neoow

Awesome stuff! You're doing a great job and it'll be an amazing experience for both of you. I really wish I'd been able to do with this Alfie. It was my fault entirely, I was 17 when I got him and didn't like being bitten because he was scared of it so I didn't persevere. (He would snatch it and try and throw it away if it went anywhere near him). He's also never liked his back/wings being touched. Now every time I hear news of people harness training their parrots or see videos of their parrots flying I really regret not trying harder to find a way to convince him that it was a positive thing. I wasn't brave enough at the time to keep at it and wasn't really anywhere I could go to for help or advice. I think it's a little too late for me to even entertain the idea of getting a harness for him. He's going to be 12 in April.

I think eating is the only thing Alfie does daintily. You should see how he goes after his toys haha.

Oh I'm always finding those everywhere. With two cats and two humans living here they get spread all over the house. I often have to pick them out of my hair and clothes before I go anywhere!

The best part is that he dropped paper all over the place from the envelope... then flapped his wings to spread it all round the room!

And here he is shredding an envelope for me: He did a very good job of it too! All that munching and shredding was hard work though... time for a rest! [EDIT: Not sure why the photo turned out on its side and not sure how to change that]

Here's Alfie making a mess with some banana chips (one of his favourite treats). He munched his way through three of these. Good job I had a blanket on the sofa! [video=youtube_share;MIdPBwWj0Co] Needless to say, I had a lot of tidying up to do (as always) at bedtime this evening!

Haha... I'd have kittens if Alfie landed on my PC and started pulling bits off. He's banned from the desk! The closest he gets is the back of my chair. What's that you've got in the background- looks like some kind of rope net? It looks amazing!

I have no idea whether Alfie is actually a male or female. He was sold to me as a male but I'm not sure if he was ever DNA tested or if they just guessed. I never bothered to find out for sure and stuck to calling him a he! I didn't think there was actually a way to tell a grey's sex unless they were DNA tested? I didn't think there was a way to visually sex a Grey.

Aw yay! Hope all goes well for all of you.

Zoe is a total cutie. How awesome that you're able to watch her progress so closely and get photos etc. I got Alfie at 11 weeks old and I met him on a few occasions before taking him home but I didn't get any baby photos like what you've got. So it's pretty cool that you've got those to keep too!

I wish we had something like that nearby. I have to get all Alfie's stuff online... and even then the choice is still lacking somewhat.

Amazing video! I wish I'd tried to get Alfie used to a harness when he was younger. I'd love to take him out on walks etc and allow him to fly in safe spaces. I don't think I'd have much luck if I tried now, no matter how patient I was and how long it took. He's going to be 12 this year and doesn't really like his back or wings being touched.

Haha that's pretty cool. Alfie is forever telling the cats off for me. I quite often hear "No!" or "Off!" or "Oi!" coming from Alfie (in my voice) when the cats are up to no good! When we had a dog he used to tell him to sit, stay, go outside and come in.

I kept holding my breath through most of the story. Almost forgot to breathe! Was so happy for you when you were reunited with Rico! What a rollercoaster of emotions that was- and I was only reading about it! I can't begin to imagine what you were going through!

What an awesome update!

Photos please!! Happy Hatch Day! :cool:

Alfie grew up with a dog and a cat was added later on. Our dog (Ben) was a german shepherd and he was a big softie. However, I never trusted them both enough to let Alfie out when Ben was in the house, I always put the dog outside first. The same rule applied when we got Buster the cat (especially as the cat was forever bringing home dead animals). However Ben was always watchful of Alfie and if he did anything like fall off a perch or just clatter around his cage, Ben would go running over to make sure he was ok. Alfie would climb down the cage to check Ben out too- he'd even slowly stick his beak up Ben's nostril (ew!). Neither of them minded. Buster the cat was very indifferent about Alfie (thankfully) and never bothered him. Alfie would climb down to try and pluck Buster's tail if he left it leaning against his cage but that was it. However, I still never trusted Alfie to be out of his cage in the same room as Ben or Buster- just in case something awful happened and I wasn't able to prevent it. If Alfie rubbed either one of them up the wrong way, I knew he was done for. (e.g if he bit one of them or irritated them enough). Alfie did get out of his cage once when nobody was home except for Ben. I don't think I closed the food bowl hatch properly and Alfie climbed out. Thankfully, nothing awful happened. They were home alone in the house together for an hour or two. My sister came home from work, saw that Alfie was out and called me. I had to come home from work to put Alfie back in his cage because my sister was too scared (having been bitten previously) to try it. Thankfully neither Ben nor Alfie had come to any harm. However, after that, Ben was always a bit wary when I opened the cage door/food doors. So I'm not sure if he got spooked by Alfie flying around or if Alfie had tried to land on him. The same rules apply now- I have two indoor only cats. They are bengals so are super high energy cats and love to play with toys that they can consider to be 'prey' (e.g a toy on a wand and string). I definitely would never trust either of them with Alfie out of his cage. They know to keep their paws to themselves whilst he's in the cage but I don't know if they could resist if he was out of it when they were in the room. Alfie for the most part is pretty indifferent about them, but I know he could do a lot of damage to them if he wanted to... and they could easily kill him. In fact one of my cats is very agile and can jump very high, so I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to pluck Alfie out of the air. When Alfie comes out to play, they get shut out of the room. I agree with others and do think the animals involved will make a big difference to whether or not they'll get on. I have seen videos similar to the ones posted earlier with parrots getting on just fine with dogs and/or cats.

Welcome! I just saw your other thread. Well done for offering your home to the African Grey in need- despite already having your hands full with your current birds! I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will come along and offer some valuable advice shortly.

Haha uh oh! Busted!!

Oh yes! I'd forgotten that in my previous house Alfie learned the noise of the door being unlocked. Scared the heck out of me on more than one occasion!!

Not to thread hi-jack but I'd be interested in the recipe for birdie bread

Alfie burps and farts courtesy of my sister (yes, really). In fact, that was her "name" for quite a while- whenever he saw her, he would make his burp and fart noises. He also coughs, sneezes and blows his nose... or should that be blows my nose? He regularly joins in when I start coughing and sneezing. He also mimics my laugh.

I don't have anything useful to add, I just wanted to say that I really admire all the work you are doing, Muse. I read your posts with great interest and think you are doing an amazing job. Thank you.

I have to get Alfie's beak trimmed every so often because it grows quite long and is wonky. If I look at him straight on his top beak grows over to the right and the bottom beak grows over to the left. Its been like this for years, so I have to keep an eye on it and get it trimmed to prevent him having troubles eating, drinking and getting around his cage. As far as nails go, he mostly keeps these in check himself. He has various perches to assist with this which are made from concrete or covered in something which looks like colourful sandpaper. I regularly replace these and they do a really good job at keeping his nails from growing too wrong. I decided against getting his wings clipped because he is a very strong flier and I am very careful about doors and windows when he is out of the cage.

Hahaha... hilarious!!