Doug

I've been thinking about that. Maybe cutting thin strips and braiding them?

Did you use the same scale at the store that you are using at home? Unless you have a precision, calibrated scale, you will see variation between scales and between readings. I've noticed that, with human scales ("bathroom" scales), they vary so much from one reading to the next that many "remember" the last reading and repeat that if the next reading is within a certain percentage. (Yes, I've done some testing - this kind of thing is entertainment for engineers...)

Too funny!

That is just unbelievable. Wow. Just wow... I've never heard of such a thing. I'm so sorry for your loss.

That woke Ellie up from her nap! She was fascinated! He's really a good talker. How old is he?

I gave her some heated, mashed, cooked carrot this morning. She did the gulping bit, but realized that she had to scrape it off of the spoon - and then went back to the gulping motion... She seemed to enjoy it. I am just worried that I might baby her too much. (Especially given her multiple-times-daily demands to be babied...)

She's very cooperative to the photo sessions - I take a LOT of pictures before I pick one to post. (Probably a 10:1 factor...) So Ellie is very tolerant of the flash... Although... in the last picture, on the jungle gym pile-of-sticks, she got bored with my picture-taking and flew over and landed on my head. I had just put her back when I took this picture... My sister and husband (live in San Antonio, TX, but moving to Charlottesville, VA in the summer) came to visit today. Kelleigh told them that the couldn't go to the basement because of my huge pile of sticks. (It was really because the basement is a mess EVERYWHERE...)

I'll be wanting some Ellie glass... What kind of glasswork do you do?

I clicked... He's a sweetie!

Judy, Do you make oatmeal just for your birds? Or do you give them some you are making for yourself? I ask because I'd rather eat mustard greens for breakfast (which I was part of my breakfast this morning) than eat oatmeal... I'm a savory kind of guy...

Oops! Sorry about my assumption, C.J.! If the cage will not fit under the seat in front of you, you will have to purchase a ticket for an additional seat. (If the plane is not full - always check-in on-line and select your seat if possible so you can TRY to get an empty seat next to you - you can put the cage in the seat next to you once the plane is above the limit where they let you remove your seatbelt.) I may not know much about greys yet, but I am a VERY frequent flyer... I love O'ahu and I'm envious of you!

Very sweet little guy! Thanks for the pix!

Thanks! I have a Canon Rebel T1i with a Canon 15-85 mm lens. (The picture with her on my stomach is with my pocket camera, though...) I see you've added DJ to your sig. Let's see some more pix...

Ellie is the only one that doesn't complain loudly when I sing. She complains quietly...

That was so long ago, I'm not really sure. I regretted it when I did. Bali (the female) never became terribly tame and Zippy just wanted to be with her - and since she didn't want to be with me... I purchased both cockatiels at Wal-Mart and they were NOT hand-raised. I did about everything wrong back then, which is why I've spent so much time trying to research grey care (before I got Ellie and on-going...)

With Ellie, I gradually introduced her to it. I let her sit on the shower curtain bar a number of times before I brought her into the shower. Then, for a few days, I brought her close to the shower stream and she would bite the water. Then, for a few days, I'd put her partially in the shower stream. Initially she'd try to climb away (up my arm), but now she just stands on my finger. (I hold on to her feet, though, since the pressure from the shower can make her feel unstable.)

Pictures please! I am looking for inspiration....

I've noticed that I don't get pooped on quite as often as I used to... Ellie holds her poop at night until I take her out of her cage (and then it is a MASSIVE dump) but she's never given me the same respect as she's given her cage. But she's getting better. Sometimes when she's on my shoulder when I'm in my office, she'll hop to the back of my chair, aim over the edge, poop, and hop back on my shoulder. At least then the poop is on the floor and not on me! I wonder how difficult it is to get them to hold it for a bit longer when their not in their cage... Whenever I take her out of the cage, I hold her over a specific area and tell her to go potty. Typically she'll go but sometimes it isn't too quick. Of course, she doesn't always cooperate - I can wait a minute or two with no results, start carrying her across the room and BOMBS AWAY! Ugh...

I am definitely thankful. She's such a sweetheart! I understand that they tend to get less cuddly as they get older. Maybe Ellie will be the exception, but I'm not counting on it, so I'm enjoying what I have while I have it! When I was in grad school, and for some years afterwards, I had a cockatiel, Zippy. Before I bought a mate for him, he used to sit on my shoulder while I was studying (or grading papers) and tuck his head under my earlobe and just chill. That was so sweet. Of course, once he had a birdie babe of his very own, he didn't have much time for me...

Thanks! It IS really sweet when she sleeps on my big ol' belly, but it is also really a pain in the butt since I am supposed to be working... Especially since she wants to do it EVERY day... I REALLY love it when she is almost ready for bed and wants me to hold her on my chest/belly and scratch her head. Tonight it only went on for about twenty minutes, but she was ready to go to bed. She tried to fly back to her cage, but wasn't sure of the route and she only made it part of the way. (We were in the basement - see the last picture above.)

My breeder sent Ellie home at just over 15 weeks.

If I feed her with a syringe, what do I put in it? Is that something that you are still doing, Nancy? How often?

Just make sure there are pellets in the bowl all the time (check once a day for freshness...) Your bird will decide how much he/she wants to eat. Don't worry - it won't overeat. Good luck with your NEW new baby...

I've never feed her oatmeal or something like baby food, from a spoon or something. Of course, I've give her food by hand every day, but that is veggies, nuts & fruit.

I first started thinking about it when I noticed that Ellie's right foot is a different color than her left foot. I wondered if something was wrong, but started watching how she used her feet and noticed that she always eats with her right foot. I guess it is just a bit stained from carrots and peppers and such...