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Muse... great idea! My birdstore guy told me the honest truth. A free flighted bird versus a trimmed bird is just a " matter of time!" Kiki was trimmed. but could fly every where! As proven when she removed the cardboard from my airconditioner, and took off! Nancy

We can only encourage the relationship, provide them with times of interaction, and always be present during those interactions! Who knew... that a " homicidal" sunconure, out of forever home in fostercare.... would fall in love with my son at age nine at daycare, all because Ryan offered Sunny a bite of icecream! So we adopted... then got Kiki for Sean our Amazon, a baby. Sunny the sunconure was in love within 24 hours. Birds determine their relationships with other birds. We encourage them, but it is beyound our control. Now that we have lost Kiki, Sophie will snuggle with Sunny as he really loves a snuggle. It is a milestone on both parts. Nancy

Sophie " samples" as well! LOL! Working on replacing her sampling stations....not sure why I should bother, but, thinking of selling as house is too big for me. Nancy

Birdhouse.... LOL! LOVED the last line the best! Time will tell whether Maggie remembers. I agree, deal with the " present set of circumstances."I DO believe that he will start at ground zero, and quickly climb the ranks. Only time will tell. Nancy

I LOVE how everyone is excited and want to help with the aviary! While I am clueless.... I DO have resources. LOL! Unfortunately, probably don't have time until after my vacation. Leaving Saturday Nancy

Actually... clipped greys are pretty equal to free flighted birds. Chewing feathers doesn't even enter the equation! If a clipped bird, or free flighted bird is gone... they are both doomed, unless luck is on your side! Nancy

Chris and Matt Maggie is going to THRIVE on the guilt, which you are displaying! They can extend the punishment as long as you display the guilt! I NEVER feel guilty... so I am NEVER punished anymore. ( I use to!) It is time to change the scene of your interactions. You need to pick Maggie up and go into a room that Maggie can hang with you.Play a board game with Maggie that requires " stepup" to the next person.( our favorite... the game trouble). Let Maggie see your interactions with each other. She will want to be part of that! Greys wear their heart on their sleeves, but they can learn quickly to trust, as long as you show them you are trust worthy! Your husband has already displayed trust worthy behavior, it won't take long. Be consistent... work away from the cage... and never deal with feelings of doubt. Be strong! Nancy

I personally wouldn't get two greys. There are LOTS of other birds greys can get along with, even though that is alot of work also. Our mix, an Amazon, Sunconure and Grey. I found the Grey Amazon combo very interesting. They brought the " best" out of each other, but both were very young and that is important. A Grey in my belief, wants to rule, and they usually do. Many DO have two Greys, and it works for them. Do your homework and research, realize if you want two greys, its going to be much more work. If you are comitted.. anything is possible. Nancy

My son Ryan has OCD as well! I know there are many things anyone that has OCD struggle with... BUT... having a Grey... for Ryan, it was a " soulmate!" Ryan is off at college and skypes with her all the time. When I am confused, not sure what to do for Sophie, Ryan knows. Nancy

LOVE IT! Nancy

I've learned!So over the past several days, I let Sophie know I couldn't blowdry her anymore, as it wasn't safe for her! She understood there was a problem... I know she didn't follow much of what I said, except the " safe" word. I closed the bathroom door, blewdry my hair, and she waited patiently outside. As soon as I opened it... she flew to my shoulder saying " morning!" Now how do I tell her I am not done, now have to do hair spritz, which I KNOW i can't do with her on me. She has already been patient! She is sooooo cramping my normal routine! Life was sooo much easier, when she didn't know upstairs was a great place to be! This morning... she came to me again at 7am. I REALLY wanted to sleep until 8am, and she was willing to let me. She teased me for 15 minutes, saying every saying and phrase she knows. I had a smile on my face listening to her. Ollie chose NOT to sleep with me last night, as he occasionally chooses. She couldn't be quiet any longer! "Where is Ollie?" I told her I don't know! Maybe you should go and look for him? LOL! Nancy

All sounds good! Nancy

Sophie likes 64 degrees. The coldest! Doesn't mean another grey likes something different. As far as plastic, Sophie plays with plastic all the time, but never injests it. Nancy

Good advice from jeffNOK. Babies are learning to trim themselves, and often don't look pristine when done. If you think your bird is over trimming, encourage a different activity. I have never been able to recognize a molt with my grey. My Amazon... a different story! We were always on DEPCON 3 when Kiki was molting! Our Amazon! Sophie always initiated the alert! Sophie has overtimmed a few times, but more like you are seeing. Just learning Nancy

There are sooo many things our birds can get into that threaten their lives, no matter what we do to protect them! Even though I have an " open cage belief", doesn't mean my birds can fly anywhere they want too. They have their own room. I still have " guards" on kitchen cabinets, plugs in electrical outlets... etc. I don't think I will ever recover from watching kids and Sophie playing, she was playing with the blinds and about to hang herself. There went the blinds! ( there went my trust in the kids as well!) It took me two years, to " get ahead of Sophie". Once I did... I always remained ahead of her and life became awesome! Life continues to be fantastic with my girl. She still continues to destroy certain things, but she is soooo worth it! I am nervous... how will she do next week when I leave on vacation. Her new caretaker coming to meet her again this weekend. She REALLY likes this girl... but I am activating the "EMS", with my friends that know Sophie, and she trusts. ( Emergency Medical System). We activate it everytime one of us bird lovers go away. Sean is also coming home for the weekend. He is not the party kid... I think he really just wants to make sure Sophie is ok. Nancy

Muse... Poor daddy! He should get a few more minutes of sleep... Now that my airconditioner is gone, and I feel she is safe, I will go back to sleep with no problem. Sophie gives her introduction, but if I want to sleep more, she will just settle on my shoulder, put her beak under my eye( her favorite nap position), and be quiet until I want to get up. Sometimes she will talk too much... I just say shhhh! She does. Once she REALLY is restless and bored, she plays one of her favorite games. Pull on Ollie's tail and run and hide! She laughs sooo hard,,, noone is getting any more sleep! Nancy

I loved Greywings advice. I have never had a diet issue, as I had an Amazon that led the flock with diet. Kiki tested everything, the other birds followed. They had a healthy seed mix, as well as fresh fruits and veggies. If your bird is more into a mash diet, satisfy that need but continue to offer healthy pellots, fresh fruits and veggies. Its a battle.... you just have to do it over and over.... Nancy

Well what a beautiful video, of a very smart grey! KUDOS!!!! Nancy

Your aviary looks beautiful! Nancy

Thanks all! I can close birdroom to kitchen and family room, leave birdroom opened to upstairs. All bedrooms and bathroom closed, except my room. Ollie sleeps with me, he comes and goes to " patrol". With Sophie's new habit, had to get rid of airconditioner, so there was no chance she could escape. Now I am worried about the blowdrying! I have always blowdryed my birds... Kiki all the time... Sophie after a shower she didn't appreciate! Are there blowdryers that are better for birds? Sterling SL... LOL! Yes... I can trust Sophie to not destroy the whole house. She chews on three windowsills. Not really that bad, and just got an estimate to fix them. The rest of our furniture is safe. I'm with your wife on this one! A romantic downer, to have the bird in your room. Sophie didn't even know our upstairs existed until this summer. She wanted to be with Sean so much, she spent several hours climbing upstairs. Once she got there... she knocked on his door and he let her in. He didn't help her at all, much to my frustration! I tend to help Sophie much sooner. Sean felt she needed to learn and figure it out! Well I guess he was right, because she learned to fly after several" walking the stairs." I couldn't do it... but she learned to fly upstairs, and now I am trying to figure out what to do with her at dawn. Nancy

The trust is there! Sometimes our babies just tend to ignore it, but " push come to shove".... MOM.... I NEED YOU NOW!!!!!!! Your baby knows you will keep him safe. Nancy

All of a sudden... Sophie insists on being with me every morning, during the time I blow dry my hair. She now flies upstairs during this time! I blowdry her, even though her feathers are dry. She LOVES it! ( still not interested in the shower though!) She also is coming upstairs, if I am not up before 7 am. As I am waking up to Sophie on my pillow, telling me " morning". I needed to remove my airconditioner, if she was going to continue to do this! I removed it, but hurt my back! I didn't go to work today, Sophie knew I was hurt and insisted on being with me Nancy

Excellent job Inara! Thanks for helping our fellow bird lover. Nancy

You are ECHO's toy, treat, and treasure! A typical response, Nancy

Lori... good for you! Maggie will do quite well. Teach Maggie stepup and stepdown, practice flying.This is the basics, Nancy