BirdsAreGrey8

Judy that's an excellent site, I spent some time on there yesterday. I'm sure this is well known but Lowe's has a gold mine of cool toy making stuff. This plastic chain was $0.58 a foot and my Grey loves it! I bought 10ft and strung some in the cage and have a chain from the playtop to the floor so Duece can climb up it if he likes.

Welcome to the Grey forums! I would make sure you give equal attention and treat your first Grey as top priority. Meaning, feed him first, take him out of the cage first, etc.

Don't allow her to walk up your arm. Block her path with your other arm and keep repeating with consistency. It may take 40-50 attempts but she will take the hint. If you get her on your hand try lightly pinning her foot down with yuor thumb. Naturally she's going to be curious as to why you are doing that and will most likely react by biting. So grab a popsicle stick or other chewing toy to distract her while you are pinning the foot. I think she goes for the head or shoulder as a place of stabilization. Once you build the trust that your hand is steady and secure it'll be half the battle won. On another note, don't make it a habit of returning her to the cage. She may associate that as punishment and you may lose progress. It may not be a bad idea to give her a treat as soon as she gets on your arm.

You'll have more success with the step up training if you take them away from the cage area and into another room. Removing them from their comfort zone will make them more reliant on you for direction. Keep the sessions somewhat short and reward any effort they make towards stepping up. Aside from stroking their chest feathers which work for most people, Duece stepped up better for me when I lightly touched the top of his foot. As he lifted it I quickly got one finger underneath and before long he was doing two. Praise and always end the session on a good note even if not much progress was made. As far as the head flying goes, have you ever tried sticking your arm out as an alternative place to land? With some practice with the clicker training you might be able to fix that before long!

Fantastic and welcome to the forums!

Oh thank God! *Phew*

What's the base made out of? Wood & linoleum?

Awesome! Looks like you could store some treats in the car for food on the go as well!

That thing is huge and is touching the ceiling! That looks like way too easy access for your bird to get to the chain on that lamp and to the electrical wire running through it. Bird bites wire, fried bird, sparks land onto dry leaves, fire in the kitchen! Not good! Cut the tree in half and he'll have just as much fun with none of the danger.

Yep, saw that one. My favorite was when they found the dead cat flat as a piece of cardboard under the ladie's couch! The owner of course was oblivious to the cat even being dead and had thought it ran away nine years ago!

Yeah simple.. Come to a stop and let the fifty clowns out of your Mini Cooper and take the first exit out of the Circus tent!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Yogi that was too funny! You had me at "Hovered and dove in for the bite!" LMAO!

Judy's right; salted meats are a big no-no. My Grey prefers knuckles, thumbs, and index fingers.. especially if you catch him off guard while preening!

What a fantastic link Judy! Thank you! ^^Saved to favorites^^

The monkey tail is also known as a boing, FYI.

Good choice in cars and bike! I daily drive a '93 Mustang coupe. My toy is a '79 Monte Carlo w/540 big block and 300 shot of nitrous. '96 Chevy Silverado on 35's, and one '78 Cadillac all original with 34K miles.. that too has never seen rain and rarely gets driven. The girlfriend drives an '01 Mustang. The playstand looks good btw.

What a great after pic! Good job on the fast acting TAG!

Welcome to the boards Lady and what a cute bird! As mentioned by LuvParrots, Avianbiotech is a great site to get your bird DNA tested. I sent out a small blood sample by clipping a toe nail a tad short. I mailed it out and four days later I had the result. You can check the results online on their website and they will also send you an email confirmation. The cost was $19. I used a product called Kwik Stop to aide in stopping the bleeding and it works great for birds, cats, or dogs. Price= $10.

The natural twine is a good idea. Tomorrow I might go to Michaels to see what I can find.

I've been reading up on bird training and was curious if there were local stores that sell clickers. I went to PetSupermarket yesterday and they don't sell them. Is there another place to buy them besides online? :confused:

Oh very nice! But she lacks that good redneck look she had going before! You should put the "before" picture up. I saw it on the chipped thread you made.

It'll feel like a small eternity but it's well worth it. I like the name too, sounds like a good strong musclecar name. You'll have to take a pic of Shelby on your Shelby if ya have one!

I have a cat and a Grey. The cat I've had for a year and the new Grey is just 6mos old. I wouldn't take the chance even supervised of having the cat near the Grey because it just takes one sudden sound for the bird to take flight and you never know when a cat's natural instinct to chase and attack may occur. Be very, very, careful. If that doesn't make you think then look at it this way.. New cat cost: $40-$100 New African Grey cost: $1,000-$1,200 Me turning my "nice kitty" into Chinese food for hurting or killing my Grey= PRICELESS! Protect your investment, protect your friend.

I usually feed my bird sitters pizza as my parents refuse to eat the pellets I give my Grey!