neoow

Oh cool! I'll keep an eye on it then. Such a great idea and I don't believe there any services like that over this side of the pond.

How exciting! I hope it works out for you! I'll take a look at the site when I'm at home. I'm assuming you won't be able to ship to the UK though?

Alfie is his actual name but he gets called Alfred and Alf quite a lot too. Other slightly more sporadic names: Alfie-doodles (which he used to be able to say himself... well, his version was more like "Alfie-Doooo!") Mischief Monster Little Man Bubbah (all the animals get called that at times) I'm sure there are more!

Happy 9 years!

I think digging is quite a natural behaviour for grey's? I think it's a foraging behaviour? Could also be nesting/mating behaviour I suppose but they are probably a little too young for that. Alfie is currently chewing up cardboard boxes on his shelf and occasionally stops to dig in the wreckage that was once a box. He also digs on the sofa sometimes.

I don't know because he doesn't socialise with many people other than me or my housemate. All my friends and family are too wary of him to get to know him properly. 🙄 I think he would probably lash out if someone did try to let him out, but I wouldn't want to risk it either way. They could theoretically pull the zip and let him make his own way out. I think it would also give me some peace of mind anyway.

I would love to take Alfie on a trip away but I've never had much success with finding bird/pet friendly accommodation before. In the meantime, I'm hoping to get him out for some more walks before the weather gets too cold for it. (That's if I could have some sunshine when I'm actually at home and not at work of course!) I'd like to try and take him to some places where more people are around as well, but I'm not sure where I can and can't take him in terms of actually going in to places. I think I'd also want to secure the backpack with some padlocks in case someone decides to try and open it to let him out. (I don't trust people!) Did the man mind being called a dork by a Corky?! Haha. Bet it was a bit of a shock to find out she had escaped though! (Though you do have to admire her intelligence for doing so!)

It is really difficult not to take it personally. Alfie went through a phase recently where he would fly to the back of my head and bite it a few times. Thankfully I have really thick hair (and a hard head to boot!) so he never really did any damage. But it did scare me and make me really wary, as it wouldn't have taken much for him to get my ears or face. I did write a thread about it. All seems to have settled down now but he totally went off me and wouldn't even have scritches from me. I did struggle not to feel hurt by it. I had to keep reminding myself not to apply human emotions to the situation and just ride it out until he came round. Things are much better now and he doesn't attack the back of my head any more. I'm also allowed to give him scritches again. Alfie generally strikes out and lets go. He rarely hangs on (thankfully). The few times he has held on he isn't applying as much pressure as I know he could. So I'm pretty lucky!

Us humans have got a LOT to answer for.

Aw you got there before I did! 😂 Alfie is a quiet observer. He doesn't make much noise... but he watches carefully and takes everything in.

So I bought a new carrier for Alfie back in June. He hates getting in his kings travel cage and it's fairly heavy and difficult to move around if you want to travel further than the car/house/aviary. So I bought him a backpack style carrier which he was VERY curious about. I kept rewarding him with a treat any time he went near it, but he didn't actually need much encouragement. I have managed to take him for a walk in it too and I'm hoping I'll be able to take him for more walks once the weather figures out what the heck it's doing. 😂 So I figured I'd start a thread and show off some photos of Alfie enjoying his carrier. I used it to get him out to the aviary once and took him for one walk (so far). If I take him to the vet then I'll revert back to the kings cage. Similarly, if I'm going to my parents house or anywhere where he needs to remain caged (and not walking) then I'll use the kings cage, as I don't want him to chew his way out of his backpack. My only complaint is the thickness of the perch- it's really thin... probably to accommodate several different bird species. I'm going to attempt to wrap it with rope and also attach something to grab hold off whilst we are moving so he can steady himself whilst on the move. Packed and ready to go! Trip out to the aviary (see what I mean about the thin perch?) First time I got him in it with the door closed- ready for his first walk. Just hanging around! I stopped mid-walk to check on him and hung the back on a tree branch. Food and water had been spilled because he kept trying to find things to hold whilst moving around. He seemed to be ok on his walk. My housemate came with me to keep an eye on Alfie and we kept chatting to him. He made a few beeps and whistles which is a good sign. A lady went past with a baby and he whistled to them as they passed so she pointed him out to the baby and said hello. So all in all, this has probably been my most successful purchase ever! Alfie took to it like a fish to water. Hopefully we will get to go on a few more adventures!

It can be a shock- especially when blood is drawn! Alfie does bite when he is feeling cranky or doesn't agree with something. He tends to just leave a mark or a slight bruise. Only time he has ever drawn blood is when he got my mum on the ear and again on the nose when he was a baby. However, I don't doubt that he could draw blood quite easily if he wanted to. He tends to grab and let go rather than clinging on for too long (thankfully!) It's usually quick and sharp. You know damn well you've been bitten and it's sore for a short while but there's no blood. Macaws seem to be gentle giants. The size of their beak is intimidating but from what I've read from macaw owners they seem to know exactly how much pressure is required. I've never really got up close and personal with a macaw, though I did hold one back in June. It was at the annual think parrot show and was a very tame green wing. She stepped up on my arm and sat there quietly for a few moments before being returned to the owner. I also saw some other macaws in aviaries at the event but I was a bit too nervous to stick my fingers in to give them scritches, despite the fact other people were. Greys? I don't think any bird bites quite like a grey does. Alfie is so fast and so accurate. He also gives off 'warning shots' at times where he deliberately gets the cage bars as opposed to the person (or cat). This seems to be his way of saying "back off or lose a limb!" and it works pretty damn well. The cats know better than to mess with him. (they never mix when Alfie is out of the cage and they know better than to stick a paw or tail in or near his cage!) I don't think you over-reacted by posting. I think sometimes they'll do something that catches us off guard and makes us wonder what the heck happened to warrant the response. Their behaviours are so subtle at times they can be difficult to read!

Haha that's fair enough. I guess I've never really given it much thought before. No idea if it's possible but @KevinD is probably your man for making that kind of change. 😊

Difficult to tell either way but possibly just an accident - he was probably just going for the cardboard tube and your finger happened to get in the way. I have had a breakthrough with Alfie and bedtimes in the last couple of years. Well, I say I've had a breakthrough... he's basically just done it all himself and I'm celebrating. Bedtimes or back to cage times were always tricky with Alfie giving me the run around. However, I think this was mostly because he wasn't getting enough out of cage time previously. Now we've spent quite a few years having regular out of cage time and establishing a better routine I think he now realises that he will definitely come out again tomorrow so is more willing to accept going back in his cage. I have to use a wooden perch to get him to step up as he's usually on top of his shelves and I can't reach so well (there is a sofa in the way too). So I ask him to step up on the perch, which he does nicely. I then take him to his cage and ask him to step up on the perch on the cage door and he does so willingly. I then close the door and give him a treat. Occasionally he will grab the perch and give it a bite first, but he still reliably steps up on to it. Very occasionally he will give me the run around by climbing to the top of the cage (which I can't reach) but I use the long wooden perch to guide him back down. It's just a bit of a game to him sometimes I think. We've even got to the point that Alfie will sometimes put himself back in his own cage. If it's getting late in the evening and I'm doing other things he sometimes flies to his cage and climbs right in to have his bedtime snack and drink. He also sometimes tops his off by saying "night night" - a hint for me to let him sleep! I never thought I would see that happen. 😂

My activity here is always in fits and spurts. Sometimes I only get time to read posts and not reply. Other times I have the luxury of being able to reply and start new threads as well. I try and stay active but unfortunately life gets in the way sometimes.

Hmm. Hoovering doesn't set Alfie off either. He just watches. Do I have an imposter? My family always said Alfie was a pigeon with a painted tail... perhaps I don't have a grey at all? 😂

I just checked by editing the above post and you don't have leave a comment. You can edit your post and save it. The post will still show as edited but won't have a comment as to why.

Hah, funnily enough, I have spotted some absolute corkers in my posts recently- usually when I read back through a thread. I always wonder how I missed it the first time round, as I always read back what I have written before posting. As for the reason for editing box... isn't it optional to leave a comment? Or has that changed?

Cricket was a beautiful bird and I always enjoyed reading your posts about her. It's always exceptionally hard when we lose a beloved pet. It's no different from losing a family member.

How peculiar! I'm afraid I can't offer much advice. I did spot some similar behaviours with Alfie though- certain toys will set him off and he treats them like eggs and sits on them. He is totally indifferent about ice cubes. I have no idea whether Alfie is male or female either. I just assume male.

Funny you should say that... if I somehow managed to make enough money that I could give up working full time then I would love to start up a sanctuary/rescue centre. Yes British weather is often talked/complained about over here. We're never happy. It's always too cold/hot/wet/dry etc etc 😂

The weather here is dull, grey miserable and usually raining. We have had quite a few hot days this year but the heat we get with it is usually unbearable. Very hot, humid and close. When you walk out of the house/work you feel like you're walking into a brick wall. We don't have to deal with hurricanes though and our storms are usually quite tame. We don't often get much snow where I am - though everything still grinds to a halt when it happens because we're not used to it. I understand what you are saying about the sanctuary where your birds live. It's great that you still get to visit and can donate towards their care (and the care of other birds). I would have wanted something similar to Alfie but there's not many rescue centres around here, especially not close to home.

I wonder how many are in the UK. It doesn't seem as common to keep birds over here. In fact, the pet shop I used to work at stopped selling all birds. They used to sell finches, canaries, budgies, rosellas, cockatiels.., and the occasional african grey (which is how I first came across them and gained interest in them). We also had an eclectus in once... though that was from another store who hadn't cared for him properly so we looked after him, fed him properly and then sold him once he was in a better condition and was ready to move to his (hopefully) forever home. I still have a soft spot for electus parrots to this day because of him. Years ago they decided that birds weren't as popular as other pets so stopped selling them and drastically reduced their bird products. They only sell a few bits and pieces for small birds nowadays. None of my friends or family keep birds of any variety and I don't often hear about people keeping birds in my local area.

Yes I kept reducing seeds and adding more pellets. I tried offering pellets as a treat. I tried adding them to his foraging wheel once he got the hang of how to get the food out. He ignored the foraging wheel until I put his regular food/treats back in. He managed to pick his bowl up and dump the entire contents of it whenever it had pellets in. 😂 If there were any seeds present he would dig them out and eat those. I tried crumbling the pellets over his seed/veg/fruit but he wasn't having any of it. I pretended to eat them myself whilst making excited and happy sounds. He just stared blankly at me. I have tried every brand, every shape, every colour and quite possibly every trick. I've removed all other foods except the pellets for short periods at a time (around the time he normally dives into his food bowl or foraging wheel) but he was having none of it. Either dumped the contents or sat there rattling his bowl (his sign for 'FEED ME NOW!'). I couldn't bring myself to leave the pellets in there for nothing else for a whole day as I honestly believe he would starve himself before eating them. 🙄 So I keep offering fruit and veg- whether fresh, cooked or dried. He doesn't eat a lot of it (apart from dried fruit/veg like I mentioned earlier) but at least he picks at some of it. I think I'd rather he ate actual fruit and veg over pellets anyway. Not too keen on the whole processed/man made food idea.

I considered rehoming Alfie for a while so I understand how difficult it must have been for you. At the time I wasn't providing Alfie with the time and attention he needed and I felt like I wasn't good enough for him and he deserved much better. The latter is definitely true. I was putting in lots of hours at work and trying to study at the same time so Alfie wasn't getting as much out of cage time as he should and not enough social interaction for a while. I looked up a few recuse centres and even contacted one but they never got back to me. I came to the conclusion that Alfie didn't ask to be put int his situation so I needed to make some drastic changes. I figured I would try my best to adapt and get into a better routine to I had more time to spend with him (and work less whilst I was at it). It took me many months of making little changes here and there- like rearranging the rooms in the house, relocating Alfie's cage, getting him a new cage, changing my routines etc etc. When I bought my house I went into it looking at layouts which suited Alfie best. I'm forever learning and adapting to suit Alfie's needs and I am happy that I have made enough changes along the way that I no longer consider rehoming him. He seems so much happier since moving to this house 6 years ago and being the centre of attention in our living space. Plus he gets so much more time out of the cage and with me. It's always a tough decision and not one to take lightly. It reduced me to tears on a number of occasions as I tried to work out what to do for the best. Thankfully I was able to make the required changes to improve things though.