Nickp

Hi, My name is Nick and i have one or two problems with my African Grey, Jasper. Jasper is about 7 now and is very healthy. We are a family of four, but Jasper has taken to me more than the others. He is very gentle with me, and i can handle him easily. The problem is he is quite hostile towards my parents and my sister. My father can handle him, but he has to be careful, where as my sister and mother can not get near him without him biting them. I am going traveling to New Zealand in September for a year and am very concerned that he will be left in his cage whilst i am away and not get any attention. What i am trying to do is get Jasper more friendly with everyone so he will get played with when i am away. I am sure that if we all put some time in with him then we can achieve this over the next few month, just i am at a loose how to start this. My second problem is that my parrot has very sharp claws. So much that i have to wear a jumper when handling or my arms get cut to ribbons. We have bought him a couple of perches that are supposed to file his claws off but they are not very effective. I want to file them myself but i don't want to put him under any stress, i.e under a towel. Finally my Parrot is very demanding. If he is not the centre of attention then he will throw out his water, then his food, then repeatedly bang his cage together until he gets what he wants. I would be very grateful if anyone can help me out, or point me in the right direction of some training material. Many thanks, Nick