JeffNOK

Wow! powerful image and a needed reminder.

Toes can be tempting. Lovely birds. Thanks!

Loved the vid. Cockatoos certainly show joy! My grey is more reserved. I dance and sing and try to engage her to join me and she just cocks her head and seems bemused and above it all. I did meet a dancing grey at the breeders where I got my CAG, but cockatoos take the prize. Fun video.

Are there bird clubs in your area or an avian vet you have contacted? Those would be good resources. As Katana said, this grey will be loved and cherished by someone out there. Just be selective and investigate potential applicants.

Hahn's have always intrigued me. I've heard they are the nippiest of the macaws. That is probably good, since a nip from a greenwing would do some major damage. Seems the bigger they get, the more gentle they are (are Scarlets an exception?). I don't know your Satan bird, but he is really cute. I hope he mellows with his hatchday!

Thank you Dan. I have been here for over two years and NEVER knew that. I had the impression that the "thanks" button had something to do with the green bars. Now I know and will indeed click on both. Now I understand both the reputation and the "yield" sign. I tend to shy away from clicking anything I don't understand, so you have done a service with this post. kudos--and I clicked on the reputation button for this post!

Luvparrots, I was initially excited by the prospect of crickets deterring brown recluses. I did a quick google search and it seems that the cricket is actually part of the brown recluse diet in addition to roaches. I may need to do further research, but it seems bringing crickets in may actually increase spider activity. I watched a horrible video of a brown recluse gorging itself on a cricket. Maybe the crickets also eat the spiders, but I haven't seen that yet. More research warranted. I am almost wishing I had never read this thread. I'll be checking my shoes and shaking my sheets out tonight before bed!

Such wonderful and insightful posts. Where do you get this stuff? Are you creating it? If so, you should start a business selling posters and refrigerator magnets with these musings from a sage grey. It really resonates.

I'm sure something eats them, but a brown recluse is a very nasty venomous thing, and I would guess most predators would stay clear. One bite from a brown recluse and almost any small animal would die. Humans die on occasion, and those that don't have deep wide scars caused by skin necrosis. The good thing is that brown recluse spiders are shy and avoid humans and activity. Bites happen when people step into shoes, reach into cabinets, or fail to shake their sheets out before putting them on the bed. Nearly every home in the Midwest has infestation if the construction is more than a few years old. I don't usually kill insects if I can avoid it, but when I see a Fiddle-back (another name) I don't hesitate. They are slow and dull and easy to squash. For every one you see, there are hundreds more in the walls and rafters. I'm getting creeped out just thinking about it. Thankfully I haven't seen one in several months. We have a truce at the moment.

Another baby TAG! Welcome to you and Thor! Greys are so wonderful.

I have read that the insecticide sprays for brown recluse spiders are actually quite ineffective. I live in Oklahoma, and we have lots of these critters. Small traps are actually recommended over sprays. Traps are not a threat to your fids. I recommend you look into this option rather than spraying. Sprays kill the spiders that are in the rooms, but most brown recluse spiders live between walls and in rafters. It doesn't kill them. Since the spray kills all insects, the brown recluses come back afterwards to prey on the other dead insects. It is a never ending battle. http://www.brown-recluse.com/traps.html

I was at a local pet outlet "Southern Agriculture" (I don't understand the name), and they have some birds for sale. They had two new additions, a cockatiel and a jenday conure. I spent a lot of time interacting with both. I can fully understand why these birds have warmed many hearts. Gracie has forbidden me from getting any new avian companions, but it is fun just to be around such sweet little birds--even if it just 20 minutes or so.

Nancy, thank you for sharing your feelings in this matter. Feelings are always legitimate. There is nothing to feel bad about. I have hope that you can find a solution. I do believe that when it comes to destructive behavior, there are ways to make the precious things safe. My sense is that this latest incident really hit a nerve with you, and you are still trying to process it. My hope of course is that you can find a way to keep Kiki until Sean is in a place where he can assume the responsibility. If that turns out to be impossible, then I know you will do what you need to do with everyone's best interest in mind. Again, I am not really writing this to give advice, but to let you know that I understand and will pray for wisdom for you in deciding what you need to do.

I can relate to your posts. When we first get a grey, I'm sure we all wonder whether they will be talkers or not. We wait for months. We bond and love them so much that we don't care anymore if they ever say one word. Then all of sudden it starts....then it just explodes. Gracie went from a 7-word vocabulary at 11 months to a 25-word vocabulary at 13 months to a current vocabulary of more than 170 words at 22 months. If it were just mindless mimicking, I think it might wear on me, but with greys words are tools and have meaning and they bond us together. I'm sure you will be posting more amazing things in the weeks and months to come, and I look forward to hearing about them all.

Glad it went better than you feared. Alfie sounds like a pretty stable little guy.

Glad to hear the update. You and Neytiri are in my prayers.

I am looking forward to following your journey and sharing it with you. I wrestled with the TAG? or CAG? question as well. I went back and forth. I ended up with a wonderful CAG and couldn't be happier. I'm sure you will be just as happy with your TAG. As everyone has said so far, generalizations are really of little help because they are such individuals. I was at a bird fair a few months back and listened to a breeder tell a prospective buyer that CAGs were mean and only liked one person. I had to approach and offer my experience which was completely different. Like Dayo (Dan's CAG) my CAG loves lots of people and is a sweetie. So much will depend on how you socialize your new family member. I'm sure that with love and patience, your little TAG will be a much loved and much loving member of the family. That doesn't mean it will be sunshine and roses every day, however. Even the sweetest greys will test you. I'm sure you are up for the challenge. Welcome, and please keep us posted. Since I don't have a TAG, I love hearing about them.

I was just listening to radio and praying about that event before I opened this thread. I will continue to pray. Sadly, these things seem to be happening more and more. It is hard to make sense of such things.

Cute pic. Be careful, your bird may start blogging soon and you never know what they might say.

Do budgies seem to know what they are saying? I've seen some amazing budgie talkers, but it always appears to be sort of rote things. Any of you budgie parronts have any insight into cognition? I'm sure they are smart little buggers, but is there evidence they use words to communicate?

Hi all. As you can tell from my screen name, I live in Oklahoma. For the past two days we have been hit hard. For those of us in "Tornado Alley", days like these are not uncommon in the spring. I am a teacher, and we decided to dismiss school after lunch, so that our students could get home and be in a safe place tuned into the news. I live in an upstairs condo, so Gracie and I decided to spend the last two nights at my parents' home which is more well-built. We cleared out two interior closets, one for my parents, and one for me, Gracie, and Barkleah the dog. Thankfully, my town was spared, but just over an hour down the road people have been devastated. I write to ask for your prayers for the people caught in the storm. I write to say that times like these put life into perspective. Whatever bumps in the road this forum has encountered in recent days, let's just love each other and remember how precious life is. Bless you all.

Beautiful pics. Gracie didn't start getting "exploratory" until about a year old. Sounds like he is very confident. As far as your contact call, it will come. It may just end up being a sentence, "I'm here, where are you?" I agree with your description of things= amazing! Believe it or not, it will get even more amazing.

OMG--this must have written by my Gracie. I need to keep her away from the computer!

Maggie, I don't think I have been silent. I have tried in many threads through the last year to comment and remind myself and others to maintain civility. I have never taken sides, but I have consistently made my thoughts known respectfully. If I have ever had an issue with anyone in this forum I have dealt with them privately rather than using a public thread. I would recommend that to anyone. I have not harped on this latest issue. This is my first comment regarding it. Moving on is the key, but sadly it seems that the forum "moves on" from one battle only to devolve into the same thing again days or weeks later. This is my forum, too, and I can't just act like this is ok. As a whole community we need to find a productive way to address it while maintaining everyone's personal dignity. My comment in this thread is not a personal attack on anyone. The fact that I felt compelled to speak so frankly is that I am sad and frustrated and past admonitions to "play nice" don't seem to change anything.

This has become a serious recurrent problem. I love this forum and all its members, but I am afraid that Grey Forums is in real danger of losing all credibility and respect if this is allowed to continue. Good people get run off of here with shocking regularity. I am here to stay because I love my grey and I want to continue to learn and even offer my advice if it can be helpful. Unfortunately, some members get so beat up that they justifiably remove themselves from the hostility. These dramas are not isolated events, and the level of sarcasm and outright abuse has reached a point that I cannot respect myself as a member here if I do not speak. I believe there is a large "silent majority" here who feel as I do.