Tule

My parrot has developed into a one person bird. I know exactly why this is, it's because I'm currently living at home in a house with two cats and an english setter (bird dog). This means it's basically impossible for me to get him out of my room. I am also the only person who goes in my room. Now, he loves me. He'll be two in May, and is very grouchy and testy sometimes. Usually he's calmer at night and will let me take him over to the bed to watch TV and get some love and attention. I've had birds since I was young, in elementary school, but always only small birds like cockatiels and a lovebird or two. I'm now nearing the end of highschool. Young for entering into a lifetime friendship with a parrot maybe, but I wanted to take my bird lifestyle to the next level. Anyway, I've run into a few problems that I want some advice on. One is the one person bird problem. I'm wondering what is the best way to get him to be more social and accepting of other people. Whenever I have friends or family in my room, he gets very upset, won't let them near him, etc. I'm pretty sure that the only thing I can do is to have him slowly get used to one person at a time and hope that eventually he will apply this to everyone he meets, even strangers. However, what is the best way to go about doing this? The second is his grumpiness. Because I go to school, I'm gone for a large part of the day. Parrots need and want plenty of time with their people, and as of right now unfortunately he's getting the short end of the stick. Could this be part of what's making him so unruly? Or is it just his age/personality? Sometimes he can't wait for me to come over to pet and scratch him, but either he'll end up getting annoyed and start biting, or he will have this behavior right off the bat. Obviously once this starts I leave him alone and go back to doing my own thing. And the third, is he is very skittish around new objects. He'll move away from them and start growling, even if he feels they're too close (this happens with people as well) he will jump off his cage onto the floor. I hate this behavior, it has caused him a lot of problems including bruises on his beak and bending of major wing feathers to odd angles that are very painful for him. It's upsetting for me for him to be so frightened and in pain. I have tried getting him used to new things like toys, but I am also not sure how to do this. He loves cat toys, the balls with bells in them, but when I recently got him a new batch (he likes them because he loves to get the bell out), he freaked and jumped off his cage when I tried to give him one. They have now been sitting on the floor of my bedroom for weeks, and he has the same reaction every time I try to bring them closer. Lots of patience is needed, but are there any specific methods I should implement to help with these? Thanks a lot.

I had been giving my African Grey whole peanuts as a special treat or snack. A while ago I was looking up the foods that are bad for parrots to refresh my memory, and came across a few sites saying that peanuts aren't good. They explained that there is a risk of the peanuts containing a fungus that causes liver damage (in birds as well as squirrels and humans). However, many of the parrot seed mixes that I've bought contain peanuts, not to mention my bird absolutely loves them. Peanuts are also not listed in many places that have toxic food lists. So the question is, can I finally buy him a new bag or should I find a new treat?