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I believe in wing trimming( but sparingly), during training, and after they can fly like crazy. Apparently, it doesn't sound like many owners can find trimmers to trim exactly as you need them to be trimmed.That would be DEVASTATING for a bird that has been able to fly. I don't believe in clipping! The bird can no longer fly.Sophie came here at age two fully clipped. We let her wings grow in and practiced flying with two of us at all times. Sure... windows gave us all a fright. She enjoyed her flight exercises. I kept her trimmed to be able to fly within three rooms, which basically was " cutting the air"! It unfortunately took her 10 more years to fly like crazy and that was because Kiki our amazon took pity on her. Kiki taught Sophie how to fly just several months ago. It was all a matter of Sophie's flapping. Kiki taught her " how to get the best flight."Now I don't know who is " incoming!" Wing flapping is now the same. It use to be double the flapping from Sophie. Nancy

EllieMae... lol! I hope Sassy doesn't redesign your tattoos! Deep breaths! Remember...when she bites, the answer is NO! NO BITE! To the cage for five minutes maximum if using timeout. Not everyone does, and we all seem to find a " means to the end." Of course, discuss it after, and ALWAYS take bird out after five minutes. Otherwise they never learn. We are all here for you, and even the most seasoned owners have a breaking point! When Sophie's messes are worse than I can keep up with i tell her "ENOUGH!" Back to her cage and she can't comeout until I get ahead of her again. Nancy

For past three days, I have been off.Shower more later in the morning. Now Kiki flies up when the blowdryer goes on. She lands on my shoulder just shakes her head when my hair hits her in the face. She LOVES the blowdryer. She just discovered the towel rack. I put her on it... she is soooo happy! I've checked on her every hour past four, she won't leave. Oh brother! She has to go to bed eventually! Nancy

I hope it works! I have my concerns though. A grey is very different than a budgie. Total different mentality. I have heard though,lots of success stories with clicker training. I never used treats for training. I wish I knew3 more3 about it back when I trained Sophie. Nancy

FANTASTIC! w3hat a deal! Nancy

I never had a hard time getting them back to their cage when younger. They did fine with stepup, and stepdown. This past year, Sophie at age 12, told me she didn't want to stepdown. I told her "no", she had to go to bed. She refused! What to do? I told her that she had to put herself to bed, and put her on the floor in front of her cage. She did put herself to bed.She missed the last minute kisses and snuggles and eventually decided her stubborn attitude was her loss.We are back to bedtime w3ith kisses and snuggles. Nancy

My question is this....Do your greys have accents from where you are? Sophie sounds like a " valley girl", from california. ( not sure why!) LOL Nancy

garryg... I think you are asking the wrong questions! Even if Miranda is older than you thought, it doesn't matter. She is a baby, and her learning capability doesn't change. Work on stepup and stepdown, as well as introducing her to a bedtime regime.Sophie came here at two...we had to do all of that.You can't have a timetable. It doesn't exist in a grey world. Nancy

carlsjr... I know you are upset about trantran's lack of knowledge, and he is so lucky, it could have been worse, but we all have done some things that were a " poor" choice. We are all here to educate each other, and sometimes our " passion", can get someone's "back up". It no longer becomes a learning experience, but puts the other member on the defensive. Trust me... I know. Our goal is to educate trantran. Our passion remains "strong"... but we have to be respectful. Its something I have been working on. Nancy

trancework... EXCELLENT advice! PLEASE....NOT Mr. Rogers! LOL Nancy

Sounds like terrible two's! Your plan of 12/12 is perfect! When your baby is eating his slice of apple, works his way around and bites, what do you do? I would suggest saying " NO!," bird loses his slice of apple and goes into timeout. it is so important to teach our birds our expectations. They WANT to understand, but usually don't understand. timeout is always less than five minutes, and you need to get birdout and discuss it. Greys desire to be part of the flock.They want to understand what you expect of them. The problem is.... most owners don't " listen!" to them. It took us six months as a family to develop a " relationship" with Sophie a decade ago. Today, Sophie rules the flock,including dogs. She is allowed shoulder status to all of us. Occassionally...I have to intervene with the birds, but rarely. They make their own rules. Nancy

Rochester, Ny Nancy and Sophie

trancework... can you PLEASE give me some of your energy? LOL! Everyone has excellent advise regarding the regurg. I have never had Sophie molt ( DNA sexed a girl). When she regurgs, its offered and accepted in my hand.Its always after a day that we have spent together. I always thank her, and she is pleased. NEVER sexual. Kiki on the other hand does molt. We all go on " high alert"... Kiki is out of her mind! Even birds know when she molting. Everyone becomes " nice as can be... DON"T piss Kiki off!" Nancy

bry1929 how old is your bird? Nancy

NEVER put your fingers in a cage.Just asking for a bite! Open the door... let bird come sit on the door if interested. If not... he won't go to the door.Sometimes takes months! Can't rush a grey. BUT.... you can make a grey be interested. Read books in front of cage with door open.Play family board games in front of cage with door open. NEVER yell at your bird.It will just make them distrust you. If they lift their foot for stepup... let them stepup. If they want down immediately, let them stepdown. Thank them for the " moment!" When Sophie came home at age two,I knew NOTHING about a grey. I followed my instinct. When we progressed to her wanting to be out more within two weeks of her arrival, I could tell she wanted back in her cage after a tour of two rooms. Now I know soooo much more. Eye pinning, ruffled feathers, tail wagging. I always returned her to her cage at the slightest sign of stress. Nancy

LOL! Thats Kiki's favorite perch! I leave a stepup ladder in hallway, as I use it for the birds all the time. Kiki decided she needed something new. She opened up my antique hutch, chewed all the books inside, but didn't ruin any of the woodwork. Thanks Kiki.Nancy

bluedawg.... Shanlung has excellent advice. I disagree with letting " dayo" be comfortable being " her", and you being comfortable being " you!" You will find yourself with a very unruly bird, who doesn't understand the limits. Most of us, don't have the " comittment", that Shanlung has with his birds. There is no comparison! He works hard with his birds to train outside. We don't. We can't compare our parrenting ability to Shanlung. We can learn from him, but our birds are on different levels. Nancy

IF KimKim, needs to rehome, I believe she will do so with finding the "best" family. I do not agree with bird going to outside. If humans are allergic, they are allergic.I feel so strongly about this, because when I was younger, we had a calico cat that would cause me to wheeze. I was the only one that loved this darn cat, so I would suffer. I remember those scary nights of not being able to breathe. NEVER again! If my kids tested positive to allergies to birds... they weren't coming home. I have two non-shedding dogs as kids are allergic to dogs. Luckily, both tested negative to bird dander. Nancy

Don't give up aw 64.You are a fantastic parent, with a bird that really is fantastic! You just don't know it yet. Nancy

Mistyparrot...I'll come to dinner at your house! LOL!

Yes... I believe all greys pickup on the meaning of words. Even though Quinn has limited access to conversations from many people, he has you. Between the ages of one and two they are seriously babies. Between the ages of three and four.... I promise you and aw64....it is showtime! LOL! I can't WAIT for the fun you will experience! Nancy

You are not losing Alfie to your son. I believe you are gaining Alfie's trust into the " flock theory!" Another member to be trusted. YAY! It was always my goal forSophie to love all of us equally. She does. But we all bring something to the table that she wants. Of course, I was the " bad guy", the most. Bedtime... timeout for biting. (kids did it... but not as consistent). As far as the height thing, I know it works for us. The only way to test this theory, is get a step stool and try it! What do you have to lose? Nancy

I agree.Sophie HATES to be on her back. She was hanging upside down on the towel that I use to cover her favorite kitchen cabinet to chew, wanted her down, so I put my hand under her back started tickling her tummy. She just laid there saying kutchiekutchiecoo! That wasn't what I expected! LOL! She knew I wanted her down miss smarty pants. Please remember trantran to work with an aviator harness. Birds can fly off especially into oncoming traffic. Your bird sounds great, and you are doing a great job.Confidence in one's parrenting skills takes time thru trust and patience. (on BOTH parts!) Fearing a "bad" bite, is everyone's fear, but as the trusts develops, the fear does go away. Sophie at age 12 wouldn't dream of biting me or the kids, but she bit my sister pretty good a few weeks ago. Nancy

So happy for you guys and Bongo! It truly sounds like he has found his forever home and he knows it. The whistling is just the beginning for Bongo I suspect. Six is still very young.A promising new world awaits Bongo. Nancy

Diet suggestions, toys bird likes. Welcome! We are so happy you are here. Nancy