neoow

I'm not sure if I have much useful advice to offer. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about the situation you're in as I can appreciate it's tough to know what to do for the best. Alfie is 14 years old and he will still give me a nip/bite if he's not happy about something. Over the years, I started to become scared of being bitten and worried about handling him. I think he picked up on this and it made the situation worse. It has taken us both a long time (years) to work through this together. He will still give me a nip if he's grumpy about something but I have worked on learning when and why I might receive a bite. I have also learned to approach Alfie with more confidence and this generally gets better results. That's not to say I am boisterous or try and pick him up when he doesn't want it. But I try and remain confident in my body language and my voice when handling him. It sounds stupid but it has helped. I find if I am nervous and Alfie picks up on it, he is more likely to bite because either he is nervous as well or he is pushing the boundaries (e.g trying to stay out past bed time!) Typically I know when I'm likely to receive a bite and I ride it out and talk through it. Nowadays they're not even that painful (except for the odd one) because I think he's realised he's not getting as much of a reaction. Alfie is also a 'no shoulder' bird. I do not trust him on my shoulder because he will not sit there for long before pulling at my hair or trying to get to my ears. That makes me uncomfortable because I cannot see what he is doing and I am worried that he may manage to catch my eye one day. So I persevere with the 'no shoulder' rule. When he lands to my arm he will try and make his way up it because he wants to sit on my shoulder so I put my other arm in the way. He will either step up onto that arm or he will move back to my forearm/wrist. Typically when I am sitting down he prefers to sit on my knee/leg anyway, which suits me just fine. Poppy is still very young and has a lot to learn. I'm afraid I don't have any useful suggestions for you but I hope you, the family and Poppy manage to find a way forward that works for you all.

This is a great idea but my kitchen is so small I don't have any room for any more gadgets.

Welcome back! I don't know how you multiple bird families cope. Alfie keeps me on my toes enough on his own!

Snapped a few photos of Alfie today. He looks like he is posing for them!

Haha you definitely caught her having a moment!

Looks good! I think I'm going to investigate this for Alfie. Judygram- do you cook/boil the veggies you buy before serving them to the birds?

Oh wow! Lucky Huey!

Hi all, I've seen a couple of mentions from different sources about dehydrated food for parrots. I read that someone was making their own dehydrated food so they knew where everything had come from and someone else had ordered some in. I've never really heard of this before (or paid it much attention) so I'm just curious about it. If you make or buy dehydrated food, how do you feed it to your birds? Do you feed it as is or do you have to soak it or cook it in some way before it's edible?

They look like they're having a blast together! Is Huey still a temporary resident or is he now there to stay?

I absolutely adore the relationship you have with Greycie. She certainly has you wrapped around her little talons!

It all looks so amazing. I'm so excited that I'm going to be putting an aviary out in my garden this year (when the weather gets a little warmer, that is!) I already have a cargo net and a rather large hanging bridge to put in there. I need to build up more supplies to put in there when it's done. It's going to be 12ft long by 6ft wide by 6ft tall. Have always wanted something like that for Alfie and now I'm finally going to be able to do it!

Wishing all of your and your flocks/families a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Amazing! I'm very jealous! (and so is Alfie!)

Welcome to the forums! To pass the initiation test, you must post some photos of Pumpkin I joke about the test. I hope you find lots of useful information here! Feel free to join in with some of the discussions!

Seeing as it's that time of year- I figured I'd ask how you're all planning to spend Christmas this year. I'm doing my usual - Christmas Eve is spent with my housemate. Christmas day I'm visiting my sister and nephew in the morning and then going back to my parents house for the rest of the day. I'm staying there overnight and spending the day with them on boxing day. I think some of my dad's family is visiting on boxing day too. Then a couple of days later my mum's side of the family is visiting. I typically help my mum in the kitchen over the few days that I spend with them. If Alfie wants to come with me then he will do. Last year he opted to stay at home. I tried my best to coerce him into his travel cage but he wasn't having any of it and took himself back to his cage. He can't come with me to my sisters house because their dog would probably try and eat him, so I'll come back home to pick him up and then go to my parents. I love Christmas. For me it's all about spending time with family. We exchange gifts as well but my favourite part is just spending time with them all.

Woohoo I can see thread titles! Thank you so much for your perseverance!

I think the hot pink clashes a bit with the red... but hey, at least you can see it!! Sorry this one has been such a pain!

Yeah its not my idea of fun either. Sometimes I get to the point where I just change a colour to something bright and garish, commit the change and then try and find where the colour is just to work out which bit does what. It's not quick but sometimes that's the only way I can figure out what's going on!

Birds are not dogs. They are not domesticated animals like dogs and cats. They will behave and respond differently to domesticated animals. I personally do not advocate hurting a bird to 'teach it a lesson' when it bites. Some biting is caused by a fear response- if the bird does not see a way out of a situation they will sometimes resort to biting to try and make the perceived threat go away. Barbara Heidenreich is an animal trainer who has a lot of resources on parrot behaviour and training. It may be worth looking up some of her articles and books. She sometimes hosts webinars that you can pay to participate (or pay a smaller fee to watch back a previously recorded webinar). I'd strongly recommend doing some research on positive reinforcement and parrot behaviour before trying anything or letting others try anything. Invoking a fear response by hurting a bird or trying to dominate a bird by trying to be the 'top dog' isn't going to get you very far and you'll probably end up being bitten more often as a result. On the days where your bird is trying to be independent and do his own thing then your best bet is to sit back a little bit and let him explore at his own pace. Don't attempt to force him to do things he clearly doesn't want to do. If I try and scratch Alfie's head and he's not interested then I know I am asking to be bitten if I keep trying to scratch his head. Body language is key with African Greys- you have to watch carefully at the subtle messages they are trying to convey. The bite is often the last resort... basically a "I've been trying to tell you to back off... now BACK OFF" response.

Oof. I do not envy you right now. Sorry! I was hoping it would be a straightforward one!!

The trick is to find something else that your grey likes to destroy. I had a similar problem with Alfie when he discovered the shelves in the living room. He threw everything off the shelves then started chewing them/pulling them apart. I discovered that he loved to destroy cardboard boxes so I found some that fit perfectly on the shelves. Now, when I let him out, I clear all my things off the shelves and leave a few cardboard boxes and toys up there for him. He will happily sit and shred the boxes for hours and leaves the shelf well alone. The chewing is a natural behaviour- you just need to find a way to redirect it to a more desirable object if you can. (e.g boxes, old bits of paper, telephone directories... anything he can chew and shred) Depending on your cabinet- is it possible to tile the tops of them? One of my colleagues also has a grey who loves sitting on the top of the cabinets- so they put tiles on top. Can't be chewed and are also wipe clean! He also fills the space with various toys and boxes to keep his grey busy/distracted.

Thanks! Don't bust a gut over it as it's such a minor problem!

Wow I didn't know this. Something to bear in mind as I have carpets upstairs and in the hall that I want to replace at some point.

It's not urgent at all. I can deal with it. Just thought I'd give you a heads up.

Yeah I think it's just the red theme too. I checked the halloween one and a blue one and neither had the same issue. I like the red one best though, so I'll stick it out.