kins2321@yahoo.com

What did the vet tell you what to do? Follow his instructions. Part of being a parent of a parrot, is " the good with the bad"! You don't worry if a bird will be mad at you, never trust you again. Just as any child, medicine, is medicine.Give the medicine, however you find successful.I promise you.... stick to your guns, it is non-negotiable, it will not affect your birds trust! Nancy

Lilly... truly happy to see you! Make sure you reciprocate the excitement. Nancy

JEFFnok said it all! Excellent advice!All of Edo's needs are being met, the trust is there, so it can only grow from there.You are developing a fantastic relationship with your bird. Nancy

aerial... EXCELLENT! Maybe we should have a contest " who can throw their pellets the farthest"? LOL! When I had Sean, an autistic 18 year old that Sophie loved, take care of the birds for a week last summer, I was concerned. I talked to his mom, who told me she and/or her husband would come with him daily to care for the birds, I felt comfortable. Sean's mom was a teacher at my son's middle school when he was younger. When I got home, I had to laugh when she told me she told Sophie " she was wasting food!" LOL! Sophie, paints the walls with her food. If she didn't, I would think she was sick! Nancy

Wingy...LOL! Sophie always say's what... as I can't hear much out of right ear. Aerial... when kids were 13 and 16 i told them... " repeat after me, I promise to go in the garage and say the F word when I am upset or hurt. If I can't keep that promise, mom doesn't have to give me any money to play if she feels I am responsible for Sophie's foul mouth!" LOL! It worked. Even kids friends who came here kept a clean mouth. Money talks! Nancy

THANK YOU Mickeys mom! I'm sticking to my guns about birds being on the shoulder. I have gotten alot of grief, "I know nothing!". What I DO know... is, I can have a bird on my shoulder, and they have earned that position. None of my birds get on my shoulder, until they have earned that position. All my birds can now sit on my shoulder, but we went thru alot, to get here. Nancy

Ray P. You did not put your foot in your mouth! You have SOUND advice. We appreciate what you have to say. Nancy

Sophie HATES being on her back! She only does it, when she has to trust me with her crazy positions. She knows I'll get her off her back. Nancy

Stepup and stepdown, requires a bird to understand the goal. They will not satisfy that goal, unless they have a reason. TRUST... is the number one reason, why they should stepup. If they stepup... whats that going to get them? For us... it was an introduction to our home. Lets see our home! Sophie was introduced to all rooms, saw some amazing things! Of course, had to put her back, told her we could explore again tomorrow. We always made it fun for her. Nancy

Sophie continues to dig alot on the carpet, in family room. It is one of her favorite things to do. Glad to understand the behavior finally. Nancy

Too funny! Kids complain I only turn up the heat if birds beaks are cold! Hell yeah! Kids can put on sweaters. I keep it at 68, but if birds are cold, I will increase the temp. Nancy

Jayd... Absolutely fantastic pictures! How do you have birds of different origins get along so well? Nancy

Very unusual! Most greys will bite when you put your hand in their cage, which is their territory! You have the opposite. I would suggest, opening door cage when you get home from work. After dinner, go sit in front of cage, door opened, read a book. Have the family play games in front of the cage, with door opened. No pressure on bird to come out. Sophie graduated to the door, eventually cameout to each of us while playing the game " trouble!" She LOVED the bubble that popped. She wanted to pop it so bad! We played the game in front of her cage for a week. She finally climbed down, we ignored her. She climbed on me, I said " Hi Sophie!" Once she realized it was someone else's turn, she knew she had to stepup to them, in order to pop the bubble. She did it. Everytime she would stepup to who's turn it was. They helped her pop the bubble. Crazy that a bird could learn to love the entire family over a silly game, but thats how Sophie initially met our family. Now she goes to anyone, but we still play her favorite game.Sometimes we think it is going to be so difficult, but it doesn't have to be. Nancy

I'm always thrilled with myself when I am one step ahead of Sophie! Doesn't last long. I think she prides herself when she has the upper hand. It is more about fun and games with her.Its a game we play all the time. I DO appreciate though, whenever we do have a crisis, whether it be birds or family, Sophie knows something is wrong. She can be quite empathetic and not think about just herself, when needed. Nancy

A little stinker.... but an absolute doll! Totally bonding! I LOVE that Marco feels secure and knows he is an important family member, and you treat him as such. Nancy

Aerial... How exciting for you! We've all been there and all have beamed like crazy. Definitely starting to talk. Continue to encourage as you are doing. Be careful! This is the time they start repeating bad words you don't want them to say. I'm not talking about farting and burping. LOL! Nancy

kalinkacs Welcome! You are doing great and we can't wait for you to tell us more about your new babes! Dan... they are " NOT HOES!" I'm sure their virginity is intact! LOL! LOL! kalinkacs... forgive me! Couldn't resist teasing Dan. Nancy

When we socialized our birds as babies, or adopted, we didn't know any better! We were lucky they all got along. We never considered there could possibly be problems. So we were lucky that it worked! When we would take our birds to get their nails and beak trimmed, the owner would ask " How do you manage to have a sunconure and amazon living in the same cage?" Ummmmm, that was their choice? It was actually. Had three cages, found amazon and sunconure in cage together all the time. Told them... " I'm not cleaning three cages!" Went down to two. We can only encourage socializing, which I know now. We also need to be careful NOT to be stressed out about it when introducing the birds. I wasn't stressed, because I didn't KNOW to be stressed. It was an expectation of me for the birds, to get along! ( I know alot more now!) My ignorance actually helped, but If I was a new parrent, I would want to know what reality is. Nancy

murfchck... get that nudist an outfit! Your heating bill must be worse than mine. No.... noone's bill could possibly be worse than mine. Nancy

It stinks that we all have to go to work and work many hours! But... there is nothing like coming home and everyone is so happy to see you! Nancy

paleale... only you and your family can establish the routine. Include your baby the best you can. Unfortunately, we have all had to limit our birds. Don't ever feel guilty. They thrive on guilt. Anytime your home, or supervision is available, open the cage. Safety is always a first.... socializing is second. Sophie is a social butterfly, enjoys meeting new people. I work 40 plus hours, and she does just fine. Nancy

aw64 lol! Alfie is a riot! Sophie also digs. Just never in her cage. She digs when she is on the carpet in the family room. I never understood this. Thanks Jayd! Reminds me of a charging bull. Nancy

paleale... great post! I finally decided to get rid of all indoor plants, as I didn't know. Nancy

aw64... lol! Gotta keep ahead! You have no idea how many times I get to work in scrubs and Sophie has already NAILED me! My co-workers know all about Sophie! Talon... excellent post and reminder of things we don't think about. I too open garage door for pizza. Kiki escaped once and climbed up neighbors tree years ago. Our ladder went so far. We waited and coaxed for hours. She finally came down. That instituted garage door only policy and it has worked. I've always been looking on the floor to keep Sophie safe. Now that she is flying like a crazy girl, I'm trying to get use to looking up. Good point about the door. My latest concern regarding safety, is Sophie can now turn on the faucet in the kitchen. Sean when home from college found her knee deep after he let her out and went to take a shower. Luckily, she hadn't turned on hot water.( he didn't tell me for a few days... knew I would freak out!) Nancy

kids are both at college right now. They talk to their birds weekly by speaker phone.I am caring for them all. All the birds love me, but the kids birds love them even more.Sophie tells me " ryan is getting smart!" LOL! Nancy