat in the bottom of the cage so he's standing on the grate and his claws are pointing downwards out of the grill. I take the tray out and coming up from under the cage trim just 1mm of the ends to take the sharp point off. This works really well for Diego as he really is not worried about what I am doing as he is busy tucking into his favourite treat and really does not notice me giving him a quick manicure from underneath. I also spread out the trimming over a couple of days so that each time is short and sweet, so he does not have any time to investigate why I am tickling his feet LOL. I've also done some clicker training with Diego so that he is comfortable with me playing with his feet. We call it the tickle and treat game , each time he lets me play or touch his feet without him moving away he gets a treat. If you do decide to try clipping the nails yourself make sure you don't cut too far as just like our nails the wick contains blood and nerves and can be very painful to the bird. Also by letting their nails grow too long or by cutting them too short can make balancing on perches difficult. Another great way of maintaining his nails is to put a natural perch in his cage that is slightly like an emery board that they can scratch on. In the wild they never have to worry about long nails due to their natural surroundings and perches which naturally keep their talons neat

Although I don't have a grey, I do have an Amazon parrot who lives very happily with my 3 and 5 year old. Before bringing Diego home, my husband and I really involved our children with the home coming, explaining what was going to happen, how they should act around him and although they will be excited with having a new family member, they have to take it easy around him as he will probably be a little uneasy at first. Since having Diego at home, the boys and Diego are getting on great guns. Especially my youngest who seems to have developed a real bond with Diego. My eldest seems to be the only one in the family who can talk to Diego and get instant replies from him. The 3 of them often play together on the floor with toys or a ball and Diego loves all of the attention he gets from them. However, as with most parrots, Diego does have his off moments where he can be a little grumpy. My boys already seem to understand his body language and quietly leave him alone when Diego does not want to interact with them. My only concern with having children in the house is the patio doors, although they know that when Diego is out and about, all the doors must stay closed. However, my boys are only young so often forgetful which is normal, so I do closely supervise all 3 at all times. After all I'm the adult and therefore responsible for all of there welfare. Another thing I do is to get the boys involved with lots of things for Diego, whether it's making some foraging toys for him, drawing a picture of him that I can put on the wall next to his cage, feeding him, cleaning his drop tray and even training him. My eldest sometimes with my supervision does target training with him and my son loves it when Diego responds to him. All in all, I have no worries about having children with Diego but this does not mean that I would ever become complacent after all children are children and a parrot is an animal just one step away from his wild ancestors.

Issac is very lucky having a daddy like you. You never gave up on him and because of this you got him home safe and sound! I'm so glad your both reunited again, like everyone else my heart was breaking for you at the time.

Thanks everyone for your great replies! Today I had a breakthrough with Diego and he is stepping up every time I ask him, each time he has stepped up for me I have either taken him to a different location of the house, scratched him, put him back on his perch and also putting him back in the cage but keeping the door open. I'm hoping that by doing this he is not thinking that every time I ask him to step up, it's because I want him to go to bed. Like Rangi, when he is tired he does go to his perch but has never gone back in his cage on his own accord yet, but hopefully with a routine in place like Birdnut has suggested he may then realise that it's not so bad, especially when he has a nice treat waiting for him. I've have come to the conclusion that being a parent to a parrot is no different to having a young child. They test you, they shout at you when they don't like something, they get overexcited and sometimes don't know when to stop and don't like going to bed. The positives they give just like children are, when they show you they love you it's unconditional, a good scratch and cuddle makes everything OK for everyone, they make you smile and laugh pretty much every time you look at them, when they say their first words they make you proud and finally they expect nothing from you except all the love in the world!

This made me actually laugh out loud! Thank you Spock for your insightful view on things, I think you and Diego have a lot in common LOL. And thanks Maggie, I'll just keep persevering and just start an hour earlier to get him to go to bed, I hope Spock starts behaving himself for you Thanks also Luvparrots, I have moved one of his perches to fit actually onto the door so I don't have to put my whole arm in to get him in. This is where the main problem is, as he just clings onto the door frame, clambers up then flutters to a place he knows I can't get him

Ooops! LOL

This was something I was not aware of when I first started training Diego. Often he would move his open beak to my finger just as his first foot went up. At the time I thought he was going to bite and was removing my hand, this put me back tonnes with the step up command with Diego as he lost all confidence in my hand being sturdy. At a later date I stumbled upon a video on youtube which explained why a parrot mouths when stepping up and it call became clear to me. Now I don't recoil every time his beak comes towards my finger but keep my hand still and steady. It took a lot longer to get Diego to get his confidence in stepping up but now he is trusting that my hand is solid and a lot of progress is being made, although we still have our off days LOL. With all the training I give Diego, it's me that is learning rather than the other way around. Such a simple thing of me not understanding his natural behaviour of using his beak as a hand made it almost impossible and it was all down to me and not Diego being awkward.

I also used the kitchen scales, it is flat topped so I just put a large plate on it and Diego was happy to hop onto it, albeit for a short time. I'm thinking of a way that I can make a little perch that will sit on the top of it. I will try and get a photo of Diego being weighed but he does not hang around for long so not sure if I'm quick enough with the camera LOL

Diego is new to our family and is adjusting and fitting in really well. He is out of his cage for most of the day free to roam and play as he wishes, he will come to us for a scratch and loves doing his target training which he is doing really well with. My main problem at the moment, and I'm sure there will be many more in the future LOL is that we are having big battles getting him back in the cage either when the doors need to be open or it's bedtime. I always reward him once he is in his cage so that it leaves him with a positive thought once he is in there but he still puts up a fight each time. I have tried training him to step up and although he is getting it slowly it's not a guaranteed thing every time, but I know that no training is ever instant. Has anyone else had similar problems or have any advice on how I can get him to like going back into his bedroom? Oh and Diego is an Amazon parrot who is 4 months old, so only a baby