neoow

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.

Yes it is tough. And it's very difficult not to take it personally. Unfortunately it is just a case of rolling with it and hoping they come round.

Alfie learned to bark like the neighbours Jack Russell.. which never used to stop barking. However, Alfie always sounded a lot cuter than the actual dog, so I can deal with it. The dog has gone because the neighbours moved but Alfie still barks on occassion. He never learned to bark like our german shepherd when we lived with my parents though. I'd prefer that bark over a jack russell any day!

Agreed- whilst there is a wealth of information available on these forums which is useful to all grey owners, I do enjoy reading the posts where members simply share stories about their greys.

Alfie is a seed junkie unfortunately, so I have to keep coming up with creative ways to entice him to eat healthy. If I put it in his bowl he'll mostly fling it, though I did have some success with a mini pumpkin last year. He will pick at a few bits and pieces and then toss it as far as he can. I use a skewer and hang foods in his cage so it's more difficult for him to discard them. This works occassionally and he will try some new foods that way. The foraging tray idea worked quite well. He did fling most of it but he was at least willing to nibble a few bits and pieces. I'm toying with the idea of getting a dehydrator because he seems to prefer dried veggies and fruit over anything else. Pellets have always been an absolute no go. I've tried all sorts of makes sizes and colours and they are always rejected, despite my perseverance.

Beautiful photos! Alfie came home at 11 weeks. I had met him a few times prior and fell in love at first sight. He's now 16 years old and runs the house... as expected haha.

London, UK has a very large number of wild ring neck parakeets. See here for more info: https://londonist.com/london/great-outdoors/london-s-parakeets-everything-you-need-to-know One of my friends was visitng someone in London and sitting in their back garden- the ringnecks were flying overhead and he asked me if I knew anything about it. I had heard about them before but then read that article about it for some more information. Nobody quite knows how they got there. There are lots of theories. Either way, they seem to have adapted and florished ever since.

Alfie is similar to Timber. He doesn't compete with the wild birds. He does, however, meow like the cats and will challenge them every so often for who can do the loudest meow!

7 years for me too!

Not sure how long I've been kicking around but it must be a few years now. It's been an invaluable source of information and guidance- even for someone who has lived with a grey for a few years before joining.

Just erring on the side of caution here- Are we likely to run into any copyright issues bt uploading music? Obviously if it's your own original music you can do what you want with it. But are we likely to have issues by uploading music by others at all? I think it's a great feature but I just wanted to raise it in case we could potentially get our fingers burned by using it!

They are so particular sometimes! Alfie doesn't really care what his bowls look like- so long as they have tasty food in them! He reacts differently to different toys. Some have to be introduced very slowly whereas others are no problem and are accepted before I even take the tags off. I can never tell what will be accepted or not until I bring it home and try it. He seems to have his own set of rules!

I've found it difficult with Alfie because parrots aren't a usual sight in houses so people tend to be wary or scared of him. Admittedly I failed to socialise him enough when he was young but my family all backed off and were scared of him after he bit them as a youngster. My mum tried the most but my sister is very fearful of him (and I don't even think she went close enough to get bitten). My dad is not interested. After I moved out my two housemates didn't really like him all that much - mostly indifferent but also a bit scared. I've never found anyone close enough who has enough of an interest to try and get to know Alfie. My current housemate is Alfie's favourite person (even over me). It has taken YEARS for them to get to this stage and they both had to get used to each other. Alfie will let my housemate give him scrtiches and and will even follow him around the room to be closer to him. He will join my housemate on the sofa or sit on his knee and ask for scritches. Sometimes you have to socialise the human with the bird as well as socialising the bird with the human! Alfie never used to make a peep if other people were in the room. He's never been particularly noisy anyway but he would clam up completely when others were near. Nowadays he is a lot more content to make some beeps and whistles at people and will say 'see you later' when he thinks they are leaving (or thinks it's time for them to leave!)

Thanks for all the work you have put in so far