Doug

That's pretty cool. Ellie gets banished to her cage if she goes after my keyboard or phone too many times. This stuff belongs to my employer, not me!

I travel a lot for business. Sometimes for a week or two at a time. Ellie is always hugely excited when I return. (Not quite as insane as the dogs, of course, but much more so than the children!) I work from the home, so it is more dramatic for her when I do go on a trip. (She doesn't have the daily departures of my going to the office during the day.) I'm sure that it will be difficult, but put away that guilt. (My wife was the same way with our kids when we'd go away for a long weekend on our anniversaries... The kids were always, "Yeah, whatever." or "Bring me something.") Tui will be just fine - it sounds like you have a good support system in place. Hopefully your mom & sisters will take some time to chat with Tui...

Ellie is ten months old. Hopefully my son will take over loving her when I depart this mortal coil...

That's an interesting shift! I guess you just need to talk to him during the day and love on him in the evening. I think he'll gradually accept that you're safe all day long... Another thought: do you dress differently during working hours? Could something in your clothing be startling?

Since Jeff got Gracie at the age of 4 months (and she is now 8 months), it should've been very easy to get her to accept handling. I think that he was a bit too cautious. Maybe I'm too pushy but I am constantly touching Ellie when she is with me - lightly grabbing her beak, rubbing her toes, putting my hand over her back. I think this helps develop acceptance in a situation where I have to hold her (to protect her or something).

You can usually find some peanut butter in the organic food section that is ONLY peanuts. No added oil, salt, sugar, or anything. More expensive, of course, but our little birds only eat a tiny amount at a time...

I am full of the jealousy! I've got to figure out where I can put up a batting cage... Wonderful pictures...

Nice! (And welcome to the forum!) I really enjoy seeing pictures of everyone's greys....

I feel silly for asking, buy have you just tried to see if Archie will step down onto the new perch? I haven't had a problem putting Ellie down anywhere in the house...

Ellie is most responsive to touch just before bedtime. When she's tired, she likes me to put my hand over her head while she sits on my stomach or a table. Ellie doesn't always ASK for scratches and sometimes she makes a little squawk when my hand gets close to her head. But I persist just to show her that I don't mean harm. Usually she acquiesces and enjoys it. If she still seems upset, I'll pull back my hand and talk to her soothingly. Gracie is very young, so it should be easy to get her to accept more contact.

I buy them from the grocery store. I guess that is what you mean by "human grade". The key is that the peanuts in the shell are ROASTED. High heat. I don't see how any fungus can live through that. There are three options for peanuts in the shell at the grocery store: (1) roasted & salted; (2) roasted & NOT salted; (3) raw. The raw would be used to make boiled peanuts (a Southern tradition). The risky peanuts are the third option since they have not been cooked.

Welcome to Fergie and yourself! My wife is quite jealous (jokingly?) of the fact that I am always calling Ellie "sweetie" and "baby"...

I've heard that parrots will NOT overeat.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that only applies to RAW peanuts. I buy ROASTED (unsalted) peanuts in the shell. The roasting kills any fungus.

Use vet wrap to cover all of the surfaces of the PVC (even the elbows and caps) since PVC is VERY slippery. I, personally, am starting to look for a relatively easy method to evenly grind/sand/cut the end of natural branch so I can firmly fit it into a PVC fitting so I can mix up my perches. For when I build my BIG play-stand for the basement TV room...

Wingy, KL31's design pumps the air from the bottom, through a filtration system and then back into the living room air. This pulls fresh air into the cage through the top. If there are enough holes at the top, especially on such a large enclosure, the air should be sufficiently fresh. If he/she encounters a prolonged power outage, then he/she should take the bird out of the cage and put it in the old cage, just to be sure.

FYI: there are two types of leg bands: "open" - crimps on and can be put on at any time in the bird's life; "closed" - a solid ring that must be put on when the bird is a baby.

I'm guessing that she is eating right away because you only give pellets at certain times. If you keep pellets in her bowl all the time, she will not be so greedy to eat. That way she will pick the times she wants to eat instead of following your times. I keep pellets in her bowl all the time. When they get low, I give the remainder to the dogs, clean the bowl and put in enough to cover the bottom. (I don't want them to get stale by putting in too much.) I guess I put in pellets every second or third day.

AKA flexible bandages (for pets!!) Petsmart: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4239986 Tractor Supply: http://www.tractorsupply.com/horse-wound-care/vetrap-bandaging-tape-4-in-w-x-5-yd-l-black-5051412 On and on... Any pet store or farm supply store will carry it. Since animals tend to chew on their bandages, this stuff is supposed to be safe for chewin'...

I guess I'll have to start shopping elsewhere. My local Kroger (grocery chain) doesn't have a salad bar...

Yes. This was just the tip of the cob which has the tiny kernels. She's already shredded the cob... When I give her a slice of the cob it takes her longer to tear it up...

That is so cool. I've seen too many postings on the internet to believe that humans know the difference, either...

I figured you'd have plenty of access to vet wrap in Kansas! Where in Kansas are you located? My parents are in Tonganoxie (between KC and Lawrence).

Ellie is more appreciative of my hard work than my kids were. As I've shown in a previous thread, I built a castle (with a sandbox and slides) for my kids and they only played with it if their friends wanted to... The castle at the end of the rainbow by shyzaboy, on Flickr

Vet wrap. You can get it at any pet store or farm supply store. It is designed to stick to itself and to NOT be toxic to animals that are likely to chew on their bandages... It comes in a huge variety of colors. It is cheap, easy to apply and provides grip. It allows me to do all kinds of cool stuff with PVC... Here are my play-stands (links to the pictures): Office (modified somewhat since the picture) Sunroom (modified somewhat since the picture) Window perch All of which use PVC and vet wrap...