Kaleah

I'm glad this question was asked because I was wondering the same thing. I usually keep my house between 68-70 depending on how cold it gets. We can have wind chills up to around -20 or more so I may bump the thermostat up to 72. My cockatiels have always done fine with that and I figured Kaleah would too, but I was still curious.

Just keep working with her. Speak nicely to her and whenever you go past her cage drop a treat in her bowl. After awhile she should start coming to you to take the treat. If she prefers your husband to you, don't take it personally. Most Greys will bond to one person but will tolerate others. Sometimes they may even become a little aggressive with them. Don't feel like you did something wrong, that's just how they are. It just means you will have to work that much harder to get her to warm up to you. Then again. Once she reaches sexual maturity it could all change and you may become the favored person while your hubby gets the bites and bad attitude.

I'm so happy that Sadie's with you now and can have the shot at life that she desperately needs and deserves. Things will be great, I'm sure of it. Can't wait to see some pictures.

My Grey has bonded with me. I live by myself but when friends and family come over I encourage them to talk to Kaleah but not touch her, as she can become slightly aggressive. She does seem to prefer women to men, and more so dark haired women, probably because I have dark hair. As Azzie said, socialize your bird. It makes them more accepting of others. But remember, don't force your bird to go to someone it shows an obvious dislike for. The bird will become agitated and upset and the person could end up with a serious bite.

The more I hear about the place she's coming from the more pissed I get. Who does that to a bird? besides someone who obviously has no conscience or compassion. My cockatiels noise level can be outstanding at times during the day, but I don't throw a blanket over their cage. I shush them like you would a crying baby and it gets them to take it down an octave or two. But I agree with everyone else. I would maybe keep the back and sides covered that way she can watch out the front and check out her new surroundings but still feel like she has some protection.

Congratulations! It's great that you're taking her in and giving her the love and care she deserves. I'm appalled at the diet she's had! I'm sad for her to think of the life she's had so far, but happy too to think of the great place she's going to have from now on. Can't wait to hear updates on her and see some pictures. Best of luck to you and her.

Today I lost the power button off my monitor. How? It was brutally ripped off by a strong birdie beak. When it tried to stop Kaleah from taking it off all the way I was bit. I managed to get it away from her, some what re-attach it, but she pulled it off again. No amount of shooing, distractions, and no's would stop her from her quest of dismantling my monitor piece by piece. I was lucky enough to get it to turn back on when I tried putting the button on a second time, but the button wouldn't stay on.

LOL! Congratulations! It pays to be patient. So happy and excited for you.

I'm also a vegetarian. I have a lot of soy based imitation "meat" products such as chick'n breasts, crumble, tofu hot dogs, and of course soy burgers. Haven't tried giving any to Kaleah yet, but I think I'm going to try.

Watch his body language and especially how his feathers lie. It's usually the best indication of whether a bite is coming your way or not. He may just be getting overly excited by your crazy kisses and so his kisses are going to be just as crazy. I might back off on them and go with simple gentle kisses for now. You don't want to instigate something that could land you with stitches in your lip.

Don't let the title fool you, I am in NO WAY interested in selling my precious Kaleah! Every other week or so I stop into my little local pet store where I got her. I go in to look at the birds the owner has and give him an update on Kaleah. I wasn't given much back ground info on her, aside from what he told me the day I got her. That she had been in an abusive home and was rescued. I never understood how it was that he came to have her unless he had been the rescuer. I stopped in this morning when I got off work and talked to him for a bit. I finally asked how he ended up with her and he said that he adopted her from a bird sanctuary about an hour away. He told me that the police had actually been the ones to take her out of that previous home and to the sanctuary. He got her not long after that and put her in his store for $100 more than the adoption fee he paid. He couldn't charge too much more as she wasn't as "pretty" because of the missing feathers. He then told me that he found out this bird sanctuary has another Grey up for adoption for $750 that he would like to get just so he has another Grey back in his store. He seems like he's a really nice guy and because I'm in there so much he is starting to talk to me about things that maybe shouldn't be shared with potential customers. I don't understand how he can do this. Granted, I'm thankful he had Kaleah, because if he hadn't I would be Grey-less right now, but those sanctuaries are set up to find the best homes possible for those birds. They don't intend for them to be adopted and then placed in some pet store where they are forced to deal with strangers day in and day out. I was just a little upset about the whole thing. Just doesn't seem like a great way to go about getting birds into his store.

I know what you mean. My camera stopped working before I got Kaleah and so all the pictures I have of her have been taken with my phone's camera. Most of them come out very blurry because she moves the second she sees my phone "looming" in front of her. She's fast and my crappy phone camera can not keep up with her. Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera for Christmas. HAHA

For those that haven't heard about this, Troy Gentry from the country group Montgomery Gentry, is all for shooting innocent animals that have been hand raised and are tame. In 2004 he shot a tame black bear named Cubby at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection. The owner of the property and of the bear he hand raised (at least that's what I gathered) allowed Troy Gentry to shoot him with a bow and arrow on the enclosed grounds. An animals rights group known as S.H.A.R.K. has now been granted the right to release the video of this horrific slaughter. I don't believe in the slaughter of any animal and so I have been meat free for 7 years. But coming from Wisconsin and having had a father who was all about deer and duck hunting, I can understand why people do this for the sporting aspect, I just don't agree with it. And especially not tame animals. It would be no different than taking a friendly dog and shooting it. Anyway, here's the link. There is a video too, but I didn't watch it. Couldn't bring myself to do it. http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/105781818.html

Judy, I totally get your drift! Unfortunately I don't think they woman from PetSmart would. Those people know nothing when it come to the products they sell, and the animals they sell for that matter. Those poor birds have people hitting the glass for them to move all day long. If someone came into my house and did that to any of my birds cages, I'm afraid I might have to hit them back. And, if I had had the extra money yesterday, I would have been bringing home a gorgeous little Meyers parrot. He/she screamed for me when I walked away from their cage. Broke my heart knowing that bird will go to a home where they are as knowledgable about it as the workers caring for it.

So, today I went to PetSmart for some birdie toys and to look at play stands. I got some toys and found this cute little table top play stand for under $40. It was labeled for small to medium birds and on the front of the box was an Amazon playing on this play stand. I figured if the Zon could fit on it, maybe my Grey could too but I wanted to be sure so I stopped the woman working in the bird department and asked about what sized birds would be able to fit on it. She simply looked at the box and said, in an unsure voice "parrots." I wanted to roll my eyes but didn't. I told her what kind of bird I have and what I was looking for. So then I asked if they carried the same stand but for medium to large birds and she gave me a weird look and said "maybe not like that but something similar". She took me to this back shelf and pointed to a CAGE with a play stand, only it was for cockatiels. After nearly 5 minutes of me explaining things again and her still not getting it she finally told me to look on their website and walked away.

Hope all goes well. I hate to see any animal like that. That's why I have most of the animals I do. HAHA But good for you wanting to take in this poor little soul.

Mine loves baby links. I got a big package and hung them up in her cage with wooden rings from a craft store. It wasn't meant to be used as a swing, but she does anyway! I also made her a big toy from some left over little rattles from a destroyed toy, some SS wire, and some acrylic beads. Connected it to one of those key ring holders and voila, a brand new toy. Just remember you don't have to spend a lot of money on bird toys. Crumpled news paper "bows" are super fun for shredding and empty soda can boxes make great little places to hide and tear apart. Just be creative. Your bird doesn't know the difference between something that cost $20 or something that cost 50 cents as long as it's fun and safe!

Thank you so much for sharing. I loved the second vid. It shows just how beautiful our Greys are. They may not be the most colorful or vibrant but they have an understated beauty that is something I think only Grey owners can appreciate.

That was the cutest thing ever! He's such a little ham! He obviously really like peanut butter. And that picture of him holding the little pumpkin is just too much. You got yourself a sweet and funny little boy there.

I also have a nice black wrought iron cage. Picked it up at a rummage sale for $30. It had a lot of rust on it from being left outside so after checking around and found what some people called "safe" ways to repaint bird cages I spent nearly a week refinishing it. I used a wire brush and sand paper to get off the flaking rust, used a primer, and then matte black spray paint. All Krylon, so I thought it was safe. Did some more research before deciding to place any of my birds in it and learned the same thing. Krylon is NOT safe for birds. I was now stuck with this great cage that looked like new but could not use. So I got creative. I bought some dowels and boards and painted them as well and turned that cage into a unique bookshelf.

I don't see what the big deal is. I kiss Kaleah's birdie feet on occasion. But when she's on my shoulder she likes to pull my face closer to her with her feet or her beak. She finally figured out that mom's got some cool shiny things in and around her mouth. She pulls out my labret and nose rings all the time (don't worry, they slip right out - no pain) but sometimes she'll con me into giving her a kiss only so she can catch me unaware and force my mouth open with her beak and and grab my tongue ring. HAHA

It's hard to say how long the adjustment period will take. All birds are different. With mine it only took her a few days before I could hold her without being bit and probably another week or 2 before I could touch any part of her body freely. You need to work with him on stepping up for YOU. He obviously knows how but that doesn't mean he will since he's not completely comfortable with you yet. There is no set time for this sort of thing. You have to establish some trust with him first. Let him get to know you. When he's in the cage sit by him with the door open and give him treats. Each time he takes one from your hand praise him and move the treat back a little father until eventually he has to lean over your arm. Keep doing this until he finally has to stand on you arm in order to get the treat. Eventually he will learn that being on your hand/arm is not so bad and good things happen when he's there. If you need to get him to the vet a.s.a.p. your other option may be to towel him, but I wouldn't suggest it. If it scares him enough it will set the two of you back. So just go slow with him and do things at his pace. Patience is the key here.

It might be best to work with him on stepping up,(if he doesn't know how already), makes it easier to get him from place to place. Once that is going good then begin to get him acquainted with the carrier. Make it a fun place to play around! When he's comfortable with it start placing toys and treats inside so that he has to go in after them. Eventually he will learn it's an o.k. place to be and nothing bad is going to happen to him in there. As for his diet I would just relax. It may take him awhile before he starts to eat anything but his familiar seed mix. Offer a variety of things for him to try and it helps if you eat some with him. Makes them more interested in it. As for the strawberries, I wouldn't suggest giving them to him. They contain a great amount of pesticides and could make him sick. Best of luck with Sunshine. I'm sure he's going to be great! Sounds like he's in good capable hands.

He's gorgeous! I love his name. Have fun with him!