kins2321@yahoo.com

Jim, welcome to the site. Of course, we all fear being bit in the beginning.... but that is why we are here to help you! Can you imagine getting a two year old grey, with no knowledge? I had 24 hours of learning about a two year old. She came home.... sat on the computer.... she was already insisting on being with me! I didn't even have a chance. I decided to rely on my parenting experience, and treat her like I treated my kids. It worked! We had already bonded at the interview, to adopt her. I just never thought it would go so well! Of course, several months later, she went into the terrible twos! LOL... the one thing about a grey, is they " clamp" down. OWWW! a cockatoo " shreds". Serious OWWW! Nancy

Visiting your vet, is always a good option! You did, exactly what I would have done. Unfortunately, with tough economic times, some if not many of us, have to " pick and choose", vet visits. I would have cleansed the talon with betadine, then sealed it. Watch for any signs of infection. Redness, drainage. Amy sign of infection, requires a visit to the vet for antiobiotic treatment. Once the wound is sealed, applying a local antibiotic, such as neosporin, is no longer an option. Any signs of infection, requires an antibiotic by mouth. Nancy

Zoom... I have a very unusual situation. I don't know why, it was nothing I did.Amazon girl, Sunconure boy, are bonded. When they travel for a trim, Amazon and sunconure go in the same cage. Sophie the grey, has her own. I would put them all in one travel cage, if I had one big enough. Kiki gets trimmed first. ( she can be sqittish!) Sunny watches. He will tell her to sit still. Sophie goes last, Kiki and Sunny watch her.( the queen last!) My bird trimmer said this is " highly unusual". I had nothing to do with their decisions on how they live. Probably having the luxury of 24 hour coverage years ago, to have open cage, might of made the difference. Not sure. Nancy

Gwen.... fantastic! Remember, the grey does so well, away from the cage. I LOVE to lay on the floor while watching tv. I put Sophie on the floor with me. I get LOTS of love! She's usually so in my face, there goes the show I was watching! LOL Thats okay.... I would rather bond with her. Nancy

My son Ryan, who is now off to college in North Carolina, use to suffer insomnia. He would come down, sleep on the couch in family room. Sophie would walk in, sleep on the couch with Ryan. She LOVED his feet. She would groom his feet, kiss his toes like crazy! She LOVED his hammer toes! ( the most ugliest toes you ever saw!) LOL Nancy

Not sure about the " eye pinning". Please explain a little better. If a baby grey growls, only you, can determine what the growl means. Usually, it is a growl, to warn you are " stepping into their comfort space". Typical for a baby. Ignore it, continue to work on the bonding and trusting. Growling disappears, as they become more trusting. Whenever Sophie is learning, her pupils dialate and constrict, over and over. I know she is comprehending something new. She has done this for years! For Sophie, the dialating and constricting means.... she is learning.She is interested in this new information. Nancy

Mareisa and Dave... congrads on your new baby! And yes... they are a new baby.From your post, this bird has lots of potential. Focus on diet and step up training right now. Both, will take alot of time and commitment. a bird of seven, is actually quite young. Behavioral modification, is totally duable. We will be there to help you. Nancy

carlsjr... It does.... begin with you, as the bird owner! There are many birdowners, that DO freak out ( only interested in their birds welfare!). There are parents like me, with open cage policy, I don't freak out with manipulation. I am very strict with certain behaviors. Sophie, would FREAK out, if she didn't trust her groomer, to board her. She is well socialized, loves all of us, thru lots of hard work. It wouldn't matter how socialized she was, if she was put in a strange enviroment. She would FREAK out! Greys are birds that thrive thru routine. No matter how adjusted they are socially... they cannot handle changes to their routine. It is a serious threat to their survival. Nancy

It is weird. Sophie has done it as well thru the years. I have interpreted it as... " a bonding moment", they revert back to the " bonding", with mom. It is a good and positive demonstration of affection. Accept their behavior of affection. I always say to Sophie.... thank you! I love you too! Nancy

I am sooo jealous! LOL! Sophie won't tolerate misting or bath. It is her only complaint in life. Birdstore does it. She knows when its coming. She remains stoic! Just doesn't want me to do it. Its a trust we established a long time ago. I won't do it, but someone else will. Nancy

Wingy... I don't think you could go wrong, with either of your choices. It sounds like you had a bad beak experience with an Amazon. I have an Amazon that I reared 10 years ago. She wouldn't know HOW to bite. All birds are different. My experience, greys and amazons tend to " clamp down", for a bite. Cockatoos tend to " tear", sunconures also "tear", with their bite. My little sunconures bite, is more damaging then the other big birds! I would suggest a baby for you. It sounds like you are more comfortable with a Quaker, that I know nothing about. Go with your instinct! I am partial to a grey, due to their intelligence. Nancy

Be careful with upgrading a cage. If it is too small, definitely upgrade. I bought Sophie a HUGE cage! Her previous cage, was a good size, just felt I wanted to offer her a new home, that she would enjoy more. She REFUSED to even think about it. After six months, she still wouldn't think about it. I finally removed her old cage, she moved in with Amazon and Sunconure. Brought back her old cage, she refused to move out of other birds cage. Last month, she slept in new cage ONCE overnite. ( her old cage is still next to new cage). She still prefers to sleep in the cage with the Amazon and Sunconure. Oh well.... they make their own choices. Nancy

iCERAT4 hOW CUTE! Yup! That about sums it up. Dogs are canine trash cans, for our birds! LOL Nancy

I'm not sure, how to help you guys. My birds are 12 years old, and cage is never locked or closed. We were lucky to have 24/7 coverage for birds. We never locked or closed cages. They traveleved from cage, to gyms. After six years, we no longer had 24 hour coverage. They still go to cage or gym. Dogs have earned trust status, and take excellent care of our birds. I'm sure thats not the norm. Once, I got home from work.... dogs were barking like crazy.... I didn't understand! They didn't want to go out... I followed them... Kiki was trapped under the wooden gate. I found her on her last breath! Had to do CPR. While doing so, I noticed Sunny, Sophie ,Ollie and Zoey, gathered around me, waiting for me to work my magic! I did bring her back. She slept with me that night. Ollie and Zoey, my pups, made room for her. Kiki was fine.I'll never forget the moment I was doing CPR... they all sat quiet, waiting to help. This happened several years ago. Kiki trusted the pups 100% after that. I trust them now. nancy

Welcome Chickie, mom and dad. Soooo adorable! Now is the time to make sure you have read up, on how to care for your new baby. Seed and stepup, are the first important steps. Have you prepaired? We are all here to help you! Nancy

I wonder if Sophie CAN spell! When we went on vacation, I was trying to decide to board her, which she enjoys, but my son's friend wanted to care for her. He loves her, and she also cares for him. So I let him move in, and take care of her. He did great... but when I came home, she said A......! I was NOT happy! While discussing it with the boys, I spelt it out.... she immediately said "A....." She has since forgotten this word.But, when I spelt it out, she said the bad word. She hasn't since, thank God! Nancy

Petting the beak, is absolute bliss for a grey. ( at least mine!) If Sophie wanted to grab my shirt, crinkle it up, I would be glad too! Sophie loves her beak rubbed. She loves to rub her beak against my finger. Next... she sits on my shoulder, rubs her beak against my nose, I rub my nose against her beak. We nose rub like Eskimos! A lot of love in the nose rubbing! Nancy

Changing to a new enviroment, can be very stressful to a grey. They really HATE change! As long as you continue with your routine with them, that is the first step. The second step, is to introduce the new home, including the entire family, showing how excited they are. Once your grey understands, feeding etc. will not change... everyone else is happy.... they will adjust. Sophie would be fine, if we had to live in a car. As long as she got her diet, kids and I were happy, she would be happy. Many greys love just one owner. Sophie loves us all, for different reasons. Ryan my 20 year old, off in college, calls her weekly on the phone. It was hard for Sophie, to let him go. She will say, " Ryan off in school!" She doesn't understand it, but knows its important. Nancy

OMG! Soooo precious! I want to be an aunt! Its been so long since we had a baby here. It reminds me of those very fantastic days. Our babies are now 12 and 10. Our rescue unknown, for his years. Our experiences actually continue to be the best.Its been a journey, that I wouldn't trade for anything. I look forward to helping you, if you need any assistance. Nancy

thenabrd... hubby needs to spritz and do the showering! Your baby needs to learn to accept BOTH of you. If given the chance, they will pick one person over the other. Most parents think they are doing a good thing, making their bird comfortable with one person. It is not the right decision.Responsibility for your bird, needs to be shared equally. Sophie steps up to all of us. We all feed her, we all love her. She loves all of us. She steps up to all of us. She Loves all of us, for different reasons. I am her "ROM".(mom) I keep her safe. Ryan teaches her how to dance and sing,( he's the fun person). Sean teaches her how to get along with the other birds, do the " responsible" choice. Nancy

I have tried to work with " side barriers, etc". I finally realized they are sooo messy, I will never win. I finally found a happy medium... put painters plastic under two cages, two gyms. I still change the newspaper every two days under their home. Plastic, I change weekly. Nancy

I don't have cats... but LOVE them. Unfortunately we are all allergic. ( otherwise we would have cats!) It is important to keep cage closed when you are not home. Reinforcing locked cage, is important. Of course, keep introducing your bird to cats, under supervision, but NEVER trust them. Nancy

Jayd and Maggie... it made me cry, to read about Joey.Thank you, for saving this wonderful bird. It was apparent quickly, that he started trusting you, actually quite quickly! I believe he is going to thrive, in your home. Yes, he will have some emotional problems and memories. But I think new memories, will outshine the bad ones. Thanks for caring for what I consider... " the greatest bird". Nancy

Your bird, may possibly love the new bird.Give it a try. Leave the cages open, next to each other. Let them decide. Leave the adoption, conditional.Birds decide, if it works out. Not us. Nancy

Okay. I'll be the bad guy, and probably thrown off this site. ( I did enjoy it, by the way!) I completely believe in time out, for a grey. When I got Sophie, at age two, she quickly went into the " terrible twos!" I didn't know much about caring for a grey, but realized quickly... if they have the intelligence of a five year old, they will understand what " timeout" is. If Sophie bit, and she did, I felt she would understand timeout. She did! I would remove her from her cage, put her in a separate cage ( no toys and boring!) She would spend five minutes in timeout. We discussed after, " I love you", but will not tolerate biting! If she bit five times... she went into timeout... five times! She understood within three months. Repitition and consistency! Sophie was allowed wrist status only... until she told me, she understood. The day she was sitting on my wrist... said NO! NO bite! She pretended to bite someone that didn't exist...I was sooo excited! I praised her like crazy! She graduated to my shoulder. She was sooo happy and proud! She has lived on my shoulder since that day. Never once, an ear bite. Once it clicked for Sophie... she hasn't been in timeout since Nancy