murfchck

Lol, i wish my two just went once a year, 3 times for both last year. I am very glad it went well for you both! It does seem harsh, i get thru it thinking of it like a teeth cleaning. Lol

Well then, now that tears have stopped... Very well said!

Hi and welcome! I can't wait to hear (and see) more!

Sounds like a perfect setting! When do you want my household to move in? I mean its just me and the hubby, 4 dogs, one cat and 5 fids, 13 koi but only one beta fish! Lol Welcome and congrats on your baby!

So, how the vet visit go?

Yes on the bells, Bongo alone has 3 in his cage, 2 on his stand where he hangs out and one on the sink perch. A must for him! I put him in the cage for dinner, he runs and rings his bells. He forgot once and just dove in his food bowl, after he got a mouth full he must have realized it because he dropped his food and ran to ring the bells then went back to eating, OCD maybe? Lol Adding paper, shredding toys and a baby teething phone are his must haves along with a phone book and his chewing boing. Rattles, plastic chains, wood beads and blocks, oh how this list can go on! They can never have too much! Lol (that shoe will last a week, heehee) Oh, and all kinds of perches, grapevine and dragon wood, the concrete one that trims the little dagger nails. Each food area needs a perch for them. Different sizes to keep the feet active. Dowels are ok but slick and give no exercise.

I was on the couch yesterday, had a umbrella grooming the nape of my neck hair and a grey grooming the top of my head! Very normal! Lol

I agree with all the advice given to you, mostly the no gloves. Take your time and enjoy! You have done a wonderful thing bringing her into your home, thank you!

Lol, you beat me to it! I was going to lead my post with that, oh well! Doing it anyway! Hooooowdeee Pearl! Love the name and she is pretty as a pearl!

Things are begining to settle down here. Gus has begun to go to bed with less screaming, his eating in the cage is getting a little better too. We had to get a fifth tree stand on Sunday. We tried again to let Oliver and Bubba share a stand but Mr Ollie is a meanie! Took a week but Bubba has a balding chest again, so we decided once and for all to keep them apart except for their hour of together time before bed, lol. So we found a stand, had lots of extra perches and added to it for Gus. It is pretty cool and what caught my eye was that it had a "table" on it which Gus used right away. I had to laugh though, we all want the best for our fids so for us they need good fun stands. Got it assembled and set up with the others, he got on it as well as all the others on theirs. 5 minutes later, macaws are on the floor playing, Gus is on the chair in the kitchen, Bongo is on his perch over the sink and Gabby on on Pats shoulder. All that time stressing about stands and they aren't even on them! Ahh, also found out the hard way that Gus hates ballcaps. Pat had one on when he came in on Sunday and Gus flew as soon as he saw him. He did a few circles landing on his shoulder and promptly bit his ear. Hat came off and Gus was calm again. Boy do ears bleed! Lol

I have a grey who has a thick beak and best way to describe it is that it grows out from his face and down, like a over bite. Also a macaw who has a crooked beak. Both have to be trimmed by our avian vet regularly, neither are chewers. I don't know but, i wouldn't wait for the beak to break off, it could crack upwards causing more problems. As for the bottom beak, same thing, they both have to get it trimmed as well.

How fun and bright!

Hi Steve and welcome! There are a few great breeders here locally and a wonderful rescue, http://www.bird-haven.org. Best of luck looking or better yet welcoming Odie back home with you!

My thoughts are with you both. Does he know his name?

As others have said already, the cage is her safe zone, no you in the cage unless she says so. Having a bird means you now are on their time, earn trust and respect first and foremost. Trust me, you can't move a mountain and constantly digging into the mountain trying to change it will in time destroy it.

After a ruff afternoon with ALL the birds except Bongo, we had our first quiet dinner and it was warm to boot! Plus i had no heartburn after eating! Lets see, i got home, brought out the fiddos and went to do the cage cleaning. 5 cages, 30 minutes plus the check ins on the birds. Got all done, went back in the kitchen and there was Gabby, in my purse, chewing my stuff up! Got that settled and Bubba and Oliver started beaking and screaming at each other. Okay move past that, Gus starts screaming, won't stop. Sister in law stops in. First time seeing Gus, who is still being vocal. I bring out my tablet, show her a video then she wants to see the bird rooms. Come back in and Gabby is now chewing up my tablet, entire corner of the cover, gone. Take that away get her settled, Gus starts screming. I pick him up, all is good. Sister in law runs to her car for a minute, hell breaks loose when she returns. Gus starts biting me as i try to put him down so i can get Gabby who is now pulling the seams out of my dining room chair, my ouch i let out from the bite triggers the macaws to start screaming so Gus joins in. I get Gabby off my chair. All gets quiet, Bongo starts coughing and then laughs. Sister in law leaves, hubby gets home. I grab my box of wine, get a glass and walk outside just daring anyone to try and take my wine away!

I love that visual! Him on the couch, you in the cage. I have felt like that myself many times but you described it perfectly!

She will come around in time. 2 months is nothing to a grey. I don't know her history but is having outside cage time new to her? Even if it isn't new, it is a new surrounding so she would be timid and scared. Don't try to handle her when she is out, let her adjust. Greys seem to want whatever they shouldn't or don't have so go about your day and when she is ready she will join right in. With my guys i know what triggers bites so i avoid that situation, I don't want to encourage the biting by putting them in the position to bite. Now on the other hand, if i need to handle them for safety reasons and they bite, its time out for 5 minutes then back out to their stand. (unless i am moving fast to get them and they bite from being scared, that is natural so no time out then, just to clarify)

Welcome! Sounds like you have your hands full. Congrats on your newest addition!

Lol, our bill was topping $500.00 before the fids! We bought a new unit in 06 being told that would help it. It did, dropped to the $400.00, yeah! Lol hubby called the electric company and found a plan that worked well with our usage now and our highest bill was this past December, it hit $250.00. Moral of this story, after living someplace 24 years, call your electric company, the plans change and they don't you!

What a cutie! Mine are older, never had a baby. I have different perch styles in front of every bowl (4), grapevine, concrete, sand and fir. Then there are 2, made of dragon wood, that go front to back and side to side. He chewed up his boing so there isn't one in there now.

My guys don't get up until 7:30. I open the window blinds, turn on their tv's and let them slowly wake up. Before i had 5 kids to wrangle, i would let them out to stretch and flap but now there are too many to get back in their cages before i have to leave for work. I remove their fresh food bowls and get their breakfast ready. I only work part time so i make sure there are things for them to hunt for during my time away and put their bowls in the cages. When i get home at 3, out they come and the house is theirs to destroy! Lol by destroy i mean boxes to shred, toys to fling, furniture to poop on! My greys help me get dinner cooked. They have a perch over the sink area but they mostly wait on the cutting board to steal food! The macaws are on the couch with their payload of toys and shredding stuff and the umbrella is on the back of the kitchen chair waiting for us 2 legged people to stop moving so he can fly to the floor and attack our feet. We have one on one time with each of them in the evening before bed, then dinner is put in the cage with tv shows they enjoy around 7-7:30, and lights out about 8 pm. At that point, i amble to the bed and am asleep before the birds no doubt! Yes, mine do shower with us on the weekends and are with us in every room except our bedroom, that is my space and not bird safe.

My first thought was the short chopped off feathers are still there. Bubba chewed his wing down to nothing darn near before we got him. Those icky feathers are still in place and until the are ready to fall out new ones won't come in. The vet can remove them but i don't care to add stress to him. It also took Bongo a long time to start losing his badly clipped feathers. Been a year and he still has quite a few to go.

I keep it between 72 -74 inside, my nudist shakes with it any cooler. Fireplace keeps the living room warm but then the rest of the house is like an igloo, i have not done a fire in years! Had to turn on the emergency heat this morning to take the chill out. 80 yesterday, 45 this morning, gesh.

Welcome! Try some paper, we use adding paper, the one that doesn't have the carbon. My one guy never played either until he discovered paper, now it is our go to toy for him!