EllieMae

Oh Please don't feel bad. I don't think anyone means to discourage or belittle. I think maybe it's just that so many of the regulars have had their babies for years and come off like a mother telling their grown children who have become new parents.. You just wait.. you haven't seen anything yet. As a new CAG owner myself I enjoy all the posts. The Seasoned owners for the advice and knowledge they can provide as well as new owner like myself who are slowly learning and enjoying the new love of these amazing creatures. It's very easy to take the written word in the wrong way. All we have are words and we can't hear the tone. I really don't believe anyone meant to hurt you in anyway. Please don't hold back or quit. I love your posts on Jellybean.

Today she climbed onto his cage and went near as if she was curious. He let out that shrill noise he uses to send the other birds in flight when they get too close and he moved to a perch on the other side of the cage. She spent about 3 minutes trying to open his feeder door and then just went back to her cage. They both vocalize together but other than the one cage climb so far she hasn't shown any interest in him at all. Yesterday was the first full day of her being here and I'm watching everyone closely..maybe too much so as my house work is not getting done ... I'm pretty sure that in two weeks she will be different than she is now as she is learning us just as we are learning her. I'm just not sure if I should let them interact outside the cages even later but I don't want either of them confined to the cage if they want out.. I guess it'll just take time of observation to decide

Judy I saw this post and just had to see..I went and got an icecube and put in both waterbowls. Leo does nothing but the female is chomping away

I do have another question though.. I used to keep his cage door open to give him the option of coming out should he choose to do so. He's only come out of the cage one time and gettting him back was not fun and he's made no other attempts to leave his cage and I've not left it open since getting the female.. My question is, with the female here should I allow them out at the same time or what?

Thanks Dan I had figured that Leo would never be an affectionate bird had only hoped to give him a happier home where he is loved and cared for. The change in him just in the time I've had him has made me very happy and I love seeing the personality come through. As I said I still cannot touch him but he does interact with us, and the other animals in the house. He likes when we mock his noises and he loves the fact that his vocalizing makes my little dog whine and howl. LOL. He will start with his beeps and whistles slowly until my little dog starts whimpering and then he kicks it in high gear.. the louder the dog whines or howls the louder and faster Leo gets. When the dog has had enough and leaves the room Leo stops and begins to preen. He also has a certain sound he'll make that makes my teils fly around the room and he seems to take much delight in that as well. But what amazes me is that since we brought in the female he is acting like a normal bird and playing in the cage instead of just sitting on the same perch when anyone is in the room. Now he doesn't care that we are in here.. he plays and seems happy anyway. I don't care if he never lets me hold him..It does my heart wonders just seeing him lively

I honestly can't swear to the ages as both birds are adoptions and have only what I was told to go on. Ya know..I did know about the quarantine thing but in all honesty.. With the way getting her came about and with all the excitement..my good sense flew out the window.

nothing alarming at all before or after just vocalizing trying to get her attention. Then he will bob his head a couple of times and whistle again. I've never been able to handle him. He came from a really bad situation and used to scream and growl if anyone got within 3 feet of him. That has changed and he shows signs of accepting our presence and allows me to clean his cage and put food and water in his cage without much fuss. He has also been having mocking sessions with me now daily for about two months (before he wouldn't make noise or move around his cage if he thought you could see him.) He still hasn't wanted to let you see him moving around the cage but as soon as the little lady showed up he has been all over that cage and doesn't care who sees. There's been alot of good progress since I got him but just the last 15 hours since our girl arrived have been amazing to me.

Hi Pebbles, I am a novice to Greys as I only acquired my first 4 months ago. I had not planned on getting a "troubled bird" but my heart made me do just that. When I first got Leo if you were withing 3 ft of his cage he would scream and growl. He still does at times but he has come so far in the last 4 months. I still can't touch him but I can clean his cage and feed him with no screaming and sometimes without any low growling. It's little things that show his progress. Before he wouldn't make sounds or anything while anyone was in the room but he and I have mocking sessions daily now and up until yesterday he didn't want you to see him moving around his cage. It took a month for him to comfortably eat while I was in the room. You could hear him moving all over the cage and playing while he was covered but not when he knew we could see him. The moving around the cage in private change dramatically last night when we brought home a female. Their cages are sitting side by side and he has been all over that cage, whistling, grunting, and playing with his toys trying to get her attention. I'm loving the change in him but was already very happy with the progress he had made before that. I don't know if he will ever be a boy that I can handle but every little step is a pleasure. Just take your time and don't push and I'm sure things will be fine. Every day in my house is an adventure with my babies

Hi everybody, I have had a male 3yr old CAG for about 4 months. He's been perfectly healthy and fine and progressing very well from when I brought him home. He had been in a very bad situation and will not let anyone near him but was responding to the vocalizations of other greys in videos so my husband and I decided to look for another CAG as a companion. Well last night we brought home a beautiful 5 yr old female. She has not been here even 24 hours but the difference in Leo is remarkable. He is all over his cage and sounding off trying to get her attention. He still looks and sounds perfectly normal but he's regurgitated like 4 times today. Should I be worried and take him to the vet or do you think he's just gotten himself all worked up?

Thank You everyone. He does not like his picture being taken but as soon as I can get him used to the camera I'll get more. I really don't want to push him much. I leave tomorrow to go see my son graduate from basic and AIT (He is now a MP in the US Army) and my cousin will be staying with my babies while I am gone. He has started whistling some and when I get home I'm thinking about opening his cage door during the days. He's still not sure of what he wants as one day he loves one type of food and the he tosses them in the floor. My husband has been trying to get him to take fruit and nuts from his hand and he does just so he can flip it on the floor..LOL. It's kinda funny to watch.If my husband puts something in his bowl he tosses it, when I do he waits til I leave the room and then goes to eat it

Hi Everyone. I'm hoping that the upload worked Hopefully you can now see Leo

Hi Everybody I'd like to say thanks to you all for your support and wonderful advise. Today is day 4 and things seem to be going well. We got the cage here and set up on Wed. I hadn't read the new posts so I set up with 4 perches of different thickness two toys and a ladder. The cage he came in was small enough to set in the door of his new cage so I just put it half way in the door and as the big open cage was more desirable than my hand being so close to him he went right into the cage. He went to the back corner and sat there all hunched up looking like a sad little penguin. He stayed like that for about 2 hours but then one of my cockateils Sassy Sammy decided that she wanted to talk to this new guy and hopped up on his cage and walked back and forth calling to him and getting aggitated because he wouldn't answer so she climbed down the cage to meet him at eye level and started calling him again. He looked at her and started preening and ignoring her completely. She climbed back to the top and this time he followed her. Yesterday she started bugging him.. she would run across the top and poke him in the head and run away. I moved her over to the top of the Cockateil cage but she kept going back and he ended up nipping her toe. It bled a little and it's sore but she's fine and hopefully will leave him alone now. I have his cage set up next to my couch and I sit close to him while I'm in here. I basically just go to the cage talk to him and put a treat in his food bowl and walk away. I can sit in the floor directly below him and talk to him and he's fine but when I stand in front of him he screams and growls. But the diffence from just 4 days ago is very reassuring. He's eating great. They were feeling him a seed mixture from Tractor supply but I bought him two types of pellets and he seem to like that. I've been giving him two or three different types of fruit and veggies each day to see what he likes and does not like. He loves grapes but throws honey dew melon on the floor. The banana also went to the floor. He nibbled a bit on the cauliflour. I'm really hoping that things continue to improve, I want so badly to see him in a much happier mood. Thanks again to everyone

They said his name was Big Daddy but they never used his name or talked to him so I've been calling him Leo. As far as his mate.. The previous owners mentioned a breeder box but said they had not had babies just that they had been paired up for two years befor they aquired them almost a year ago. As for being determined.. yes I am. I am home all day and have been researching these guys for a while just got this guy earlier than expected due to his living conditions..I just couldn't let him live like that. I have a 4ft x 4ft cage being delivered tomorrow and feel like I'm in for a roller coaster ride but so ready for the challenge. I just want Leo to be happy and healthy. I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. I've just been talking to him and not getting to close so as not to aggitate him. I'm just worried about the process of getting hoim from one cage to the big one tomorrow

Hi Everyone I am a brand new parrot owner. I have teils and keets but I just brought home my newest family member today. I've been researching and reading about greys for about a year now. I had planned on going to a rescue to get one when I felt qualified but I was rushed into it by my heart this morning. I'd heard of this family that was selling their bird because it "wasn't acting right" any longer. Well I emailed this person all morning and upon learning that he had this poor baby in the garage because he didn't what what to do with it I finally after several emails convinced him to sell me his Grey for $300, half of what he was origionally asking. This poor baby is probably going to be a problem child for quite a few months but I am so determined to do what it takes and win his trust and let him know that he is home and will be loved. Here is what I know about him. This poor guy was bought a little under a year ago with a mate that he had been with for two years. The people that bought them clipped theirs wings and pretty much gave them run of the house. The female was the most active and friendly and the male (mine) was kind of reserverd and preferred to stay close to his cage. Well they took them outside with them when they went out and barbqued and things and let them free outside. On one of these occasions approx. two months ago they left the birds unattended for a period of 1-2 hours. They went back out and the male was back in his cage and the felmale was gone. All they found was a pile of feathers. They explained to me that a while before they had lost a cockateil to the neighbors cat in the back yard. (Idiots) So due to the trauma that this poor guy has endured with the loss of his mate and possibly being attacked as well he screams and growls at anyone that gets too close to him. This was too much for them to handle and they put him in a 12 in x 18in x 18in travel carrier and stuck him in the garage and that is how I got him. He's home and calm until I within 3 feet of him. I need any advice on how to help him. I'm sorry this is so long but I wanted you to know most of what I know. Thanks in advance