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AmyJ, I don't see why you couldn't be fantastic parents before having children! As long as you learn to socialize your bird to develop relationships with other people, there would be no reason your bird couldn't learn to love children. If you have read the book "Marley and me", it is the same thing! The dog came home first, then the kids. It works the same, for a grey! Nancy

Welcome Ashley, Danny and Pepper! Looking forward to getting to know you all! Nancy

AmyJ research and learn all you need to. Take your time! It will only make a better enviroment for you and your baby if you decide to get a grey. Nancy

cheribirdtx... congradulations for fufilling your dream! I also have a sunconure named Sunny. He is a rescue. He gets along quite well with Sophie our grey. Sunconures may be little, but our Sunny holds his own in our bird world. Don't fret about your Mozart not being interested in the shoulder. In my opinion, that is actually a good thing. I believe in wrist only, until trust is developed both ways.Enjoy your new baby. I believe your wait will be well worth it. Greys are awesome! Nancy and Sophie

greyturkey... watched the video. Found it amazing! I have seen alot of greys doing lots of different things. This was a first for me.Your baby is doing something amazing! Be proud. I know I would be! Nancy

I don't believe in EVER putting my hand, in any of my birds cages. I practiced stepup, stepdown, always away from their cages. Simple stepup... I removed the bird, away from the cage. Gave them a tour of my home. Watched a movie together with family. Stepdown, playing a game with other family members. Most training needs to be done away from cage, in our family"s experience Nancy

Angel-Tag... your baby is doing quite well. Continue with stepup training. Your goal, is to have your baby totally trust you. Then... you can work on training. nancy

The average price here in NY is 1200 dollars for a new baby grey. Don't worry about if a baby is " clipped!" their feathers grow back fast. They can learn to fly. My birds have been clipped at sometime during their life. They could all fly. It is important to develop a relationship with a trimmer when they are young. Sometimes just to clip nails, trim beak. My relationship with my trimmer of three different species, has been more important than with my vet. Sophie won't shower... she gets showered. Kiki thinks of visiting the trimmer as a " spa visit". Sunny just goes... so he can watch his girls! Nancy

Four months, is very young. If they can prove she is four months, DNA sexed.... she would be a great addition to your home. Make sure she comes with papers. As far as behavior issues, that is not even questionable. She is too young. I hope this will be a great connection for a baby that needs a home. Nancy

danmcq... Just a friendly question. I respect your experience, and have learned alot of things from you. Why is there no flock leader? Isn't that normal with most animal species? Nancy

CelloChess... your baby sounds excited to see you in my opinion! Sophie does that... but for her, she is happy and excited. Nancy

I would suggest to leave it alone, watch for any signs of infection. Redness, swelling and drainage. If baby is paying alot of attention to the area, pay close attention. Could be a sign of infection. Should heal naturally on its own Nancy

I read thru Dave's advice and found it quite amazing! We all believe, and practice his advise. BUT.... did so, only because Sophie taught us. We had no idea what to do when we got Sophie. I relied on my parenting skills. It is better to have this advice upfront. I feel strongly about the advice of socialization to the entire family, as well as shoulder status, for when they are ready. Sophie and all birds think of my son Ryan, as something special. He is a bird whisperer, if I ever met one. But he comes and goes for college. When he is gone, I become Sophie's favorite. I'm okay with that. She adjusts quickly. ( 24 hours).I'm her mama and keep her safe. Nancy

dejavu... LOVED the song! LOL! I wish Sophie would whisper once in awhile. She's a noisy girl, nonstop talking. If she runs out of " words", she breaks out into baby talk. She talks like a " valley girl", from California. I always say... " I wonder why she talks like that?" Kids laugh and look at each other with some secret. I get it. Thats how I sound, and I NEVER stop talking! Nancy

Karen, definitely, lose the lotion. Stepup, is an absolute MUST! You need to let your baby know, eating you, is a NO! NO! (sorry... lol!) Now in all seriousness, new birds to you, should have wrist status only. Never on the shoulder, until they deserve that. Be firm with your beliefs... do it over and over. Nancy

To add to that.... play some games in front of the cage with your kids. I suggest the game " TROUBLE". They can't resist the popping the bubble. All my birds eventually learned to " stepup", to each of our family members, thru a simple game, I went thru at least four games of Trouble. They also learned to love to be read too. Their favorite " The Cat In The Hat!" Sophie will pretend to read, when I read a book. Nancy

particle77... LOL! Earl is VERY happy with his accomplishment, and well he should be! His wagging his tail, shows he's proud.( I think!) I know, Sophie wags her tail when she is happy and having fun. I know for Sophie, if she wasn't wagging her tail, she was not having a good day. Nancy

I have actually had an electrical fire when I was home, as well as my son. We quickly evacuated birdroom. Tore the " crap" out of the hardwood floors. Got the dogs out. When the fire department arrived... they asked if they were at the " webster Zoo!" ( NOT funny!) It worked out well. As far as willing my birds to others, Sophie is taken care of. Ryan needs to take Sunny, Sean to take Kiki. Nancy

You might be right! I told Sean, her owner, even though he is very busy right now, he needs to spend extra time with her. She is the most sensitive of all our birds. She flew in to me the otherday, landed on my shoulder, kept saying " hello", over and over. Unusual for her, to prefer me over Sean. What's going on with you? Nancy

We are glad to " take what we can get".While I care for Ryan's bird while he is away at college, a rescued sunconure, I spend more time with this bird. I always have. He loves me, but when Ryan walks in the room, he shakes his little butt, shows his feathers, and flirts like crazy! Ryan can put his finger in, Sunny steps right up. I find it amazing! If I put my finger in his cage, I wouldn't have one. Nancy

JeffNOK... That is GREAT! I always answer Sophies calls with whistling. She loves to wolf whistle as well. I imitate her, as much as she imitates me. It is our special game. We imitate each other in separate rooms. Each whistle gets more and more complicated! One of my favorite moments with her.... she made the whistling soooo complicated, I couldn't repeat it! LOL! That was her goal.I immediately went to her cage, was laughing so hard! Told her she won, gave her a big fat kiss! She was very pleased. Nancy

Hope all goes well! Nancy and Sophie

YAY! I haven't been bitten by Sophie my grey since she was almost three. I got her when she was two. I AM worried about Kiki, my Amazon. Last week she ran across the top of her cage ready to bite. I just waited... it didn't happen. The otherday, she ran across her top of cage ( where food is), and I waited for her, she put her finger in my mouth and bit gently. Not sure whats going on with her. Weve had her since she was a baby. She's ten now. Any ideas everyone? I told her firmly NO! I didn't change the food bowl at that time, waited ten minutes... came back with my step stool, so I was taller than her, she was an angel. Changed the food and water, she wanted a good head petting. Could she be molting ?Never had an issue before! I don't have the answers. I think a nice warm shower and blowdry should be given this weekend. Her favorite! Nancy

Rooney73... actually, there are several different interp. of a bird pulling up one leg. Sometimes, here at our home, is sleeping. Mostly, if Sophie pulls up her leg, she is threatened! When I come down in the morning, all birds have one foot pulled up. When they see it is " me ", I immediately say " foot down", all feet go into resting position. They know they are safe.These are the first words I say daily. Nancy

Acappella... LOVED your advise! It was amazing! I only did this as a newbie, because I was sick, when I first got our rescue Sunny. It was a fluke! I was sick for over three weeks when we got our rescue....it couldn't have worked better. Our rescued sunconure, went from being a bird that would " fly out, and attack your jugular", to a bird, with his cage opened... who was worried about me. I slept on the couch, because that was where I was comfortable. We bonded, while I was sick. When I got Sophie at two, I remembered what worked to bond with Sunny. Open cage worked for us. We had 24 hour coverage. We took advantage of the time we had someone here. Stepup or down, was never an issue, because, Sophie walked out to us. Nancy