kristan.marino@gmail.com

So I got nipped on the face the other day, completely my fault though. While I understand that the shoulder can be a risky spot to have your bird, Darwin seems to insist on it. He is 4, and I think that must have been where he spent most of the time with his previous owner. And I really don't mind, he helps me with small chores, and says "oooh" when we go into a new room , or pass by something unexpectedly. I had Darwin on my shoulder, just after some company showed up, so there was some extra hustle and bustle going on, and I picked up his wiffle ball to "show" them how he likes it. And I think that a combination of the ball, the people, and the noise got to him, because when I brought the ball up to him to see if he wanted it, he went after the balll, then my face..lol Hurt like a son of a gun. I simply told him no, and put him down. And he really doesn't show any signs of aggression towards me unless I am bothering him at a time when he does not want to be bothered. I learned my lesson, new company does not mean, "hey lets show off my bird" it means, "we are just gonna let him adjust to the very new situation instead of throwing all these new things at him at once" lol

WELCOME!!! And hey we have the same name for our little birdies! My Darwin is 4 years old...How about yours?

Thanks everybody!! I talked to Nathen today and told him that I really needed him to be on board with this process or it was never going to get any better. He agreed to put in a little more effort, but he is still very apprehensive. I think its because he is so afraid to get bitten...lol. He is more of a bunny kind of guy...hahhaa But he has gotten a little better with Darwin so I have to give credit where credit is due. That clothes basket video is hilarious! I laughed so hard. I laugh so much more now that Darwin is with us, that He has picked up my cackling! He lets out the biggest belly laughs. SO today when Darwin DIDNT bite nathens feet as he walked by, I clapped and said "yaaay Darwin!" haha And he clicks with me and bobs his head while I clap, and then I laugh, and he laughs all the way from the tips of his toes! its so funny, I hope I can get it on video one of these days. I think the treat idea is a really clever idea too. I got some little yogurt birdie treats at the store today, if he likes them they I will have Nathen start giving them to him instead:)

What if Nathen has not handled him yet? Darwin seems to be aggressive towards him. He has gotten better, slowly. But he has still not picked him up, or held him, or touched him..lol He did however sit on his lap the other day when he was visiting me on the couch. I am not sure if Darwin realized it or not, but he is far from stupid as we all know are greys are smart cookies, and he did not go after him. I think that Nathen might need to put a little more effort maybe in the bonding process? I figure that Darwin is thinking, "if he doesn't try why should I"...

So, I was not sure which thread to post this in, Biting, or Training, but here goes... Darwin had adapted extremely well to our home. He has bonded with me more than other person in the house, and while this excites me, it also makes me sad, because he seems to hate my Fiance. Darwin is trying to claim the kitchen floor (in particular an area in front of an empty cupboard he likes to play in) as his own. When my Fiance, Nathen, goes into the kitchen, Darwin puffs up like a porcupine and launches at his feet! He does it in other areas of the house as well, but mainly the kitchen. Darwin walks around the house at will basically, and its a some what open floor plan, so there is no way for me to keep him out of the kitchen except to keep him in his cage. If the problem was limited to the kitchen I would say that would be easy to manage, but its really Nathens feet+floor=Darwins beak! I have started to stand next to him and then crouch down as darwin walks by and touch Nathens feet and say "He's okay, its okay" and stroke his foot(usually his slippers). That works if I am there, but If I am not near the two of them, they seem to go at it. Nathen tries to walk, and Darwin tries to chase him out of the kitchen. Now it has gotten to the point that I wait to see what happens, and as soon as he attacks his feet I scoop him up and put him back on his cage. It seems to help a little bit, but My fiance is about to lose it, and I dont know what to do to make the two of them have a more compatible relationship. If the cupboard that he plays in is creating the problem should I eliminate the cupboard all together? I fell like he is claiming the territory(or trying to at least), and if that is taken away maybe the dominance will go away? uuugh...lol, any suggestions will help. I'm at my wits end breaking up the squabbles between the two of them...He kind of does this to my kids feet, but not near as much, and he only does it to me if its a case of mistaken identity....

Stefanie- You have some lucky animals to have you in their life! I am transferring to a four year school in the fall, and will be majoring in the Zoology program. I am not sure if you read the Grey Cognition post but I briefly touched base on it in there. In short, I am super excited to get started! lol I have always had better luck with animals than people in some situations. I will hopefully be starting an internship program this summer with the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Kudos to you and all of your hard work over these past 15 years and continuing!

Awwww, I love our Birdies. They are something special! Cheshire Cat- I finish my two years next semester and am then transferring to a four year, to the Zoology program. I am so excited to get started, but I too at times think I am not smart enough or good enough. I did the same thing you did...finally said "Why the hell not"??..lol I have worked int he retail community for over a decade and have seemed to have lost my patience with people and their demands, I get along better with animals I think at this point! lol Good luck to you, your going to do great!

So Darwin was walking around exploring the upstairs, and he comes over to another bird cage stand and crawls under and says" ohhhh" very matter of factly, and then he continues his escapade into the kitchen,(still walking on the floor), and starts to walk near the fridge where I was grabbing something. He saw the fridge door open and walked as fast as his little legs would carry him over to see what was in there, well, I shut the door quick (too quick in his opinion) and he YELLS out a really quick, starled, "oh my god!" hahahhaa it was the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. I almost peed my pants. After he said it and jumped back, I told him "im sorry, its okay" and he says "phhew" hahahahahaha I cant stop laughing about it , even now, every time I tell the story. He also says "whoa" when he scares himself, or almost falls.

I will definitely take my time with him. I waited until the kids went to bed last night to approach him again last night, he was pseudo-flapping and wiggling his wings, and kind of like, "bowing" to me so I figured I would give it a go, and he got up on my hand and then went right to my shoulder...I sat down on the couch and he hopped off and sat on the back of the couch, He dipped his head down again to me so I slowly brought my hand over to pet him, I stroked his forehead with my one finger, and he rested his chin on the couch and almost fell asleep! It was the cutest thing in the whole entire world, I put him back up to his cage to get ready for bedtime and he started talking away after I walked out of his sight, telling me he was a pretty bird, and calling out ""hey baybee" ..lol He also mimics my yawn, he coughs, snorts like a pig, and barks like a puppy...hahah I seriously have laughed so hard in the past couple of days. He is putting on quite the show right now as I am typing actually, making explosion noises Super adorable

I will absolutely change the chain..and Here is a video so you can see him in action If you click on the last 2 pictures the video should load on a diff page...

Yeah, his eyes are a very good indicator of his emotions thats for sure..lol What is it called when the are big then get really small? Pinning? He does that when he is not thrilled...This moring he was more open to communication with me. I said hello to me when I took off his cover, and whistled whil I was getting ready for school. And then when I put on my coat and grabbed my school bag, he hollerd "goodbye" at me....It was so stinkin cute I almost skipped school! My fiance left before I did this moring and said to me " your not even going to go to classes today are you..??" hahaha I assured him I would make it to class, but to be honest, Darwin is all I can think about right now...and during Finals week! I was thinking about leaving some music on for him during the day while I am gone...What do you guys think?

No, We are rehoming him from a place in Michigan...Michigan Macaws? I emailed him to get some more information on him, but he has not emailedme back yet. I had a hard time finding a local anybody in our area.

He is here ...he is here!!!!! Darwin got here a few hours ago, and I am already in love with the little dude. Him with me?, not so much. LOL, not yet any way, he just doesn't know it yet but he just found his new best friend! He hopped right out of his carrier and climbed in his cage. He drank water for about 10 minutes, super thirsty, and then ate for quite a while. He was pretty quiet, and then showed us is "warning click" when we walked towards him... I still talked to him even though he would click at me. I kept my distance and his clicking calmed down a little, he even left out a couple of squeaks, and then what sounded like a smoke alarm when the batteries are running dead? I laughed so hard, and then he whispered something. He does not want to come any where near me which is just fine, because I understand he needs time to adjust. He stayed on his food perch almost the entire night, and then wondered out to the top of the door for a minute, then went back in. He did that a few times, and then fell I felt so bad, but I didn't want to run right over and scare him so I gave him the chance to get up and he did, and climbed right back to the top. He just now started exploring his cage, and seems to be okay:) He rubs his beak quite aggressively on the bars, but not for too long, really quick and then stops. My fiance reached in to "say hello" and he got bit. He didn't say "ow" or freak out, he pulled his hand back and Darwin decided he didnt want to let go...I told him that it was probably best to keep his fingers "outside the cage" lol He agreed. He started to fall asleep, and its getting late so I covered his cage, and as soon as I did I could hear him exploring all over his cage, all the toys, on the bars, up and down...I am assuming the cover gave him a sense of security? Maybe, I don't know. I am just so happy to have finally met him, and I am praying that he is happy with his new home. I will post the pics as soon as they finish uploading:)

Hello there! she is beautiful, we are in CNY as well, just got our little guy about 2 hours ago!

I put his cage together, and I made his little swing you see hanging from the ceiling, I am hoping he likes it!the ball that's hanging from it has a little bell in it. I can remove the green ball and put it on the inside of the cage, or free play...

Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement! I am so excited I can barley stand it. I received the first of three packages to start assembling his cage. I am hoping I can get it put together okay, it looks do-able though...lol I put a large cage together for my Conure so I think I should be okay. I have been looking at toys for him, but I would like to buy supplies in bulk and make my own, what do you guys think? I made them for my Sun, and it was fun, she liked them. Do you think it is more cost effective to make them? It just looks to me like I could make the same toy that is priced at $10 for about $2...Im not sure which route I should take. Any suggestions?

Hello All! I am so excited to be joining your forum...I am happy to announce that we will have our first CAG joining us in a couple of weeks. As excited I am, I am also a bit nervous because he is a juvenile I believe, 4 years old, and I am afraid that I will not be able to bond with him the way I have heard everyone talking about with their babies they have brought home. He is said to be good mannered, is hand tamed, does not speak yet, but he mimics and makes some whistling sounds. I am concerned that bringing in an "older" bird will also bring in "baggage". But I am also not afraid to be patient and hope that he understands how much we love him <3 I am looking forward to meeting our new little love bug...Our names are narrowed down to Darwin...or Heisenburg I will gladly accept ANY advice that you have