neoow

Alfie is exceptionally picky and always has been. He has a seed, nut and dried fruit mix which is his daily go to. I am trying him on harrisons pellets and tops pellets at the moment but he is not impressed. I have never managed to fully convert him away from his seed/fruit/nut mix. He is a nightmare with vegetables and usually ignores them completely. He will eat mashed potato and will occasionally entertain the idea of peas and cooked carrots. He has tried some sweet potato mash as well recently but the verdict is still out on that one. He gets whatever he can have from my dinner plate in his bowl but isn't normally interested in trying it. He normally just flings it out of the bowl in disgust. He likes banana, especially dried banana chips. He always digs those out first. I have tried chop but he's never been interested. I've tried putting things on a skewer in his cage but it mostly gets ignored. Unless it's a grape. He likes grapes. I keep persevering but he's very contrary. He might give something a go one day and then the next he's chucking that same thing across the cage in disgust. 😂 I'm debating about getting a dehydrator and adding some dried veggies into his daily mix... see if he picks anything out that he likes from that.

That sounds similar to what Alfie does with some of his toys- grabs them and lets go so they swing and then sticks his head under them for a scratch. 😂

Helping... inspecting... official taste tester...!! Lovely photo!

Welcome to the forums and thank you for taking in a rescue bird. What is his name? He is a beautiful bird! One thing you will learn quite quickly is a little thing called "grey time". This is the time it takes for a grey to adjust and accept changes. This can be changes in routine, toys, location, people etc etc. Your bird has just undertaken a very big change and at a month in everything is still very new. Your bird is trying to adjust to a new home, a new human, a new routine, new sounds, new toys... everything. This can be a bit overwhelming for a grey as they can be a little change adverse at times. It can take days, weeks or sometimes months for a grey to adapt to these kind of changes and come out of their shell. This is what we call 'grey time'. Some changes may be more readily accepted by the bird than others... so there's no telling how much 'grey time' is needed for different changes. The important thing to remember is that the grey will show you when they are ready to accept a change or a new offering. They will also show you when they are not ready. A lot of this is shown via their body language- so pay attention to what your grey is doing... especially if you receive a nip or a bite...e.g what were the eyes doing, how were the feathers being held? There may be some subtle signs that your bird gives you before he resorts to a bite. Given enough time, you will start to be able to read your birds body language and will be able to know when the bird has had enough or is happy to progress. You will have many amazing years together and it sounds like you are already off to a fantastic start. These forums are full of information so feel free to have a look around. Ask as many questions as you need to- there is always someone here who can help and advise!

Oh the poor thing. Such horrid conditions. At least he is safe now and will get all of the care and attention he needs. I'm sure he will settle down eventually and quickly realise he has landed on his feet!

Such good news! Well done to you and your son for persevering and rescuing the little guy. I hope he has a very speedy road to recovery!

I have seen so many posts on facebook recently about missing greys. In the UK we are in the middle of a heat wave so naturally doors and windows are being left open more often. Air conditioning in the home is not overly common over here as it's normally too cold and damp to need it. I've seen multiple lost/found bird notices being shared every day over the last couple of weeks and it saddens me every time. I made this thread to try and start a discussion about how to bird proof your home to try and ensure your beloved birds are kept safe. Please feel free to make any recommendations you have and hopefully this will be a useful thread for bird owners or potential bird owners. I in no way intend this to be a judgmental post or aim to make anyone feel bad if they have lost a bird before. I'm just looking for suggestions on how to try and prevent the worst from happening. I am in no way perfect myself... I once didn't close the food hatch on Alfie's cage properly and he spent most of the day flying around the house on his own with the dog until a family member came home and found him. The phonecall I received was thankfully to ask me to come home to put him back in his cage rather than to say the dog had injured him or that he had flown out the back door when it was opened to let the dog out. I was extremely lucky that day. I also was cleaning Alfie's cage out and took both of the bottom sections of his cage out when a cat was in the room. I turned back to see the cat wandering round the bottom of Alfie's cage with Alfie climbing around the top looking worried! Again... I was very lucky! --- I have two indoor cats plus Alfie at home, so I am always super paranoid about potential escape routes. When I moved house I invested in "flat cat" mesh (http://www.flat-cats.co.uk/) for several of the windows throughout the house and also the patio doors. This sticks to the window/door frame with velcro and allows me to open doors and windows then stick the mesh back into place- keeping the animals in and all the pesky bugs out. This allows me to let fresh air into the house and Alfie can also enjoy sitting in front of the doors getting a nice breeze (and some sunshine) without being able to escape. For those of you who are handy with a sewing machine you could probably make your own but I opted to have them made to fit my doors and windows as I didn't trust my own sewing skills! I believe people also rely on their birds sitting on their shoulder or a perch happily and will take them outside in the garden in hot weather thinking they will just sit there and behave. It's only going to take one little thing to spook a bird off a shoulder and into a panicked flight. Even if a bird has had a wing clip, if they get enough of a breeze underneath their wings they will take off and can get stuck in a tree or fly quite a distance. I think it's safer to always take your bird out in a cage/travel cage or on a reliable harness (if they accept a harness). Open doors and windows are a hazard at all times. Again, if your bird is spooked or just being curious it's only going to take them a matter of seconds to find themselves outside whilst your back is turned or whilst you are holding a door open. I've seen other suggestions previously where people use chain/beaded curtains over their doors. This is enough of a barrier to prevent their bird from getting outside (and also helps keep the bugs out too) Anyone else have any other helpful suggestions about how to keep birds safe and trying to prevent possible escapees?

There is no such thing as too big when it comes to a bird cage 😂 The bigger the better! Looks good- and it looks like you already have all the approval you need already! Now comes the fun part.... toy arrangement!!

I'm afraid we are not trained vets so will not be able to offer much advice about what's going on here. If it were my bird in that situation then I would visit an avian vet for a checkup. Changes in behaviour like that could potentially indicate a problem.

Welcome to the forums! I love baby grey photos! Look at that cute little ball of fluff! Do feel free to ask any questions- we have lots of members who will be happy to help and advise!

Welcome Alex and Riko! There is a wealth of information already available in these forums, so please do take a look around. If you do have any questions then go ahead and ask, there are a lot of people here who will be able to help and advise.

And I thought I had my hands full with three animals. I don't know how you all cope!! 😂

I brought Alfie home when I was 17 years old and still in school. Of course, as a teenager, I knew everything.... or so I thought.... I wasn't in a situation where I couldn't leave Alfie with family because they did not bond with him. They tried at first but they were wary of him and couldn't quite understand the differences between the family dog and cat to Alfie. (I mean absolutely no disrespect to my family here by the way- just telling it how it was). I was the single caregiver for Alfie. He started life living in my bedroom until I was able to move him downstairs in the lounge/dining room, safe in the knowledge that neither the cat or dog would bother him. My family would try and socialise with him often enough, but were too scared to handle him and would try and avoid him when he was out of the cage where possible. To this day, whilst my parents will look after him if I'm in a bind, he would always be in the cage and they wouldn't dare let him out if I wasn't there. Life moved on, as it tends to do and I moved out into a rented house with two friends- neither of who wanted much to do with Alfie. The only place he could live was in the main hallway, so he saw a lot of foot traffic but not enough regular attention. He wasn't in the main room in the house. Again, things changed and my two housemates moved out, allowing me to move Alfie into the living room of the house. But I was studying as well as working full time and gaining more responsibilities at work, which meant longer hours. I didn't give him the attention he deserved or needed and I will be the first person to hold my hands up and say that I was failing him as an owner. In fact, when I first joined these forums, I had gone through the agonising process of trying to decide whether I should rehome Alfie. I had actually contacted a possible rescue organisation but (thankfully) they never returned my message. Since then I decided that it was MY failings, not Alfie's and it would be unfair to turn his world upside down because of my mistakes. So I started making small changes here and there with a view of improving Alfie's lifestyle. A bigger cage, moving furniture around so I was in the same room as him more often. Making more time for him and working on fixing our relationship. When I was looking to buy a house I went in to each one with a view of where Alfie would fit in and making sure he would be the centre of attention in the house (which he now is). When I moved into my house I put Alfie in the centre of the lounge/diner and I put my desk next to his cage (I don't own a dining table to allow for this). This means that even if I'm working or drawing or playing games etc, I am with Alfie and he can come out and play or watch what I'm doing and get all of the attention he wants and needs. The difference between my situation and yours is that it sounds like you have a family who will happily look after your flock if things do get a bit hectic. That option alone makes a big difference. So if you do decide to add a grey to your flock, I would strongly recommend making sure your family are on board and are involved with the bird as much as possible.

Personally I think if you have the space, budget and time for a second bird then go for it. you know your bird better than anyone else so you'll be the best judge as to whether the two birds will happily coexist. However, don't forget to have a backup plan... what will happen if the two birds DON'T get along together? What if they can't be out of the cage at the same time? Can you give them both the individual care and attention they may need? Plan for the worst and hope for the best!

I hope all goes according to plan with the resuce! Hopefully the owner will be able to understand the situation and let the bird go to a better home.

My housemate very kindly looked after Alfie whilst I was away for the week. Although he wouldn't let Alfie out of the cage (which I totally understand as he's still a little wary of Alfie and would probably have difficultly getting him back in the cage) I was safe in the knowledge that Alfie was being looked after in a familiar environment by a familiar person instead of having to find him somewhere to reside for a week whilst I was away. Made it a lot easier for everyone!

Lovely photos and such beautiful birds! Thank you for digging the photos out. I love the close up baby photo. Looks like a bird with attitude... and a mohawk!

Ah yeah- I could see that taking some time! Happy to have very brief introductions though!! 😂 Bengals are amazing cats. I've never really been a cat person until we got these two. Their personalities remind me of dogs more than cats. They are crazy, energetic, curious and strong willed. But they are also incredibly loyal and affectionate (in their own way). neither of mine are "lap cats" but they have their own way of showing and receiving affection. Widget will wait for me to come home from work and come trotting down the stairs to say hello and get a bit of fuss. I was away this week on holiday and according to my housemate he would wait on the stairs watching the front door waiting for me to come home. Their fur is incredible as well. It feels so soft and silky smooth. They do keep us on our toes though. They are smart, like you say and will often finds new ways to get into mischief!

He was- I was trying to convince him to go in his travel cage so he could see the new aviary for the first time. He wasn't having any of it!! 😂 I had a lovely break away but I was glad to get home this evening. Alfie enjoyed lots of head scratches!

What an adorable photo. Thank you for the information as well. I'd love to be able to see/witness some baby parrots growing up. I've only ever seen photos and videos.

I've been away on holiday for a week and travel home tomorrow. Thought I'd post some photos of Alfie as I'm looking forward to seeing him when I get home.

Seeing as I started this I'd better participate! Pet name: Alfie Species/breed: African Grey Age: 15 years old How long have you been owned by this pet? Since he was 11 weeks old. He came home in 2003 Character/traits of your pet: prefers noises over words... The louder the better! He knows the perfect time to mimic a laugh. He has a secret bromance going on with my housemate. He likes head scratches but only when he wants them. Pets favourite thing/activity: dried banana chips are a favourite treat. He likes to shred cardboard and toys. He likes climbing. Pet name: Widget Species/breed: Bengal cat Age: 7 years old How long have you been owned by this pet? He came home with his sister Pixel at 13 weeks old in 2011 Character/traits of your pet: energetic and playful. Extremely vocal with a very unique meow. Makes demands for food, play, fuss and bed time (he yells at me to go to bed so he gets his bed time fuss). Not overly food motivated but will devour tuna. Refuses to wear a collar or anything similar. Indoor cat. Very loyal. Agile. Can catch a fly in flight. Pets favourite thing/activity: chasing and playing with his sister, Pixel. Bed time fuss. Early morning fuss. Tuna Pet name: Pixel Species/breed: Bengal cat Age: 7 years old How long have you been owned by this pet? Came home with her brother Widget at 13 weeks old back in 2011 Character/traits of your pet: energetic and playful. Vocal but not as loud or demanding as her brother. Very affectionate. Will come trotting across the room for a bit of fuss. Clumsy. Very solid build and makes a lot of noise when she lands. Pets favourite thing/activity: she has a green/yellow sheath from an earth cable which she stole from my dad's tool kit when she was a kitten. This is her favourite toy and she carries it around and plays fetch with it. Seems to favour green or yellow toys the most. Likes going outside in the aviary or wearing a harness Included some photos. Widget is on the left and pixel is on the right... They wanted to go outside to the aviary so were standing up at the back door yelling at me!

Just because it's been a little quiet around here lately I thought I'd start a thread for everyone to share a little bit about their birds and other pets. Feel free to include photos Maybe start with something along the lines of: Pet name: Species/breed: Age: How long have you been owned by this pet? Character/traits of your pet: Pets favourite thing/activity: ---- Add any other interesting information about your pets!

Haha poor Salsa. Not surprised she threw a fit. Naptime is serious business! 😂

amazing photos and so many beautiful birds. Thank you for sharing!