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I'm afraid to disagree. Your TAG may seem to choose you by the breeder but there is NO GUARANTEE that in the end you grey will choose you as their number #1 for bonding. Greys can change their favored person and it has nothing to do with being the care giver. If your main concern is being the grey's favored person, wait until you actually move out. The bird will also feel safer being close to all members of a household rathr than placed in high traffic area but only given bonding time with you and being isolated in a busy area. I am not my CAG's favored person. I am the caregiver, I take care of her, she loves me, but I am not her favorite- my husband is even if he only holds her once a week, she loves him most. That's the way of the grey. You can't demand being the favored person no matter what but that doesn't mean your TAG won't love you. And it's cruel to force that bond by isolating him/her.

Your TAG will also need time out of the cage. Keep that in mind in regards to family. If your grey is in the main room, your grey should have a relationship with everyone. You don;t him/her to have anxiety over the other fmaily members.

I wake up my CAG up at 5:30 when I give he food and water for the day; I'm out the door right after. But don't worry! The "Here kitty kitty" and bell ringing will change with the sunrise so when it gets darker later, ie winter hours, Rocky will give you a bit more time in bed! I've noticed that in the spring/ummer hours, Took has been waking up on her own around 5:45, sunrise. In the winter, she would be fast alseep when I left (sunrise closer to 7am if not later some days) and thats when on weekends she would start her singing.... Close all doors and get a white noise machine!

So sorry to hear about your beloved grey. I believe there was another fellow just a short while ago who's grey got very sick and also passed away in Dubai-- Before you bring another into your house and love it, ask around about a virus going around in your area for greys or the possibilities of sick greys being sold there. I will try to find the link to other thread, it was in the Health Room. Found it: http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?192480-Grey-is-dying And yes, this man is also from Dubai. Perhaps you want to contact him and find out what is going with the parrots in your area...Reconsider getting another grey at this time, there seems to be a deadly virus going around. I can't imagine going through that again.

@MarcusCAG- That's amazing! I wondered if they understand hot, for example regarding food when you say "it's hot." That's amazing that Marcus applied it to a hot day! So far, our Took is still intellectually way behind, lol, but we love her!

You and have quite a lot similarities! First, our big giant pooch is also Guinness! He and Took, our CAG, have a love/fear relationship. They'll snuggle for 1 sec then Took will bite and G will run away. Your Maggie and my Took sound pretty similar, she has the poeple she loves and other she wants nothing to do with it at all. Also, I "cheep" back to Took, because I don't chirp either-- lol, I just talk "cheep, cheep" back and thus we converse! Very similar!! Took's not taking yet, she's 9 months and doesn't seem to be inclined towards it anytime soon but we're good cheeping. Happy belated birthday!

Mt CAg eats soaked Harrison's. She isn't a fan of hard pellets but with a tiny bit of water, they become a soft paste and she loves them like that.

I've taken Took outside onto the deck twice now in her outdoor cage. She was TERRIFIED. She clung to this side of her cage near where I was sitting and talking to her. She did calm down once for about 30 secs and then freaked out again even trying to fly in her outdoor cage (which is not big enough for flying!). Anybody else have that problem?

Dave007- Thank you. You explained clearly what my vet did not. Yes, my CAG was about 6 months old and her wings were minorly clipped whent he vet told us she was underweight. it's taken all this time for her to gain "weight." Her wings already grew back enough for her to lift, change directions while flying, and land properly (still doesn't get much height while flying but she is getting some). That could be why we suddenly don't feel the keel bone as sharply. She gained muscle. She seems healthy and is eating all the right foods now. Taking your advice, that is the key importance- eating and eating healthy rather than pushing weight gain. I may even search for a different avian vet next time (although this guy is considered an avian specialist by several sites and in walking distance). I'll cut out the corn, i know it didn;t provide anything but calories and fun (she loves ripping it to pieces). Thank you!! Danmcq- Can you repost the pictures or add the link to that thred of your food concoction? I've tried doing a search for a mash and other food ideas but some are either tasty treats like in the recipe sticky or too complicated for me to do on a regular basis other than Jayd's and Spock's parrot menu (thank goodness for that!).

The vet didn't tell us exactly how much she weighed at that point; he weighed her and told us she was underweight. He showed us to feel her breastbone and explained that we should feel it but not as sharply. This was about 6 month ago. She gained weight finally over May when I added lots of proteins to her diet that she loved like chicken, beef, eggs, veal, etc. She does eat the Harrison's but not in large amounts, not enough to provide the weight gain to a vegetable diet (that was what was suggested by the vet but didn;t work for weight gain). She does love chickpeas but Jayd advised to cut back since they can block certain essential nutrients. She gets almonds and walnuts daily but it doesn't seem like it actually makes into her mouth but mostly to the floor. She is currently filled out and I elminated most of the meat of her diet except for a rare occasion (under once a week for 2 weeks now). She gets daily , <1 egg, nuts, pellets, vegetable greens, and an inch of corn on the cob. Will that maintain her current weight?

That picture is adorable! Enjoy the love! Soon Mojo will start calling for you as soon as he sees you- that is the best, when they get excited just by seeing you walk in!

We have success! It was a stand off and it looked like she would win the stubborn race, but alas, I teach inner-city emotionally distubred children- I can be tough! And it worked! Took ate her vegetables! It started with a slow cooked vegetable omlette nibble...which she now will gobble as soon as served! Thanks, Greywings! I have yet to try the apple cider vinegar... I have also been constantly threading leafy long greens for her to shred since she is a shredder and she had always done exactly that- shred and toss. But this past week, she actually munched on the leaf and chewed on the stem (beet stem and leaf,too- not my choice!) Thanks, Judygram for that suggestion awhile ago! So, she likes beet stem and leaf (but not the beet), parsely, zucchini. I have kohlrabi, dandelion, green leaf, purple cabbage to try. (She vetoed peppers, carrots, any type of potato, tomato -but yes to tomato sauce, and a few others that I cannot recall right now!)

Our CAG was underweight so we started feeding her what she liked, which was meats, eggs, cheeses, etc. She brought up her weight, looked nice and healthy, so we decided to try to gt her off the proteins and on to a vegetable rich diet... Now my question is how do we maintain a healthy weight while feeding her vegetables? She still gets pellets and eats those as she always did but it wasn't enough for her weight before. My vet suggests only using Harrison's for everything but from reading here, a healthy diet is mostly fresh foods. She doesn't touch oatmeal, cheerios, rice, pasta, etc. I'll try barley. She will nibble on baked ziti and corn on the cob (but not niblets), no potato (sweet, white, or yam).

That's amazing! When we used to visit Took in the bird store, the other parrots, especially macaws, were chattering away already with a slew of phrases. That little guy is quite the friendly chatterbox!

Any suggestions on how to introduce new seasoning and flavors, or a good way to serve them?

It's been about a week now and she still has not touched anything with veggies except to throw it on the floor. Haven't given in and given her any additional protiens/meats that she loves (she picks the cheese off the bread & nut butter) and she has played with the shells but not touched the omlette- she is so stubborn! And now to add to this post- last night during dinner, for the first tme ever she flew over and begged for food from my plate (we were eating Memorial Day barbeque ribs). I gave her the tiniest piece then put her back by her cage and gave her a bunch of almonds and walnuts...and she never touched the vegetables

Interesting....Makes me wonder what their vision capacity is from front to back now. Nothing obstructs the vision behind them, but it likely has a limit (or does it).

What mash do you use and what's your recipe? Thanks!

I took your advice yesterday and she refused to eat. She threw the omlette (she has always preferred hard boiled), yelled, and didn;t even go near the bread! She was so cranky and kept nippy at me and telling me to feed her in that way that she does (generally she sits on my shoulder when i prepare her food, so yesterday she was constantly trying to come onto my shoulder and yelling at me when i woulnd't give her new food). I didn;t try to warm cereal because she had taken to that before even when my husband and i both eat it. By the end of the night, she had eaten nothing other than her pellets- and even those she mostly threw. I'll keep it up but when do i finally slip her food that she will eat? do i let her just eat the pellets until she finally eats vegetables/carbs as well? I'll be back tomorrow with the next report!

Thank you very much for the advice. And a especial thanks to Jayd and Spock for the joint effort to help me out. I guess little Took has me wrapped around her finger. As long as you are sure she won't starve herself waiting for soemthing better....I've tried that before and she had lost weight; she hardly ate for 3 days. Is there a particular seed blend that you recommend? I don't use one because I can't find one that she eats that does not include sunflower seeds and peanuts (hence the fresh foods and pellets only). Thank you again Greywings, Spock, and Jay (Tell him I hope he is resting up and will be back soon! We love both of you!) @Spock :Off topic completely- My husband and I are fanatical Trekkies (well, more for The Next Generation but Spock does make several appearences in books and shows as well as Sarak). Yes, we are the ultimate dorks, we go to to comic convention every year and have almost the complete novel series of the Next Generation- that is my husband's goal, that and Hulk comic #1. Your signature makes me proud everytime.

My CAG is a very picky eater. She does not like her vegetables, I've tried raw, steamed, grilled, cooked until mush. I've threaded them when possible, diced, chunks, etc. Tried sprinkling cayenne, cinnamon. She was underweight because she would refuse to eat unless it was something she liked, I've decided that any food at this point is better than her not eating. She loves proteins. Beef, chicken, veal, eggs, cheese, nuts, chickpeas etc- she will gobble up any proteins. And I've even tried vevegatble omlettes! She eats all the egg and spits out the vegetables! She does eat softened Harrison's pellets (let it sit in a little water for a half hour, becomes a mush- she will not touch it if they are hard). I know this is far from ideal but she has put weight on since I've just decided to feed her what she wants. She looks healthy. What essentials is she missing? If the answer is everything, I give up! Is high protein that awful? I don't what else to do to get her to eat vegetables. I've fed her while eating them myself off of a plate and a fork (she loves to eat from a fork), i've tried not sharing (she could care less!)-- she will get jealous and want it if the dog is eating it but then she will spit it out once she gets it. Sidenote: She loves fruit but I only give that to her rarely as a a treat (once or twice a week) and hate carbs (no pasta, rice, toast, oatmeal...not that is what she needs!).

That is excitng! Took is about the same age but she is a loooooonnnnnggg way off from using words, if ever. As other people have said, you learn to understand their parrotese- I know what a variety of her calls for different things (hungry sound, where are you going call, scott's home announcement, happy song, etc). Have a great time with "pretty bird" gabby!

We have only King Cages products because the King factory and warehouse is in walking distance to from my mothr-in-law's house. Richie King and his son are the nicest, friendliest people- they let you come into the warehouse and factory and teach you all about the products. Before we got Took, we went in there and he helped us decide what kind of bird to get and taught us so much. He spent two hours with us and we didn;t even have a bird yet so we weren't going to buy anything. He is a bird man all the way. We never bought from a different company but for us, it's supporting the local company, paying a little more but buying it from mom and pop usa rather than walmart.

Agreeing with MarcusCAG, the camaraderie here is warm and welcoming. Especially enjoyed is the humor between the good friends. Thank you!

We showed Took the youtube video of a parrot singing opera, we played it for her a couple times and sang along. That evening she was singing it on her own! She started singing randomly and does her own variation. One day I played some Vivaldi and within the first few notes she perked up and started singing along! Since then she sings almost everyday. I tried to get her to like rock with no luck. She doesn't seem to go for jazz either. Or electronica. But she has seemed interested in dancehall/reggeaton (go figure!), she was intently looking at the speakers when it came on. I'm not giving up! I'm a big various rock fan and I will find a at least one song she likes!! I'm thinking the Verve's Bittersweet Symphony- I'll try it when I get home.