kins2321@yahoo.com

So sorry you got bit! I agree with all the different scenerios.. Who knows why she bit, but I know it wasn't meant to hurt you. Even though she learned shoulder status with her previous owner, doesn't mean you have to follow the same rule. Training her will work better, once she gets to know and trust you. Patience always. Nancy

Sophie LOVES the phone. She will dial a seven digit phone number on her imaginary phone. Conversation goes like this: Hello? Oh HI! How are you? Giggle giggle, laugh laugh... babytalk. Okay.... allright.... bye! Click! Oneday, she forgot to say bye. I told her. She started the whole process again... but remembered bye! Nancy

Sophie was two when we got her. She could already say several things. Within a week she called me " rom".( mom). I've been rom ever since. Nancy

zandische, I found your post, to be amazing! It was thru trust, that your bird recovered. You are an amazing parent, and I know you and your bird have many more years to develop a wonderful, binding relationship. You truly caught my attention, with your story. I have no doubt.... with your empathy and unconditional love, you will have a relationship that is truly unique. " Trust" is the number one ingrediant , a grey needs. Nancy

Nope. Not time!The parent/child relationship still needs work. Your baby still makes the decisions, thriving on your guilt. A normal response, as a parent. Once your baby steps up, shoulder status( meaning, never bites you), THEN you can consider it! Usually takes around six months. I know I sound harsh, but I'm not. I have an excellent relationship with Sophie. Alot of work to get here, but the first six months were very important. Those months were spent establishing trust. I am her mom, I make the decisions. She would scream " ROM, ROM, come!" I would come quick... she would say Hi! I would say hi back!She tested me over and over. Once our relationship was established, I was able to establish what behavior was acceptable, and what was not. Nancy

willotree... of course, if your bird is ready for flight... be ready to praise. Always encourage your bird. If they are flapping, want to get ready for takeoff, always compliment your baby. We have a great room, that all our birds practiced " takeoff". They all learned to fly. " Always... listen to your bird!" They teach us, what they are ready, or interested in learning Nancy

Aerial and hubby, you guys are going to be great parents. Visit as often as you can... the bonding process is ongoing. I prefer babies to go home around sixteen weeks. ( just me!) If your baby is ready, great, but if baby needs a few more weeks to get baby truly ready, so be it. A little about Sophie on Sunday.She decided, the day should be " all about her!" It was. If I went to do wash... she was at the top of the stairs yelling " ROM, ROM( rom instead of mom)... whatcha doing? Told her I was doing wash. She was with me from 730 am, to 8pm. She spent a good five minutes trying to regurgitate. I knew it was going to be a big one! I told her, not to work so hard, as I didn't need the calories.LOL! It was a HUGE regurg. I took it in my hand, pretended to eat it and thanked her. She was pleased.I LOVE that Sophie still thinks I need to be fed by her.She shows her love, all the time. Nancy

Dave is quite knowledgeable and has excellent advice. I would trust him, if I was a new parent. I don't do vitamin supplements, but we have an established diet at this stage in our life. But... if I were a new parent, I would be just as concerned as you are. Just means...you are going to be great! Nancy

LOVED it! So true! I especially love the spatula on your back regarding bird poop.I've actually gone to work with Sophie's poo on my back. Of course didn't know. Now I get inspected by my secretary and patient care tech daily. It is an ongoing joke for them . Nancy

Smoking sucks! Those that do, know it. I smoke. Of course, I think I " suck", and don't want to do it! Quit, smoke, back and forth. BUT... I NEVER smoke in my house, or in front of my children. I am NOT perfect, but wear a " smoking jacket" outside. Brush my teeth, wash my hands. I struggle with my deamons, but at the end of the day, when I am done, scrubbing myself to death.... Sophie scratches my shoulder, says " hello". " where have you been? Nancy

I LOVED watching Nilah taking her shower.Quite happy with herself, as she should be! Nancy

I can relate! We had our rescued Sunconure, that fell in love with my son, when he was nine years old. He was at a rescue home, ( my babysitter!) He would fly out and attack people's jugular. I was encouraged to take this bird, as noone else would. We took him in, but everyone needed to understand, I would set the rules, and Sunny needed to follow them. He did! ( I wasn't looking for a world of birds!) We took in Kiki our Amazon, a baby, as well as Sophie,a Grey, at age two. I also had two dogs, as well as several guinea pigs. No way, could we EVER go beyond what we have.We are at our limit, so that everyone can be the best they can be. Nancy

I agree with Ray. Your new bird needs a vet check. Nails and birds need clipping. Diet needs to improve, start mixing a healthy diet in with his usual diet. Introduce new healthy fruits and veggies as well. He probably will throw them back at you, but don't give up. As far as training... need to focus on building a relationship of trust, as others have said. Read some books with your baby. Sophie LOVED Dr. Seuss.( she still does, 12 years later.) nancy

Absolutely, encourage the whistles! This is Sophie's and my favorite game. We can be in separate rooms, she starts a whistle, I repeat. She starts another whistle, I repeat again. Each time, it gets more and more complicated. Then I start a whistle.... you get it! LOL Nancy

I think Sophie would like that! Has anyone seen a small wind chime? All Sunnies toys have to have a bell. He is bell obscessed. He would LOVE a wind chime. Any ideas? Nancy

Yay for the girls! You are a good mama. Nancy and Sophie

Itmade ALL our hearts skip a beat! Whew! Glad all is okay. Nancy

Talon... when we had an electrical fire, we were lucky that both Ryan an I were both home.Shutting down the circuit breaker, solved the problem, but we didn't know that. Dogs to the car, birds were on their playgyms, I told them " in", they immediately went into cages. ( thank God!) I agree, they could have flown off. I like the idea of a butterfly net!We were lucky. Only damage was scratching the heck out of hardwood floors, as we dragged the cages out.By the time the fire department got there, we were all in the front yard. Safe! Nancy

Any lunging, is just your bird challenging you! The answer is always, NO! Foot down! Make sure your birds height is below you. Establish the parent/child relationship. Always remember, YOU are the parent, they are the child. Never doubt your parenting! When you doubt yourself, is when they do, what they want to do! Nancy PS... if you would want me to help you, establishing parent/child relationship, I would be more than happy to help you, Nancy

After a decade... the other day, I went to feed the birds, Sunny, my sunconure was missing! I looked thru his cage, looked below, Couldn't find him. I found him sitting in a chair. Usually, I have to wear a white terry cloth bathrobe, for him to stepup.I was tired as it was 530 am. went and made the birds breakfast. Came back, still in my PJ's. I asked him to stepup, without my usual " defense" wardrobe. He " tried!" Foot up, foot down. He couldn't decide. I told him it was okay. Fed the other birds. Came back three times, again without my terry cloth bathrobe. He finally decided to " stepup". HUGE moment for us!He really liked my PJ's. Made of silk. He was LOVING my PJ's, and wanted to rub his beak. I called work, told them I would be late. We spent an hour, of Sunny loving my PJ's! LOL Nancy

ANGEL_TAG Everyone has excellent advice. Your baby is young. He is just a baby, so treat him as one. Luckily, you have little kids, so understand. He is equal to a nine month old. Diet and trust is all you should expect from him. Focus on these important steps. Don't worry about them playing with toys. Thats down the road. Nancy

Talon has excellent advise. Also, start thinking about the play gym. Cage was important to Sophie, but her gym, was equally important. She came with a gym, have not been able to change her gym, but fix it. She prefers metal gym. My son is handy, has fixed her gym, over and over. Nancy

Kiki the Amazon, who is an amazing eater, gets everyone interested in fruits and veggies. I can actually say : 10...9....8... Kiki is there and testing it out for everyone. LOL! They all dive in, before she eats it all! Nancy

LOL! Sophie tells me daily, how she is such a good girl! I always tell her..."Yes you are!" BUT.... when she is NOT a good girl, I tell her " Sophie was naughty!" She knows! Only at the moment she is naughty. Just like a dog, she wont remember past five minutes. Nancy

snoepgoed123... Of course, they chew and bite. Distract with chew toys. Definitely, put away the family valuables. Wrist status only. If they bite... definitely let baby know, you don't approve. I got Sophie at age two, but if she bit... I gently grabbed her beak told her NO! She was returned to her cage and tried again five minutes later. Repitition! Don't fall for the " parent trap"! ( baby won't love me if I discipline".} They focus on that! We were picked from several families to adopt Sophie. Her owner was rich and he took excellent care of Sophie. Many families applied to adopt her. They were all experienced owners of a grey. We had NO experience! We had just rescued Sunny, and had just adopted Kiki, our Amazon. Was called back for a second interview, ( first one didn't go well!) I couldn't talk to the owner, as Sophie was talking to me like crazy! Second interview, was just as bad! Sophie was chewing my ear off ( baby talk), I again couldn't focus on owners questions. I knew Sophie and I had bonded. Left " very sad!" Felt like I just lost my new best friend! Received a call the next day. Sophie was ours! I was sooo thrilled! I asked the owner, why we got picked. There were so many other applicants that were experienced. He just laughed! Told me, all the interviews were about Sophie. She was picking her next family. She chose us twice. I asked him for any words of wisdom.... he said, " always listen to your bird!" We do.