neoow

Hello everyone, My name is Katrina and I live in the UK with my 9 year old African Grey, Alfie and my two 19 month old Bengal cats, Widget and Pixel. I apologise in advance for this is very likely to be long winded! I used to work in my local Pets at Home store back when they sold birds and parrots. That's where I discovered African Greys and decided I wanted one. I was about 17 at the time and had a bit of money saved up. So I did lots of research into parrots and African Greys in particular before finally bringing Alfie home at 11 weeks old from a small family run pet shop. I noticed from the stickied thread in this forum that it is frowned upon to bring home parrots that are still being hand fed. I didn't know that at the time and all the research I had done at the time never brought that up as an issue. Alfie was eating some seeds and I was also feeding him with a spoon. I was still living at home with my parents, sister and German Shepherd dog, Ben (also later joined by a moggy cat- Busta). Alfie always favoured me and the dog over anyone else. He didn't mind the cat but they didn't have much to do with each other. Ben would always get worried if Alfie got spooked by something or was being daft whilst playing and slipped off a toy. Ben would rush up the cage and stick his nose in to check Alfie was ok. Alfie would climb over and pretty much just stick his beak up Ben's nose..! He wasn't being malicious, I think he was just investigating. However, his beak would get a bit wet after doing this! Aaanyway, these days I live on my own (after going from two housemates to one housemate to no housemates) with Alfie and my two crazy cats. I work as an ICT manager in a school (no, I do not get lots of holiday like a teacher). Alfie doesn't mind the cats, even though they're fascinated by him and quite often wander on the top of his cage trying to get a better look. They've never tried to swipe at him and any time Alfie gets fed up of them he'll poke at their feet to get them off the cage (not maliciously- although he has given them a warning shot or two when they haven't moved!). I wouldn't ever let Alfie out in the same room as the cats though as I don't trust the cats not to scare/hurt Alfie and I don't trust Alfie not to hurt the cats. I'm not sure who would come off worse to be honest! Speaking of honesty, I'll be quite up front and honest when I say I've been through a bit of a rubbish time and unfortunately this led to me considering rehoming Alfie. It's been building up for a while now. I work longer hours than ever, especially since taking over my department. I go to the gym two-three times a week (to try and lose that spare tyre round my waist!) and I'm doing a LOT of studying- I'm with the OU studying towards a degree, I'm studying through a work scheme and I'm trying to pick up some certifications along the way too. I am also in a band so go to band practice once a week and sometimes have the odd gig to attend (one or two a month). I felt that I didn't have enough time for Alfie because on the days where I wasn't doing much I'd pretty much just crash out with exhaustion as I don't sleep well most nights and seem to be suffering with a lot of bad headaches/migraines (although I now have medication for that, thankfully). I felt I wasn't able to give Alfie the time and attention he needed and that he was suffering for that. I don't have any problems with him feather plucking or mutilating himself but he shows signs of aggression to people at times. I battled with the decision for weeks, spoke to friends and family, did a lot of research about re-homing and found a good charity who would help with the process and who checked the people out and would make them send regular updates. However, I was absolutely distraught about the idea of giving Alfie up. He's MY parrot. I've had him since 11 weeks old. He's a bit grumpy with other people and can be grumpy with me (but I expect no less since I feel I've let him down) but he's still my parrot, my baby and I don't know if I could forgive myself if I simply just gave up and didn't try harder to make this work for the both of us. In the end I decided I wouldn't give him up. Not now. I decided I would do my best to try and get back on track with Alfie, spend more time with him, get him properly socialised and trained (as I hold my hands up and admit, I fell short there too) and try and give him the life he deserves. If all of that fails and I still feel that he deserves better and that I can't provide it for him, then yes, perhaps the best thing for him would be a new home. But at the moment I am determined to make this work. That's partly why I'm here. I'll be looking through the existing threads and probably be posting a few questions as I go along. I'm currently re-doing all the research I did 9 years ago on training and socialising. I upgraded Alfie's cage to the Liberta enterprise which is HUGE compared to his old cage. I love it and he's settled in to it brilliantly. That was step one, really. I'm over the moon at how well he adapted to the new cage and has explored every inch and seems to be a LOT happier in there with all his new toys as well as all that extra space. My next step is to spend more quality time with Alfie. Get used to handling him without the constant worry of being bitten if he happens to get into a grump. Get him used to being handled without getting in a grump about it. Get him trained so that he knows more than 'step up' and 'turn round' (he sort of knows 'fly to me' too... but mostly needs to be prompted by me holding something he wants). Maybe even teach him a few fun and clever tricks too, if he wants to learn! But most of all, I want him to have a much better time than he has had. I'm the first one to admit that I've made lots of mistakes with Alfie and I expect I'll get some slack over that but it's ok. I haven't been the best parrot owner I can be up to now but I'm looking to change that and will probably need some help and guidance along the way. I hope you'll accept me into your community! -Katrina (and Alfie)