neoow

Excellent photo! They look like they're about to get up to no good!

You're on a steep learning curve! Kane is a beautiful looking girl. She's certainly got you where she wants you as well!

I do love reading your updates in this thread. Admittedly I came into it late and haven't read the whole 164 pages, but did skim read some of the earlier pages and get the general idea of things from your other posts on the forums. You say Miss Gilbert changed your life? Well you changed hers. She's doing great and you're doing great. It's amazing how you get rewarded for your patience. I have learned a lot from your stories. sorry to hear about the scares you had whilst away though. I hope everyone recovered ok?

Just relax, talk about the move and try and make it sound exciting if you can (even though it probably isn't for you!). Alfie has moved location, cage and house a few times and he's always been ok with it. He originally lived in a cage in my room at my parents house 'til he moved into a different cage downstairs in the living area. Then I moved out and took him with him and he went back into his old cage in the new house. Then he moved into a bigger cage into a different room in that house. Then I moved house again and he kept his big cage which he's still in now. (This has been over a 12 year period) He always takes some time to adjust but I always tried to remain upbeat and positive and would explain what was going on and why and he seemed to take it on the chin... or uh... beak.... and settled in fine each time. Don't feel guilty. Things change and sometimes they're out of your control. But so long as your grey is with you, she'll eventually accept the change and move on happily.

Alfie always contact calls when I'm out of the room. We use all sorts of calls to each other but a lot of it consists of whistles- especially if I'm upstairs. My housemate sometimes joins in with Alfie and they'll have a 'whistle-off'. One of them will start making up tunes and the other one either copies or adds to it. They get louder and longer each time! It's all great fun

What a beautiful little bird you have there! Glad it's all working out with the dogs.

Wow how exciting!! We'd love to see some photos as and when you're able to take some! Does your new baby grey have a name yet? I would second (or third or fourth?) what other members have said about wing trimming. If you are going to trim wings, then at least wait until the baby bird learns how to fly properly first. Otherwise you're at risk of causing more trouble because he/she isn't developing as nature intended. I had Alfie's wings lightly trimmed when he was much younger and it didn't actually make much difference. It didn't take him long to start flying about exactly as he had done previously. If he got out, he'd still be able to fly away just was well as he could have done without the trim- so I decided never to bother with it again. It was too much stress for him for no reason. I'm super careful with doors and windows when he is out and he knows what a window is and where they all are. I also figured that asking a bird not to fly is like asking a dog not to bark!

I didn't see the issue as I have a bookmark straight to the forum pages but thank you for getting it sorted!

Looking good, Kane! How old is she now? Poor you, must have been a very stressful day all round!!

Thanks all He only ever gets head and back of neck scratches. Anywhere else would make him shuffle away or give me a warning shot. So no worries there! I usually just say thank you and let him get on with eating it when he regurgitates. I hadn't even touched him when I took these videos- he hadn't had any head scratches or anything. It was just whilst I was darting about getting my things together and having a chat with him whilst I did it. I'll try and adjust the order I do things and when I get up and see if that helps.

Just bear in mind if you leave the travel cage in her cage you'll need to clean it often. Also, at least to begin with, you'll probably want to line the bottom of her cage with towels whilst she finds her feet around her new cage. Sometimes they can be a bit clumsy and fall. You'll probably want to keep the perches lower to begin with too- so I'm not sure how well the travel cage will fit in with that. you could leave it outside her main cage- maybe next to it. Let her sit on it/in it when she's out of the main cage so she gets used to it that way. Using it as a sleep cage might not be a bad idea either.

Not sure on the nesting thing but I personally wouldn't see a problem with it... unless he is actually she and starts laying eggs!! Somebody else will probably have better advice than me but I have seen videos on youtube of parrots who like putting holes in boxes so they can play in them

Thanks Nancy. He has always regurgitated... but never drops it anywhere- just eats it! (ew) He doesn't do it that often. Not often enough for me to provide a timescale for it anyway. These noises and behaviour aren't new- but it's just that he's doing it much more regularly (most weekday mornings when I'm heading off to work at the moment). I was just curious as to what it might mean because he's doing it more regularly. I haven't been away for a couple of years. Previously I went away for a week or two on holiday once a year but he's never really reacted like this. My schedule has changed slightly in that I now go to work an hour later than usual- so maybe he's picked up on that? I was just hoping to get a bit more insight into it and to see if I need to worry or not.

He is 12 years old. I suspected it might be love bug behaviour but wasn't 100% sure. When I came back from my course a couple of weeks ago he did get very excited and regurgitated for me (then ate it, as usual!). I thanked him but did not interact with him in any other way at the time. (e.g did not touch him) Nancy- sorry about the audio. He makes very soft noises when he does this. Bit difficult to describe. But they obviously don't get picked up very well! I don't really do anything (that I'm aware of) before this behaviour starts. I normally go downstairs and say good morning whilst I'm collecting all my stuff up for work and preparing lunch etc. If he wants a head/neck scratch before I leave then he gets one but I hadn't even got that far this time. I guess he's just getting a bit over excited? I'll have to have a look at what I do/how I act in the mornings with him and see if I can try and keep things calm as I think Sterling is right, he does seem to be getting frustrated. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he likes me, I just don't want him to get stressed out by it!

I've uploaded a couple of videos to youtube of Alfie this morning in the hopes that someone might know more about this behaviour that Alfie is displaying. I was wondering if you could look at them and let me know more about this behaviour. It is something he has always done- But recently he is doing it a lot more often and for longer periods of time. This morning he started up as I was getting ready for work and was about to leave. As I went to walk out the room he also leaned forward on a perch and brought his wings up as if he was going to launch himself into flight. Is it possible hes getting upset about me leaving? (One I was actually out of the room he went back to whistling and saying "see you later!" though- he would only start up this behaviour when I entered the room. At the beginning of October I went away for a week for a training course and this behaviour seems to be happening more often since I've returned. Not sure if it's related or not. Any input would be much appreciated!

Welcome to the forums Mickey and Lola! Lola is a lovely looking bird. I hope things are still progressing well?

Great news! Kane is such a little cutie. I keep getting parrot broody when I see new updates and photos!

I love Alfie! Very difficult to read- looks like Eva... but can't read anything else. Can you find a larger version of the image on google?

The fostering idea sounds like a good one if you and your wife agree. That way you don't need to give up on Yuki entirely. 2-3 years will fly by (even more so with twins!) and then you can plan to adopt him back into your lives when you have the space to do so. What a great idea, Sterling

Ooh lovely photos! Welcome to you and Ash!

He wants to be where you are. So you'll need to put some more attractive perches near you/your PC. Can you move the tree closer? Can you do some DIY and put some perches up above/near the monitor- maybe with a toy or two to tempt him?

It's always difficult going away. I spent 5 nights in London last week on a training course and had to leave Alfie at home with my housemate. It meant Alfie was cagebound for a week as my housemate wouldn't dare let him out (and I wouldn't really encourage him too either) but my housemate did make an effort to talk to him more than he usually does because he felt sorry for him. Alfie was mostly quiet during the week but did offer up the odd hello and beep noise. When I got home, however, Alfie was super excited to see me. I was allowed to give him LOTS of neck scratches and Alfie started dancing, trying to beat box (something we're working on), whistling and saying hello and 'good day' a lot. He's been contact calling me every time I leave the room too. Nice to feel loved! (The cats were more interested in my bags than me!)

Alfie has grown up with other pets, including a german shepherd dog, indoor/outdoor rescue cat, 2 gerbils and now 2 indoor only bengal cats. When I lived at my parents house we had a german shepherd who was as soft as anything. however, I didn't trust Alfie and Ben (the dog) in a room together. Ben always went outside or Alfie went upstairs. Alfie did get out of his cage once and spent the morning home alone with the dog in the house and nothing happened. If anything, Ben was a bit spooked about it (he hadn't seen Alfie fly around the room before then because they were always separated) and he got worried every time I went to open the cage door in case Alfie got out again. However, when Alfie was in the cage, they were fine together. Ben would stick his nose through the bars and Alfie would stick his beak up Ben's nose. He never bit Ben. If Alfie ever panicked in his cage or fell off a toy then Ben would rush over to check he was ok. I always kept them separated when Alfie was out of his cage though, just in case one of them irritated the other enough to earn a bite. My sister brought a moggie cat home who was VERY prey driven. So it was clear that Alfie couldn't be let out when the cat was in the house/room. Though actually, the cat (Busta) never paid much attention to Alfie. He obsessed over my two gerbils when I had them though... that was a whole other problem as the gerbils would chew their way of out their cage...! Fast forward to now and I have two VERY energetic bengal cats who live indoors. They are very curious about Alfie, though they know better than to stick anything in his cage. I know I couldn't ever trust them with Alfie when he was out of the cage. One of them, Widget, would pluck him out of the air. So they are kept separated when Alfie comes out of his cage. There are some members whose pets cohabit perfectly fine, even with the bird out of the cage. I just never wanted to run the risk of the dog having an unpredictable turn and going after Alfie... or, equally, Alfie getting in a grump and going after him or my sisters cat. Even after Alfie escaped into the house with the dog and they survived a morning together I still kept them separated when Alfie was out (Ben was happier that way). With the two cats I have now I know I can't trust them at all with Alfie out of the cat. There's no doubt about that one. Just like I wouldn't leave a child alone with an animal, I wouldn't leave Alfie alone with one either. As others have said, it fully depends on the personalities of all the animals concerned. It IS possible for the animals to all get along fine... just as it is possible for one of them to get grumpy and cause harm to the other. It's up to you how you manage it and it's up to you to judge the situation.

Wow. Just wow. I'm glad things are improving slowly with Echo. It is difficult to know what they are thinking about situations when they act out. Hopefully with time Echo will come round and your relationship will be just like it used to be. Have you spoken to your friend at all since this happened? Has she apologised? I think I would be having a very serious conversation with her- highlighting how she has broken your trust in her and that it will take a while for you to stop being angry about it. Hopefully she'll think twice before doing anything so stupid and reckless in the future. I have to hold my tongue when my housemate's sister in law comes round. She seems to think she is the queen of cats and will go marching up to our two cats thinking they will love and adore her. My cats are super friendly- but they have to come to you on their terms. I explain this every time but she won't listen and instead goes bowling over trying to pick them up and cuddle them. Both of them hate being picked up (one more so than the other)... especially by strangers or near-strangers. They REALLY hate being cuddled. So it's no surprise when they freak out and she gets an accidental scratch as they fight to get away from her. I really struggle to keep my cool when that happens. So I can only imagine how furious I would be if I was in your situation right now. Anyway, sorry... went on a bit of a tangent there...! Just keep doing what you're doing with Echo. It's difficult to know how long it will take. She might wake up tomorrow and decide that you've had enough punishment or she may drag it out for a while. Do keep us updated with it all. If nothing else, at least you can use this space to vent your feelings!

All fixed! Lovely looking toys! Alfie is jealous!