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I was very worried when Ryan went off to college. I thought Sophie would totally freak! He's the fun loving, no responsibility, member. They talked on the phone weekly. She adjusted right off! No change in her behavior. Of course, when he came home, she was excited and acted like he never left!Now if I work extra hours at work, I am punished, she will try to ignore me! Oh brother! Nancy

I've said it before... watch out for those quiet ones! They are thinking and absorbing information.Sophie talked around 2 and 1/2. Granted, I only had her for six months, but she was babbling and whistling like crazy when we got her.( building blocks).When she hangs with me and a friend is visiting, she talks like crazy, but if she can't keepup... she breaks out into baby talk.Lol! We always appreciate Sophie's input. Nancy

105! 105! What does that mean?I'm getting annoyed with Kiki. Rom took the week off to clean our home from top to bottom! ( whatever that means!) Alright, so Rom is going to be lazy I think! Our birddoor is opened since she is home so much.Everyone cleaned it the otherday. Ryan and I kept trying to sneak off but Rom caught us!She worked us sooo hard. Now Kiki thinks because Rom is home, she can fly wherever Rom is.She's demanding head scratches from Rom. even flying into kitchen for dinner. Kiki likes Swedish meatballs and noodles.Kiki needs to back off! Rom is mine! Sophie

Sophie won't shower, no matter what we do! She was part of the family, when we had a shower door.We have tried everything! Nancy

Talon Tell Nilah, she gets three windows only! Kiki was hanging out in the window you have seen Sophie in. Ryan and I were sitting at the bottom of the stairs, talking about Kiki. She was steppingup between both of us, and her favorite window. I told him how some Amazons can bite, and bite hard! He commented how we have been blessed by an Amazon, who has no interest in biting. We do allow her to chew three windows. Wood can be replaced.I'm thinking of starting a thread, to show the damage an Amazon can do. Nancy

Emma is sooo cute!I'm on vacation this week. My goal was to clean the entire house. ( boring!) I cleaned all the rooms I needed to do. Last room, was birds room. Cages and gyms are fine, but rest of room, needed work. Hardwood floors, with sporatic poop. Kids were NOT happy with the assignment.Last part of piano also needed to be removed. Ryan, kept trying to disappear. He is our bird whisperer. I kept an eye on him, so he wouldn't try to get away from our chore. Once in awhile, he couldn't focus on what we were doing, found him talking to the birds. He started a dance with Sophie. She imitated perfectly! It was a riot! Sunny, stepped up immediately to Ryan, he could snuggle, touch him all over his body.( I have to wear a white terrycloth bathrobe!) What the heck?I'm not jealous! I just don't understand why my son is treated as the " best thing", that ever was created! Nancy

We used to have shower doors, changed them to shower curtain. Nancy

We have done everything possible to get Sophie to shower. Temp changing, watching everyone else shower while she sits on bathroom floor.I sent Ryan in the shower with her. She is madly in love with Ryan, thinks he's her man!Slight wetness on her chest and flight feathers."Thats it"? Ryan also said she acted like I was murdering her. " RYAN.... NO!"He caved too. Nancy

Greys imitate. They DO learn language and what words mean, but they ultimately love to imitate. When Sophie initates Kiki, it makes Kiki mad! They work it out, and I don't interfere.When Kiki is molting, Sophie wouldn't dare to imitate her. Kiki respects Sophie, but she is quite bigger than Sophie. Sophie is not stupid! Never mess with a hormonal woman! I'm not sure why Sophie has never molted. She is DNA sexed and is a girl. No molting. Strange! Nancy

Joe is a very smart bird! You guys have done " wonders" for him. Nancy

Dorian..kallie is right. I DO think it is time for you to poop on your mom! I nailed Rom the other morning and she didn't know it. She had her scrubs on ( whatever those are!), I pooped on her before she went to work.Her coworkers told her Sophie pooped on you. How do they know it was me? Maybe it was Kiki or Sunny? A terrible thing happened here yesterday. Kiki, my fruit and veggie tester, was tricked, and ate broccholi. Rom always throws a stalk of it once in awhile. Usually Kiki is quick to find it and throw it out before we all try the tray, but she missed it! She had it in her claw... I yelled "NOOOO kiki!" DON'T do it!I ran as fast as I could to save her, but it was too late. She was eating it. Now I have to watch her for the next few days to make sure she is alright! I'll be checking our fruit and veggie tray out tomorrow. Sophie

sagittaruiusgirl89... using her beak, is not allowed! It causes pain, and your bird needs to learn this behavior, is not acceptable! Its not a matter about being patient, its a matter about letting bird know this behavior, is NOT acceptable! Nancy

Three windows out of 24. Who cares? LOl Kiki is the one who chews the windowsills. Amazon. I DO have a handyman to fix things... but windowsill is not important at this time. Sophie my grey, chews very little. Nancy

To all..When I first adopted Sophie, I learned quickly, that they tend to follow the same age of development, as my kids.While clueless, I tried to expect Sophie, to do the same things, as when my kids were at that age. I found out I was right! Sophie started going thru the terrible twos, the moment she came home. She was babbling with baby talk and whistling, which I encouraged. We went thru a serious time of saying "NO!" She learned her boundaries. She was allowed on my wrist only since she would " bite", when on my shoulder.When she was 2 and 1/2... she was sitting on my wrist... I was on the computer... she started to bite the air... saying " NO! NO bite! She understood! She knew what I expected of her, and she finally understood. Sophie went to shoulder status after that, and has never looked back! I would suggest... creating expectations, encourage baby talk and whistling, wrist status only, encouraging multifamily involvement, Height over baby cage, is important.I've laid it out...I'm sure. many will not agree, but this is what worked for us. Nancy

I LOVE " wash your pitties!" LOL! Greys tend not to have as much natural oil as an Amazon! I would LOVE for Sophie to shower once a week and wash her pitties!LOL!( this really made me laugh!) Kiki loves to shower, and does fine. She truly has more " oil" than Sophie. I WISH Sophie would get in the shower, and think we weren't murdering her! Nancy

sagittariusgirl89 Quite normal! Ava is doing what most greys do!You will feel hurt, don't understand it, boyfriend will be happy to be selected. Continue to feed baby, clean cage. Let baby see you together, you are a package deal! Support each other. The goal being baby to go to you both! Sophie 12 years later, goes to all of us. We always clean her cage together. She loves all of us, for different reasons, but she will stepup to all of us, because we all have something unique to offer her.She loves all of us, but ultimately, I keep her safe, I am her ROM. Ryan, is the fun one, gets her dancing! Sean is the adventuresome one... lets her chase his toes, and play hide-n-seek.She doesn't have a favorite that she loves, but she has a favorite for activities that she enjoys. Nancy

Sarasota... excellent job! Even though many greys bite, I am a firm believer in letting them know your expectations. Many do so thru treats, which is a great idea! As I have said before, I am not an expert, but none of my birds bite us. Wait... Sunny DOES bite, if I ask him to stepup from his cage. I caved years ago, and put on my white terrycloth bathrobe. I feel no pain! He knows it, steps right up. Once away from his cage, I can take off the robe and he is a loving conure. Best choice for training? Absolutely not! Rescues always come with baggage, and you have to enter " their world!" Nancy

Ray P... thanks for sharing a little bit of " peace" that you have.I'm looking forward to being off this week, and spending time with the gang. Nancy

Who, is on a blocked list, and how did they get there? Nancy

Sarasota.. Is Howard, a maltese, shitzu, mor Lhas Apso? He is adorable! Nancy

I don't go crazy, about getting them off handfeedings. Kiki, our Amazon, was our only baby, but took another six months to get her off hand feedings. A spoonful of oatmeal, or yogurt, twice a day. I was satisfying her " oral" stage. It took time, but eventually she became the best eater, the best flyer. If a baby demonstrates a need that is not satisfied... satisfy the need, as long as they need it. Of course its just my opinion. Nancy

Be careful of that new creature! He sounds like he grows fast!Lets be careful. Rom is on vacation! Not sure what that means, but she is home alot, and I am happy! Rom picks me up every morning like usual, but doesn't put me back! I am sooo excited! Sophie

FirstPenguin... congrads! Your senegal totally trusts you to do this! Not only is he demonstrating trust, look at the eyes. No pinning, no warning he is not happy. Complete trust. You are a GREAT parrent. Nancy

NEVER give up! It is sooo worth it. Don't think of it as " trying to undo damage"... think of it as starting a new relationship. A healthy relationship! We are here to help you, so ask any questions, no matter how silly you think they are. Heck... when I got Sophie at age two, I had a day to make plans for her! I had no clue what I was doing! She survived quite well! Nancy

Remember, lack of appetite, being quiet, a bird is just conseving his energy. Glad to hear Java is eating some. Elevated WBC, bird is trying to fight the infection. Normal immune response. Hope the antibiotics help. We are all here, holding our breath for baby to feel better. Nancy