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lol Steve! I'm sure he is just teasing you, and won't bite your ear. He knows the consequences! They are wicked teasers! Nancy

Ray, said it best! After the age of four.... they are amazing! Nancy

Kiki always smells like the rain. We all love her smell, especially after a bath. She LOVES to be blowdryed, She is sooo easy going. She LOVES the sun. Nancy

Of course, never give up! My rescue Sunny, got a new cage, and we all " watched", his old cage, being sent to the dump. Sunny was included! Last time he bit anyone. Nancy

JeffNOK... I am sooo sorry about Perry! I kinow you know, you had nothing to do with his death, but your loss, has never been acknowledged! Tell us about Perry! Nancy

It IS important, to find a vet that you respect, and trust their advice. I am lucky... to have that respect. Do I question their advice? Absolutely! There are two Nancy's with the last name in my vets practice. I always tell them, I'm the Nancy with the " fat chart!" I don't have any questions for my vet, regarding birds, but if they ever chewed...I would " listen", to their advice. Starting a bird on Prozac, or Amitriptylline, is NOT a horrible thing. It takes the edge off, regarding chewing. Isn't that the goal? I have never had a bird, that chewed their feathers, but if I did, my vet would be involved with decision making. Nancy

Ryan is home. My 21 year old. He is a " bird whisperer!". Everyone LOVES him. Sophie, especially loves him.She was happy to see him, but didn't " blow me off". like I expected her to do! Nancy

Cathy jr... You've got one smart baby! Baby is communicating what they want. Now, remind baby, it's almost bedtime! We've got ten minutes until bedtime! Once you get to your established bedtime, let your baby know. Time for bed! ( they are worse than kids... very dramatic, anything to avoid bedtime!) They will scream, sing and dance, repeat every word they know! LOL!( a little more time!). The answer is always no. Be consistent with bedtime, and never give an inch! Twelve years later, they either put themselves to bed, or I know something is bothering them. I tend to spend time with the one who hasn't gone to bed.( rarely happens!) May need a few more snuggles. Nancy

Jayd... You were mean to Munch. Munch stated his opinion and you treated his comment a little cruel. Remember, we all have opinions and must be respectful. I'm sure Munch's grey, is just as much a companion( NOT family pet), as your baby. Forget that your way is best! It may not be to other parents. You hate trimming. We all get that. Respect what others have done, and have been successful with their birds. I personally do a little of both. Fly away baby! Develop your muscles, work on crash landing. We always practiced flying, as I have a huge room to do it! ( kiki's known for her " oops!") LOL A few broken things, I put the rest away. When Sophie was in her terrible two's, I asked my trimmer to " let her fly perfectly, into two rooms away". He did. She would land, walk up to me and want to play. As far as Kiki, there was never a chance of stopping her from flight. She gets trimmed as if you and I go to the spa! She LOVES it! Nails and beak trimmed. It feels soooo good! Unwanted feathers she's too lazy to get rid of, are trimmed. She leaves flying just as good as when she walked in. This is a trim for us. My trimmer is soooo amazing, I could have Sophie trimmed perfectly, to her stage of development, and she could still fly. Did it work for me? Absolutely! Can she fly today? Absolutely! Nancy

Wingy... LOL! Nancy

I DO remember Kiki and Sophie doing odd things in the beginning. Mostly Kiki, as she was our only babe. If your baby doesn't appear to be short of breath or lethargic, I think baby will be fine. Of course, you would need them to be pooping, eating and active in the morning. Any other ideas guys? Nancy

None of my birds, can poop like Kiki, our Amazon. She is a " hoarder", of fresh fruits and veggies, and poops 3times, the size of our other birds! We got such a kick out of her the other nite, Kiki showed up at the dinner table, welcoming Ryan back from college. We were eating chicken, I offered her some. Kids got totally " grossed out!" LOL She LOVED it! Nancy

Wow! Tough questions! She definitely doesn't hate you personally, but would benefit with help from a behavior specialist. nancy

Sophie was two, when we got her. I never bought into " one owner". Sophie goes to all of us. Yes... I'm the" flock leader", make the hard decisions, everyone gets mad at me.( three birds). I never feel guilty, and always, " stick to my decisions". Nancy

Now remember guys... we all have different opinions, and need to respect, those opinions. I believe in a baby learning how to fly. Develop chest muscles. Once they can, I believe a baby should be trimmed, to " still fly quite well", but not to the point they go everywhere. ( very important to find a trimmer, that can do this!) No bird, should be allowed( my opinion), to attack a pups head.( that would have been an immediate timeout!) Everyone has different beliefs. Noone is right or wrong. Nancy

The goal for Jaq'O, is to provide him with consistency and expectations on your part. You are his parents. That, in itself, needs to be established. Follow routine and consistency with diet, cage cleaning. Fufill his needs. Offer him toys, and time to come out. Your number one goal is developing trust. Open the door, read a book in front of the cage. Whether they come out or not, bedtime should be around 8pm.( decide if you want to cover cage or not.) Repeat over and over! As a single mom of two boys and five other kids, ( three birds, two dogs), that puts me as being a single mom of seven. I had to make some serious choices for training. Luckily, my boys, LOVED the birds as adolescents, and love them just as much, as teenagers. They are 100% on board with training. It has worked sooo well! We have made decisions together. Nancy

jla... you are doing GREAT! Focus on learning stepup, stepdown. In my experience, toweling makes them MORE nervous. I always taught stepup with my hand, but I know many people have taught stepup other ways. I was always sure that bird being taller than me on cage, caused more aggression, so I always had a stepstool available. ( not everyone believes in this, but I do). I also believe in " wrist status only"... until my grey understood what I expected. When I got Sophie at age two, she immediately went into terrible twos. I allowed her on my wrist only. Oneday, I was on the computer, she was hanging on my wrist. She started biting the air! Saying... " NO BITE!" She did it over and over. I knew she wanted to bite me, but she knew I didn't like it! It was a " forever" changing point in our life. I KNEW she finally understood. I called the kids... was doing a celebration dance with Sophie... they all thought I was crazy, including Sophie! I knew I was NOT crazy. Sophie went to my shoulder that day, and has been there ever since. I haven't been bitten since! ( a parent, always knows!) Nancy

Sophie tells Ollie and Zoey every morning to go out and pee! They run for the door. When Ollie goes under her cage, she always offers him a peanut. " Ollie... want a peanut?" He loves them. If he pees on her plastic under the cage, she gets mad. " NO Ollie! Outside!" He runs to the door. Nancy

Destruction... is Sophie's number one choice of toy. Shred it, destroy it... then move onto mom's purse.( wokeup to my new purses's handle, in two pieces!) Thanks Sophie! As I have said in the past, Sophie loves us for different reasons. Ryan, my son, home from college. He plays the guitar, sings to her and teaches her rap music. ( CLEAN songs only!) She started rapping the moment he walked in the door! LOL She loves Sean for the game of tag, you're it! She LOVES his toes. She will nibble and run and hide. It is too cute! She will hide in plain site, with her head down, butt in the air. He pretends he can't find her. Once he does... he tags her says " you're it!" He runs. She chases him! It is sooo addorable... I LOVE it! Sean doesn't always want to play tag. He may wear Crocs. ( holes in the shoe!) She will work around that, put her beak in the hole, and tag him. ( he has too play, because she tagged his skin!) Nancy

Too cute! A GREAT hat at that! LOL Nancy

We LOVE the stinky smell of Kiki, especially after a bath. She smells like a rainy day. All of us inhale her. She;s like an addiction! I'm sure she gets annoyed with us. Her smell is intoxicating! Nancy

I suggest, turn the heat up! Weather is crazy lately! If theur beaks are cold, heat gets turned back on Nancy

kave70 Congrads! An amazing feeling! Your bird has decided you are worthy! Always follow the rule " I am the parent, you are the bird!" Be the parent, never worry about their rules. You make the rules. Nancy

DawnMM If your baby is scratching your fingers, even at different angles, he is showing "love". Even if hubby is favorite, ignore that fact. This is your opportunity to be added to your babies favorite! Continue to do what you are doing... NEVER accept your baby to love just one person. They can love many! I am kinda bumbed, as Ryan is home( my son). ( of course not bumbed he is home! So happy!) I just know, Sophie will ignore me for the next two weeks, as he is the fun one! They are going to start rapping, she will focus on music, and not give me the time of day! LOL I'm okay with that. She's going to have fun, and call for me when she is scared. I'll be there for her, and she knows this. Nancy

You must respond immediately and say NO! Let your bird know how displeased you are with the behavior. I was always fortunate to have Max my senior Lhasa around, way before birds. He also had been around guinea pigs, you name it! So, when birds started coming around, noone messed with him. He tolerated everyone, but they all knew immediately... don't " test" me, you will lose! Animals know quickly the pecking order. When Ollie and Zoey came around as pups, Max taught them to never attack birds. He taught them everything he knew. Nancy