zephyr

Brianlinkles - She already talks, and has been since just a few months old. It seems like every day there's a new phrase. Today she busted out, "Hi Hattie! Can I have a kiss?" I hadn't heard any of the second bit before this afternoon...she's so smart! She makes a TON of sounds, says so many words, etc. I suppose the main thing that concerns us is the fact that even though we have never - NEVER - responded to the sound, she continues to think that it'll make us pay attention to her. Considering just how intelligent she seems to be, this is very confusing.

Hi all, I'm not entirely sure this should go here, but as Hattie will be one year in October I thought this is where I'd start. We brought her home in January. She was just weaned, quiet, gentle, cuddly, wildly intelligent, didn't destroy things that weren't given to her...everything you could love about a bird. We thought her the perfect pet. Recently, however, we moved to an older house. The door to the room in which we put her cage used to squeak when opened, and she (we assume) took the sound as the harbinger of love and attention. So, being the terribly intelligent animal she is, she began to make the noise whenever she wanted attention. Immediately we hated it and have never responded to it or paid attention to her during or shortly after she makes the sound. The problem is that it's been about a month or so since she began to make it, and things have only gotten worse despite our efforts to get her to stop. She has tweaked the sound, making it far more high-pitched, loud, and rapid than before. She'll do it when she's alone, when we're in the room...occasionally even when we're already paying attention to her. She seems to think we love it, despite NEVER responding to it. The biggest issue is that for a couple weeks she has started to make it in the early morning hours - once or twice as early as 5.30 - keeping both of us awake and unable to go back to sleep. We have never consistently gotten up at that time, both of us happening to have jobs that allow us to sleep in relatively late, so we are baffled as to why this continues. She has plenty of toys that she loves, is constantly supplied with fresh food and water, and we absolutely shower her with attention. We love her immensely, but this is out of hand. She's otherwise a lovely pet and seems to genuinely like just sitting quietly with us most of the time, taking enjoyment from the company itself. Have any of you had a similar problem? Can anything be done? Is it possibly a baby thing? A preemptive thanks for your help! - Girard, Lauren, and Hattie the Squeaky Door

First shower where she got fully soaked through. She seemed to actually like it. Didn't try to fly away and didn't make any bad sounds. She was pretty interested in the razor, took the blade off and let her play with the plastic handle. Good 3 minutes of fun while drip drying a bit :cool:

Well that's a good thing to hear! Thanks a lot Dave.

Hello, I have a new grey. It's a bit over 3 months old and I just took her home this past Saturday. She is fluffed up a lot like this when she isn't playing or something. Is this normal for her age? She seems very happy, is eating, drinking, and will perch\climb\balance on many things. I'm trying to not be a "new parent" and freak out taking her to the vet over every little thing.

She's doing well. It seems she has no fear whatsoever. A shower perch came in, I opened it up and stuck it on some furniture and she immediately took to it just like with everything else. She is still fluffed up a lot whenever she is just perching. Maybe me idea of fluffed up is a little different than what it really means though?

There are new pics in the new thread I made when I got her home

Yeah! Woke up to her hanging from the ball in her cage and swinging back and forth with her wings out ringing a bell. She had her first taste of some chicken and had fun gnawing on a bone. We watched the Capitals get beat up by the Penguins while hanging out on the play gym upstairs. Lots of happy sounds and doing that one foot stretch. She's starting to make sounds like the inflection and length of whatever you say to her which is interesting and cute. She's stayed puffy a lot of the day and sort of just perches in one spot and stares very quietly when not being interacted with, which has had me worried about her a few times since I've read that's a sign of sickness. Although, as soon as I go up to her though she starts making sounds and being curious\playful.

Thanks everyone. She was hatched October 4th. The cage is an avian Adventures Mediana. It's 24"L X 34"W X 68"H.

First day! She is super happy and relaxed. Not a care in the world. She's been quiet and blushing all day just sitting in the room with us.

Thanks DawL. Yes, it's a female and we named her Hattie. About ready to come home now!

Thanks everyone! Been visiting all the time with her. The past two visits I started getting her used to being in a harness and that's gone really well. She's super curious about the buckle but doesn't really mind wearing it. I was planning on leaving her un-clipped so I could take her out flying. The aviary owner said her Greys get a pretty big attitude when they aren't clipped since they can do everything for themselves. I figured that's something I'll just see how it goes. Have any of you had experiences related to that?

I adopted an African Grey a few months ago. She was hatched on October 4th and I'm still deciding on the name. Still learning as much as possible before taking her home next month; even though I did a lot of reading a few months prior to adoption and a lot more since then. Looking forward to being part of the community here :cool: Early Pic: More recent, first toy!: