BenzMama

Welcome! Poor little Linus ~ may he begin to improve & be back in his loving home soonest. I know y'all are worried sick. Please keep us updated on how he & you are doing.

Such a beauty! Congrats on your new little girl. Ruby is very recent in her new surroundings, so will ~ quite naturally ~ stick with the familiar things like her pellets. Just continue to offer new & different things, even in different forms such as cooked/raw. Also keep in mind that what she may dive into one day will find her turning up her beak at the next. When we rescued DH's Amazon, his diet for YEARS had consisted of french fries, peanut butter, a TBL of pellets each week & occasional bits of steak. As we introduced new & much better choices into his diet, we showed him they were good by taking a nibble ourselves & saying, "Tasty!" In no time, Sullivan was eager to sample the wider variety we provided. He really flourished in no time & the evidence was in his happy personality + feathers which went from totally dull to glistening. Give Ruby a bit of time to settle in to her new surroundings & routine so she won't feel rushed with adding training so soon after her arrival. There are some wonderful threads here in the forums with great tips when you do begin to train. Get to know her body language. My youngest Grey chews on her nails when faced with something unfamiliar ... just like some people bite their nails when under a bit of stress. We look forward to your progess reports on you & Ruby!

Yay! Another fid who found his muse via youtube. How funny!

"Jacks" are a game played with 10 of these shaped pieces & a ball. You toss them onto a flat surface, toss the ball up, grab 1 & catch the ball in the same hand as the jack after only 1 bounce. If you are successful at retrieving all 10 individually (called "one-sies") then you again toss them out & grab two (called "two-sies") ... and so on. If you miss, it's the other person's turn. The game continues until a player gets to "ten-sies" successfully to win. VERY old game that I learned to play 50+ yrs ago.

Our little foster, Dorian, is really starting to blossom in his interaction outside of his cage! Quiet observation inside the cage = 4+ months. Perching on cage door for rubs has quickly transitioned just since the past week or so. Now for the past few evenings, he has flown onto a nearby shoulder. Then on Fri he decided the foot toys (jacks) were too cool to pass up! No longer are they just enjoyed by Sweetie Pie & Toby. Our patience + his pace = great strides in going from observing to active participation. How cool is that?!

My little Sweetie Pie didn't speak until just the past 1-2 months ... at 3.5 years old! We figured it was from the trauma in her last household where she'd lived for 2.5 yrs as the former owners said she never spoke. So at just under 1 yr being a member of our family, imagine our surprise to hear her 'bray' out her name! She's gone from braying like a donkey (my Greys LOVE the old cartoons) to braying "Sweeeetie Piiiie" followed by clucking like a chicken. Her usual banter was braying & clucking, in that order ~ so she simply modified it to our great delight. We don't know why she finally began to speak. Perhaps she was just content to add other things ... such as barking exactly like our mini-Doxie & "Woooo!" which are frequently heard. To us, it never mattered. Perhaps it was the addition in early Sept of 2 more Greys (1 rescue; 1 foster) who are both good talkers. We've always provided repetitive phrases & such when talking to her, being sure to use the same word(s) & phrase(s) in situations. And maybe hearing "Sweetie Pie!" for the 1000th time made a connection. She has begun to practice other words that we haven't quite figured out as yet. And, yes, she also 'brays' them ~

Those little triangle-shaped holes look VERY familiar! Glad Timmy had a great time with his cup.

What a wonderful way to start the day ~ a spelling lesson! Great video & thanks so much for sharing.

Got 2 sched on me for early Tues, 1/25. My 3 Greys are gonna be a handful as their routines will be radically altered for a few weeks. Guess my Dearly Beloved will become eligible for 'Victim of the Month' during that time!

Lesson learned ~ do NOT stick my hand into Dorian's cage to give him a rub when there are 2 hospital bands around my L wrist! Unfortunately, they were put on Weds & must be worn for 2 scheduled surgeries on Tues. Rubs & scritches have been given with my R hand now as Dorian 'taught' me to be a quick learner. Using the L hand will make my finger bleed.

Poor baby! Sam had been 'conditioned' to know that an oven mitt meant something unpleasant was coming, so he responded in the only way he could ~ a bite! Unless Sam sees you wearing a mitt ALL the time, he will still make that association: mitt = unpleasant. Time & patience but without a mitt is the only thing that will recondition that behavior ... but it CAN be done.

Welcome! So glad y'all have opened up your hearts. Anxiously awaiting more into on your flock! The Training forum here has some wonderful info in the stickies at the top of the Forum, as well as shared info from other members in the subsequent forum threads.

What a handsome boy!

A warm welcome to both you & Greyson! One thing which has always impressed me is how our beloved Greys take depths of love to a whole new dimension, teaching us in the process. I'd like to believe Robyn spent her time with you filling your heart with enough love to still give even after she went to the Rainbow Bridge.

Welcome! So glad Paulie found a stable landing. She looks to be such a sweetheart.

'Foraging' it was, then! Perhaps I should toss in some little treats prior to turning over the toy box next time.

We keep clean boxes to stash treats/foot toys for our 3 Greys to forage in the bottoms of their cage. No surprise that Toby really 'played' this one to pieces. You should see him with a catalog!

Love reading about the joy you & Millie have brought to each other! Isn't it amazing how quickly we can be wrapped around a little talon? Eagerly awaiting more of your adventures ~

Can y'all believe that he was deemed 'unacceptable' by his former owner when he began to pluck his chest?! He's told numerous times daily in our home just what a handsome boy he truly is. Meanwhile, my little Sweetie Pie still keeps herself well plucked ~ but is still precious, despite the lack of being fully feathered.

As Toby was removing toys so he could 'play' with the box, he was scratching the carpet just like a chicken does in the yard. Bits of shredded box were flying, but he continued this behavior even after there were no more bits. Anybody familiar with this? We'd not seen him do it previously. He was scratching when this pic was taken:

Our foster, Dorian, has progressed by leaps & bounds in just the past 2 days! After 4.5 mos, he again came out of his cage the past 2 evenings ... only the 4th & 5th times since he joined us. He's our Grey who came from less than a happy background & had lost all trust. This evening, he not only climbed out onto his door but he flew down to the floor & immediately climbed up on my hip where I was laying!! Oh, happy day!! As he was being given lavish praise, he lowered his little head for more rubs. Guess since I went back to the floor playing with Toby rather than still standing by his door giving him scritches, he wanted more. It's been a long road trying to regain his trust in humans ~ but it looks like patience has its reward. He's in just the past month allowed me to scritch his head with my hand inside his cage. Now he came out & down to me for more. Just wanted to share his progress & remind anybody who is doubtful that their patience WILL pay off.

Give them toys & they'd rather 'play' with the box. Here is Toby having a large time ... after he got the toys out of his way so he could REALLY have fun. The aftermath wasn't pretty, but he had such a great time!

Hi & welcome! Sounds like you are making progress already. One of our 3 Greys is a foster we've had for just over 4 months now. Dorian is such a watchful little man out of necessity. He was relinquished due to being deemed less than perfect for minor plucking. When he was given over, he was in a small crate which was quickly shoved at the Foundation worker, along with a baggie of pellets & not much information. His 1st day with us included a long drive + a new cage in a totally unfamiliar environment. In the time we've had him, he has only come out of his cage 3 times on his own. We recognize that he was subjected to adverse conditions & treatment over time, so time is needed to overcome his fears. We progress at his pace. On a bright note, he doesn't say nearly as much all the hateful words/phrases he'd obviously had shouted at him from his prior home. Not saying your baby came from an adverse situation, just that time to adjust cannot be predicted. Please keep us posted with your progress!

Seeing love being given & shared always make for wonderful pics! Thank you for sharing.

After just over 1 yr of trying to find a successful & tolerable way of getting Jewel to bathe, we have success! She's my little 2-yr old plucker, so baths are so beneficial. I'd tried the tub again this evening, but she wasn't happy about it. Almost as a last resort, I happened to pick up a bath 'scrunchy' hanging above the tub. After wetting it thoroughly, I dribbled the water over her & all the while exclaimed, "Woooo! Feels gooood!" She stood still & tolerated that method very well. I was cautious to keep the water from off her head/face. Perhaps the stars were in proper alignment? Perhaps a fluke? No matter! It's progress & I'll revel in it.