JeffNOK

Congratulations on your new addition. I love the name Gracie--That's what I named my little girl. Keep us posted on her progress.

My first bird was a budgie. I find them highly underrated. They are gorgeous first of all. They have a zest for life and fun that is endearing, and if you take the time to nurture a relationship with them, they can bond as well as any parrot. Whenever I go to the pet shop to buy Gracie's pellets and toys, I always stop and visit the budgies.

There are several people on the forum who have rescued greys who are several years old. They will be able to offer the best assistance, but I will share a few thoughts. If the grey has not been hand raised or in much contact with humans, it will take more time to tame. Do you know the older birds history? Has it ever been a pet? Do people ever handle it? If it has never really connected with people it will require a lot of work and time and patience on your part to establish a bond. It may take months or even years. As far as talking, I don't think that would be affected much. I have read of adult wild caught greys leaning to talk very well. I am new to parrots myself, and I decided to get a young hand fed baby rather than an older bird because I feel it takes an experienced touch in most cases with untame birds. Getting a grey is a big decision. I was on this forum for a year before I got my grey. Are you considering this adult bird mainly because it is available now? If you really would prefer a younger tame bird, then one will become available in time. If you do decide on the older bird, then you will find support and information here. Just remember there is no rush. The more time you spend doing research before getting your bird the better for you and your companion grey.

Chezron. I have to confess I taught her the bomb! Oh well.

Is Bogey a Timneh or a Congo? From what I have read, most Timneh African greys say their first words at about 5-8 months. Congos start later--at about 12-18 months. They are all different. My Gracie (Congo) is 10 months old and she only says one phrase: "Wanna Step Up". Sometimes she says it clearly and sometimes not. She wolf whistles, makes a bomb droppping sound, does a perfect kissing noise when I tell her I love her,occassionally blows rasberries, and barks exactly like my parents' dog--but her human language is coming more slowly. Like Snoepgoed said, sometimes they will vocalize more when you are out of the room. With Gracie, I notice that she uses her vocalizations as contact calls. If I leave the room, I notice she goes through her whole repertoir of sounds. It's like: "Kiss, rasperry, wanna step up, bomb. wolf whistle...etc" Over and 0ver until I respond in kind or come back. Then she shuts up.

I'm in awe. You are my hero for the week. Talon mentioned that you are an inspiration for the gals without a man to do handywork. I need a woman like you to do such great work for me! I can't imagine being able to accomplish what you did. Kudos to you!

Stacyj--are you in South Yorkshire? I have a friend in Sheffield. Are you anywhere near there?

I'm glad he is doing better. His nostril didn't look too bad, but I understand how worried we parronts can be. He is a very sweet little guy. Loved the video just to see him in spite of the circumstances.

At this stage I would recommend that he only be out of his cage while you can keep an eye on him. I live in a one bedroom condo, so if I'm home, my CAG and I are in the same room. A big cage and lots of toys are good as long as he is not overwhelmed by lots of things in his cage. Before I brought my grey home I was advised to have just one or two toys in the cage at first. You can always rotate things in and out to keep him interested. As far as recorded speech for training, I think you will find most people on the forum are not in favor of such methods. Greys learn through meaningful social interaction with their people. Rather than using a recording, just interact with Bogey. Talk to him. Tell him what you are doing. Read to him. Sing to him. I think that will be more effective. Greys use words meaningfully. A recording without context or significance will likely be ignored. We are glad you are here and keep us posted on how things develop.

TWIX you live in a beautiful place. Your daughter is a very precious little girl. You grey looked very happy. Hope you had great day.

One of my best friends had a Canary for almost 20 years. For the first 10 years he thought Charlie was a male until "he" laid an egg. Despite the fact that it is rare for them to bond to humans, Charlie cuddled and enjoyed human contact very much. I guess you just never know. I love watching and listening to all the finch varieties. Little balls of feathered sunshine.

I have to say Jager is a very handsome boy! I don't have much advice to offer beyond what has been said, but I just want to encourage you that time, patience, love, and security will never fail you with a grey. Greys do pick favorites often, but there is no reason that your boyfriend cannot work toward a relationship of mutual respect and eventually friendship in time. The key is not to have a timetable, but to make to commitment and just stay the course with unconditional love. Best of luck!

Congratulations! What trust he has in you. This is just the beginning.

Congrats on your new fid. I know a woman who breeds caiques and I have met a few. They are spirited and fun. They seem to be quite different from greys, so it will be interesting to read your observations in the Caique room that is on its way.

My CAG Gracie gets about 7 hours out of cage time on average. I have read that the minimum is around 3-4. I work, so I try to spend a couple of hours with my CAG before work and then 5 or more hours after work. Tell us more about Bogey. Does he enjoy getting out of his cage, or is he still trying to get used to his surroundings?

I have asked myself the same question and have not found answers either. It seems that every year the American Kennel Club lists the most popular breed of dog. I suppose that comes from people who register their animals with the organization. I'm not sure how bird companions can be tracked with similar accuracy. I'd love to know.

He is a handsome guy. I'm glad you have decided to join the forum. Welcome.

Well, at least the CAG used the...uh...phrase... at the appropriate time. It is amazing how well the voice sounded. My Gracie also says, "wanna step up" but it doesn't sound like me. She is only 10 months old, so I assume the muscle development isn't quite there yet. Thanks for the laugh.

My CAG Gracie will be ten months old this week. So far Gracie makes all kinds of cute little noises and a few words, and she is starting to use them meaningfully. At first her repertoire was three things: a wolf whistle, a kissing noise, and a bomb dropping. In the last month she has added a dog bark and the phrase "wanna step up". The wolf whistle and kisses became her contact call right away, but lately she is starting to use her sounds in a seemingly intelligent way. First is the kissing sound. I have been trying to teach Gracie, "I love you". I used to say "I love you" and give her a kiss on the beak. Now whenever I say "I love you" she gives me a little kiss noise. I know it may just be a conditioned response, but it is cute as heck. The dog bark is also interesting. I house sat for my parents a couple of weeks ago, and Gracie spent four days in the company of a senior Labrador Retriever and young Toy Fox Terrier who was very interested in Gracie. She found him amusing as well. Anyway, after a day or two, I could hardly tell when the dog was barking or when Gracie was. What is interesting is that she seemed to learn his name "Barkleah". Now when I am home with Gracie and I say to her, "Barkleah Doggie" she starts barking. She sounds just like him. I think she really knows who Barkleah is and likes that noise he makes. Finally, Gracie has been using her one and only human phrase to make things happen. A few weeks ago she started to say "Step-up" and "Wanna Step up". Well she uses those phrases whenever she wants me to move her somewhere. She is fully flighted, but she has trouble landing on low surfaces. I usually feed her veggies in a small bowl on her travel cage. She isn't comfortable flying to that cage on her own, so whenever she wants to go to her travel cage or be returned to a playstand, she starts saying "wanna step up". She looks at me, looks at her veggie bowl and repeats "wanna step up" until I come get her. She also sometimes says it when I leave the room. I think she knows that "wanna step up" means that Daddy will appear. It just warms my heart. Anyway, I know these little things are nothing compared to what a lot of your greys do, but this is all new and exciting for me and makes me full of anticipation at what is to come.

You know it's funny. After the incident was finished I kept showing Gracie my bleeding finger hoping for some remorse, but she had none to give. As I said, we had our treat time and sang and whistled together, but I guess an apology was not in the offering. Dogs are so different. If they think they have done something wrong they become so apologetic and remorseful and give kisses and tail wags to be sure the relationship is restored. With Gracie it was more like--"Let's just forget this happened, but I stand by my bite". Ahh the world of Greys.

I have had my CAG Gracie for about 5 months. I love her to death and we are getting very close. When I first got her she would occassionally bite/nip me. She hasn't even nipped in the last couple of months. What I thought were "bites" before, I realize were nothing at all! Tonight she was playing on a rope net that I got her recently. She loves it. It has little wodden blocks woven into it, and she loves climbing all over it. Well, this time she got tangled up in it. Her feet were caught in the webbing and her neck was wrapped up in the rope. She started to panic and I went to help her.She stepped up, but somehow I just couldn't figure out how to untangle her. She was struggling and I feared she might strangle herself so I got some scissors to cut the rope and free her. That just scared her more and as I tried to cut the rope she bit the BEJESSUS out of my finger! To say that this was a hard bite would be an understatement. It almost brought me to my knees. Somehow as I pulled my hand away, I also pulled Gracie out her tangled mess and she was free. My finger looks like a bleeding over-ripe plum. OMG! I had no idea she was capable of that! I know it was fear and afterwards I gave her lots of treats and we sang and whistled together. Everything is fine, but....WOW! Who knew? I think I can now safely join the "parrot bite me" club. I've earned it.

Kins, As far as Perry. Well, I literally brought him home and he was gone the next morning. We never got a chance to get to know each other. I ended up getting another budgie named Sprite who lived 10 years.

Amit: I'm relatively new here myself, and before getting my Congo Grey I did a lot of research like you. Joining this forum was the best thing I did. You say that you are willing to whatever your prospective grey needs to be happy. I don't doubt that a bit. I''m sure you have read over and over that a grey needs a minimum of four hours out of cage time daily. That's minimum--not ideal. From what you have written, it seems you can arrange your schedule to provide 3 hours daily. Can you think how you get that extra hour every single day? You mentioned a neighbor coming over. Would that be every day? Can you take your bird to work? Just really try to find that minimum if at all possible.

I've actually taken her to parks etc in a travel cage that is more open to the world. I haven't used the pak-o-bird since Christmas, but with the trust we have built since then I think she would go into it. It's just her acceptance of other people I want to work on.

There was an anecdotal study done with a small sample that indicated that male CAGs did switch bonds 63% of the time while female CAGs switched bonds 16% of the time. This was not observed with TAGs/ The sample was small and would not stand up to scientific scruitiny, but it did indicate that CAG males in particular do often switch bonds. The article below discussed this phenomenon. I'm single and live alone with my CAG, so my fid has no choice really, but we can't control who they bond with. It's a mystery. http://www.africangreys.com/articles/greys/species.htm