Barbara2

Oh the wonderful things I have to look forward to! At least Egan's first escapade was inside his cage and he only managed to impact himself and not the house!

I had a feeling Shyloh was a boy. Congratulations again on your adoption of this wonderful bird!

We have a Rocky (Senegal) that is most likely a girl. He/she is 19 years old and I still call him a "he". It's a habit now and I don't think he/she cares one was or another.

These are GREYT stories! I love it! So far mine seem more inclined to get into things that hurt them. I look forward to simply stealing food!!!

You can and you will. You can't anticipate every situation anymore than you can with a child. If you have love, time and a little bit of patience, you guys will be great! (Otherwise known as "greyt" here!)

It's like expecting a child. You can't wait but you're scared. And then that little lovey is in your home and everything just kind of comes naturally. If it doesn't and there are any questions, the answers are all right here.

What a great intro! And I love your picture. Greys do leap right into your heart. (I have quite a few friends in NC. I was just there this past June visiting.)

Egan and I are coming up on the 4 week mark. I can't imagine life without him now.

Good exercise for you too! LOL!

There are some things, situations, predicaments that these intelligent animals get themselves into that just make you shake your head. We got home tonight from bowling. Egan was chirping so I got him out of the cage even though it was real close to bedtime. I put him on the playstand and I noticed this green, fuzzy thread. He had managed to get it wrapped around both feet, a few toes and it was connecting his feet (like someone tying your shoelaces together.) I had a HECK of a time untangling that mess! The more I tried to remove it, the more he moved around and made it worse. I didn't want to pull too hard because I didn't want to cut into his toes. At one point he flew away and I had to go grab him. I got it off the foot that was the least tangled and then finally got the whole thing off. We investigated that cage and found the source of the string. His boing is knotted at the top and has (had) a long fringe and he was tearing it up. The fringe got an extreme "haircut". So what have your birds gotten into that left you saying, "Are you KIDDING me!!"?

Some things are just meant to be. Congratulations! Let us know when you get the results of the DNA!

There are plenty of people who work and own greys. It's nice if you work from home or can take your grey to work but plenty of people make it work while they put in 8 hour days. There is a period of time during the day when the birds nap so it's not like it's a total 8 hours. If you can devote some time before work, some quality time after work and lots of time on weekends I think you'll be good. There are lots of toys, some interactive, to keep them busy during the day! And welcome!

My answer to your question on Yahoo would be to take cues from your grey. (What is his name?) Some older birds, and even some younger ones, take longer to transition than others. His personality will affect some of that as well as yours. You are very wise to put him in a secure cage away from the cats and dogs. Hopefully once he is used to you and your home, you can isolate the other animals so that he can get some out of cage time. I'm glad you joined and please keep us updated on his homecoming and progress adapting to his new family.

I take new toys and hang them outside the cage until I see my bird(s) investigating through the bars. Then I move it inside the cage in the same spot where it was hanging outside.

I have to give the medicine for the bacteria as well. Fortunately for me, Egan doesn't mind at all. The medicine is delivered in a mini-syringe and he just acts like it's a formula feeding.

It is great to meet you! (I will be visiting your fair state the end of this month.) You need to go to your "My profile" to set the pic and I think it is listed as your "avatar".

Right now Egan (15 week old TAG) talks up a storm about twice a day. I can pick out some words (or I think I can) from time to time but he's still a baby. But he talks and talks and talks. He does have human inflection even when I can't understand the words. My older birds also talk. The mini macaw is most NOISY when I'm in the kitchen. The little Senegal is most verbal once in the morning and once in the late afternoon.

After all my "no cover" talk, I just want to say that I covered Egan's cage. I do have a sheet handy for this purpose and I'll take it off before I go to bed but he was "chirpy" while we are watching TV tonight. So I'm not totally "anti-cover".

The first post on the linked thread has a lot of great information: http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?73409-Handfeeding-a-Baby-Grey.

If there is any doubt, calling the avian vet is the best choice.

After one week in my house, my baby grey squeezed himself into his 4 1/2" water dish on his playstand and started bathing. I got the bath bottle out and started spraying while he bathed. He opened up his wings and flapped and flapped letting the water soak him good. So I went out and bought a large bowl (in the dog bowl section) at the pet store. It holds 2 quarts of water. Egan has investigated but has made no attempt at getting into it. Today he again bathed in the little 4 1/2" bowl. It seems that you can lead a bird to water but you can't make them bathe.

That was my solution as well. I have a seperate play gym and the King's dome top. I really like the light weight of the aluminum.

Spring Chicken I remember hiding in the trunk with a few others to sneak into the drive-in. (They had some big trunks back in the day!)

Elegua has the stamp of approval from a one-year-old (and the fingerprints on my screen to prove it!)

There are most definitely red factor TAGs. I don't know that you can really tell for sure until after the first molt.