kins2321@yahoo.com

Lets discuss egg laying.Sophie is DNA sexed female. Never an egg, never a molt ( that I have noticed). No sexual aggression. Nothing! Kiki our other female, is a nightmare with mood swings. No eggs, but we all step on tiptoes( dogs, birds and family), when she is molting. Whats others experience? Nancy

Its ama ing these birds tolerate us at all! ( I'm still looking for the letter that Sophie stole!) Nancy

A bird will not affect your son, unless he is allergic. I have two asthmatic children. Both were tested for allergies. Negative to birds. They are allergic to dogs,so we have always had nonshedding dogs and don't have any problems. Highly allergic to cats! No cats here. Nancy

danmcq Dayo is a riot and very smart bird. He is right. He has to blow his beak! LOL Nancy

Oops ! Charlie already say's ezcuse me! ( sorry for the spelling). Sophie stole the x key. He sounds wonderful. Nancy

Of course. Lamps are a favorite! Nancy

Ray, you had me laughing about " air traffic control". The other day, Sophie and Kiki were sitting on the couch together, while I did homework. Kiki took off, Sophie tried to imitate Kiki's flight. ( totally different than her norm!) She was trying to immitate Kiki. She got to the kitchen before she had to land. I went out to tell her what a GREAT job she did. I know, if she hadn't been clipped since birth, she would be doing fine. I wish her owner had let her learn to fly as a baby. Nancy

The Grey, will always rule. Once other birds understand this, life gets much better! Sophie rules quite nicely. Kiki went thru a " molt", was ignoring Sunny our sunconure.( they are bonded). Sunny was sad that Kiki wouldn't snuggle him for a few months. He was also losing weight. I found Sophie snuggling him several nights. She is kind to our dogs, sharing her peanuts. Who ever heard of a dog loving peanuts. Nancy

I have heard, that if a male can get pregnant, they will get one million dollars1 I think the same rules should apply to a male african grey! Nancy

Confirm the whistle back! Sophie whistles, I repeat her, she does it again, I repeat. Our favorite game.I shake it up, change things, she responds back. I've had her for ten years, so this game has had alot of time to grow.When she feels she is losing, she breaks out into " rap", which my teenagers have taught her. She wins.... I laugh and go get her to tell her she wins! Nancy As far as talking, I got Sophie at two. She talked. Just not the greatest.( she DID come from a great owner). By three-four, she talked non stop. I think those who talk the least, are absorbing. Watch out for these birds. I think they are very smart. Absorbing alot of info. Nancy

So glad Sophie has never liked ippers! ( sorry I'm missing the letter ). Sophie didn't swallow it, but its somewhere. Nancy

Bongo will always need you! He's having a fantastic time, just like the family.Yes, it is just like a parent, whose child has taken their first step. Sooooo proud! Nancy

What does ignoring bad behavior get you? More bad behavior! LOL! Greys are very smart, but if you ignore bad behavior, how do they learn? They want to learn and be part of a family.Correcting bad behavior as a family, being consistent, truly pay's off. Six months for us. ( no shoulder status either!) Smooth sailing after that. Many parents believe that " we are a flock", and birds should be treated like a flock member. Total nonsense to me. I am the parent. I make the rules, encourage my beliefs and tolerances to my birds. I encourage them to be as independent as they can be.When they are arguing amoungst themselves, I make the final decision. No big deal, they appreciate a moderator.I remember kids calling me at work, Sophie bit them, what should they do? " Say NO... put her in timeout for five minutes, go back and pick her up, explain why you did, what you did. Tell her " you love her", but biting is NOT allowed. Ten years later, I have three birds, Grey, Amazon and Sunconure. Noone bites. They stepup to entire family. Nancy

No way Jayd! This is fascinating! We are all very curious.I truly enjoyed your explanation of the birds anatomy. Nancy

Welcome Henry, mom and dad!I think you made a great decision! Even though Henry is eight, he is a very young lad, and you guys have an enormous opportunity to develop a relationship with a bird that is truly amazing! Remember, its " all about Henry" right now.You will struggle with parrenting, but Henry will struggle with a very big change in his life. We are all here to help you with any questions and concerns. Nancy

We have several diets going on daily. Regular diet consisting of nuts, freezedried fruits and veggies and regular seed. They also get three fresh fruits and veggies, a piece of toast buttered and quartered. Their bowls are topped with three peanuts. If I stray from any of their diet regime, they get very upset! Nancy

So this morning I let Sophie out, she came into the kitchen like usual, climbed onto her favorite chair. She is waiting for a piece of chicken that dogs get daily. I am cutting up dogs chicken... a mouse flies by! YIKES! I HATE mice. Ollie and Zoey look at it like its a " new friend", Sophie say's " hello"! I tell all three of them " i'm trading all of them for a cat!" Sophie looks at me seriously, thinking hard... say's " good morning!" LOL! She has never said good morning, something I say daily. I guess I'll keep her. Now I have to get mouse traps. YUCK! Nancy

I've been thinking about taking out " stock" with chapstick. LOL! Nancy

Zoom... I apologize. I didn't mean like it sounded. I am in TOTAL agreement with you to trim at this time.They do tend to be more quiet for a few days. Once Simon seems more settled,begin some training. I agree that birds focus more when they are trimmed. I did so during the terrible twos. Simon should still be able to fly, just limited. Keep an eye on that. You don't want a bad trim, but I love what your vet has to say. Ps... You are a GREAT mama and Simon knows this. Nancy

Amazing! I never heard of this. Nancy

Don't take this wrong everyone... Trimming, at this moment, won't change the fact that "you" need to accept and guide your bird. They just want and need to understand your expectations. Trust and communication, is very important. Nancy

katana600 You are right. I don't believe in closed bird cages. All cages are opened 24/7. BUT.... they have a bird room. The bird room is never opened 24/7. When I go to work, their room is closed. Dogs and birds can't interact, until I open the door, which I do the moment I walk in the door. All birds come out, Sophie walks or flies out immediately. She wants to be with me and dogs. Dogs wag their tails, happy to see her. i am lucky the dogs love the birds like their best friends. Birds escaped? Yes, it has happened. Everyone was fine. Birds were in a harmful situation? Yes, it has happened. Kiki got stuck under a secondary barrier, so dogs couldn't get in in case I forgot to close the door.Ollie was freaking out... barking like crazy! I opened the bird room sooner than later. Kiki was stuck under the gate. Ollie saved her life, and she has never forgotten.They have a special relationship. Needless to say, I try to protect the birds from the dogs, using open door policy. It doesn't always work.When I have failed with my " safety plan" i tend to find Sophie in Zoey's kennel hanging out.TONS of peanuts that Sophie has brought into the kennel to share with Ollie and Zoey. Nancy

Hubby has the wrong bird! LOL! He needs my Kiki, my amazon to be a pirate! LOL! I had sooo many people ask me to take Kiki to a holloween party. Are they crazy? Of course, she wasn't allowed out that nite. Nancy

Around the age of four for all my birds, they became the birds I knew they were going to be. ( at least hoped for!). No longer bipolar.Let your defenses down, listen to your bird, and follow his willingness to trust you with all his heart.Its been a long time coming. It stinks when a bird picks one person to love when the other person does a ton of care and gets ignored. Now its your turn to " reap" the rewards your bird is offering you.Sophie STILL preens my hair, offers her regurg( only allowed in my hand).What you are experiencing now, I get daily! Offer your trust, see where it goes. Nancy

Sometimes when you express an opinion, you can get attacked. WOW! I am glad to express my opinion and appreciate it being accepted. Nancy