neoow

Alfie gave me a good chomp the other day because I dared to suggest it was bed time. He was having so much fun he didn't want to go to bed. I'd already let him stay up late but that wasn't good enough. So when I ask him to step onto my hand, he did... but he also grabbed and squeezed to let me know he wasn't happy about it. He doesn't draw blood- but he does like to let me know when I'm spoiling his fun.

I second the "whatever works" sentiment!

Thank you SterlingSL that's exactly what I meant!

Don't be surprised if this thread sparks a rather healthy debate about wing clipping. I don't like the approach suggested by the woman here. Having watched Alfie get clipped when he was young in a similar way, I decided it was far too stressful for him to ever consider having it done again. Only reason I had it done in the first place was because I was following what I now consider to be bad advice from the place where I got Alfie from. They suggested lightly clipping one wing then waiting a few weeks and lightly clipping the other. I followed this advice then realised Alfie was a strong enough flyer that once he sorted his balance issues out he could fly just as well as he could before the clip. So for me, it made no sense to continue. Alfie screamed the place down when they toweled him and I personally felt it was unnecessary stress for him. I worry that with Poppy being a fearful/timid bird it will be extra stressful for her. Apparently there are ways to train a bird to get used to being handled in a towel (according to Barbara Heindenreich) but obviously this would need lots of careful and patient training with Poppy. Similarly, getting her used to going into a carrier should be possible... with lots of time, patience and reassurance. Personally, I wouldn't risk setting Poppy's progress back by having a stranger walk into the home, towel her and clip her wings especially if she's a timid bird anyway. I'm not sure what to suggest to you here though. How old is Poppy now? Is she able to fly or still learning? I'd be cautious of having her wings clipped if she's still quite young and hasn't fully learned to fly yet. (Apologies, I forget how long you'd have her now! Time zips past so quickly!)

Just a thought for the open door - I've seen people mention that they use those door curtains (not sure how best to describe them) that's a row of hanging chains/ribbons/plastic strips? Just wondered if that was an option for your house? Children and dogs could still get out but it may stop the birds from trying to fly towards an open door (because it'll be covered). I wouldn't trust them enough to just leave the door open willy nilly but it may be enough of a distraction that the birds don't try and fly outside? Apologies for my vague description- I have no idea what they're called or where to get them from! I'm thinking of this kind of thing... https://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/images/mainpics/94204.jpg

Alfie is the same. I can offer him up all sorts of tasty morsels and more often than not he'll chuck them to one side or just ignore them. Cooked, raw, it doesn't matter. At most he'll take a couple of chunks out of it before throwing it. I persevere but he's a little bugger for trying not to eat the healthy stuff. With the exception of grapes. He can't turn down a grape. He gets given a few grapes every so often as a treat and he devours them.

So glad this had a happy ending and Olive is now back safe and sound.

I wish Alfie would eat his pellets. I've been trying him on harrisons recently and he's not interested. I've been sprinkling them on his food, hiding them in his food, giving him pellets with only a few seeds. He always eats round them... or throws them out completely. On the plus side- he is getting a bit more adventurous with his fruit and veggies these days. He ate a sugar snap pea at my mum's house and normally he wouldn't touch those. I even managed to get him to take a bite out of some brocoli. Not sure he approved of it... but at least he took a chunk out of it rather than just throwing it away!

If I stay up too late then Alfie starts saying "night night!" to prompt me to go to bed. If he wants more food (because he's picked out all his favourite bits and isn't interested in whats left) he'll start grabbing the lip of his food bowl and flicking it so it makes a loud metallic noise... it's his equivalent to banging his knife and fork on the table I guess. I really should just give him a servants bell he can ring when he wants me to do something.

I have not skipped work to finish reading a book. I have however, stayed up most of the night reading a book I couldn't put down and then was tired and grumpy at work the next day. Oops! I HAVE been late or left early due to pets (emergency vet visits etc). When I was still living at home with my sister and parents I got called home from work because Alfie had escaped in the house and my sister was too scared to do anything. She hid upstairs with the dog. I was unable to keep a straight face when telling my boss that I had to go home because my parrot was holding my sister and dog hostage. I have not been in the awkward situation of being seated next to an ex with their new partner in a restaurant... thankfully! Never have I ever.... made myself late to an event/work/outing because one of my pets was being adorably affectionate so I stopped to make the most of it. (Hey, don't judge- my cats like attention on their own terms and one was refusing to let me out of bed without giving him loads of fuss first... this might have happened on more than one occasion!! :cool:)

I have a small kings travel cage for Alfie and I can't fault it. Very well made, very solid. Yes it's on the heavy side but not heavy enough that it causes me any issues. The only thing I don't like about my one is that it comes with bespoke plastic food/water cups that would be difficult to replace. But as Alfie isn't in it for very long they haven't been ripped to shreds yet. I don't know if that's the same for the cage you are looking at or if they changed that design.

But when you're making lists... you're not paying attention to GreycieMae! This is win win- she gets the pen AND attention!

Greycie is hilarious- I love the mischief she gets up to!

Sorry, am totally ignorant here. What is it?

I'm planning some work in the garden over the next few weeks and I hope to get an enclosure out there for Alfie and the cats to use (not at the same time, I hasten to add!!). So I'm going to have this to look forward to! Alfie knows exactly where I can't reach when he's out of his cage. So I will leave a step ladder in the enclosure I think!

Sending big hugs and best wishes to you and Timber. Sorry you're having to go through this. I am hoping beyond all hope that it all works out ok.

I'm sorry but I did laugh. But then I did feel sorry for you afterwards. Alfie always picks up the loudest, most obnoxious noises. He seems to learn those a lot easier than he does anything else! I hope Dorian gets bored of the sound very quickly!

Haha that's hilarious! Sully has you wrapped round his little talons!

I personally try and keep Alfie away from my shoulder- simply because after a minute or two of being there he will start trying to find my ears to nibble at. So he's not allowed up there. Or if he is, it's for a very brief spell before he is moved back to an arm where I can see what he's up to.

Under the recommendation of the pet shop I bought Alfie from, he had a light clip on one wing when he was very young. Then I took him back to have the other one done to even it out. Then I let them grow out. Alfie learned where all the windows were because I took him round and showed them to him and let him tap on the glass with his beak. I've done this each time I've moved and I still do it every so often just as a reminder. He's never flown into a window. I let them grow out because even after his wing clip, once he worked the balance issue out he could still fly just as well. I learned that it would make hardly any difference if he got outside- if he caught the wind right he'd still be gone... but also might not be able to escape from potential predators as easily. In the end I decided that asking a bird not to fly (or not to fly to his full potential) was like asking a dog to stop wagging his tail. The stress of being towelled to have his wings clipped was pointless and unnecessary. So he has been happily flighted ever since. We've only ever had one incident where I thought he could have killed himself. That was when he was still learning to fly. He could fly in a straight line and could crash land but that was about it. He lived in my bedroom upstairs at the time (I was 17 and living with parents) We had a German Shepherd dog at the time and I had my bedroom door open with Alfie out of the cage. I didn't realise the dog was in the house but he suddenly appeared in my room, causing me to jump and Alfie to spook. Alfie took off with me in hot pursuit. I grabbed the dog before he could chase and watched as Alfie flew down the hallway, did a complete 180 degree turn for the first time ever then flew down the stairs out of sight. I heard the sickening thud of him hitting the wall at the bottom of the stairs and thought he'd flown head first into the wall and killed himself. I shut the dog in my room, rushed down the stairs and found Alfie sitting there. He was fine. He'd managed to pull up and had left a perfect dusty imprint on the wall of his body and wings - like something out of a cartoon. Whilst he did hit it with the thud, he was perfectly fine. No injuries, thankfully!

I worked in a pet store for a Saturday job whilst still at school and we had the occasional grey come through. Whilst they were never there for long I was fascinated. We also had an ekkie once- we took him in from another store from the same pet store chain who didn't look after him well enough. We worked with him, got him used to being handled and got him on the right foods and he made a massive improvement. He went to a nice family in the end. He was an awesome bird. I already had Alfie by that time otherwise I probably would have taken him in. I did lots of reading, bought lots of books and decided that a grey was for me. I found a small family run pet store that was in the next town and went to visit them. They had two baby greys and a pionus. The said they had a male grey and a female grey but I'm not sure if they were correct or ever had them tested. I visited the shop a couple of times, placed a deposit on Alfie and took him home when he was ready to leave (they were still weaning him). I got him when he was 11 weeks old. He was still having some formula, fed from a spoon but was also eating seeds when I took him home. That was 14 years ago! I almost ended up taking the Pionus too because he was so cuddly. As soon as he spotted you in the room he would come waddling over as fast as his little legs would carry him and bury himself in your arms. My mum fell in love with him haha.

Interesting question. I was actually thinking about this earlier this week, funnily enough. I was wondering about multi-grey homes and how to tell them apart if they're not making any noise or carrying out any particular behaviours. I hadn't really thought about it in the instance of a lost grey being returned. Alfie's band has been removed from his leg (not that it was particularly legible anyway) but he is 'chipped. So obviously my most reliable source would be to have him scanned at a vets practice. Without hearing him say something or make certain noises, I'd like to think that I would be able to identify Alfie in a "Grey line up"! The main tell tale sign for Alfie is his beak. His beak grows out more on one side. It's under control (thanks to his vet doing such a good job) but I could still use it to identify Alfie. Also, Alfie tends to preen under his wings a lot- so as a result the feathers on the side of his body are messier than what I've seen on other greys... though that would be a hard one to see unless he lifted his wings voluntarily. Alfie hates his wings being touched! He used to have a little red feather above the base of his tail/on his back but that dropped out several years ago. I can't think of any other tell tale signs for him.

Sounds like solid advice to me. The perch on the door trick is also useful for getting Alfie back in his cage. I'm very lucky in that Alfie doesn't show any signs of aggression when I'm in his cage. I can change bowls, toys, tidy up etc and he doesn't mind at all. I can also fetch him from any location in his cage and he doesn't mind. Getting him back in is always easier with the door perch though. I get him to step up on that and just close the door. He used to try and quickly climb up to get out of the cage again but he never got there quick enough (Its a big door and the perch is about half way down). Now he just accepts that it's time to go back in his cage when he is on that perch. If I try and reach any other perches inside his cage I have to dodge past various toys and I normally find he starts wandering up my arm.

My housemate has been interacting with Alfie more often. They have a secret bromance going on. :cool: Alfie has recently starting saying "you're a birb!" because my housemate says it every time he walks past the cage. He has also learned "good birb!" because that's what my housemate says when Alfie lets him give head scratches. (he already knew good boy and after he learned 'you're a birb' I guess 'good birb' wasn't too difficult to piece together) He always seems to prefer male voices over female voices and learns expressions/sayings from males much quicker than he does from me/any other female.

Another possibility. I hadn't thought of that. The water certainly made it look worse- I thought he was bleeding a lot when I first spotted it but on closer inspection it was actually mostly water carrying it away down the wing. Alfie is doing just fine - still trying to bath in his water bowl :rolleyes:. My housemate caught him in the act a day or so ago and gave him a bit of a misting. Alfie tolerated it, but didn't go wild like he did a few days earlier when I posted this thread. It was the first time my housemate had ever misted him, so Alfie might have been a bit confused as to what was going on!