neoow

Are there any forum members going to the Think Parrots show (UK based) this year? http://www.thinkparrots.co.uk/ I've never been and would like to go, but my car is too unreliable to get me there at the moment and I can't convince anyone else to go with me. Just wondered if anyone here had been previously/was planning to go this year. Come to think of it- are there many UK members here? I don't normally pay attention to locations in posts!

When you bring him home sit near/next to his cage and talk to him. Get him used to your voice- and let others who live with you do the same. Get him used to people moving around the room and near his cage. As for handling, there's a lot of information already on the forums about this. Check out the "stickied" threads (the ones at the top) as they usually have loads of information.

Hello and welcome to the forums! Congratulations on your baby grey! Personally I'd let him get settled into his cage and surroundings first before showing him the rest of the house. He'll need a little time to explore the inside of the cage and get used to everything around him. I'd then take it a room at a time rather than showing the whole house all at the same time.

When I got Alfie he was 11 weeks old. I was still hand feeding him with a spoon as well as offering him seeds, veggies etc etc. So I finished the weaning process that the breeder/pet store had started. I can't remember if I had to feed him once or twice a day when I first got him though... it was 12 years ago! Sorry! It might be that you are in the same position.

Phew! Glad I'm not the only one! I rotate Alfie's toys fairly regularly as he's in the cage when I'm at work. He plays with his toys a lot and goes in and out of favour with them. His "toy of the moment" is his paper roll holder which he can shred, chew and unravel (it's a bit like a plastic loo roll holder). He hasn't played with that for a while then suddenly it's his favourite and there's paper everywhere! I need to get him a new boing as his has seen better days and I need to replace a couple of his older perches. I also had an idea of getting some plastic chains so I could hang some toys a bit lower in his cage and also give him more to climb on... then I saw some other toys I thought he might like.... it quickly adds up! Plus food + treats... this is why I make use of the "save for later" option. Then I can choose what I like the most and buy it in smaller chunks over a couple of months or so. Otherwise I end up with more toys than I know what to do with!

There is a real lack of stores that stock bird related (especially parrot related) goodies around here. Most pet shops are centered around your typical dogs, cats, small animals etc. The pet store chain I used to work at (10 years ago now... blimey!) stopped selling birds and most of their bird related stock. So all my bird related purchases happen via a website called "Northern Parrots". The site is awesome and filled with all sorts of wonderful foods, toys, treats, cages etc etc for all varieties of birds. Great! ...Except that I am currently browsing around the website adding all sorts of goodies to my basket that I can't yet afford. I'm already at £120 and still going....!! SOMEBODY STOP ME!!! They do have a neat little feature (which I'm abusing the heck out of) called "save for later". So everything in my cart is currently being relegated to that area. I don't get paid 'til Friday and need to be careful of how much I spend. I do need to feed the cats (and myself!) next month, after all. So Alfie WILL get some goodies... but I'll have to be a bit more selective than I'm being at the moment! Anyone else have a problem when they find an awesome pet store (online or otherwise)?

Oof glad poor little Java is ok! I wonder what suddenly got into Miss Gilbert. Glad both of them calmed down after a while. Hopefully Java heals well!

Not far wrong at all!

Welcome home Zoe! What a beautiful little baby bird you are! Congratulations!

Alfie goes in and out of favour with different toys. For a while recently his favourite toy was a plastic bucket that was filled with toys and paper etc. I fill it up with goodies and he empties it and throws the content around his cage. He then sits and plays with the empty bucket for hours. Pulling on it, throwing it around, hitting it, sliding it along the bars. Before that, he loved his half coconut shell which was filled with all sorts of fun things. I regularly hide treats and toys in there too. He liked it because he could swing about on it and shred it too. He has a buffet ball (a ball with holes in and a big bell in the middle). I know when he's managed to get all the treats out because the bell clangs about. He loves beating this one up. I try to rotate his toys round so he gets lots of variety. So I try all different types of materials with him. He'll play with most things really.

Information and Communication Technology. In my workplace that seems to translate to anything with an electric plug!

That's a beautiful video and a lovely tribute to Cocoa

The orbit is finally on the wall! I had to wait a while as I don't trust myself to use powertools and my housemate was busy most weekends then put his back out for a couple of weeks. Alfie hasn't been on it yet as it's literally just gone up within the last half an hour and he's busy viewing it from a safe distance. It may take him a while to actually climb on to it but hopefully he'll enjoy it once he does!

Hello Sam, welcome to the forums! Congratulations on your adoption of Alex! Here's just a few things that spring to mind. Others will be able to offer further advice, I'm sure! First off- 5 days is absolutely nothing in a grey's lifetime. So Alex is still going to be adjusting to the changes that have happened. (And for some greys, any teeny tiny change is a BIG thing, so imagine what a rehome must be like!). Just ease off a bit. Let him explore and adapt. Let him come to you, rather than you go to him. It will happen, he just needs a bit of time to learn to trust you. Secondly- some greys do not like people in their cages. They can be very possessive of their cages- it's their territory. He also needs to be confident enough to come out of the cage. If you put your arm in that cage and he doesn't want to come out- he will bite. Every time. Open the cage door and sit near by. Give him time and space so he can work out that your home is a safe place to be and that actually, he DOES want to come and explore a bit more. Try not to rush him into anything. Every parrot is different. Every African Grey is different. Let him do things in his own time and he will learn to trust you. Try to rush him or "force" him too quickly and all you'll end up with is a few more bruises/holes on your arm. When are you petting him? Is he coming to you for the fuss? Is he showing you that he wants to be fussed? If he doesn't want to be petted then his only response will be to bite. Try and find some resources (either on this forum or elsewhere) about body language in African Greys. This may help distinguish what kind of mood he might possibly be in and whether he's ready for fuss. I cannot stress time and patience enough. Grey's will do things at their own pace whether you like it or not. Look up some of the threads about a grey called Miss Gilbert here and you'll see what I mean. Her owner is doing an utterly fantastic job of moving at Miss Gilbert's pace and there is SO much to learn from those threads. Another good one to look up is Dorian. Some things will take days, others weeks and some years.

How sure on her feet is she? If she's still a bit clumsy, the only thing I'd recommend is lowering the big perch in her cage and putting some old towels at the bottom of it to pad it out. She may not be used to climbing around a cage so may have a couple of falls. Nothing to worry about, but the landing will be softer if on a towel rather than bars. You may also over time want to add a few more toys in her cage so she's got more to play with (unless she's going to be out for most of the time except for sleeping). Plus get some spare toys so you can switch them out when they get battered and worn. I'm so excited for you!

Widget's sister is called Pixel. My housemate and I both work in ICT, so computer themed names were a must!

You do such amazing work. I can only imagine how chaotic it all must feel at times!! Vincent is in good hands and will be allowed to thrive. I, like Acapella, struggle to just stand there and take a bite. It's as much as I can do to let nothing more than a pained whimper out. I keep as calm as I can, but there's still a reaction of some sort! In fact, Alfie has been known in the past to nip me then say "ouch!" afterwards!

Blimey! Clever Brutus! What an awful feeling that must have been though. Once when I was cleaning out Alfies cage I (for whatever reason) took both trays out of the bottom of his cage at the same time. I set about emptying the bottom tray and scrubbing the top barred tray without much thought. I looked up at Alfie and saw that he was intently looking at the bottom of his cage. I followed his gaze and saw one of the cats wandering around the bottom of his cage having a good old sniff. My heart jumped up to my throat as I realised what I'd done. I usually leave one tray in when the cats are about so they can't get in and climb up the inside of the cage! What an idiot! Fortunately nothing came of it- the cat was too distracted by sniffing the bottom of the cage from the inside so I managed to lure him out with a toy and put a tray back in. Alfie wasn't hurt and neither was Widget (the curious cat!). Phew!

Wow, look amazing! Great work!

Alfie isn't a cuddler and is a 'no-shoulder' bird as he likes to try and find ears to nibble. So I've never heard his heartbeat before. Must have been pretty amazing though!

That's pretty cool. The mental image is really cute. I never really thought about it being possible in birds/parrots.

Hahaha awesome video. I love this in comparison to the other two videos. The cool, calm and collected grey's then the totally crazy amazon! Put a big smile on my face.

What an AWESOME idea for a snack! Talon obviously loves it!

This time next week!!!! Not long now!!

He might be flapping his wings to regain balance if he feels a little unsteady on his feet? I'm not sure. I wouldn't have thought it was anything to worry about though. How old is he? Do you know if he can fly?