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I have several birds, all of them parrots. There is something truly special about every single one of them. For instance, my Tiels.... they are my grumpy old men I love the way they act, and it is so rewarding when they let me give them some loving. Then Charlie, my Sun Conure is absolutely FULL of personality. She is so incredibly silly, makes the sound of me cracking my knuckles, and waves her head around and stuff like my little Stevie Wonder bird. I have a parrotlet named Sage. He is awesome. He is sooooo tiny, it almost looks odd for him to have a hookbill He gets in my hair, swings around, and will stay there all night and day if I let him. He loves to preen my "long feathers" as my husband calls it LOL! Then I have an English Budgie, sweet little guy, and my kids LOVE him. They have adopted him as their bird, and they feed him, give him his water, and clean his cage. He has helped me teach them responsibility. Next is my Quaker, Kiwi... I have to say...if you have never had a Quaker, you are missing out. I love her so much. They are just so full of life, and have a BIG personality. She is very protective of me, and if I give any other bird attention without giving her some first, she gets very jealous. She is also a fantastic talker. Then, there is Barnaby, my Umbrella Cockatoo. I absolutely LOVE TOO'S. I swear you can be talking to them, and it is like something snaps in their brain, and they have freak out episodes. Very, very silly birds. It is almost like they have Tourettes Syndrome. Will keep you laughing all day long...not to mention the fact that they are so incredibly intelligent, and lovey dovey. I guess what I am trying to say is, I am a bird person in general. There is something special about every breed of bird in my eyes. I wish I could have a lot more to be honest, but I am not going to. I am at my bird limit. I would love to have a Hyacinth Macaw, or a Palm Cockatoo... but that won't be happening for many years more than likely. My husband wants an IRN, and honestly, that will be a possibility. I might be at my bird limit, but he really wants one, and we are going to an Expo next month.... I told him I didn't plan on buying a bird of any kind, and he said "Well...you never know what will happen" LOL...guess we will see My advice, do lot's of research. Watch lot's of videos of different kinds of birds and see what speaks to you. There are SO MANY great birds out there!

I think it is perfectly normal to fear that your fid will create a bond with someone else, and forget about you. We can't let this keep us from allowing our fids to have healthy relationships, and friendshipd with other loved ones as well though....if that was what you were refering to.

Hahahaha!!! LOVED this! Thanks for sharing Dan.

Thanks for sharing this! Made me

They have changed my life in so many ways. My kids, and my fids have taught me what unconditional love is. My fids have taught me how much an animal can love a human, and vice versa. They have taught me how much one single look can communicate what would be an entire conversation. They have changed my life for the better, and it wouldn't be the same without them in it.

Congrats to you both on your impending arrivals! I too, am waiting for my little man to come gome. He is still on 4 feedings a day, so it will be awhile. He is now 11 weeks old I believe. The wait is just crazy! I gotta say though, I think I have exhausted every Grey video on youtube during this waiting period LOL

Oh man, I am definitely NOT looking to those last days....I think I will go insane...probably won't be able to sleep either, and I love to sleep! I can only imagine how it will be, but at least I have my husbvand waiting with me, and you guys to talk to

Hey there! Welcome to the forum! I am also waiting on a baby Grey to come home, and his hatch date is also 10-27-11! So that is pretty cool My little one is a boy though, and is super cute. He is not local though, I am in NC, and he is on OK, but my breeder is great, and I get lots of updates. I was curious though....you said you will not get your baby until March. Who determined this time frame? I was curious since our babies are the exact same age.

Haha! Loved the intro to this vid...spoken like a true parront Is Omar at your work in this vid?

Hahahaha! That would have just been priceless! Sounds like you have one spoiled bird on your hands, good luck! LOL

Agreed Ray, you definitely do dust more often... I just wanted to clarify that they are dusty. Just didn't want to mislead the OP in saying that they weren't dusty, ect. Every bird is definitely different, I just didn't want to say not to expect a mess...I would rather allow them to be prepared for the mess, and if there isn't much of one, do a happy dance Also, everyone is right about it being a very small price to pay for the love you recieve in return. Honestly, cleaning up after my kids, and fids is second nature to me now. I just add it to the checklist for the day. I get through the day easily cleaning up after them, BUT I wouldn't be able to get through my days if I didn't have them in my life

Oh absolutely. Never doubted that for a moment

Very cute video, as always

IMO, birds are messy. I have to vacuum my living room, and dining room once in the afternoon, and again at night before bed every day, you have to change the cage OFTEN, wash food and water dishes, do a total scrub down on the cage at least once a month, and my birds have sheets under their cages...they poop on these, it catches food, toy pieces, and whatever else. Every night I take them all outside, shake them out really well, and they get washed and dried every single day. All of these things qualify as cleaning up a mess. They will throw food, chew wood into splinters and fling it around, and if they are out of the cage they obviously poop on the floor, ect. Yes, certain birds are very dusty...especially African Greys and Cockatoos. This dust can be problematic for people with allergies, and asthma. As long as you give a shower every other day it can be kept to a MINIMUM. A healthy bird is a dusty bird...in fact, if your bird stopped producing this natural dust, it can be a sign of illness. I am not going to tell you they are not messy at all. Every bird is different, but I wouldn't want you to read here that they are not messy, get a grey, and be surprised by the mess. You just have to kind of expect it....if you have birds, expect to clean up quite a bit.

Hahahaha! Too cute. That would be rather fitting.

Thank you guys His vet called today, and we have decided since it will be a long process to get him onto a new diet, we will be bringing him in every 6 weeks or so to check his uratic acid levels, and keep an eye on them during the process of getting him off of seed. We just want to be sure that this level stays in check, and he remains healthy.

I agree! He is the first bird I have ever met that didn't go bananas over sunflower seeds too! Hopefully I will find something that works for him.

Very true Bianca. Thank you so much.

I seriously cannot thank you enough for the link to this article. I found it very helpful, and learned a few things that I didn't know before.

This was too cute! Thanks for sharing!

I agree, it looks to me that he is definitely swallowing his paper! Definitely could be very hazardous to his health, so you did the right thing by removing his shreddable toys. I know it wasn't easy on either of you I think the carrots and willow were a good suggestion... maybe also an edible perch? Something along those lines that he can shred and eat. It is going to be hard for awhile on the both of you, but hopefully you will find something new that he will enjoy destroying AND can eat as well.

Welcome Zandra, and flock! The best thing to give your rescued Grey to encourage trust is time. Don't worry, you will get there, and you are already well on your way!