kins2321@yahoo.com

Mistyparrot said it so well. I have tears welling. Nancy

I'm thinking of the Shark steam cleaner.We have hardwood floors everywhere! Nancy

I would suggest taking it one step furthur.Read books, sing, in front of cage. You don't need to wait for Jack. Read all you can about different ways to practice " stepup and stepdown.YOUR relationship, has nothing to do with Jack's relationship. You need to get over your fear of getting bit, and develop the relationship of parent/child. Sophie at age two...was already starting to go thru terrible twos! Can you imagine getting a two year old adjusted to a new home, as well as going thru the terrible twos? I had noooooo idea what I was doing! The one thing I knew as we have had a ton of animals in our home,was "I make the decisions". I believe in "open door"concept, but their are rules to follow, even with this belief. We had guinea pigs that dogs loved... Sophie understood quickly, we had lots of animals that were loved, and it wasn't all about her. I can say, I was bit around two times, and didn't appreciate it. Nancy

LOVE the cage. Any cage you get for a grey, should be forever, as they don't accept change well. They should " grow" into the cage. Once you bring baby home, sometimes they need an " extra feeding"... off a spoon. Ask the owner for a recipe you may need to give your grey. Even though many babies come home fully " weaned", sometimes they need that extra feeding, and should be given it. It satisfies the "oral" stage. Sophie our grey, was adopted at age two. Kiki our Amazon, came home as a baby.We had to do extra feedings for the next six months. She eventually became the best eater of all fruits and veggies,and taught the grey and sunconure to LOVE their fresh food. ALWAYS satisy the oral stage Nancy

Luna sounds like she has so much potential, as well as her parrents! You are on the right track. She sounds ready for the adventure you are about to take. Nancy

Mistyparrot... Thanks for the update about avocado pear! Nancy

Greys play us all like fiddles! LOL! The answer is as always.... humans in the family need to understand this, be on the "same page", for all expectations. If I said NO.. she went to Ryan, if Ryan said NO, she went to Sean. If Sean said No.... she learned she wasn't going to win.Consistency,is always the answer. Of course this never happens over night. Nancy

Joe is missing his friend,just as much as mom and dad. Nancy

Apply some neosporin after cleaning with 50%peroxide and saline. You need to open birds room.Figure it out! Open the cage door, with a stepup play gym in front of the door.If we choose as humans, to adopt birds, we need to create an enviroment that makes them thrive. If they are chewing...something is wrong with our enviromental choices. Nancy

I'm sure he is quite normal Nancy

I get a kick out of the mine, mine, attitude! They sure do that! BUT... as they get older, they empathize if needed. Sophie does very well in this department. Nancy

Today... was busy cleaning,vacumning family room.Sophie hanging on the gate between kitchen and family room. I opened the gate( Sophie sitting on it as usual), careful to make sure Sophie didn't get caught at the end of the gate, which I do always. She grabbed my finger that latches the gate, started kissing and rubbing my finger.I left my finger there. She grabbed my finger put it in her claw and held on. She loved my finger for several seconds, rubbing her beak against my finger, then said " best friends!" OMG... she has never said that! I tell her that, but she has never said it.I picked her up, gave her a kiss, told her " best friends forever!" Nancy

We must have done something right, to get all our birds, dogs ,kids and me, to love each other! I think it was all about trust. Nancy

Mix some zupreems and Harrison diet.They are both great. Establish a plan to offer fruits and veggies daily.Sure, grey will throw them at the wall.Keep offering! Nancy

OceanCrazy...open the door! Teach bird to stepup and down off the door. Once this is established, put bird on a gym that you have in front of the cage. Cleaning cages should be done without them in them.This is a job! My birds know it is cage cleaning day. I'm doing this for them, NOT for fun! I can't even imagine my birds protesting! Nancy

trancework.... WHOoooooo... slow down! Mix Harrisons and zupreems. It doesn't matter! I do this, top off there morning tray with three peanuts, 1/4 slice of buttered toast, and a plate of fresh fruits and veggies.( they all share the veggie and fruit plate).I don't use any airpurifier, as I feelI am depriving them of "normal flora". A MUST! I am quite interested and experienced in normal " human" exposure to germs, and continue to expose my birds to the same. The policy is always the same.... WASH your hands whenever picking up a bird. We have had this policy for years.My kids don't even think about it anymore.Its normal practice. Having two asthmatic kids that only wheeze when they have a cold, I;m sure you can appreciate, I'm all over hygiene!Sophie has never been sick in the 12 years I have owned her. Its important for birds to have normal exposure to germs, as well as keeping them safe. When I get home from work... I strip off my work clothes and shower.I KNOW they all want to see me. NOT happening until I am clean from disease. Nancy

I've read all the advice. I can't add a thing! Nancy

Captain is a GREAT name! Nancy

Trancework has accepted the challenge to develop a new site,(if approved by moderators), for toys and enrichment. If we have three people that respond, Trancework is willing to accept the challenge of developing this site,if approved. Of course, he needs help from all members.This is a big weakness for me, as I stink at picking out toys. I always go to my birdstore and have the enployees pickout the toys. PLEASE respond and support Trancework.I need help.... as I'm sure others do, and I believe their is a " wealth" of untapped knowledge. " Nancy

DogsBirdFish... If you go the baby way.... I suggest NEVER get a baby until at least 16 weeks. The breeder should be handfeeding them. Go as often as you can to hangout with baby. As far as vacation, even if you are offering supplemental feedings, baby can come. My BEST experience and fun, was when my girlfriend who had an RV... we took all our kids together camping. Everywhere I went including the bathroom, I found baby birds. She failed to tell me they were coming.I didn't have birds at this time.She taught me how to feed the babies. This was my first introduction to the bird world. The next time she decided to go away for three days( she certainly deserved it), she asked me to care for her birds. TEN cages! OMG! Each cage had a personal description and instruction. One cage, had a bird(I am not sure of the breed), said" don't try to pickup this bird... he will eat you for lunch!". Well....THATS not nice! We were best friends by the end of the week. Hence.... we got Sunny our rescue, because he loved the HUNT family. Nancy

Its great to see that many of us have greys that love others, its important to encourage that. Do I get jealous that Sophie loves Ryan, Sean, half my friends? No. Why would I? I am her ROM (mom). I keep her safe, well fed, discipline when needed, I educate her, deal with any of her issues. When kids come home from college, I'm dirt. I LOVE it! Within a few days of them being home, she is all over me again. Totally normal behavior. Sometimes I miss her sooner.... sneak in and pickup my girl to steal a few snuggles. She is happy to give me some kisses. Nancy

Aww! Romeo is a cutie and seems to have good table manners! I have different perches in their cages. Checkout " perches".They are great for many reasons and very important. Nancy

Fantastic! Its always about them, and their own rate of speed. Like a turtle.LOL! He certainly sounds like he is trusting you more. What you are doing when you say "I'm taking a step back", is "listening." Our greys tell us what they want and need. Once they feel you are " trained", they trust you more.I can't think of any other species on the planet, that starts to trust humans, once humans are trained! LOL! Whatever happened to the theory that humans rule the planet? Nancy

Jayd...everyone is going to be just fine! So are you! Nancy