MarcusCAG

Heh. How you described his 'vampire pose', I could totally see him challenging you, the naughty boy!

I assume they're not housed together? So if this is done during out-of-cage time, is there a pattern of anything preceding it? Like, are they eating together and maybe she gets cranky that he's eating what she wants? Or are they grooming and it gets out of hand? These are just thoughts, I'm just sorry it's happening. He doesn't need a bald spot on such a cute head.

How is your dear Pickle doing now? I felt so horrible when I read your post, I hope he's doing better... thinking of you both...

In one of my books on African Greys I recently read something about teaching a Grey to fly who was never given the opportunity to properly fledge. I believe it's the one by Maggie Wright (as that's the most recent one I bought). You might want to get a used copy of that online for a couple of cents after you've visited your vet, maybe it will have some helpful tips for you if the vet says that physically there's nothing wrong with Rocky.

I'm sorry to hear that... Steve sounded like a lovely little boy and looked like a doll in that one picture (the other was a little depressing to me, actually). Would you mind sharing with us what happened? I know others have asked too, but I can't help be curious. I hope his story has a happy ending for him, even if now you're still looking for a Grey friend, yourself. Don't worry--there are many other Greys out there that need a good home and you'll meet your special lovebug someday.

I'm glad Cosmo seems to be doing much better after his unfortunate mishap last night.

I have a new story to add. When my hubby and I came in with groceries the other day, our dog (Dahlia) started barking excitedly. Oftentimes when she starts up, Marcus will whistle and call her, or tell her "Go to bed!" or something like that. But as she kept barking and we started putting the groceries away and stuff, he said very distinctly, "Dahlia, go answer the door!" My husband and I stared at each other, like, Did you just hear that? We couldn't help cracking up... Never mind that nobody was at the door, and that we had never asked our dog to go answer the door for us, ever (haha!). So maybe Marcus thought someone else was outside, still? Who knows. But it seemed appropriate, considering everything, and it made us smile at our little grey man.

What a lovely post! Thank you for sharing your Georgie with all of us.

Haha. Wait until Timmy starts splicing it and meshing it with other phrases. Marcus has started doing that recently and he comes out with the funniest things!

If I can add my two cents here... I understand what people are saying about "connecting" with the bird when you meet him, but if my husband and I had depended on "connecting" with any of our rehomes/rescues (parrots and otherwise) when we met them, we'd probably have one pet right now. I honestly don't think it's fair to demand that an animal "connect" with you when you meet it, they're in their territory--the good and bad of it--and who are we to come walking in and say, Make the stars explode for us and then we'll think you're a nice animal to take home? If you want a grey, and this bird needs a good forever home (sounds like he does), and it's not obviously something that you can't handle, and you can afford him... then what's the issue? P.S.--And I just want to clarify, we love all of our babies--furry and feathered--quite dearly, and they all love us. I think what I mean to say is that if you're willing to grow with an animal, most times, unless they've been through some horrible trauma that you just have no ability or education to work with, they will grow with you in some capacity. Love encourages love. It might take a while, but those little 'forgotten' and unwanted guys and gals sometimes end up being the most affectionate, because they realize how much you care compared to what they came from.

Buffy, I was in a bad mood until I read your conversation with Echo... oh, that made me smile so much, and I called my hubby over to read it too. Thanks for sharing, loved it!!

Timmy is definitely a cute one, and I like how intense his eyes are in that photo, haha...

Sorry all, I meant to post back here sooner... but yes, Marcus is definitely a character, I'm glad you liked the stories! He and Beaker keep us laughing and shaking our heads all the time, it's always (well, almost, haha--let's overlook the 'nippy' days!) a joy to be around our boys. I'll post again the next time I have a cute little story to share.

Oh my goodness, what a sad-looking boy! I think Dan hit on a good idea in that, if they're bad off financially, they can try and find Otis a better home and get some money in the process. That may be a motivator for them because then they'd have less 'responsibility' and more money--but more importantly, Otis would be in a better situation. Maybe it's just that one image, but his eyes seem to have a strange cast to them, the poor baby... he needs some help, badly, and on a diet of seeds with slimy water... ugh, so sad...

So Marcus has been a bit cranky today. There are two episodes that I'm going to share here in this post, the second being the most interesting and surprising. This afternoon, prior to cleaning out the boys' cages, I thought that a misting might be in order since it's been a while since either Beaker or Marcus has been thoroughly showered. (It's rather cold here and we don't have heat...) Therefore I grabbed the squirt bottle and started with Beaker, "Beaker, it's your misting showertime!" He was okay with it, and then I moved fluidly on to Marcus, who was a bit ruffled on his perch. "Marcus misting showertime!" Marcus endured two or three squirts and then said, very clearly, "Stop!" I froze. He's never used that word in that situation before. So I said, "You want Mommy to stop?" "Stop!" And he made a snapping noise. "Stop!" "Okay, Marcus, I'll stop. I'm sorry." And when I put the bottle down on the floor, the instant it touched ground, Marcus said "Hello!" in a sweet tone. So I was apparently forgiven. But... the more amazing of the two episodes happened just a few moments ago. I was cooking in the kitchen and my husband was in the boys' room, reading and hanging out with them. After I cleaned up a bit, I went into their room to join them all. Beaker, our Quaker parrot, has been antsy today--maybe it's something in the air? Anyway, he was acting all goofy around my husband, whom he loves. Marcus was on the floor near my hubby, who was cross-legged on the rug with Beaker on his one thigh. Beaker kind of looked like he was nesting or something because he kept tugging at his pants and shirt all weird. So my husband looked down at Beaker and said something to him to the effect of "What are you doing?" On the floor, Marcus cocked his head a little, looked up at my husband, and said, "What?" "I was talking to Beaker," my husband told Marcus as Beaker tugged at his shirt again. Marcus just kind of looked at them. And then, as he turned and started waddling away like a little grey chicken toward his cage, he said, "What-ever." Oh my goodness!! Where did he even get that from??? And yet I am proud of my boy for being so communicative with us anymore... :)

Those pictures are just too incredibly cute, and Cocoa is quite the acrobat in the video! Thanks so much for sharing.

Thanks for your concern, KimKim. We affixed the panel horizontally on the side of Marcus' cage and it crosses over his one 'play perch' (where his favorite toy is) and his long all-purpose perch (where he sleeps) that spans the breadth of his cage. Yesterday afternoon he tried chewing the fasteners and I got a little worried, but I think the curiosity made him realize, Hey, this is warm! Ever since then he's been kind of hanging out in that corner and looking pretty happy, dividing his time between his play perch and the long perch. Beaker, our Quaker parrot, was acting a little oddly yesterday too. He kept perching by his water bowl and looking at it, and I kept asking, Is it Beaker bathtime? and Are you thirsty? and Do you want me to get you more clean water? and such. He would chirp at me and I was getting upset because I couldn't figure out what the big deal was, why he was staying on that one perch. My husband picked up on it this morning... I'll admit I don't know exactly how infrared heat works, but apparently it's strong enough to come in waves and move over to Beaker's cage, we could feel it when we just stood there for a minute. His water bowl perch is rather in line with the heat panel, and so the two of them are both enjoying it now! I'm thinking I'd like to get Beaker another more comfy perch (his water perch is a little concrete one) that we can put a little higher and behind his water bowl perch so he's even more in line with the heat and his feet don't get messed up from sitting on concrete for too long. Quakers are hardy little things, we really got the heat panel for Marcus, but if Beaker wants the option of more warmth in the winter months too, then so be it! Oh, and I want to add this: We found Beaker up on his highest perch, out of line of the heat panel, when we went into their room this morning. I read online that Quakers can take temps into the forties and below just fine, as long as it's a gradual thing. So I really am not concerned about him and the colder temperatures like I was for Marcus, especially since he seems just as happy to be in other parts of his cage away from the heat. But Marcus appears very happy for the warmth now, so it's worked out well.

That's funny, we just ordered an Avitech heat panel ourselves and it arrived yesterday. Marcus was kind of playing with a toy near it this morning, but I was surprised because I expected to find him huddled in front of it for warmth (it has been in the fifties inside our house at night lately, the birds have been fine so far but we wanted to take some precautions just in case)...

It is nice when they get in those moods, isn't it?

Oh, Sadie sounds like a little darling! I certainly hope this is the last of her egg-laying and that she comes through just fine...

What a cutie bean.

To the OP: I see you're in Albania. I don't know if there's anything like Craig's List over there, but here in the States everyone puts everything up on CL. That's where we got our two boys, an African Grey and a Quaker parrot, whom I'm so pleased we could adopt and re-home, since neither of them were getting the attention and love that they deserved with their former situations.

On average, I'd say I spend about 4-6 hours every day directly with our boys, our Grey (Marcus) and our Quaker parrot (Beaker). Maybe Marcus is out of the cage 3/4 of that time, if not all of it. Sometimes when it's close to their bedtime, I'll just read or study on the floor of the bird room and whenever Marcus meanders into his cage, I'll just shut the door after him then; but I might read for another half-hour or so until it's time for them to be put to bed (about 9:30 every night, or else Beaker gets upset). My husband's job keeps him away from home most of the day, so maybe he'll spend only 15 minutes or as much as 90 minutes with the boys, himself. But if I'm home, even if I'm in another room periodically, I try to let at least Marcus have the option of being out of his cage most of the time, and then when I can give him undivided attention then I'll let him out and stay out as he wishes. Beaker is transportable (Marcus is not at this point, so he stays in the bird room) and I'll bring Beaker into other rooms with me as he pleases, but most of the time he gets fussy anymore if he's too long out of sight of Marcus. Anyway, I guess my point is, the more time I can be even just around them the better, they seem much happier those days I can spend an extra hour or two with them.

I read The Alex Studies and then Alex & Me both before we got our Grey, Marcus. My husband and I both find Dr. Pepperberg's work inspiring and even have tried to implement some of her M/R techniques into training our little Quaker parrot, Beaker. Personally I think it would be wonderful to see a film about Dr. Pepperberg and her relationship with Alex, particularly since I cannot imagine that anything would be produced and released that didn't have her approval in one way or another. In her books she is very clear that she recognizes how so many companion parrots languish in their cages during the day without proper mental and emotional stimulation--that was one of the reasons she started developing that computer program that Wart learned to manipulate to keep himself entertained in the Media Lab, I think it was. Anyway, much as it is horrid to think about, people will continue to purchase parrots and dogs and cats and horses stupidly and in ignorance and on impulse just because that is how many people are. They are selfish. That will not change if a movie about Alex is or is not made. But perhaps if a film about Alex is released, and the message about proper husbandry and dedication is clear enough, it can help a few more people realize the travesty that exists if they treat their animals--caged or otherwise--simply as living adornments for their own pleasure and interest.

Oh, the parrot wisdom that can be found here in the forums! Thank you both for your replies, I really do appreciate your input. I want my boys to be happy and safe, so for the time being--especially considering what you've both said--I really think it's best to keep them separated for the most part. My hubby would like to try to socialize them more but I don't think we're really at that point yet. Better to be safe than sorry!