neoow

Same with Alfie. He's not a cuddler. He will let me scratch his head... when HE wants me to. If I tried anything else, I'd damn well know about it.

Do you have any friends/family that could house sit and take care of feeding/watering duties? They might not be able to let them out of the cages whilst you're gone (especially if they're wary of birds) but at least the birds will be in a familiar environment.

When Alfie and I lived with my parents he quickly learned to boss the family dog around with "Sit", "Down", "Outside", "Come on!" etc. Now I have my two cats and he's taken to yelling "Off!", "out!" and "no!" regularly.

I'd go for the biggest your can afford and fit. Whilst you've said your bird will be out of the cage for most of the time, it's still useful to have a big cage for those times when the bird does have to be put away (e.g if relatives/friends come over that are wary of birds or if you need to leave the house for a while).

Aw she is just precious. Beautiful photos. It will take her a while to settle in but it'll soon seem like you've never been without her.

Instead of saying 'sorry', Alfie will say 'ouch'! I can't help but chuckle.

Can't wait to hear that she's home safe with you! Obviously photos are mandatory haha

Wow, they are amazing. I've never seen one that isn't flying. Didn't realise quite how small they were.

Alfie grew up with our family dog, a German Shepherd called Ben. Whilst I never let them out in the same room together, they got on just fine. In fact, Ben would happily stick his nose right up to the bars and Alfie would climb down and stick his beak in Ben's nostril. Pretty gross, as he'd get covered in snot... but never never once tried to bite Ben. Alfie got out in the house once when nobody was home (I hadn't latched the food bowl door properly). My sister came home and found that Ben was very excitable. When she realised Alfie was out she had to call me at work to come home and put him away. I was amazed that neither Ben nor Alfie had managed to hurt each other. Ben was a little worried about the whole thing (hadn't seen Alfie fly before I guess) but Alfie was just enjoying his freedom for the day! It very much depends on the temperament of the animals involved. Alfie now lives with two cats- Widget and Pixel. They are both Bengals and are crazy. They'll chase anything that moves. I would NEVER trust them out in the same room with Alfie- I'm not sure who would come off worse. But one of them can pluck a fly out of the air so I dread to think what would happen if Alfie was flying around them.

That's the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time!

Ooo wow! So excited for you! How long is the flight? Can't wait to hear more about her once you have her home and settled!

Yay more baby pics! I keep checking back every so often to check for more photos and see how things are progressing! It's so exciting!

Hello Barry and Oscar. Welcome to the forums! There's a thing on these forums that we like to call "grey time". As I'm sure you're no doubt aware already, African Greys are intelligent and sensitive birds. They like to do things in their own time, when they are ready. This will differ from bird to bird and from activity to activity. 4 weeks in a grey's life is not a long time at all. Oscar has had a LOT of upheaval to deal with in the last few weeks. His whole world has been turned upside down. He has been removed from his previous flock and added to a new one, in new surroundings. It's scary! You'll probably see many changes in behaviour over the coming weeks and months as he learns about his new home, his new surroundings and his new flock members. His attitude to different flock members may change during this time too, as you've already experienced. The important thing to remember here is that he needs to do this in his own time. His grey time. Take a step back and don't expect him to be fully settled in to your household just yet. If he is moving away from you and growling/grunting at you, then you may need to back off for a while. Let other members of the family take over the various duties that involve going near him. You may need to just get him used to you being in the room and then slowly get him used to you being closer and closer to the cage withing him growling/grunting or moving away. Just remember to move at his pace and try not to force him into anything (as that is likely to result in a bite).

Alfie is 13 years old and doesn't like being on the floor. Never has. He may have a quick look round but he'll fly to higher ground within minutes. He prefers higher up.

I picked Alfie up when he was 11 weeks old and I was still feeding him from a spoon as well as giving him other (solid) foods. Sunflower seeds and peanuts aren't great on their own and should be fed in a limited amount, not as the main offering. You're doing the right thing by introducing her to other foods whilst she's still young. Some of it will get flung all over the walls in disdain, but she's probably more willing to try things at this age than she will be later on.

Aw what a cutie! What's he sitting on in the first photo? Looks very interesting (for the birds)

I love Sully and his videos! Alfie is super camera shy and doesn't make a peep if he spots the camera!

Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing

Hello Jester bean! You're a fine looking fellow!

Wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing!

Little cuties! Thank you for sharing photos!

Oh my goodness she's so cute! I missed out on all these photos of Alfie as a baby. I didn't meet him until he was around 11 weeks old! She's so cute!

You need time to grieve and come to terms with the loss of Spy. Pets, no matter the species, become another family member and an integral part of your life. So give yourself the time you need to heal. Please do stick around if you feel like it, we will always welcome any posts you make, regardless of whether or not you decide to welcome to a new bird into your home and heart. Only you can make that decision and only you can decide whether the time is right or not if you do choose to get another pet/bird. Spy will never be replaced and will always have a place in your memories.

Great stuff! So glad you managed to work things out. You've made fantastic progress with Alex. It may seem like you're only making very small steps forward... but you're still going forward. It took a lot for Alex to learn to trust you and the stepping up is a BIG hurdle to have got over. Please do keep us updated with how you're both getting on!

Oh my goodness she is adorable! I'm getting parrot broody!!!