PaminFLA

My husband semi-rescued Merlin about 2 months ago from a family who had acquired the bird for their 6 yr old daughter. We had recently returned to its owner a Congo Grey that was found by a neighbor in his yard, and since my husband fell in love with that bird during the week we had him, he began perusing Craig's List for Greys in need. He called one number and heard kids screaming so loud in the background that he could barely converse with the man who'd listed the bird, but it seems that the 6 yr old was afraid of her bird as it kept biting her. My husband drove to the next town to see the bird and found it living on a curtain rod next to a parakeet. In the two weeks that the family had it, they had not given it a cage. One wing's feathers had been lopped off and so it could not even flutter to the ground. My husband decided right then he was getting that bird out of there so he paid the 6 year old $250 and left with it. We were not told anything about the bird, not even a name, and only got a vague story about the owner dying and the bird changing hands a few times. We tried to find out where the man had gotten the bird in order to trace its owner history and find someone who could shed some light on the poor thing--at the very least, a name. But the man was not forthcoming. So we have a sweet grey mystery in our lives now. We are not new to parrots, however, as I have had Sprout since he was 9 wks old, a very bright, talking Quaker, for 8 years, and my then-fiance acquired Fred and Ginger as babies (pair of 8 and 7 yr old Solomon Island Eclectus who hate each other), and we got Peaches (tiny dragon disguised as a Lovebird) at a bird fair 2 yrs ago. I am the current Asst. to the Chair of the Quaker Rescue and Adoption Program. Despite all that parrot experience, each species is different and we have a lot to learn about Greys. We bought Merlin a beautiful new cage at a recent bird fair in Tampa (a new design with all round edges that is really the best we have ever had), gave him a name and took him to the vet for a check up. He was friendly at first and then seemed withdrawn and not willing to step up. He would occasionally make the sound of a cell phone ringing so that is all we know about his life before. Perhaps he was grateful we'd gotten him out of that chaos, but then realized that all was new and he was scared. I was not sure how bitey or trained he was so I did not try to touch him or even pick him up for the first 2 weeks and left it up to my husband. I did not want to seem threatening. I could hand him grapes, apple and banana slices and he gently would take them from my fingers with his beak, but no touching. He whistled a lot and learned the wolf whistle quickly. He spins in circles when standing on the back of the couch and can get up such speed I am afraid he will get dizzy and fall, so we clap and cheer and then he stops and nods his head. So now it has been 2 months and Merlin is really coming out of his shell. He frequently stands on the open roof of his cage and flaps his 1-1/2 wings furiously. All our birds do that, but not nearly as often or with the vigor that he does. Is that a Grey thing? He is the only bird we have who plays with foot toys. The others have never been interested and we always worried we were not giving them the right things. :confused: He whistles all day long and occasionally seems to say something in a croaky voice, but it's indistinguishable. We waited to name him hoping he might say his name, but he hasn't. He now recognizes his new name. As soon as I put my hand up to him, he puts out a little foot and steps right up. Two nights ago, he let me rub and ruffle his head feathers and last night, he let me pet him on the back for a few moments and then pushed my hand with his beak. He seems to be interested in exploring outside his cage now and is not aggressive toward the other birds, but we keep them at a distance from him as they cannot always be trusted. Do other Greys tend to pick up their toys and hit themselves in the head with them? At first we were considering giving him a safe, calm environment and rehoming him with a vetted person, but now we are captivated by this sweet, funny guy/girl and he is part of the flock. (I didn't want more than 4 birds and thought that we had 3 too many already due to how loud the Eclectus can be at times, but it is hard sometimes to say no and Merlin is a delight.) I misted him with the garden hose while he was in our outside cage as I do with Eclectus, but he didn't seem to like it and managed to stay dry as a bone. Yesterday, my husband put ice cubes in his water dish and aftr he picked one up with his foot a few times, he commenced to trying to bathe in the ice water. He even stood in the bowl. So I quickly got my roasting pan, put water and a few ise cubes into it since that seemed to be the enticement, and put the pan in the bottom of his cage. After a few testing dips of the toes, he plunged in, spread his wings and had a great time. He would hop out, climb up his cage, then down and back into the bath, repaeting the ritual at least 6 more times. You'd think he was a penguin. Do Greys tend to like cold baths? What a mess! Pam