Pookamama

Oh good, I'm glad I found this thread. I have seen Pepper do this a few times and was wondering if she was trying to say something but just couldn't find the words, or if she began to yawn but forgot to stop...it sure looks funny. Glad it's normal.

I thought I was getting a toddler with wings. But wow, she's pretty chill most of the time. I am really surprised by how much she naps (or at least tries too, she's not used to having her cage in the center of the action and she 'naps' but opens her eyes every time somebody walks by the cage which is all the time. So how many hours a day does your TAG or CAG spend resting or sleeping?

Congrats!!! I bet you had such joy in your heart!

Thank you all! She has been very cuddly. Last night between my husband and I she must have got an hour of scritches! She is stepping up for the three older kids and taking food bits from them. She has started making a few more noises and is overall just making us all fall in love with her. This has been a much easier transition than I imagined!

Welcome! Casper is a very handsome boy! I am new too, I've only had my Pepper for a few days, but we are loving her!

Pepper says Hello! She is four years old. Her previous owner had a lot of birds but less time to deal with them, so we have been contacting each other over the last few weeks. On Friday my husband and I spent 20 hours on a long car trip to bring her home! She has been well cared for and it shows in many ways. She is very gentle, very friendly, love scritches, LOVES food, and is even stepping up for the kids (not all the time but most of the time.) She prefers me to my husband but he is working his darnedest and spending lots of time with her. She's very quite so far, an occassional chirp and contact calls when I'm not in the room, but we figure as she grows more comfortable we will probably hear more. She's not very into her toys or her swing yet. She sleeps in her snuggle hut. Here's her cage setup: The only thing she played with in her cage is the crumpled paper garland I made for her. She loves to rip paper. Her cage is within view of the food prep counter in the kitchen and whenever she sees me making food she does her I want it dance and I must give her a bit. She's tried all sorts of things but her favorite seems to be baby carrots so far. The only thing she didn't get into was the chicken wing bone. At dinner I let her perch on my arm and she went crazy for my tuna sandwhich, very swiftly went for a big chunk of the bread! We are all enjoying her so much. I had a great scritchin session for a good twenty minutes today. She loved being rubbed on her neck, head and cheeks. My husband is working hard to win her over. He easily spent a good three hours total with her, sitting quietly, talking to her,

Thanks everybody! I am going to be rehoming a four year old Timneh grey! Her name is Gabby and we are picking her up on Friday.

I'm adopting a Timneh from a woman who has had medical conditions and not as much attention to give her beloved flock. She has about nine birds, and from my conversations with her over the phone it's very clear that she has taken excellent care of her fids and is very concerned with making sure I know everything I need to know to take care of her grey. The Timneh is a four year old named Gabby and is very sociable with her, her kids, and her husband. The lady has told me so much about Gabby's habits and favorites and it's been so wonderful to find that we are a match! She has had the bird since it weaned, so this will be a big change for Gabby. Along with taking it slow, being patient, and loving, what specific tips do you have for our transition? Gabby does have a favorite snuggle hut she sleeps in that we are taking with her. She eats Zupreem fruity pellets and I'm not sure if we should keep her on that or switch to something else (I've heard Roudybush is healthier but I don't know if it's healthier enough to switch) and she's great at eating a big variety of fruits and vegetables and birdy bread. So I plan on just offering her little bits of whatever I feed the kiddos (of course minus chocolate, avacado, pits, tomatoes, overly salty and sweet things). I would also like to introduce a harness to her. How will I know when she trusts me enough to engage in doing that? She has been kept clipped and while I eventually want to work on her being flighted, but since it will be her first time and mine I am going to take it slow and wait it out (especially since I have children that leave doors outside open on a regular basis). But even if she is clipped, I really want to use a harness so we can go out confidently. Thanks so much for your input. We are going to get her on Friday. I am so incredibly excited!

Welcome!!!

Beautiful bunch! Thanks for sharing pictures!

Welcome! I am new here and yet to become a parront but I love seeing all these beautiful grey pictures and learning about living with a grey! What an adorable baby you have!

We did pet sit some cockatiels for a couple weeks while my sister was out of town. The kids were great about giving the birds their space, were very curious about them. Since the 'tiels weren't very hand-friendly we only let my oldest son hold one after they'd been there for a couple weeks and we knew he could do well. In general with our pet rats, animals that we meet, cats and dogs owned by relatives, they are gentle and try to connect with the animal with kindness and cheerfulness. We visited a bird store with all four of them and they did amazing. They were all very curious about the birds. They all (except the two year old) held two caiques. My girl was bashful but overcame her fears after a few minutes.

Hi! Here's the deal. We have been looking into a parrot. My husband had one as a teenager, and as we are not having any more children, we thought we'd consider this time in our lives for a parrot. So, in the weeks of reading about breed traits I cannot keep away from the African Grey. I saw one in a pet store and it blew me away with its deep stare. So I am here to ask grey owners if a young TAG could work in our home. Or possibly a rehome who is used to kids, if we can find one. Our kids are ages 2 through 7. I fully understand this bird will be primarily my husbands and my responsibility and we the primary caregivers, the bird would be around the kids all day, however. As I am a stay at home mom I have been picturing working on training the parrot, having the parrot out on its play stand or just near me while we hang out or do chores. I have spoken to various people who have said if a grey is raised in an exuberant house the bird should adapt just fine if it is healthy and cared for. Then I read other places that greys need quiet and are disturbed by young children. Then I read more from people who owned greys with children and had great happy birds. I do understand that birds have different personalities but as there are no available Timneh babies in Oregon I don't think we'd be able to meet the bird ahead of time, and if it would be a baby its personality could change through maturity. Having kids I understand that young things go through phases, sometimes very long phases, where they can be total brats and you need to be consistent, loving, consistent, and try to read into problems to solve them because most of the times they have reasons and understanding the reasons is the key to working with the behavior. So I am willing to be patient with issues that come up and come ask the parrot people for help! So here I am looking for more input. I have found a breeder that really seems like she does a fantastic job with her birds and they will be ready in a couple months. So here are my questions for you: Has anybody with a grey (particulary one from a young age) had to give them up due to issues with the kids? What were the issues and what did you try to do to resolve them? How old was your bird when you got it, and how did you introduce the bird to kids? How does your bird do with your kiddos? How often do the kids handle the bird? Does your bird have free reign of the house? How much out of cage time? What are the guidelines you have for the kids interacting with the bird? Is your bird flighted? I am really interested in having a flighted bird and clicker training but nervous about a kiddo leaving a door open and losing the bird! How painful are TAG bites? It seems from my reading they do go through a few stages where they are nippy (seems most parrots do} so in the likely case bites happen I,d like to know how much t hey hurt! Has anybody had issues with a bird you had from a young age becoming aggressive toward other family members when around you? How did you work through it? Do you let your parrot sit on your shoulder? I think that's it for now, unless you want to throw any helpful tidbits alongside of that.

Hi, my name is Diana, and I live in Oregon. Our family has been looking into owning a parrot for the last few months, and we are strongly interested in a Timneh grey. I have so many questions as we consider this bird and I'm sure I will have many more if we get one. I've been doing a great deal of reading online and talking to parrot people on the phone. (Parrot people are good talkers!) Anyway, I have my husband and four kiddos. We have two rats, our first pets we've had as a family. My husband is allergic to cats and dogs. As a teenager he had a blue headed pionus that was stolen and he's wanted another parrot since. I am into knitting, Doctor Who, and spend most of my awake hours chasing after my kiddos.