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I'll ask the kids to work on sending pictures of Kiki. We love her. Nancy

It is sooo important to establish " trust", between a bird owner and bird. Without that, you cant ask the bird to do what you want them to do! They can't respond! Once trust is established, they are AMAZING! I will always be called " Rom", instead of mom! I like that better. Sophie yells " ROM", all the time! I respond, access her safety... tell her she is fine. She knows I'm her mom. I keep her safe. She will stepup, stepdown, perfectly, to our entire family. I am very proud of our Sophie. She is important to all of us Nancy

Be very careful guys when choosing a brand new cage verses trying to upgrade. Greys LOVE their first cage and gym. They won't adopt new cage and gym easily. Sophie still has her original gym from 12 years ago. Hanging by a thread. We keep it going... new screws... whatever we can do. It is important to her! Keep that in mind for new babies. Whatever you start with, will be important for years. Start with a cage, planning for growth, a cage that will be with them for years! Bigger, is NEVER better. You can make a million dollars a year... they don't care. Begin with a cage they will love for at least ten years.( don't we all wish we made a million dollars a year!) LOL Nancy

I have a corner cage, as well as dome cage. Both work for me. Corner cages tend to be a little more dramatic in design. Also, more expensive. Tend to run around 800.00 Sophie ignored her new corner cage for past year. She moved in with other birds in the dome cage. Even after bringing back her dome cage, she ignored it, still insisted on living with Sunny and Kiki. Today... I found Sunny in new corner cage. New corner cage is good for one thing.... I find my three birds take turns checking it out.... but never accept it. Its a palace. A place to visit... but never quite home. Nancy

Amazing! I wish I had this ten years ago. Great job. Nancy

A GREAT video! Tell hubby lighting was PERFECT! LOL So was Marcus! Nancy

Of course we all agree... NO SALT! ( I love salt!) I was sorry to hear banans don't offer any healthy benefit for a bird. Sophie LOVES banana bread. It is a treat. Why doesn't the potassium benefit help? She also loves to steal a bite, when I eat a banana. Nancy

They are all beautiful. I hope they all have a happy Christmas, and find homes that will love them forever. Nancy

I apologize to you all. Did NOT mean to sound condenscending. It DID come off after reading my post. I am really 100% non-judgemental. What I failed to mention in my " jaw dropping"... was this was me with Sophie, when I first got home. I made soooo many mistakes with a brand new two year old grey. ( also starting terrible twos!) All newbies are doing FANTASTIC! I just worry that many are trying to please their new baby TOO hard. I did the same.After three months, getting my ear " sliced and diced"... I had to make changes. Wrist status only, practicing stepup, stepdown. Biting... I would firmly say NO! Gently grab her beak, return her to her cage, try again in five minutes. Happy to see her again. Did this over and over, kids as well. It worked after alot of family effort. I hope this is helpful to many. I DON'T have the perfect bird. She is a teaser, thinks she is a princess, rules this family! Oh wait... I DO have the perfect bird! Sorry again. Nancy

My birds are exposed to all sorts of noices. I don't cover their cages. Of course, bedtime is at 8pm. They are expected to go to bed. If the rest of the faMILY IS up, THEY need to be quiet. Nancy

I spent past 30 minutes reviewing posts of all kinds. I have to be honest... My mouth was hanging down, shocked! Are there truly that many people, that have no idea, how to be a parent? If so... what can I do to help you all? I'm not saying you are a bad parent... most birds are displaying excellent behavior. What can we do to help parents explore with their birds behavior? Nancy

dont worry about contamination! Worry about bird exposure. Nancy

Emlee... he is being perfectly normal. typical for age two. He will shower the walls with food. Just ignore the behavior, continue to offer new fruits and veggies and rotate. Nancy

Steve... please dont take offense to this. Jess is your new baby. You are NOT her husband... you are her dad. Your wife is her mom. You are both her new parents, need to figure out, how to demonstrate this fact! Nancy

They are all amazing! Kiki our Amazon. introduces all new toys and diet to the flock! She is soooo beautiful, and knows it. She doesn't talk alot, were okay with that. Nancy

I disagree. ( sorry guys!) It all depends on the family dynamics. When I got Sophie, at age two, my kids were young enough, that we had wrestling sleepovers, ski team sleepovers, etc. Kids were warned... they might find themselves with a bird, on their sleeping bag. ( they really were all excited!) Sophie DID pick her wrestler and skiier. Someone, woke up with Sophie sleeping with them. Our home was very busy, when Sophie was growing up. She had to adapt, and it was expected of her. After many years, of behavior modification, Sophie learned to trust the entire family, as well, she learned quickly, of trusting anyone we trusted. We have never let her down. She has NEVER had, a negative experience. If anything.... sometimes my family is scared, when they came to visit. If they want to visit, I warn them, Sophie may choose to sleep with them in the morning. Don't be surprised. Sophie really liked my sister. It took several days for my sister not to be scared. Sophie was kind, and took her time. Nancy

MonkeyBird... found a problem, you didn't think about! Who's paying for his entrance into college? EINSTEIN level! LOL! Amazing! Doing absolutely fantastic. KUDOS to you. I think you should help new owners that have a new grey. I am serious! I have always desired to find a site, that had new grey owners help each other, with guidance from senior owners. You would be FANTASTIC! Nancy

Dave has great advice. Sophie doesn't seem to itch much. I am just thankful, I haven't had issues with her. Best of luck! Nancy

thenabrd... I agree with everyone's advice. DADDY... needs to do the spritzing! Nancy

How old is your baby? For humans, newborn babies, sometimes have elevated liver enzymes, due to an immature liver. I don't know about birds livers, but I would be very careful regarding introducing anything new to your baby. Contact your vet, ask him what in the diet will be more taxting to his liver. Adjust diet accordingly. I would followup in three to four weeks with new lab test. I don't see how an xray would help checking out the liver. An ultrasound would be the first step. Just a thought from a radiology nurse. Nancy

Double ouch Dave! Lets just say... it works for dogs! Nancy

luvparrots.... I LOVED the pictures. They all seemed to be working it out! LOL Not so bad. Dave WAS picking on you! Talon... newspaper hasn't worked for me also. Go to Walmart, buy painters plastic. It is underneath my cages, does a great job protecting hardwood floors. When they fly away and hit the hardwood floors, I soak it for half hour in warm water, comes right off. Luckily, when I had floors redone a couple of years ago, I had them do several coats of protection. The warm water, will affect the polyurethane. Nancy

excellent! Whether thru syringe, cup, it doesn't matter. What matters, is your new baby happy? I got Sophie my grey at two. She still rooted, wanted oral satisfaction. As a nurse, I know it is unhealthy, to give food from my mouth, and I discourage it. Whenever I have a snack, I plan on a small plate for Sophie, have a spoon ready. It has always made her happy. Nancy

Jakob, is not suffering from epilepsy. He is suffering from the lack of routine parrenting. The " one" regular parent that he associated with... left him. He has no idea, what a true family is. He CAN hurt himself, if the behavior, is not dealt with. I can only say, your commitment will be BIG! Are you interested, and can you commit? Its not just you, but who lives with you. The fact that he is not chewing his feathers, is amazing! That is a serious plus, and makes me think behavior modification, after trust and routine, will help this baby. It can happen. Only, if you have time and are willing to dedicate. Nancy

Louie is absolutely beautiful! He is a fantastic representative, of our beautiful Amazons! I hope someday, I become computer literate, and can share pictures of our beautiful Kiki. There is NOTHING like their beauty. Nancy