neoow

Lovely photo update! 4-5 weeks? That's no time at all! Here's hoping it flies by for you! (uh, no pun intended...!)

fantastic photos! Wow, what a spoiled little birdy! I love the look of all the toys Onyeka has! Very jealous of the cargo net. Wanted one for Alfie for ages but just can't find enough space/somewhere good enough to put it at the moment!

Haha... Busted!

I got my grey Alfie when I was 17. I was still living at home, at school most of the week and working in a pet store on Saturdays (oh how I miss that 10% discount!!). A couple of years back I had to seriously consider whether or not I was a suitable grey owner. My lifestyle had obviously changed so much from when I was 17. I ended up working in ICT and worked my way up the ladder- I'm now managing the department. The more responsibilities I took on, the harder I worked, the more I took on and the less time I had for Alfie. I was also trying to study for a degree. Whenever I was home I was exhausted or had to study/work overtime and didn't spend enough time with him. I felt awful and I seriously considered giving him up because of it. Something had to give. However, the more I thought about it I realised there was no way I could give Alfie up. So I gave up on the degree. I also moved home shortly after because I bought my own place (I was renting previously) and I was able to set things up to suit Alfie better. My computer is now right next to his cage, so he gets far more attention because when I'm not at work or asleep, I'm with him. So even when I'm working extra hours from home, I'm now socialising with Alfie at the same time. Parrots are a lifetime of commitment. And whilst it may seem super easy when you're 17 (or 18-19 as you are) it's really not. I'm not saying this to sound patronising (and I'm REALLY sorry if I come across that way) I'm just saying that I have had Alfie for 12 years and I'm not in the place I thought I would be when I was 17. Life has thrown me so many curveballs in that time and FORTUNATELY Alfie has stuck it out with me. The only thing he hasn't had to contend with is me finding someone to settle with. Sure, there's been the odd boyfriend here and there along the way- but nothing serious. Alfie has never had to contend with that. I am extremely lucky that Alfie isn't a plucker, doesn't scream the house down and generally doesn't destroy everything he can get his beak on. Honestly? I wouldn't say 'don't get a parrot'. I would say wait another couple of years at least. Get school out of the way, get into a job/career started. Get settled in a house/flat/whatever. Travel, if you're so inclined. Get all that out of the way first. I know they're fantastic animals and totally fascinating and I honestly understand that you may want to own one sooner rather than later (been there, done that!). But it would be better to be sure that you can give your parrot the life it deserves because you're in a secure job, have a secure home and the finances needed rather than get one now and assume life will go exactly as planned and be hunky dory all the way through.

Glad things are going so well!

I have had Alfie since he was 11 weeks old (he's 12 this week!). I was 17 at the time. He has grown up living with my family, a german shepherd and a cat then when I moved out he lived with two housemates. They moved out and I got a different housemate followed by two cats. That housemate moved out and then we moved again when I bought my house. The third housemate I had moved back in again. So Alfie has put up with a fair few changes. He's gone through as many cages as he has houses too. He's had to get used to different personalities (both from humans and animals), different schedules, different houses, different cages, a multitude of different toys (I cycle them round and buy new ones regularly). Overall, I've been pretty damn lucky. I haven't been the best owner I could have been (if you read my intro thread you'll find that I did have a spell of debating about whether it would be better for me to rehome him because I felt I couldn't provide enough for him but decided I couldn't do that to him). I've been doing my best to change that. Alfie is a non-shoulder bird (he likes to seek out ears and give them a nibble so he's banned from shoulders as he can't be trusted up there for too long) but is happy to sit on my knee or my chair with me. He sometimes likes scratches on his head- but all on his terms, naturally. He doesn't pluck and is actually pretty tolerant to change. Even new toys don't worry him too much- though sometimes he likes to observe them for a while before they actually are allowed in his cage. He doesn't have any particularly bad habits or behaviours. He used to scream at my sister and mum but only because they reacted. He doesn't do that to anyone any more as I stressed how important it is to ignore the behaviour so it doesn't get reinforced. He also used to make one of my housemates jump by launching himself across the cage at him as he walked past. Again, that soon stopped when the behaviour was no longer reinforced (by my housemate wailing out!). The only thing he does now is grab his food bowls or the bars near his food bowls because he discovered he can make a very loud and very annoying clicking/clonking noise with them.... usually when we dare to watch TV instead of him..! But that's probably the worst he does. He's such a good boy and I'm really lucky to have him.

Ok, which parrot has been talking to Alfie... he tried to take a chunk out of the wallpaper near my fireplace today! He found out that if he could stretch as far as possible whilst hanging on the side of his cage he could just about reach it! He's never been interested in walls before!!

My mum suffered with sleep apnea and had to sleep with a mask. She struggled with it an awful lot and took ages before she could cope with sleeping in it. She'd often wake up clawing at her own face to try and rip it off because she thought someone was trying to smother her. She was told to lose weight at the time as well as the doctors said all the excess weight was making it worse. She did this and persevered with the mask and it seemed to help, once she finally got used to it. I don't think she uses it these days though. I'm not sure if she just got to the point where it wasn't an issue anymore? I can only imagine how difficult it must be. 4 hours at a time is good progress. I hope things improve for you!

Uh oh! Now whose beak matches up with those?!

Beautiful photo! Happy birthday, Nilah!

They are awesome cats but you do need to be careful when mixing them with other cats. They have lots of energy and can be relentless- so they need another cat which can keep up with them as they play quite rough and can end up bullying/scaring other cats. I don't trust either of them with Alfie- they show a lot of interest in him as it is and I imagine that Widget in particular would be able to pluck Alfie right out of the air as he's so agile and can jump really high.

Here you go! I have a spotty boy called Widget and a marbled girl called Pixel. They're about 4 years old now. I've never been much of a cat fan- always preferred dogs. I can't have a dog because it would be alone 8+ hours a day so we got two bengals instead. They are like no other cat I have ever known. They are loyal, affectionate and totally bonkers! I keep them both indoors and they need lots of space to run and climb. They often get a case of "the zoomies" and run as fast as they can round the house for about 15 minutes at a time. Sounds like a herd of elephants stampeding up and down the stairs. They both love fuss and attention and will yowl the house down if they don't get it when they want it. Nothing is sacred with them about- so no plants, ornaments or anything that you don't want them to stick their faces/paws into! They are both total loons but so much fun. They definitely keep us on our toes!!

Thanks all, will have a chat with Alfie's vet about it and get it done ASAP.

Oops sorry, you must have posted whilst I was responding to Dave's post! Thanks for that, it's useful to know. It just suddenly dawned on me that I'd never had it done and it would be a very good idea to get it done if I can! Whilst I'm always super paranoid about doors and windows (I have two indoor cats as well so have to be careful about them getting out too) accidents can so easily happen and if Alfie got out I'd be devastated.

Thanks Dave. I'll have a chat with the vet about it. He's an avian vet and the only one that I trust to handle Alfie. I'm hoping he's had experience and has done it before but I'll definitely double check beforehand. There is another avian vet who is closer but I don't trust him at all. I wasn't very happy when he looked at Alfie's beak and gassed him before he'd even try to do anything. Poor Alfie was out of sorts for the rest of the day after that ordeal. The vet I have been taking him to ever since then is much better. He doesn't gas him when dealing with his beak and Alfie is always calm and collected when he comes back out. No gas used either. So I'd much rather take him to his regular vet rather than try the other one again. There's not many avian vets around my area unfortunately so I'm glad to have found such a good one!

When I bought my grey home he was 11 weeks old. He was fairly stable on a perch but I lined the base of his cage with old towels so that when he did fall/slip he had a soft landing. I just used the wooden perches that came with the cage. I then added different concrete/sanded perches at a later date when he was more confident about climbing round his cage (and less likely to fall)

Here are a few of my favourites. We no longer have him. We had to have him PTS in 2009. He had problems with his back legs but fortunately wasn't in pain with it as apparently the nerves were damaged. He'd struggle to get up and would sometimes just suddenly half sit/half fall down as his legs struggled. He'd turn round and look at them as if to say "what are you doing?" - probably because he couldn't really feel what was going on. Despite this he carried on and was otherwise fit and healthy. He wasn't ever in any pain and he would still have days where he acted like a puppy. Unfortunately it eventually caught up with him and got worse and worse and we think he had a stroke overnight. When that happened we had to have him PTS as he wasn't able to stand or walk and his head was tilted to one side and kept quivering. He was an awesome dog. VERY stubborn when he wanted to be but such a big character. We were all devastated when we lost him, even though he was 13 and we knew it would happen at some point.

Loved the photos, thanks! He's so cute!

I know that stare all too well! Alfie has grown up with a German Shepherd (long haired like yours- but black and yellow as opposed to tan and black) and a moggy cat. He now lives with two crazy bengal cats which both live indoors. I didn't really trust my german shepherd with him and definitely didn't trust our moggy cat as he used to go out and kill birds for fun. I REALLY don't trust the two bengals. They are so quick and agile I know they'd just pluck him out of the air. So when Alfie is out, they get locked out of the room. I had to turn some door handles upside down to facilitate this though because one of them can open doors!

I've had Alfie for coming up to 12 years now and I'm pretty sure that he's not microchipped. It's certainly not something I've had done at the vets and I doubt the breeder/pet store did it before I got him. (I got him at 11 weeks old) I need to book him in to the vets soon anyway as I need to get his beak looked at again so I was planning on asking the vet about getting him microchipped. Is this a fairly straight forward procedure? My cats are chipped and I know it didn't take long/wasn't at all complicated. Is it much and much the same for parrots?

Hello Madi and welcome to the forums! There is so much information available to you on this forum so hopefully you'll find everything you need. If not, everyone is always very helpful and eager to answer any questions you might have. Good luck in your hunt for a grey. Do keep us up to date!

Hello and welcome to the forums! I can't give you much advice I'm afraid but I'm sure someone else will come along soon who can help. I just wanted to say welcome! Photos of your baby grey are always extremely welcome! (hint hint!)

Hello and welcome to the forum! Beautiful photos of your pets. How does Echo get on with your dog and cat? Do they have to be separated or can they be in the same room?

I am getting a baby parrot fix from all your photos. They are amazing., Thanks for sharing!