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Alfie will quite happily tell me "night night!" whilst he's sitting at the top of the cat tree.. or on the very top of his cage where I can't reach him to ask him to step up!

Funnily enough, I was wondering how things were going with yourself and Alex the other day. I'm sorry to hear it's sad news. I can't watch the video as I'm not at home at the moment- but I'll watch it later (out of earshot of Alfie!!). I'm not sure what to suggest at this stage. It's very difficult when other family/house members aren't on board and put pressure on you. What are your thoughts? Given the choice (with no peer pressure) would you continue to work with Alex? Or are you at the end of your tether too?

Hello and welcome to you and Rio! What a lovely photo! How old is Rio? How is he/she settling in with you?

He's definitely not too old to be learning new words. My grey, Alfie, is nearly 13 and he is picking up new things all the time. Admittedly, he picks up more noises than words though. Some grey's are not big talkers. Alfie isn't a big talker. He also prefers male voices over female voices. He'll pick up words/phrases from my dad and my housemate more than he will me. He loves whistles, beeps and other similar noises (the louder the better!). All you can do is keep talking to him- if he picks it up and starts using words/phrases, then just encourage him to do it more. However, don't be too upset if he seems to favour certain words/phrases over others and seems to "forget" other words phrases. I don't think they ever really forget, they just prefer some words/phrases/sounds over others and use them. Alfie has, on more than one occasion, suddenly piped up with a word/phrase that I thought he had long forgotten.

I still have the ocassional battle of wills with Alfie when it comes to bed time. He knows that if he stands on the very top of his cage in the middle, I can't get him. Similarly, if he flies to the top part of the cat tree, I can't reach him there either. So it turns into a bit of a game of him trying to avoid me, or one of the perches I ask him to step up on. Similarly to you, I don't get mad, I don't shout, I just persevere. The lights get turned down lower so he knows it definitely is bed time and I just wait until he decides that this game of chase is getting boring and that it is actually time for bed. I love that Dorian has a whole bedtime routine. It sounds adorable!

Hahah that's brilliant!

I only have the one bird- Alfie- but I do understand where you're coming from. If I had more space then I would question whether it would be a good idea to introduce another bird to the household- so that Alfie has someone else to talk to/interact with whilst I'm at work (other than the cats, who I'm pretty sure just sleep all day!) If I DID have the space and the funds available for a second bird then I'd spend a bit of time thinking about all the possible outcomes and how to manage them. For example- what happens if the two birds don't get on- how would I manage that? How would I balance their time out of the cage and interacting with me if they couldn't bear to be in the same space together? So long as you have a rough plan to answer all the "what ifs" then I don't see a second bird as being a problem.

Excuse my ignorance but what is Amazon Smile? I'm not sure that it's made it's way over to the UK yet as I can't find anything about it on amazon.co.uk.

Alfie will beat the snot of it, then stick his head down and wait for it to brush over his feathers. It's safe to say he has a love/hate relationship with quite a few of his toys!! Haha

Welcome to you and Jara! Thank you for the photos, she's a lovely looking bird. Feel free to start making new threads to ask your questions! I have found everyone here to be extremely helpful.

Lovely thank you Dave, great advice, as always!

Will this be ok? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0013G1ROS/ref=s9_simh_gw_p121_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1CQ6T40W2JTNKY0DECAJ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=577048787&pf_rd_i=desktop It says 100% but then has the following ingredients: 100% Natural aloe vera juice, antioxidant: ascorbic acid, preservative: potassium sorbate. Are any of these harmful to birds?

Love the most recent photos! Kane is so adorable, if a little bit mischievous! Haha!

So approx 6-7 months on from putting the orbit up and Alfie now goes on it regularly (and not just when he's refusing to go back in his cage either!). He's figured out it's a great way to get from his cage to his tree and back again and he's also figured out how to make it swing around. Plus it has a bell that he can beat the snot out of.

Here's a variant of what I saw- Same sort of thing as what I mentioned in my previous post just a different shape. The other one I saw had more pipes and was in a cube shape so the parrot could run along the top four edges. I can't find it now, typically!

I saw something somewhere where someone had made a stand out of plastic pipes for use in the shower. They placed it in the bottom of the bath/shower and the parrot was able to walk about on it (because it was a square/rectangle shape so they had four pipes to walk round on). I can't remember where I saw it- but that may be an idea if Sully doesn't mind being a little lower than usual? If I find it again I'll post it here.

Looks like a great place to hang out! Love the photo in flight!

What a lovely update! So glad things are working out for you and Chicken. He's a lovely looking bird and is very lucky to have found someone to take him in and give him the time and attention he needs. Everything sounds like it's going great! In terms of getting your dad on board, I have similar problems with my housemate. He doesn't really see parrots as good pets (because of the noise and the mess) but he is making very teeny tiny steps towards bonding with Alfie. Alfie is actually very interested in my housemate- he tries to mimic him a lot and picks up new words and phrases from him more than he does me (I can only assume he prefers a male voice as he used to do the same with my dad). He will often observe what my housemate is doing and will move around his cage to get a better look too. My housemate has now progressed to the stage where Alfie will put his head down and my housemate will give him a head scratch. Not for long, as he doesn't trust Alfie enough. But this is a big leap forward from when he first moved in and had nothing to do with Alfie at all. They also share a love of twiglets- a snack food with marmite/vegitmite on it. Normally I wouldn't give Alfie any kind of snack food but this is the one thing I do let slip... the odd twiglet... just one. Most of the time Alfie just enjoys chewing it to pieces and doesn't end up eating much of it. But this has allowed my housemate to offer him food and start building a bit of a bond with him, so that's why I allow it. (other healthy treats are usually flung across the cage or ignored) We're not at the stage where my housemate would want to be in the same room as Alfie when he is out of the cage, but we are making progress. I've also caught my housemate talking to Alfie on occassion, whereas originally he would just mostly ignore him. It may be that your dad doesn't ever play a major role with Chicken, but he may be able to interact with him in smaller ways. The fear of being bitten is justified, as it does hurt and Chicken has been known to bite you on occasion. So maybe your dad can still try and bond with Chicken on a hands off basis to begin with. Perhaps he can offer Chicken food or a tasty treat every so often. Perhaps get him to talk to Chicken and just get them used to each others company at a distance. Very slowly build on this until both Chicken and your dad want to progress further. There will obvious still be the risk of a bite, as Chicken will have come with some baggage. But given enough time, I'm sure they'll both adapt to each other and find a way to get along just fine.

I went through this with Alfie. He has learned lots of loud noises that aren't easy on the ear and he would use them with gusto- ESPECIALLY if he got a reaction from one of us. Any form of reaction would be enough to encourage him to keep using the sound. So it was a case of educating ourselves that whenever he made a noise we weren't too fond of, we would NOT react. It was tough, as he would usually wait until you were walking past the cage before letting out an ear piercing squeak, so it was very difficult not to flinch or say "ow". But with perseverance from ALL household members we managed to get the noises down to a minimum. They were boring if nobody reacted! We also made sure to react for the noises we did want to hear- any speech, any whistles, any other noises which didn't make you feel like your ear drums were going to burst! It's the same whenever a new loud noise is learned- reward the "good" noises and ignore the "bad" noises. Alfie soon learns which ones work and which don't. But he still tests the water at times. It's not just noises either. When I moved out of the family home, he learned that jumping across the cage at one of my housemates used to make them jump. So he would do it every time. The reaction wasn't a positive one (e.g the housemate would scream/jump and walk away) but it was a reaction nonetheless. Alfie only ever did that to that one housemate, not me or the second housemate. He's never done it since that housemate left either. It's almost like the saying with publicity- bad publicity is still publicity. A bad reaction is a still a reaction (and some form of attention).

I like how he tells himself off- presumably because he knows he shouldn't have it!

Haha awesome! Happy new year to you and yours! (now how many times are you going to hear that throughout the year?!)

Hah! It's the other way round in my house. I give Alfie a toy, he launches it across the room so I go and fetch it! What can I say... he's obviously got me well trained!!! :rolleyes:

She should come and watch Alfie with his new toy. He is currently going to town on that thing! Already debating about buying a spare! This is an oldie but a favourite: Three men walked into a bar. Well one of them should have seen it!!

The new activity from your bird does not necessarily relate to the changes in schedule. For example, for the first time ever (in 12 years) Alfie tried to chew the TV the other week. The brand new TV that belongs to my housemate... (luckily he wasn't there to see it!) Alfie has never shown an interest in the TV before (except watching it occasionally) and then one day he just walked over to it and grabbed the corner. Now every time he gets on the shelf near it he tries to get to it. I've resorted to leaving large items in the way so he can't get past to get at it. Thankfully he hasn't discovered that he can get to the other side from the window sill yet!! I'm glad you're taking things a day at a time and considering all options. Do remember that we are all here to help and want the best for your bird as much as you do! So do keep popping back and giving us updates/asking for help.

I went through this same thought process a few years back. I got Alfie when I was 17 and he was only 11 weeks old. I was still living at home with my parents and sister. My mum worked part time and my dad worked shifts. So he wasn't always left home alone all day. He also had our family dog to keep him company. When I moved out of the family home I took Alfie with me and things were ok to begin with. I was working full time hours but would leave him lots of things to do whilst I was gone. However, I took on more responsibilities at work, got promoted, worked longer and longer hours then carried on working at home plus I also wanted to try and study for a degree at the same time. I also tried going to the gym regularly and I found I had less and less time for Alfie, and nobody who could help me out. Time went on and I felt more and more guilty because I was spending less and less time with Alfie. I started to consider rehoming him due to lack of time. But every time I thought about the idea of rehoming him it really upset me. I've had him since 11 weeks old and I just couldn't bring myself to even think about parting with him... let alone go ahead with it. So I decided it was time to make some changes. I bought him a bigger cage so he had more room for extra toys and activities and I started thinking more about my personal life than I did my work life. I cut the amount of work I took home with me and I knew I wasn't coping well with the studying at the time so I stopped that with a view that I could always pick it up again when I was in a better position for it. When I bought my house, I planned the furniture placement and downstairs room around Alfie. His cage is in the centre of the room so he can be part of the seating area and also what is supposed to be the dining area (but actually houses my desk and computer. Therefore when I come home, I'm usually downstairs with him and can sit and talk to him- even if I'm working. Whilst I still have a way to go in keeping my work/Alfie/life balance in check, Alfie is a LOT happier- both since I got him a bigger cage and also now that he's in the centre of the main living area in the house. As someone who has been in the situation you are currently in and who is still making changes to avoid the "do I need to consider rehoming him?" question again... don't give up just yet as I honestly believe you will regret it. Alfie stuck with me through all of the changes that have happened since I was 17 and he was 11 weeks old and he's doing ok. He's now 12 years old. Life changes- there's no way anyone could possibly stick to the same routine day in, day out for the lifetime of a parrot, it just doesn't work out that way. Your children won't be relying so heavily on you forever and your wife's schedule will change eventually, as will yours.