tandra

ok im not good at this kind of thing but im going to try this is festus and he will be 4 in october,he has owned me for almost 6 mnths now.. oh wow it actually worked lol

i will keep trying,i was just able to bribe him to step up with a little mashed potatoes,they are his fav,next to grapes,nuts,granola,sweet potatoes,mac'n cheese,well ok he is a voracious eater and can be bribed very easily lol so i will keep on keepin on..thanks ps..i uploaded a cpl of pics..cant seem to get the ones i want to upload,grrr will try again later or tomorrow

thanks for the warm welcome" Ray P" and " life is greyt"

hi judygram i do know almost all there is to know about festus as he had only one previous owner,the lady i bought him from almost 6 mnths ago.she had purchased him from a baby at a pet store,i have his original birth certificate lol....she said he wasnt very nice and would try to nip at her eventually getting worse as time went on(this im assuming is because she would react the way he intended her too) so she eventually only handled him once in a blue moon to get him out so she could clean his cage,and doing this she used an oven mitt so she didnt get bit as hard...when i met him she was trying to use a mitt to get him off his cage and it wasnt working,he didnt want any part of it so i calmly but confidently walked up to him and in a firm voice said "step up" as i pushed my finger towards his chest,he was caught off guard im sure and had no choice but to do what i asked,lol...so once i had him home and all set up i decided to offer him a few days to adjust to the new noises,landscape and also my own and my husbands faces and voices..he settled in right away and was chatting away in a matter of 2-3 days he would act like he wanted my attention but i waited a little while before doing so,when i finally did go to him and say step up he went to bite and did bite,but i didnt pull my hand away,i was persistant and firm and he stepped up..1 for me 0 for festus ! lol anyway as time went on he was better and better,however we had a friend come to stay with us for what was to be an over nighter and he never left for a mnth !! my bird didnt like him much but did tollerate him some,so my friend i will call "bob" (lol) was here during the day/night when my husband and i were at work(we work a 4 on 4 off with rotating nights) and i think he got to the point where he hated my bird and would yell at him and wave hands in the air infront of my bird(just a suspicion) and one day i actually caught bob shaking his finger at festus and he was saying "your a bad bird,a very bad bird,you dont bite!! " and then he thaught it was ok to actually try and scratch festus's head!! i was like what the hell do you think your doing? you dont yell at my bird or wave your hands around him!! and especially excpect that he will be ok with you touching him after! just leave him alone and if you dont like him then dont go near him..if he annoys you then maybe you should leave!!! and i stormed away...leaving bob to wonder wth just happened....so he left soon after that and since i have had nothing but issues with festus trying to bite and being very loud(he wasnt before) and it got to the point where i doubted myself with him...i was about to loose my mind with his constant screaming and so i let him go stay at a friends home (who is patient and very kind unlike bob)for a cpl weeks till i got my nerves back on track(had other personal issues tapping my nerves not just festus lol)but while he was gone i missed him terribly and at the same time my friend wasnt getting any sleep (he says ) due to the fact festus was too noisy during the day while he was trying to nap!!(he is so quiet when we sleep during the day for night shift) so now he is home with me again and im glad he is,but now i need some help with him or some ideas as to how to get him to be like he was with me in the first place,do i just have regain his trust and keep trying? and YES festus was named after the character in the show gunsmoke

hello everyone.. i have been looking around on this forum and i like it,seems to be very informative and helpful i have only been a CAG mommy for a little over 6 mnths,my birds name is "festus" and he will be 4 in october,i will be 39 in july i have posted a question in the "training" forum on bitting..any advice would be wonderful..thanks so much and it will be nice to get to know all of you

thanks so much,i have just read the "body language" page and yes it will help lol..i will keep trying with him,he is such an amazing bird,he talks so much and was quite the little suck before...so i hope with time and patience we can get back to the way things were,i have only had him since october last yr and our relationship was going so well....oh well back to the drawing board,square one thanks again

i love this stand and this is what i would like to build for festus(with a wider base to catch poop lol),what is the stuff you wrapped around the pvc called? i think you mentioned it was "vet" wrap? what is that and where can i get some?

i am relatively new at being owned by my grey lol..i purchased him from a lady who was scared of him as he had bitten her a few times(she started to wear oven mitts when handling him thus making it so much worse)and she had been previously badly bitten from a bird at her place of employment...so she basically left him to do his own thing daily,she would feed and water him and clean the cage and leave the door open for him when she was home but that was the extent of their relationship so she had decided that after all the beeping and chatting and at times making bird noises (lol) she wasnt getting anything from their relationship but annoyed and bitten...so here i come along,a majoy pet lover and a life long lover of birds....i bought him,brought him home and away we went..things were good,he would try and nip at me a few times but i was firm in my "step up" command and he obeyed lol..he pretty much gave up on the bitting,however we had a friend move in for a mnth and while my husband and i were at work my bird "festus" would be doing his birdie thing,talking,whistling and beeping,im assuming it got on my friends nerves and i think he secretly yelled and shook his fingers at my bird!! i caught him one time shaking his finger at him and pretending like he was gonna hit my bird!!!! i freaked right out and told him that if i ever caught him doing that ever again he would be gone asap!! as a matter of fact if you dont like him then leave!! if you dont like the fact that after you have wiggled your fingers infront of him and then go in for a scratch and he bites you then stop touching my bird!! just leave him the hell alone,this is his home,not yours!! so my friend eventually moved out after i spazzed lol...so now we have this problem...festus bites whenever he feels like it,and at times for no reason it seems,he has drawn blood on my hand once and now he is even refusing to come off his cage im so sad and i just dont know what to do...we used to spend time snuggling on the couch and now i cant even get him to let me give him a scratch....so i went back to the basics of trying to teach him that hands are good,not bad,they bring treats and food,(i can occasionally get him to come off his cage onto a play stand and i take him into the living room with me or into the kitchen while i prep dinner,thats it)...thats all im trying to do until he learns to trust again...am i doing right? is there more i can be doing? please help....ps he will be 4 in october and is a congo... i will be 39 in july lol

i would really like to join this club too i am relatively new at being owned by my grey lol..i purchased him from a lady who was scared of him as he had bitten her a few times(she started to wear oven mitts when handling him thus making it so much worse)and she had been previously badly bitten from a bird at her place of employment...so she basically left him to do his own thing daily,she would feed and water him and clean the cage and leave the door open for him when she was home but that was the extent of their relationship so she had decided that after all the beeping and chatting and at times making bird noises (lol) she wasnt getting anything from their relationship but annoyed and bitten...so here i come along,a majoy pet lover and a life long lover of birds....i bought him,brought him home and away we went..things were good,he would try and nip at me a few times but i was firm in my "step up" command and he obeyed lol..he pretty much gave up on the bitting,however we had a friend move in for a mnth and while my husband and i were at work my bird "festus" would be doing his birdie thing,talking,whistling and beeping,im assuming it got on my friends nerves and i think he secretly yelled and shook his fingers at my bird!! i caught him one time shaking his finger at him and pretending like he was gonna hit my bird!!!! i freaked right out and told him that if i ever caught him doing that ever again he would be gone asap!! as a matter of fact if you dont like him then leave!! if you dont like the fact that after you have wiggled your fingers infront of him and then go in for a scratch and he bites you then stop touching my bird!! just leave him the hell alone,this is his home,not yours!! so my friend eventually moved out after i spazzed lol...so now we have this problem...festus bites whenever he feels like it,and at times for no reason it seems,he has drawn blood on my hand once and now he is even refusing to come off his cage im so sad and i just dont know what to do...we used to spend time snuggling on the couch and now i cant even get him to let me give him a scratch....so i went back to the basics of trying to teach him that hands are good,not bad,they bring treats and food...thats all im trying to do until he learns to trust again...am i doing right? is there more i can be doing? please help....ps he will be 4 in october and is a congo... i will be 39 in july lol