neoow

It's going to be above but slightly to the left of it. Don't want him to bop his head on it whilst he's on the tree! I also need to be able to reach it and there's a gap between the desk and his cage which I can use to get to it from, without having to pull things off the desk. Alfie has never had an orbit before but he didn't seem phased when I showed it to him. I even held it up where I was planning on putting it and he wasn't bothered at all. So hopefully he'll take to it. It might be that he'll be able to use the orbit to climb from his cage to his tree as well- I'm not sure if the gap will be too big or not.

Ah yeah, he's had it for quite a few years now. I have to take him to the vet to keep it maintained. Unfortunately the first time I noticed that it needed doing I took him to a more local avian vet who gassed him to do it. He also didn't do a particularly good job of it and it seemed to grow out worse after that. Since then I've taken him to a vet that's in the next town (only about half an hours drive away if the traffic is good) who is much better at handling Alfie and he doesn't gas him. I think he said they use some kind of water drill for it? Alfie gets a bit damp from it but generally he's not too bothered by it and will be whistling and chirping on the way home. I don't know if it's particularly common for parrots to have wonky beaks like Alfie's or if Alfie was just unlucky that his grew out like that. I'm not sure there's much else I can do other than keep taking him to the vets to keep it in check. It doesn't seem to bother Alfie at all though. He can eat, drink and chew just fine and still uses it to get around ok. He has lots of different perches made from various materials which he can rub it on and that mostly keeps it in check- but I still have to take him to the vet every so often.

It's ok, they have a lot better play stands on your side of the pond. I've only managed to find a couple of different types here (which are quite pricey!) but you guys seem to have all sorts of cool stuff for birds!

Thanks! It's the Liberta Enterprise if I remember correctly. I got it a few years back when I had a bit more space to play with. It now sits in the centre of my lounge/dining room (which actually houses my computer and piano rather than a dining table) so he's in the middle of everything.

Looks fantastic!

Beautiful video. I love watching free flighted birds. It's not something I'd be able to try myself as there are no big open safe spaces nearby and Alfie hasn't been free-flight trained. But I still love watching other people's videos. There's a channel I subscribed to on Youtube recently called birdtricks. They own an assortment of parrots (including a Grey) and create lots of informative videos on parrot ownership. They also go across the country finding awesome places to fly their birds and take professional videos of them. Their videos are amazing. I believe they also do shows with some of their parrots.

I bought Alfie a java tree a while back. It was a desk based one (rather than one of the massive floor standing ones) so I could move it around. Most of the time it ended up on the coffee table- but Alfie much prefers to sit on my knee when I'm on the sofa rather than his tree so he can get some fuss and explore. So I decided that if I got a bigger computer desk I might be able to fit the java tree on it and give Alfie a place to play which was close to me whilst I was on the PC. I finally had the spare money to get one and managed to find one at IKEA which was reasonably priced and the perfect size for my computer bits PLUS Alfie's Java tree. So now when I'm on my computer, he can some and sit with me and and keep an eye on what I'm doing. So far, so good. Alfie will happily sit and watch what I'm doing (and offer the odd "hello!") whilst I'm at my PC. He still has his previous "perch" which is actually the back of my computer chair and so he's been alternating between the two. But the tree in it's new position is his favourite place to be when I'm at my PC. I also purchased a wall bracket and a orbit rope toy and these are going to go up this week hopefully (waiting on my housemate as I don't trust myself with power tools!). I'm going to hang it near to his java tree so he can reach it and hang out up there too.

Here's the latest AlfieCam video. I managed to sneak my camera phone into the room whilst Alfie was exercising his vocal chords this morning. He looked at it for a bit then carried on from where he left off. He recently learned to say "Hiya!" which I managed to catch in this video (probably from all the skype calls I have with my 19 month old nephew, where he shouts "hiya!" repeatedly and I say it back haha) Alfie also seems to be learning the phrase "What noise does a ___ make?". We've taught him a duck and chicken noise so far and now he wants to learn to ask himself the question. He's managed to get to "what noise..." so far! (Which is a step further than the "what" he started with!)

Hah, sorry, that was probably poorly worded. I meant 'not much' and 'doesn't have much meaning' in terms of not many words were used and the conversation didn't go much further than a few hellos... however, to me, it's a big deal. Over the years I've always had to step out of the room to hear Alfie speak/make noises. I think it's utterly fantastic that he's starting to whistle, chirp, squeak and even utter the odd word with me in the room with him- as well as others too. Since moving into this house two years ago, Alfie has been in the perfect position. He's right in the center of the room and can see the whole room. Neither of my previous homes allowed him to be in such a central location. He was in high traffic areas- but not quite in the centre of it all like he is now. Plus, with my computer desk being right next to him- it's even better. He can come and join me (his java tree is on my desk) and see what I'm doing and get all that extra time and attention he needs. I think this has made SO much difference to him and has encouraged him to vocalize more often when people are in the room with him. I think in my original post I might have been thinking it might not seem like such a big deal to others who have very talkative grey's who can chatter away all day with thousands of different words/sayings. To me, it's awesome- and you're right- the beginning.

I'm sitting here typing away at my computer and Alfie is sitting on his perch, relaxing. He's not a big talker, always prefers whistles and noises. He does know a fair few words, but always prefers noises. So it's good to hear him when he does decide to use words. I encourage him regardless of what noise he makes (well, unless it's one I don't want him to keep doing, of course) and try and get a bit of back and fourth going between us (as he's usually very quiet when people are in the room with him). Just now we had a 'conversation' which went a little something like: Alfie: Hello! Me: Hello! Alfie: ....Hello! Me: Hello! Alfie: *squeak* Me: Whatcha doin'? Alfie: *beep* ....*squeak* Me: Hiya! Alfie: *squeak* Me: Whatcha doin'? Alfie: .....Hello! Me: Hello! It's not much and obviously doesn't have much context or meaning. But he instigated it by saying hello and then we carried on from there for a little while before he decided that it was time to preen himself. He seems to be getting more and more vocal when I'm in the room, which is great. Previously he'd always be silent until I moved away, then he'd start whistling or making noises to see where I was. He even tested out his new word: "hiya!" on me yesterday whilst I was sitting right next to him (where I am now). Usually he'd wait and throw it into conversation whilst contact calling- never whilst I'm in the room. He even makes noises when other people are in the room too. They even get to hear the occasional word. We had some friends over and two of them were already in the lounge when the third came to the door. My housemate went to answer the door and Alfie let out a really big "Hello!" which made our friends laugh as they'd never heard it before. It's fascinating how they learn, change and adapt as time goes by.

Awesome! What a wonderful gesture from Bongo

Woohoo! More photos! She's a little stunner.

Loving all the photos!

I'm so sorry to read this. I can't imagine what you must be going through right now. Losing a pet... a family member... is never easy. My thoughts are with you and your family at this difficult time.

It's funny what will sometimes set them off. Alfie used to hate wrapping paper. As soon as he saw it (even if it was the other side of the room) he'd start growling and puffing up. No idea why. Not sure if it's because it looked quite large when being unraveled or he didn't like the noise of it or how it moved. He's alright with it nowadays- but it took him years to get over that one. He's never even come into contact with wrapping paper- so not sure why he used to hate it so much. If you try the leaves again, give her chance to check the out at her own pace. Leave them somewhere where she can see them and get to them if she wants to. Might take her a while and she may never like them- but obviously there's something that she didn't like about them the first time round!

Lovely photo!

Did you put them straight in the cage before she'd had chance to take a good look at them? Some grey's can be really change adverse and take a while to adapt. Alfie's not too bad, but there are some toys that have to stay the other side of the room at first so he can eye them up. Then I gradually move them closer and closer over a period of a few days or a week. Anything new doesn't go in until he's happy with it. They can get really spooked by new things! (and even existing things- Alfie hates it when we bring the washing basket past... and I've had the same basket for years!)

Welcome to the forums!

Love it! The 'wakka wakka' bits still get my laughing every time!

Welcome to the forums! He's a lovely looking grey!

Awesome video. Sol is doing brilliantly!

Wow check her out, all the way up those stairs! You're an awesome testament to how a little patience can go such a long way, Katana!

Agreed, great question. Always worth checking stuff like this out. You'd be amazed at some of the stuff animals can have problems with. I was really surprised at how many plants cats can be harmed by, for example. Not that I can have any plants in my house as my two cats and Alfie would just destroy them!

Lots of April babies! Happy birthday Bailey!

Thanks all! Alfie has been out and about all evening, playing with toys, nibbling at things and watching whatever I was up to. However, he's now throwing a bit of a tantrum (well, the parrot equivalent of) because I asked him to go back to his cage to go to bed. It's 11.20pm! Far too late for a 12 year old parrot to be up! I think he's using his birthday privileges! I've let him to it for a while- will try again shortly. As much as he'd love to have free access to the whole house I just cannot risk it with two cats about!