brianlinkles

What a great opportunity to be able to take Gracie with you to work! That will be a wonderful experience for both Gracie and you! (not to mention your students) I do love that book that I mentioned, they had a handful with their bird. She was a wild caught grey that was given to them years ago. It is a fun book to read, I am sure that you are going to have way less problems with your Gracie! (I love that name by the way!) I read the book when I was waiting for Dorothy to come home, I couldn't decide if it scared me or got me even more excited to bring her home! We need to see some more pictures of Gracie! It is great that you are going to visit her daily, that is going to do lots to help with the bonding! Trust me, as much as Dorothy can be a cuddler at times, she can be a handful as well! I think that is just a normal situation with baby greys, they are inquisitive (I too think it shows intelligience! Is she making lots of noises when you talk to her? I know it is way too early for them to speak but I love when they make all the different noises as we talk to them!)

Jeffnok, Gracie's behavior seems totally normal for a grey. This is one of the reasons that my breeder is in favor of letting a baby fledge and then giving it a small clip. It makes for an easier time training. I'm not sure if you are going to end up getting Gracie clipped, in fact I was going to take Dorothy in to clip her yesterday and then decided against it. However I am bringing her in tomorrow for her clip. I may let her grow out her wings after that however I think for now it will make it easier. Some birds are more cuddly, some more independant just like people. You have plenty of time to bond with Gracie. I know it is controversial however this is one of the reasons that I decided to bring Dorothy home while still formula feeding. I'm not saying that you should do this, however it has allowed me to snuggle and pet Dorothy all over, it is easy to do this right after her feeding. She is quiet and loves to get wrapped in a little blanket, I then pet her everywhere as many greys have problems being touched under their wings etc. This allows them to be handled at the vet or for clips etc. I took the advice of the breeder and made sure that even while snuggling we made it a teaching moment! I would have been irate if someone grabbed my bird and said those things to me! I think you handled it better than I would have! One of the things that my breeder told me was that I should make sure to allow Dorothy alone time in her cage. He said that feeding her,snuggling then allow her to occupy herself in he cage (lots of toys, different textures etc.) Then time out of the cage again maybe around 3pm (she is very perky then) Then once again time to occupy herself in the cage alone. She gets another feeding more snuggling then in the evening we play on the floor with toys etc. In between I do sit in front of her cage with the door open and talk and talk to her! I let her crawl out of her cage to he playtop and I give her time on her playstand/tree. My breeder thinks it is important to make sure in the first year that the bird learns to occupy themselves in the cage. Many people in their excitement bring home the babies, give them sooooo much attention then real life kicks in , there is not that same amount of time that is able to be given and the bird turns into a screamer, plucker etc. I have trusted everything that they have told me and I have to say it has worked out great! When Gracie comes home gets used to being with you and your home schedule etc. she will blossom! However do remember birds are like people many different personalities! One of my favorite greys of all time is a girl at the breeder. Her name is Boomer, she walks all over, greet people, will let anyone pick her up. She is also independant. She travels all over the tops of the other birds cages! She has a great personality, she goes out exploring but then comes back for a scratch or two! There is a great book about a grey names Gracie. It's called: Winging it . Have you read it? It is funny, it is a memoir of bringing up an african grey. Now this Gracie is a handful, your baby sounds just like most greys her age!

Wingy has a great idea! We kind of did the same thing. We have two dogs (although very small) a chihuahua (sweetest little chi in the world, mommy to any animal even our old great dane who passed away a few years ago) and we have a chinese crested (timid and gentle) we also have a HUGE cat, he is declawed and very laid back. When we brought Dorothy home, we did exactly what Wingy said and let the dogs out then brought them in and fed them. The dogs and the cats bowls are close to Dorothy's cage. She got to observe them while they really didn't even realize she was there. Her cage had been set up for weeks so they didn't even notice her in the cage! Once they finally did, she already had the chance to kind of observe them. Of course our dogs are so small that I don't think that they were very intimidating. Many times when Dorothy is snuggling on my lap, Pia the crested will come up and sniff, try to lick her chest after she has spilled a little formula on her feathers and they are still wet from me trying to clean them. Since Pia only has hair on the top of her head, Dorothy thinks his is meant for preening. Today she did grab Pia's ear in her beak gently, Pia looked confused however just sat there with her ear in Dorothy's beak. It was funny! However I wouldn't allow them to get close like that normally but since everyone was kind of on my lap, I felt in control. Another thing that we have been doing is laying out a beach towel, putting Dorothys toys down on it, she crawls around and the dogs watch her. Ruby our chi, is very protective so if the cat even tries to come close she jumps up and chases him away. Rusty our cat is curious, he will sit and look at her in her cage, Cat saliva is very deadly for birds. You must be very careful that the cat doesn't nip at your baby. When Dorothy is out and Rusty is around I am careful even though he doesn't seem very interested, I would rather be safe than sorry! He kinds of just watches her for a few minutes, gets bored and goes off and naps. I do think the video idea is awesome! This will give everyone a chance to get to know each other a little bit first!

I will try and get a picture of her tomorrow with her bib. I should then try and get a pic after she is covered in formula! I did have experience with our little linnie however we are also relatively new to birds (about 6 mos.) I do understand though, I am a stay at home mom so I am able to do the feedings. I guess part of me was just concerned that at 15 weeks Dorothy was starting to wean herself and your baby was coming home so much later and was going to be fed formula for so much longer. I guess I was wondering if Dorothy was starting to wean too early. However I feel better that it sounds like your little girl as well as jeffnoks are all doing similar things at similar times as Dorothy. I hope I learn to calm down and just relax! I do go with my breeders recommendations as well so I totally understand! My breeder also feels that young birds should fledge (so important with clumsy greys) and then they should be clipped. They also agree that it makes training the young birds much easier! I just guess I was cuddling with Dorothy this morning and I felt guilty. However after ducking and chasing her around tonight I think my husband and I are going to take her on Saturday to get a small clip. All of my breeders birds are flighted, they are trained so well, it is amazing! I would love to eventually do that as well! It is awesome to see her fly, she is getting a little better at it! Today I was at the island in the kitchen getting her formua together, she flew off her tree to me, tried to land on the island but slid off the slippery surface. I picked her up off the ground but was excited that she wanted to come check things out! She looked a little embarrassed! Pink in her face! (I know I humanize her a bit too much LOL!) I do love however how the greys kind of blush, it's very cute! I love the name Maddy/Maddie! I'm Danish and the name Maren is a Danish name, I like that as well. ( I could go on and on with all the girl names that I liked but didn't fly with the rest of the family!)

I love my breeder and they will sell a baby that is weaned or unweaned. They will allow you to come in and feed your baby (with their help) for as long as you would like. They give wonderful explanations of how to do it etc. They do allow their babies to fledge if they are still at there aviary. They have been a wealth of information. They require you to come back in for checks after bringing the baby home. I did decide to bring my cag home unweaned at about 12 weeks. She is 15 weeks now and is amazing. I researched and researched what I felt was best for my baby as well as myself, bringing her home at 12 weeks was the experience I wanted for her and since I am a stay at home mom it has worked out well for us. There is another aviary in Columbus Ohio (they are the ones that invented the aviator harness, I believe that all of their babies are sent home with the harness as well as the fact that they have worked with the babies from the beginning to wear them. ( I think I am correct here) They are not my breeder (which I love) however I do love their philosophy on feeding and on raising babies. It is worth a look at their site. They are called the Hartman aviary. Look at the page about the circus diet. I think you might find it interesting! If you find yourself near the Dayton Ohio area my breeder does have a male and a female cag 4 mos. old. They have both fledged and have been handfeeding. They are beautiful!

JD, please, please video that! We would love to see your baby slide down the banister! Wingy, that is a great idea! I love it!

I totally understand and again I have to say I am a worrier, I worry when she won't eat as much formula as I think she should, I worry when she eats too much. So yes I can understand being nervous to formula feed. Your little girl is about a month exactly behind Dorothy so yes she probably will be eating formula for at least another month. In fact Dorothy is still on two feedings a day. I feed her from a paper cup, bent to fit in her mouth. My breeder does this as it is slower, they taste the food and there is less chance I feel that I can foul it up! LOL! It is just MESSY!!! I weaned my daughters linnie and I have to say small birds are much, much easier. Dorothy is so messy, I have figured out that I can tear a little hole in a couple of paper towels,slip it over her head and she uses it like a bib. Not that it helps too much but a little. She has become quite tolerant of my "ocd" while I wet a very soft toothbrush and try to get the formula out of her feathers. I was going to get Dorothy's wings trimmed a little today thinking that it would help her in her feeding. Sometimes I am catching her while she takes off with formula flying. Today she was trying to figure out if she could fly while wearing the bib (she decided that wasn't a good idea) However I sat cuddling her wrapped in a little blanket after her feeding this morning and I felt so guilty I couldn't do it to her. I think I will eventually as I think it will help a little with the training however I do have such mixed feelings about it! Ok, so we know now that you have a little girl! Name??? It's so funny, because I had a boys name picked out imediatley but a girl name required two full sheets of notebook paper! I look forward to hearing what you come up with! It is funny that we all ended up with girls. Jeffnok, did I miss what name you are going to name your baby?

Again, just curious, if your birds are flighted already I'm wondering why you are waiting so long to bring them home. It seems like a long time to wait until you bring them home. Once they are fighted they are usually pretty close to being weaned. I know that it is a struggle to still feed formula to Dorothy. She will be 15 weeks tomorrow. I plan on formula feeding her as long as I can however she is really making it more and more difficult. I am just curious, I understand that many of you do not want an unweaned baby and I know this is a very personal decision. I love the philosophy of both my breeder as well as the Hartman Aviary at Parrot University in Columbus. They are not my breeder but both share simulair opinions. (this is why I brought Dorothy home unweaned) This said, I know it is very personal & not for everyone. However I can hear how excited both of you are and know you are counting the days to bring home your babies! Just curious!

How about the name Piper? I love that name and it is close to the nickname you are calling her? I had 2 1/2 pages of a spiral notebook filled with names. My husband and I could not agree on a name. (I don't know how we ever named our daughters together! LOL) I had lots of names I liked but it was a different story for us BOTH to agree! Then add in the opinions of a 14 & 11 year old girl and well you get the idea! I was obsessed with finding a name while waiting for Dorothy to come home, I was driving everyone in the house nuts! Everytime someone sat down in the family room I was asking them about names! Good luck thinking of one, post your choices! She really is so cute! I love the chubby baby face! Dorothy just took her first flight two days ago and seems so skinny to me. I have taken her back to her breeder several times so they could check her, they keep telling me that it is normal for them to loose weight when they fledge however I can't help but worry about every little thing! She is really giving me a hard time with the formula now, she seems to be weaning however I really would like her to put on a bit of weight. I don't like being able to feel her keel bone! I tend to be a worrier, my husband keeps telling me to stop worrying and that this should be a fun time! Well, it is fun but stressful at the same time! LOL

Yes she is very, very cute! I too have a baby grey she is 15 weeks old. I truly was just curious and at the same time being a new grey owner myself was wondering if there was a benefit that I missed out by having Dorothy dna'd by a blood sample. I know how you feel wanting to do the best by your baby. I was afraid to admit that I was bringing home an unweaned baby. However, I too did lots & lots of research and decided that this was what I wanted to do. However, I have to say that this forum is very nice and understanding and I have always felt that everyone was giving good advice and not judging. I truly was just wondering if I missed out on something important with my baby. Also, I had such a difficult time coming up with a name! Actually I had a name for a boy but could not come up with a girls name. Finally my 14 year old said why not Dorothy, she has a ruby red tail like Dorothy's ruby red slippers! Well, we all loved the explanation and now it seems to fit her!

I am curious to why anyone would prefer "surgically sexing" My breeder always does the blood dna test. They are accurate and I am just curious if there is a reason why people would prefer the surgery method.

I have always wanted a cag however I saw Kiwi (our lilac crown amazon) in a terrible rescue in a little filthy cage and I couldn't leave her there. I always felt like I didn't know enough to get a grey however I felt like it was an emergency when I saw Kiwi. So we brought her home. She has been quite a bit of work, patience etc. However she has come so, so far! She actually showed me that I do know enough to get my cag. She truly has given me so much confidence when it comes to birds. I read, and read and asked so many questions to help me learn how to help Kiwi that my confidence as well as hers has grown. I now have had her for awhile and just a few weeks ago I got my baby cag. I still have to think about every little new thing I do with Kiwi however she seems to be a happy bird now! She gives me kisses and lets me scratch her head (this took alot of patience and trust!) She seems to be coming out of her shell as she observes her new little sister playing with her toys and experimenting with different foods. I got Kiwi because I wanted to "help" her but in turn she helped me lots more!

I love Marley, we had such a big list of names when we got Dorothy a couple of weeks ago! (Dorothy because of her red tail/ruby red slippers) I love Iris, Sadie, Alice, Violet oh I could go on and on!

No, I do not believe that you can use a big branch as a cage. A bird can get into horrible, dangerous trouble. I don't even like leaving mine alone on their tree when I leave the room. I would wait until you can afford the bird, cage, toys etc. Remember the cost of the bird is not just the bird. They are expensive! Especially a macaw, they go through toys like crazy!

It's so weird because my breeder still handfeeds even after the baby fledges. They continue with the handfeedings. The birds don't usually take as much and many times they will even spit up a little however they continue the handfeedings past this time. I am just wondering what others usually do and what is the usual age that they stop handfeeding.

When was Luna's hatch date? I have a baby here at home I think she may be a bit older however I still have her on two feedings a day. I am just curious. Luna is adorable by the way!

You keep referring to her "peacock" Maybe I'm dense but what is that?

It is my understanding that greys usually start talking (if they are talkers) at around 12 mos. I think that 6 mos. is still very early. I have a 3 mos. old cag, she makes all different types of sounds, gurgles etc. when I talk to her but I don't think that she will be talking for awhile. She loves when I play her Al Green, she actually is most "vocal" then!

It's so funny that I am seeing this today. I always play "Al Green" when I am stressed or just want to relax. I thought that I would play some for my 3 mos. old cag, she was making so many cute noises. She literally was going crazy! I loved it! My daughters were laughing so hard!

He is very handsome! How old is he?

I too am hand feeding a baby. She is older than yours and is on two feedings a day. She was hatched in mid July. My breeder is a big believer in handfeeding. I know that so many people disagree with this however I have researched this and read and decided that this is the way that I wanted to raise her. I have hand fed my daughters linnie (I must say that little birds are much easier!!) My breeder would have weaned her but I decided about a week ago to bring her home. Yes it is scary and I am sure that as young as your baby is it is even more frightening! However as my husband keeps telling me everytime I freak out and worry about every little thing not to forget that this is a fun time. I have wanted a cag for over 20 years and I do tend to freak out over every little thing. (normal for me) I feed Dorothy with a paper cup, I do microwave the water however never once I have mixed in the formula. I make sure that my hands are very clean and I do touch the formula. I am very afraid of burning her crop. I then keep the measuring cup in a bowl of hot water to keep the formula warm while I feed. Dorothy is very messy, very! This is my new obsession, keeping her feathers clean. I was shown how to tear a little hole in the center of a paper towel and slip it over her head to keep most of the formula off of her chest. When they get older they get messier, she went from a neat eater to a mess over night. My friend works at an aviary and she has been so helpful with feeding techniques. I then wipe off her beak, her neck, chest etc. I do use a warm paper towel to get most of the formula off, I also use a very soft toothbrush to kind of comb gently through her feathers, this works great removing the formula. Just keep wetting the brush. It's kind of funny to watch her, watching me do this. She is very patient. I then give her a good long snuggle after the feedings, she usually falls asleep in my arms. Just continue to have fun with your baby and make sure to call the vet in case of any thing that seems "off". It does make me so angry when I hear about a "breeder" doing this to you and your baby. It sounds like you are doing everything right. Remember try like I am trying that in between the worrying that we both will do to have FUN!