Echos_Peeps

Ok...here we go... Echoe was clipped when we got her, in June of 2011. I am sure her flight feathers are growing and i realize it may take another year before she has them back completely. I do not want to clip her again, but our house is small. lots of windows, a cat, many turns, etc. I think she can handle it, but does anyone have any thoughts about the safety of that decision?

Thankx fidsandfrats..Echoe is involved in the eveyday life of the whole flock as well, including our cat, Dasche, tho usually its to fuss him. I was worried that she wasn't a snuggle bunny. I realize now that she may never be, but I can see now she feels a part of the family. She's a bit jumpy, but not about other people, not even people walking on the street. I think i was seeing socializing as her being super friendly. I get it now.

Welcome Sophie, this is a great forum. It took our Echoe a few months to completely adjust when we got her home, and still she acts as if at any moment somethings gonna jump from the woodwork and rip her to pieces. I have learned and been shown that the best thing to do is to let her tell you when and what she wants. I totally think that the minute I changed my attitude from "doing whats best for Echoe" and listening to "what's best for Echoe" she completly picked up on that. today my girl is the happiest and most relaxed ive seen her. she was totally picking up on my stress about her well being and then getting stressed. they are such perceptiive intellegent birds.....

nice perch! Ive tried my hand at acouple. but Echoe thinks they will come to life and eat her alive,,, still though, I will have to try this one. Thankx!

awesome toys. thank you for the idea! i will attempt my own this week!

Thanks again Judy! I do know her, better than I thought. It is a relief to kno I can just leave her be her. I did need to hear that from someone tho, i wasnt sure on my own. research only made it feel like I wasnt doing enough.....

Judy, I love that you are always there to answer. I needed a good kick in the butt. I am practicing being less pushy with her. Actually training is training me that. She gets only about 15 minutes once or twice a day, and I am learning much more than she is. I don't mean to push her, but in trying to do things i think she needs or give her things she needs, i end up freaking her out. it really isn't helping the trust issue. I can back off. no prob as long as i am not unintentionally neglecting any emotional or pychological need she may have. I love hearing that some greys are perch potatoes. I can certainly live with that as long as its something that she is happy with and not something I should be trying to discourage. I want her to do what she wants and to be happy. if socialization is about household interaction, than she gets enough of that certainly, even from the family cat. she should not become a one person bird. she loves visitors actually, and even whistles and calls to the school kids as they walk home from the bus stops. she recently got to see a flock of robins foraging in the front yard. that freaked her out alot more that the occasional visit from the UPS guy!LOL well great then! Echoe is a okay!! im not in advertantly making my girl miserable!! she will only become more happy now as I stop trying to make her happy and just let her be happy!!! Thank you Thank you!!

Hey again. Any thoughts and advice on how to get your grey to socialize more. My girl is a bit standoffish and doesn't like to be touched. She is only eleven months old. as she gets older, will she be more socialble especially if we just keep treating her like shes a member of the family? i interact more with her that any one else in the house. she knows my routine better than myself..... still would love it if she was more confident and willing to please her self, like if she wants to sit on the soft blanket on the sofa, she just decides to do it.. I know she isn't a kitty,but heck, id be willing to give her that much freedom if she chose. Thankx

Hey thank you Judy for the reply. I barely remember posting this. I must of been working nights and was a bit out of it. I have recently changed Echoe's diet. She was getting lots of seeds and stuff, but I put more effort in and now shes gets lots of fresh veggies and friuts daily. she is also on pellets now. seeds rarely and as a snack. i am watching the junk food to. she seems to like her new food. the feather picking has slowed down, tho im still finding those little small chest feathers in my broom dust. Count them daily actually. one or two. one today. she's not excessively preening but Im worried if she doesnt decide to like showers again, shes gonna start pulling out more. even a gently high mist from a bottle has her shying away. i tried a bowl of water too. not buying it. she s a character i tell you.

guys just realiΩed I posted about Echoe not long ago. Sorry. Its been a crazy month and I must have forgotten. In that post she seemed to be doing well. She still is. I jsut been doing lots of reading nad youtube watching, mainly birdtricks.com and wow am I so far behind. so still advice is appreciated. thank you again and sorry for reposting that update!

Hey everyone. I have posted before but its been a while. We have had Echoe living with us since last June and I still feel lost where she is concerned. I feel so ridiculously inadequate for this sweet bird. I have researched relentlessly on how to feed her and how to interact with her, but I swear that bird has a mind of her own. For example I was told that Greys need lots of toys. She hates her toys, afraid of most of them and any accidental interest is short lived. I was told lots of fresh water....they need water water water. I see her drink maybe once a day and thats usually when im stressed enough about it that I fill a glass and offer it to her she has complete freedom during the day when we are home, three perching areas, one on the top of the kitchen cabinet door, unlimited access to the whole house. she sits all day. I put her on the floor she paces back and forth and stared longinly at one of her perches, i put her on the counter, she attacks something for a moment then askes to be reperched. she used to love showers. after the last one, where she was on her perch and played and played and got super wet, she now refuses to go near the water. any water except the infrequent drink. thats been two weeks. I try every day, never forcing her I know I suck with her cause Im alittle aggressive, not a quiet person, not slow, but I make an effort to gain this kiddos trust daily. I talk to her, train her with the clicker thing, but she still wont be touched and nips often. i know they are all differnt but is she getting enough? Is she happy? what can I do to be sure she is ok? Its like haveing a newborn and i am overwhelmed. How long before she is comfortable enough to become queen of the house? socialization, is that something I can teach her even at 11 mos even tho she is in our presence in one form or another for hours daily, how much more to do to socialize her. Thankyou guys for any advice.

Wish Echoe would French kiss. Lol

WOW how old is slater? Echoe is not interested in being so active....i admit i dont have a wonderful play area but she has the whole house. i offer her the counter with toys, her own drawer, toys on her perch, etc.she seems happy to veg on her perch. is this her age? shes only 11 mos

Shes doing good. It's been a year almost and shes at 11 ou (325 gr) she has integrated with the house, even the cat, but no touching! omg no touching. Im trying training by birdtricks.com but just startng. I had her on a seed grain diet, she is now on pellets. i also changed her schedule toget her on a training diet, but she is quite hard headed and refuses to eat in the evenings since she is used to foraging and stuffing herself during the day and eating tasty treats at night, namely popcorn and chips. I know, we love to love her even if its not good for her. hey at least the popcorn is air popped none of that nasty fat! any way, no more bad snacks. shes crazy tho. very independent and does nothing bird people say she should do.. she plays with no toys I can see, except a shredable ball i stuff with chili peppers and seed ball. she drinks water maybe once a day., no mattter how many times i wash the bowls and refill them. LOVES the empty pouches from Koolaid drink mixes, the small 16 ou ones. will beg for them..other than that, straws may intice her. she is constantly in our presence, tho, always about,so maybe our normal nuttiness keeps her intertained, however, i noticed shes pulling feathers every once and awhile and loving chewing the hell out of them...any comments on that? shes not plucking tho..except for the funny black on the end of her tail, shes gorgeous. i love her to death. its like having a baby in the house. i worry so much about her. cant come home from working nights without checking on her...baby girl...anyway she seems happy.....sings, eats....she is saying stuff too, its just not clear what....lol. later! V

For cookies and stuff. Glass and aluminum Cooke. Sheet. Heck a cast iron skillet will bake cookies.

Try cast iron. It's the it non stick but basically doesn't stick. I have used it since getting my baby girl Echoe. Love it much better tan any non stick. Taste better. Just check the Net on how to season te pans.

Thank u Ray!

Hi everyone. I haven't had much chance to post since we first got Echoe. She appears to be ok but I have to say I worry constantly about this bird. Is she eating enough? Is she eating right? Will using the flat iron kill her? Is she getting enough light where here cage is? It's crazy! Lol! Like having a newborn in the house. Any way that's the update. Here are the questions She exhibits lots of behavior that tells me she feels more secure. The beak grinding the preening. She sings whistles and makes all sorts of noises. But she hates coming out of her cage. Always a hassle! And she bites every hand that comes close every time. We just ignore it and try not to pull away tho she hurts sometimes. And she will step up on her own but mostly you have to make her. We went on vacation for a weekend and it was essential she step up when we said. She bit but we had to insist. She stepped up every time but it wasn't pleasant How do we get her to stop biting? And All that time she likes staying alone in her cage, is that ok? She is in my daughters room, kinda isolated, but we go in every ten minutes or so, talk to her and try to get her to step up so we can move her to her perch out in the LR. And get fussed and bit. Only when she wants out is she even close to nice about it. She is four months now and the biting and shyness is worrying me. I don't want her developing bad behaviors. We just keep talking and interacting with her. Is making her get out her cage and onto her perch in the living room the right thing to do? We want to love her, cuddle her and give her all that attention greys supposedly crave, but she hates to be touched and will have none of it. My daughter is much more tolerated than my husband and myself. She gets kisses and sometimes can pet her. I'm starting to think we need to move her to a more hi traffic area in the house to deter her from her self imposed isolation. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Hellow everyone! Echo is still in no touch me mode but she was vocalizing alot yesterday so I am hoping shes relaxing some. We have backed off and taking it much slower. hope everyone has a great day

Thank you for the quick reply, Judygram! Yes, we were told she was weaned and I am reading thru the threads. I actually joined the forum and have been reading two days before she came home. She is loving her bird bread right now and i think i am going to fix her some oatmeal. she is offered her pellets and other foods, but just nibbles at those. Yes she is very upset with being petted and we have backed off. We should of immediately, i know, but thought not interacting with her would actually cause her to not ever want to interact. I hope we didn't push her to far. Today she just wants to be left alone and screams when my daughter leaves the room. She has been doing most of the interacting with her and has spent the last two evenings with her on her lap watching TV. Echo even cuddled up under the blankets for awhile, hiding from us. We put her to bed after that, thinking she was tired. She seemed to be getting used to us, but today shes like a baby whos been overstimulated..Shes having a FIT!! lol.. I told my daughter to just let Echo do what she wants to do today and spend her time talking to her instead of trying to get her to walk with her, cuddling her or moving her from cage to perch. I will keep reading and so will my daughter. My husband is helping out alot too. Thx again.

Hi everyone! We recently adopted a beautiful baby girl CAG and have named her Echo. We are complete noobies regarding parrots and are handling her as gently as we can but feel like new parents with a newborn. She seems to be a bit afraid of us, growling and shrieking when we approach or try to pet her, but she is eating, has passed her wellness check at the vet, and even plays alittle with her toys, tho mostly she just eyes us from the cage or her perch. She was stepping up the first few days we had her, but this morning is refusing any interaction. my feeling is to just leave her be for today. Feed her, talk to her but shes had a trying four days and my daughter says she isn't sleeping much at night, but she can hear her playing with toys and munching on pellets. Any suggestions on how to make her feel more comfortable? is it ok to just let her be for a day? Let her do what she wants and limit our contact with her? Thanks to all for any comments! BTW, We were told that Echo was completely weaned. My vet, an exotic pet and bird vet only, said to make her a batch of birdie bread and let her eat that along with pellets because she may revert alittle due to the stress. She is eating the bread like a madgirl. She attempts the pellets and has nibbled broccoli and a couple of grapes.