Popsicle

I quite like this one too, hanging from the ceiling. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-MEDIUM-ROPE-HANGING-PARROT-STAND-ACTIVITY-CENTRE-/120746342809?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Birds&hash=item1c1d0af999

haha what a coincidence... your stand is exactly the one I said I found on ebay. It's this one, isn't it? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-WOODEN-PARROT-PLAY-PERCH-STAND-BUNGIE-LADDER-/120746342808?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Birds&hash=item1c1d0af998 It's really nice. Does Beau like it?

Haha Good one indeed. And thanks for clarifying the egg laying issue for me.

I had a thought... maybe spread a little bit of peanut butter or something else that he may like on the toy? To encourage him to chew it? lol Just an idea... I totally understand you want him to play with toys instead of items in the house. Think it's all down to training. Persistence eventually might pay off.

Ohh it does look like a good size. As I explained I'm still a bit in doubt cuz I wanna buy bigger but not sure if the place I live in accommodates anything bigger than the Haiti. The photo has helped me seeing the real size of it for the parrot. Seems good enough. Thanks a lot. I can't see your stand much but I think I've seen a similar one on ebay and I liked a lot. Where did you buy it? x

Maybe it's true that you can't teach them to like something but I'm sure you can encourage him to like it with positive reinforcement? Buy a wooden toy. Play with it in front of him, outside the cage, like some people said already. Maybe a couple times before putting it inside the cage. Or maybe even leave outside the cage for 2-3 days. Then try getting him to come close to the toy by offering him a treat. Play with the toy some more after it's in the cage and continue with the treats every time he touches the toy. He might get used to it and associate it as a good thing. Good luck and let us know if anything worked. Zak sounds like a tough customer. hehe

I've been thinking the same recently. I want a male. But I also wanna try and get a bird that has chosen me (regardless of the gender). However I worry about egg binding. I'm gonna have just one for now, but God knows about the future. I might get another one. Can I ask something quite stupid? Do female parrots by any chance lay eggs without having contact with a male? haha Even though it happens with chickens, I don't believe it's the same with parrots. I had 2 parrots and it never happened. Even though I truly believe one of them was female, I don't know for sure. I never had it tested. So decided to ask anyway. Sorry if I'm being silly. lol

Thanks for posting your answer again, chezron. Yesterday I was reading a magazine I received from The Parrot Society UK and again they were describing Greys as a one person parrot. This was one of the reasons I decided to create this survey. And it's been great to find out this "one person bird" statement is in most of the cases inaccurate. I know they will always pick a favourite person. But my main concern is that he would like me and hate my husband or vice versa. I know that can still happen, but I'm more hopeful it won't, considering most CAGs here like more than one person in the house. Fingers crossed!

The link works for me now too and I realised I have seen their website before, when I was looking for bird food. I did check on their contact info and they only mention Plymouth shops. Also checked in Google and they only appear in that area. Will call them tomorrow and ask if they have another shop somewhere else.

Thanks for the link, Jooles. Unfortunately it's not working right now but I'll keep trying. Another problem is the shop only exists in Plymouth which is quite far from London and even from Bristol. A shame. But I'll still check if my husband is up for a long trip. hehe Thanks again. x

Well said. Agree it's fine to use her techniques as long as we don't force our parrots to learn against their will. Making them comfortable and happy should always be our main objective.

I'm so pleased to hear you're happy with your choice. Cockatiels are very sweet indeed. Congratulations! And please post pics here when you can. x

Hi Jooles, Where is this shop you got Beau from? I'm always visiting my husband's family in Bristol. If the shop isn't too far from there I would love to pop in sometime and have a look at their birds. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who has a parrot or who knows someone who does. lol Funny I know. But my only source of help/info has been the forum. We're still not 100% sure when we are gonna get our Grey because we want to move to a bigger place first (which can happen at any point between now and December). So we have started looking for breeders, grabbing some information, prices, checking our best options, etc. Babies take over 3 months to wean anyway. Hopefully we'll find one that will fit right with our moving time. I'd love to see the photo of the cage, when possible. Looking forward to hearing more from you. Thanks! x

Hi all, I'm in London and I'm struggling to find breeders around here. Who would say, considering London is the biggest city in the UK. It looks like the biggest amount of breeders are more up north. As I have seen a few Brits here in the forum, I'd like to know if anyone know and recommend a breeder in south east or south west area of the UK. I appreciate any help.

I'm originally from Brazil. Parrots are as popular there as they are in the US. Even though I have been in the UK for a year only people I talk to don't know anyone who owns a parrot. And they all seem very surprised with our choice to have a parrot as a pet. I find it weird but my husband is British and he's the first to say they are not popular here. But God knows. lol However I have seen some people from the uk in the forum. So I will do what you suggested. Someone might be able to help.

That's great advice, Dave. Copied it to a file. Thanks! Unfortunately I'm in the UK and parrots are no longer popular pets here. Therefore it hasn't been easy finding breeders. I have found a few though. But I have no idea how I'm gonna find out whether they have good reputation or not. I purchased a Parrot Society Uk magazine with a list of "trusted" breeders. Might be receiving it soon. Hopefully it will help a little bit more. Do you happen to know anyone who could also help me with that? I'm in London.

That's interesting... would you mind telling me what I should be careful about when choosing a breeder and a bird, in order to avoid over breeding/genetic weaknesses? And if breeders say the birds are weaned in 14 weeks, how can I check whether they actually are or not? Thanks for your help, Dave!

Thanks for the explanation. But is chronic plucking just a habit or is it genetic? What makes a bird enjoy plucking no matter what you do to make him stop?

What makes a bird become a chronic plucker?

I saw many people talking here about the books Alex Studies and how amazing the book and Irene work with Alex is. Many probably won't agree with me but I have a few doubts about Irene's methods... Have any of you noticed Alex was a plucker and so is Griffin? I know parrots love stimulation and creative activities but sometimes I wonder if she "abuses" her birds too much in the name of science. I mean... no one likes studying/learning 24/7. At some time of the day they want to just relax, nap or play around and be silly. Of course I don't know whether she provides them fun time or not. But her birds don't look very healthy. So I am a bit weird about her. I'd rather my parrots not to know much and be happy then look miserable like hers do. Sorry if I'm upsetting anyone with my comment. And sounds like The African Grey Parrot handbook by Mattie Sue has great chances to be my next book. Thanks Zen's Mom. Anyone else agrees it's my best option?

As some of you may already know, I'm gonna get a baby Grey soon and I'm trying to prepare myself for it, learning everything possible. I'm not new to parrots. I've had 2 amazons and 2 parakeets before. But at the time I didn't understand much about birds. So I decided to do things right this time around. I'm currently reading "The Parrot Problem Solver by Barbara Heidenreich". I noticed no one mentioned it here. And unfortunately I didn't see this thread before I bought my first book. However, even though I think the author is sometimes repetitive and the book has some typing mistakes lol, overall I'm enjoying it. It's been great for me to understand more about why parrots behave the way they do and how to handle and train them properly. But I'm gonna be honest with you... I probably won't read all the books everyone mentioned here. Since I'm already reading one, which one do you think I should buy next? Which one would be more useful for my situation? Thanks a lot!

Thank you. That's what I was wondering if I should do. Moving to another place and then getting him distracted with something else or time out. I worry I'm gonna end up making him associate the bad habit/behaviour with getting something good (treats, toys or attention). My previous parrot did it with screaming. I didn't know about training at all at the time I had him so everytime he was screaming his lungs out (he was an Amazon) I'd give him a cracker to get him distracted and stop screaming. No surprise he learnt he would get a treat out of screaming and would scream every day early in the morning and evening. But I'm preparing myself a lot for this new parrot. So hopefully I won't make the same type of mistakes again.

Does Zak have foraging toys? It's always good to distract them with lots of toys and also rotate them so they don't get bored. I also think your idea of giving him breakfast only when you're off to work is good. (as long as he's not screaming of course, otherwise you'll be reinforcing the screaming). But I believe by doing that he will soon associate you leaving for work with something good (breakfast, treats, toys to play with). Hope it works well. Keep us updated.

Totally agree Dave. First of all we can't allow birds to be in situations that will be dangerous for them. Like kids, they also need limits. Also agree with Cupid that they need to be distracted with their own toys in order not to go play with something they shouldn't. But let's say we do turn our back for a minute and when we look, there they are doing something they shouldn't. How do we stop them in a nice way?

We all know parrots love chewing and that can be dangerous for them (i.e chewing cables). How should we train them to STOP doing those things, in a positive way? I know we have to always ignore bad behaviour and reward good behaviour. But if the parrot is doing something really wrong/dangerous you can't just ignore it. I've mainly read what we SHOULDN'T DO. Shouldn't shout because they will just shout back, shouldn't say NO because they don't understand, shouldn't hit the parrot because it hurts of course and also can encourage aggressive behaviour... haven't seen any good tips on how to proceed at the exact moment the parrot is doing something wrong. Get him to step up and remove him from what he's doing and then distract him with something else? Or what? And how do we teach them NOT to do that same thing again? This is a video I watched and made me want to create this thread. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ_-l1hD0U4 You can see the parrot starts getting a bit aggressive when the girl hits the work top. This is just a simple example. Any advices? Thanks.