kins2321@yahoo.com

I use to breed Teddybear guinea pigs. We all had our favorites! Teddy was Max's favorite. Max would pile all of Teddy's shavings in a corner, so Teddy could escape and come out to play! ( this only happened when Max escaped all my gates and got into the guinea's room). Teddy went missing when Sophie was around four. I was freaking out! I put everyone on the hunt including birds! Sophie found Teddy down a heating vent. Of course we rescued him and closed off that heating vent. Teddy lived a very happy life, and died of old age. Not only was he a favorite of Max, he was a favorite of Sophie's. Nancy

Truly baby behavior. Just like any human child, they want to be with you. Trust is being established. Not sure if you have kids or not... but those that do, know how hard it was to just get a shower in! LOL!When you need to do chores, take a shower etc., close his cage. Its also important for safety as well as bird needs to learn you have things to do! I always told Sophie " I have to do this!" Once I'm done, I will come get you. She eventually understood. Eventually I was able to expand on that as she got older. " I have to go to work, but when I get home I will come get you!" I always followed up with my promise! She trusts me, and knows I always keep my promise. Nancy

I signed as well! If you need additional help, let me know.How many signatures do you need, and how short are you from that? I can get my kids to help thru social media. Nancy

Looks good! Greys don't like changes, so first cage should be forever. Bigger, also, is NOT always better, since they like smaller cages in the beginning, but hate, to accept a bigger and newer cage in the future. Whatever cage you decide, should be a cage forever! Gyms, also tend to be forever. Sophie's metal gym for past 12 years, is the only gym she will except. It has been repaired over and over. She was mad at me the other day, since I have worked sixty hours this week. Ryan, spent a ton of time with her, but she was mad at me. I came down this morning, told her " hi". She ignored me, stared strait ahead! I knew, she was mad! She lasted about a minute, slid down ger metal gym and off we went! I was happy she couldn't stay mad at me Nancy

Good job! Nancy

Excellent advice by Sarasota! Mark... the BEST bird, is one that chooses you! Take your time, and " listen". You will know the right choice, because the bird that should come home, is the one that picks you. We were picked by all our birds.You may find several will pick you, but there is that " special" bird, that is out there! There is an immediate bonding, that all of us felt, when we adopted our birds. Sunny picked Ryan at daycare. He was nine years old, his sitter was a " rescue" home. He bit EVERYONE! The moment Ryan walked in the door, he flew to his shoulder, and started preening Ryan. Sean was seven years old. He wanted a bird like Ryan. Took him to the local birdstore, told him, to listen to the birds. Let the bird pick him. Kiki, an Amazon was on the playgym, jumped right into his arms! I encouraged him to checkout all the birds, when he was done, went back to Kiki, she jumped onto his shoulder. He was picked. Sophie picked me after interviewing twice for her. I really believe birds pick us. nancy

Sarasota... I respect your advice. I don't disagree. I'm sure many on this site feel the same, so don't ever worry about us agreeing or disagreeing. Feel free to say what you want to say. You obviously have experience with rescued birds. Be proud of your experience, and offer your opinions! Many of us disagree all the time! It doesn't matter, because we really are a " family" of sorts. Our ultimate goal, is for the health, and safety of our birds. We all do different things, noone is right or wrong. Welcome Nancy

Sassy... I'm not sure who is cleaning her cage, but part of the bonding experience is for you to do it. Noone outside of immediate family meant for bonding, should participate. Nancy

Just keep an eye on things. I don't go crazy about their weight either. It is nice to have a baseline. Adding the extra protein you have added is good. Nancy

Sarasota has an excellent point, that it is important to train ALL the animals in our home. Of course, no dog or cat should ever be trusted. Max my 18 year old Lhaso Aso trained Ollie and Zoey as new pups, that birds were off limits. Of course, I was always there to supervise . I had Sophie with me, Max worked on training them. Max and Sophie were best friends. When he finally felt " his work was done", and trusted Ollie and Zoey, he let me know his time on this earth had come to an end. WE all miss Max. Nancy

LOl! She is truly learning! Nancy

I'm gonna brag for Wingy! I know her baby. He's not shy, and if you ever read the book " curious George", that is her baby. Not a shy bone in his body! She is going to have lots of fun! Nancy

I always tell Sophie, what I am doing. I then ask her, what are you doing? She REALLY wants to know what I am doing, and I break it down to her understanding. Nancy

What and why, are important words in their vocabulary. I always try to answer honestly. Sophie will say " AHHHHH", if her questions are answered to her satisfaction. Nancy

Sophie here. I'm REALLY mad at Rom! She has worked for the past seven days and hasn't spent alot of time with me. Ryan is spending time with me, but I'm mad at Rom! This morning I gave her the " silent treatment", looked straight ahead and ignored her. She wouldn't take " no" for an answer... started kissing me, telling me how much she missed me. ALRIGHT! I caved! I slid down my metal gym 90 miles an hour, landed on Rom's shoulder. We hung out for a half hour. She said she would " get to work, when she got there!" It was her day off, and it was more important to spend time with me! She went downstairs to start some wash and forgot to close the door. I flew down, landed in a pile of laundry at the bottom of the stairs. Rom was VERY upset! I am not allowed to fly down to the basement. Rom delayed going into work even more. She said " she needed to spend time with me, more than work! I was really happy! Sophie

Whats Babe thinking? That you were born yesterday? You need a " tester!" Kiki is ours! If she likes it... we try it. I can send her to your house. She can fly really good. She just has to be back in the morning to test my food. Sophie

So happy your baby is coming home. I will miss him! Nancy

Wishing you guys the best. Xandir is such a favorite baby! Please let us know how things go. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Nancy

Many birds sleep with one leg drawn up. Another reason birds will draw up a leg, is when they feel " threatened!" I'm sure your baby was getting ready for sleep. When I come down in the morning, birds can't see who is coming down the stairs. All of them have their foot up in the defensive position. When I round the corner I always say " foot down!" Three feet go down quickly. They know they are safe. Nancy

I like both names! Nancy

prettyBird... you are teaching us all! I just worry, if you continue to use the towel, you will have to do it forever. Thats just how they are! What do you think about getting rid of the towel and introduce your hand and fingers? Just a thought, but I am no expert! Nancy

I put out cheese and crackers for snacks all the time for kids. Sophie is there in a hearbeat! She gets both, but prefers the cheese first, then the cracker! Nancy

I opened up the picture of coco and there baby was with a big "CHEESE!" LOL What a ham for the camera! Nancy

Absolutely, Timber preening is a sign of relaxation. You are doing GREAT! Always compliment Timber how pretty he is when preening. Sophie has always liked that. Nancy

Hello? Hello? Anyone there? This is Sunny. Can someone PLEASE tell Kiki to get off my rope? She sinks it ALL the time. Rom says I don't have to share my new rope. Rom put it high in the cage, so Kiki wouldn't fit. She did! She ducked her head, went into the center of the rope, and now she fits. I am sooooo mad! Sunny