hucker

I don't think they swallow any of it. Can you still get real wood nowadays?! I'm not so convinced about most of these warnings - I know a grey and a dog that eat loads of chocolate and they've been perfectly healthy all their lives.

Hmmm last post failed, I'll try again, this forum is flaky! I've added some old bits of furniture and put the nestboxes up higher where the girls hang out, and they've been scuttling about inside them. This morning I caught one of the boys investigating:

I've got 2 males and 2 females in an aviary (got them all last October), all of which have occasionally looked in nest boxes I've provided on the floor. For the last month, one of the males guards all the nest boxes vigilantly, and won't let me or another bird near them. Trouble is this includes the females! I've seen no sign of sex, and although originally there was affection between one male (not the vigilant one) and both females, this stopped a month ago and the females are showing me the affection instead! I cannot persuade a male and a female to get close together. This morning I found a broken egg on the floor, and for the last few days one of the females keeps requesting to be let out of the aviary (which I did to see what happened - the aviary is in my garage, so I let her wander around the garage). She tried to get into all the small places she could find - under the freezer, between the freezer and the filing cabinet, etc. Nesting instincts I assume. As soon as I saw the egg I moved one of the nestboxes from the floor (where I've always successfully bred Greys before) onto the table where the girls hang out. Within 5 minutes, one of them (not the one I've been letting out of the aviary) has gone in and started digging. The other female is watching (and getting covered in sawdust thrown out of the box!) My plan is to get some more tables in there and put more boxes higher up (the females don't like going down to the ground much - maybe because they're scared of the vicious males). And I will also remove close contact between the girls and myself, I'll just give them food in dishes and not by hand, and stop picking them up. Any advice on encouraging breeding would be gratefully appreciated!!!

I've got a mixed seed for all four greys, and only top it up after blowing the husks off it (I don't throw out uneaten seeds) therefore making them eat a variety of seeds. They get other foods direct from my plate as I always eat with them! They have as healthy a diet as myself. One of the four greys (the one in the picture) refuses to take food from me for some reason (ever since he decided that he "owned" the aviary - he runs about on the floor yelling "come on!!!" watching me and making sure I don't touch any nests (which they haven't nested in yet, but they've made them ready) and if I get too close he attempts to violently remove my shoe), but I always leave a bit of my food behind and he eats that when I'm not looking.

they have a mixed seed and they always eat the sunflowers first, but I don't replace the seed till they've eaten the others too no sure what you mean about making final decisions - I do tend to let the parrots get their own way (with the exception of them breaking expensive things!) - I don't want to be a mean "parent"!

Thanks - http://petersphotos.com has loads of photos, and there are several thousand I haven't got round to sorting......

He does tend not to eat good food I'm giving him, and prefers sunflower seeds, but that's probably just him. Although he did used to eat anything! He has become more aggressive recently as he's decided that all 4 nestboxes belong to him (and in fact the entire aviary), and that I should not dare enter the aviary, even to feed them. He shouts "come on then" and taps his beak on the floor. If I dare approach him he charges at me violently! I must wear shoes and jeans to enter the aviary or I lose part of my leg's skin. P.S. "talon" is quite appropriate for this bird. P.P.S. - If you're reading this Ria, do you still think you can tame him?

Yes I know, I'm being over cautious, but is the picture just of a bit of skin that he's knocked loose by getting scratched by something or someone? (there are 4 greys in the aviary together) Or is it something serious? There is no sign of blood as you can see (I had to take a picture with a 12x telephoto to get a close look as he is not friendly with men at all!), and he never picks at it. I only noticed it a week ago, but it hasn't changed - I actually thought it was a small speck of sawdust last time, till I realised today that a speck of sawdust (he has a nest) wouldn't stay in the same place for a week.

My garage can no longer be considered a garage. I wish it was not a single one though.

I've only got greys now and intend to keep it that way to reduce fighting. I miss the amazons though, so I don't want to be in a room full of discussions about them!

Done, but that wasn't the problem. There are two ways to reply to a post. In the quick reply box and on a new page. If you type in the quick box, then press the button to go to the new page one, you lose what you typed. And I love Cricket! Makes me miss my Amazons.

Trouble is gas is three times cheaper than electricity, so I want to use it. But I don't like the idea of: Oxygen depletion. Fumes. Naked flame. The only gas appliance I have at the moment is the gas central heating boiler in the house. It's a balanced flue (air intake and exhaust is outside), so it's safe, doesn't use up my oxygen, and no fumes. But to pipe the hot water from that to a garage radiator is asking for frozen pipes! Fitting an entire boiler for the garage is going a little far.

Not from my experience. As I said I've got 6 out of 6 right so far. If you don't believe me, show me a picture of your DNA-sexed grey and don't tell me what sex he/she is. Has to be an adult though.

Don't do as I just did and press "reply to post" after typing a load of text in the quick reply box, it gets eaten!

They're worth it! I see you have a gas heater - I'm thinking about putting one in my indoor aviary as electricity is expensive. I'm concerned about it using up all the oxygen and possibly fumes though - any ideas? P.S. I'm typing this all again, as I pressed "reply to thread" after typing in quick reply, and it all disappeared!