JeffNOK

What a cheeky little imp Aoodi is! I love her spunk. She is a grey with a solid self esteem! Seems like she is thriving.

Clever little "devils" aren't they?? Glad all was well.

I have a travel carrier that is not especially big, but is about 21X18X21. It is not dark or enclosed like a typical pet carrier. I take Gracie to the park in it and she is fine. She can see all around her and feel the breeze and sun and keep an eye on me. It's been wonderful, and I think it would be fine for a couple of hours. It is the same one that luvparrots has and she has posted a video or two of her fids enjoying it outside if you care to hunt those older posts down to take a look-see.

I can't tell about the gender although your bird gives me a "female" vibe--but that is just an opinion which can't be confirmed without a DNA test. As far as age--your bird appears to have very dark eyes. If the pictures are an accurate representation, I would guess your bird is very young. Possibly younger than six months. Again, I am no expert. Others will offer their opinions. Good luck. Very sweet looking grey there!

A lot of recent research has shown that a chick staying with its parents longer is actually really good. Such greys are less prone to emotional and behavioral problems later in life. My grey stayed with her parents for 9 weeks before being taken. She had human contact during that time, however. In Europe this is becoming more common. A study called "The Influence of the Breeding Method on the Behaviour of Adult African Greys" by Schmid, Doherr, and Steiger found that greys who stayed with their parents 8 weeks or longer were the least likely to pluck, exhibit phobic or agressive behavior, or over-bond with their owners. The study showed that greys pulled before 2 weeks of age had the most problems followed by those pulled at 6 weeks. For some reason those pulled at 4 weeks did pretty well, but no group did as well as the one that stayed with their parents a full 8 weeks. Some have felt that pulling early makes for a tamer bird. I don't know. According to Jean Pattinson (a well known African Grey breeder from Florida known as the African Queen) there is no difference in tamness between the chicks she has pulled from day one or those pulled at 8 weeks. Good luck in your search. Don't rush things. Do your research and keep asking questions. I was on this forum a whole year before I got my grey. Slow and steady wins the race IMHO.

Thanks for posting. I love the 40s Big Band music. My grandfather had a huge collection, and we used to attend concerts of this type of music when we could before he died in 2000.

So glad you have joined us. Welcome to you and Apu!

It can take work--but building a relationship with an African Grey has such rewards. Thank you for sharing and keep us posted on your growing relationship.

Your post reminds me very much of the one I wrote after being gone for three days and leaving my CAG Gracie with my parents. When I got back Gracie was quite enamored with my father. I was jealous to be honest and had some of the worries you expressed. Since that time, I haven't noticed any lessening of the bond I have with Gracie. We were back to normal in about 2 days. She even said "I missed you Baby" last night. I only said that to her when I got back. I mean she heard it two times max.I think it is probably a good thing that our greys can show interest in and affection toward more than one person. There is so much out there saying greys are one person birds that it leads many of us to worry about losing our birds' affection when they show interest in anyone else. I think all is well with Alfie you and your son.

Lol--Gracie doesn't sing a whole lot. The only song she knows is "Jesus Loves Me" and she is just an awful singer! She sounds like a drunk Satan singing that--which is disconcerting on many levels. She likes to whistle and tends to compose her own variations on many tunes. It's a joy.

Gracie used to spend time at my parents' house with a senior Laborador Retriever and a tiny Toy Fox Terrier. The lab died in June at the age of 13. Her name was Bailey. Gracie was only 11 months at the time, and she wasn't really talking much. Well, back around Christmas Gracie was chattering and talking about Barkleah Doggy (the Toy Fox Terrier) and barking in perfect imitation. Then she stopped and said "Where is Bailey?". I was floored. It had been six months since Bailey's death and Gracie had never even said her name.

Nancy, I know what you mean. Gracis is similar in many ways. She likes people and loves their notice and laughter. She has won over all my friends and family who frankly didn't understand how one could connect with a bird.

I call my CAG Gracie: Honey Bunny Boo Gosh--how sickening! I promise I did this before I ever heard of "Honey Boo Boo"

Thanks for the story. I have a soft spot for Jardines. They were on my "short list" before I decided to get my CAG Gracie. Do you think Jardines and greys co-habitate well?

Looks like a fun toy and quite different from anything my CAG Gracie has at the moment. Let us know how the new version works out for ya. A nice review would be great.

You have clearly given Cricket a very loving and secure home. This has allowed her to have the confidence to reach out to others. I know she has a special place in your heart.

DogsBirdsFish: Your posts remind me quite a bit of myself when I started this journey. African Grey parrots were an unknown entity to me personally. I had read about them and watched them on youtube. I was in awe of what life with this bird could be, but had my concerns about what I could be getting myself into. I decided to get a young hand fed baby. I just didn't feel equipped to deal with the baggage that might come along with a rescue. I think I made the right decision at that point in my life (lol 16 long months ago!). Although things haven't been without challenges, I couldn't be happier. My CAG Gracie has been a joy and amazes me everyday. Over these 16 months, I have also changed. I have a love and understanding for African Greys in general now that I lacked before. Yes they are fun and smart and talk and whistle and amuse and bemuse and entertain and challenge. But somehow being part of this forum and living with a grey has opened my eyes and heart to the deeper waters of the African Grey species. I think I would be more open now to rescuing a grey who may have quite a bit of baggage. It is like a paradigm shift occurred within me where I'm not as focused on how cool it would be for ME to have a grey, but more about how fantastic these creatures are and how much need there is to provide them with a loving, safe, secure, and stimulating home. I don't know when I might be in a position to rescue a parrot, but I feel I could do it now. I'm not convinced I would have been as successful if i had started with a rescue. I have said all this to simply encourage you to search your heart and decide where you are in this journey. Getting a young hand fed baby grey might be a good place to start, and then after some time and experience--a rescue might work great. Keep us posted.

Is there an avian club in your area? That would be a good place to start. You also might contact local avian vets and post ads in their offices or ask them to keep an ear open to prospective adoptive parents. I'm sure Nashville or Memphis have resources of this kind. Take your time and vet each possibility carefully.

You know, I have watched some of the birdtrick videos. Some are fine. I don't really have a lot to criticise them for. That being said., I have only watched two or three and there may be some that demonstrate poor training methods. I understand now better why many people here have issues when it comes to birdtricks because of stealing from others and shameless marketing, though.

It would be nice to know more about you and what your expectations are in living with a parrot. The fact that you live in an apartment is an issue. A loud bird like a sun conure would be problematic. How much time do you think you would have to interact with your bird while caring for a new baby? I had virtually no bird experience when I got my grey and it has been wonderful--BUT no babies here! The suggestions given have been great. I don't think it would be out of the question to consider a green cheek conure or even a pionus parrot, or a poicephalus species like a senegal. All of those species like out of cage time and interaction, but are not overly loud or demanding. I don't think you can go wrong with a budgie, finch/canary (although not very bonded to humans generally), lovebird or cockatiel, but in order to know what fits your life best it is important to take stock of your wants and ability to devote your time to your new bird.

Lol Nancy--I know this sounds silly, but when Gracie started talking I wrote down all her words and phrases to keep a runnning tally. When I say 150 words I am counting little words like articles (a ,an the) and prepositions, too. It might be fairer to count the number of phrases/sentences she uses which is about 60-70 at this point. Also, some words come and go. I haven't heard her say "Gracie is a smartypants" in weeks. The meaningful phrases stick--the words that are more abstract tend to come and go. I do think she is brilliant, but then again I am an English teacher, so I have high expectations!

I live on my own, and although my CAG Gracie has been with family and friends while conversation is going on, so far she has not mimicked anything she heard from that. She speaks about 150 words (she is 20 months old) and all of that is from our interaction. Now she certainly babbles things that she does not use meaningfully , but for the major things in her life she does use words meaningfully: waking up, going to sleep, eating, playing with toys, kissing, touch, biting, tossing her food bowl, scratching, baths, stretching her wings, stepping up, going in and out of her cage, my coming and going to and from work, visitors by name coming and going etc.. I think its because from the very beginning I verbally narrated our lives together. I continually talk to her about what I am doing and what she is doing. I'm sure it would look odd to an outsider, but it is routine now and it has really paid off. I try to use simple English and always use the same expressions. Also, I don't use a lot of "I" and "You" but I use names like "Daddy go bye bye in car. Daddy go to work"--"Gracie hungry. Gracie go nite nite". She knows how to use language to describe her wants and our daily routine. I'm trying to think about other things to teach her because the basics have all been covered. I guess I could teach her each vegetable in her food bowl (now she just says "veggies"), colors, more action verbs....It is still early days.

My only advice would be to do whatever you can to avoid the bite. Biting can become a habit. When she flies to you, can you not duck or wave her away before she lands or nails you? Did you say you tried a perch for step-ups rather than your own arm? I just hate to see your frustration as well as the pain you must feel. If I were being bitten almost daily--I would be as hands off as possible until things settled. I have faith that you and Sassy can come to good terms, but this pattern has to be stopped and redirected in some way, or it may get worse.

Like Greywings, I have to admit I was a little concerned when I saw the bottle video. I'm definately not an expert, but at times he looked like he was having fun, and at other times he looked frightened. I guess it was when the bottle came at him from above that it seemed to cross a line. You know your bird, but I think Greywings play suggestions would be just as fun but won't run any risk of scaring your sweet grey.

Beautiful little grey! I'm so happy you have decided to open your heart to another parrot. Can't wait to hear more. Let us know when you have a name picked out.