Cinnyminis

Thanks chezron. I actually have a phone meeting with an eclectus breeder tomorrow for a female. That is actually the bird I really want, but there are so few breeders around me. We shall see! My short list is now either an eclectus or orange winged amazon. Both babies are available, I just have to make up my mind!

So, they share the same cage? Just curious. I was thinking I would have to have separate cages.

Nancy, I have SEVEN kids, and a grey. Noise is not an issue! (giggle!).

We saw and caught at least 28 brown recluses, including one in at least every room of my three story house. It has more to do with the age of the house and the basement with drop ceilings. We have altered the environment as much as we can. This same house had to be tented 7 years ago to deal with the issue. I am currently renting from my sister. These spiders were not avoiding contact with us, we found one in bed on the pillow with my 4 year old, and my teenager had one crawl up his leg during the daylight hours. It is a freaking nightmare but we have no other option but to exterminate. I cannot move, and we cannot have these spiders. It has all gone well though, and Radar is okay. (See my post about what we did.)

Thank you to all! We wound up leaving him at my mother's house the entire day, and after airing out the house with a fan and wiping everything down in the cage with hot soapy water, we brought him home about 10 hours after. It went well. The bulk of the extermination was in the basement and done with powder, so he will not be allowed down there for several weeks (he rarely goes there anyways).

Thanks guys for the input. After searching for the past week, I have narrowed it down to an orange winged amazon, or another grey(based on whats available to me now). I am still undecided. It's a tough decision!

I have been wanting one more bird since we got Radar, and I want to do it soon. The only problem is I cannot decide what kind! So, my question is this: What bird makes a good companion for a grey? My breeder said not to get another grey as they would bond to each other. I would prefer the other bird be a talker also and good around kids. Any suggestions? Beth

Yes they are, but I remove all of them first. I agree it is a terrible chance, but the exposure to multiple brown recluses and 7 kids is also a horrible chance!

I posted a few weeks ago about having to have exterminators visit because of a brown recluse problem. I coordinated the visit with us leaving with Radar for a week. Well, evidently the treatment was not sufficient enough as we have a massive brown recluse issue, according to the exterminator. He is coming back to retreat this week. Most of the treatment will be done in the basement, and he will be spraying the first and second floors again. I have planned on Radar going in his travel cage next door to my mother's house for about 5 hours afterwards. Do yall think that is a sufficient amount of time for him to be gone? Just curious. Beth

Kevin, I have 7 kids, and Disney on most of the time. I am pretty sure though that Radar picked up the monkey sounds, and R2D2 sounds from a five hour exposure to my brother in law, who does many many noises and voices. I keep telling him next time he comes back, we should deliberately work on one or two funny sounds or voices to see if Radar picks it up, since my brother in law does not remember what sounds he made to the bird.

Radar, a CAG age 9months, has recently started acting like a monkey, with R2D2 added in. He has a vocabulary of about 50 words at the moment, but this monkey thing is hilarious! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200828869902954&l=1070535722502860417 He is also becoming braver around non family members, even talking when someone else is in the house. Beth

Only a mini clip. He still flies fairly well wherever he wants to go, which is usually either to find me or demand someone takes a shower so he can sing.

Oh, and forgot to mention, he recently learned to make sounds like a monkey. He does it almost continuously, even while hanging upside down. I have always called my kids flying monkeys, but he takes that meaning to a whole new level!

So, Radar, a CAG age 9 months, has started hanging upside down on almost everything by one foot and doing "chin-ups" to ring his bell. He even groomed his feathers while hanging upside down this afternoon. He has fallen a few times and broken a few red feathers, but continues to do it. He is also exploring more by hopping form his cage onto nearby furniture or a laundry hamper. The upside down behavior seems so bizarre to me, especially because he does it a lot. Is that normal? Beth

That's the plan- we are leaving for a week.

I have found 5 baby brown recluse spiders in my little kids' bedroom in the past two days. One was actually in bed with my 4 year old! I will be going out of town next Sunday and need to have someone come and spray. I cannot take any chances with these things, especially because the house I am in has had a problem with them before. So, if Radar is with me, would it be safe to spray the house and leave for a week? Can I have someone spray that room with him in another part of the house? Is there anything safe a professional can use? Beth mom to Radar (8 months old) and 7 humans.

So Gus, what do you do with the birds when you stop for food? I'm seeing to options there- leave them in the car (not a good idea because its hot), or a drive through. Also, Nancy, I was thinking that with a flight suit, he could go more places than in a cage. If, for instance, while on our trip, I needed to go into the grocery store, It would be much easier to bring him in by carrying him rather than take a chance at a cage in the cart. We will be doing a variety of things while we are gone, using a hotel as base cap but traveling in a three hour radius during the day. I would rather have him with us than leave him at a hotel. Then again, this is all new to me and I may be over thinking it!

Radar is now 9 months old. We are taking a family trip (I have 7 kids) from Tennessee to Virginia next week. I purchased a medium sized King's travel cage which we have used to transport to the vet and spend time outside with us. He really does not like the cage but relaxes after awhile in it. I have made hotel reservations and made them aware I am traveling with a bird. We are still working on the flight suit training, but he is taking a long time to warm up to it. I still have many questions though! What foods can I bring to have in the cage while we travel? The first leg of the trip is about 9 hours. Can I bring him in a restaurant with us in the cage? In the flight suit? Should I let him out of the cage to perch on top while I am driving? I am planning on making arrangements with friends while I am gone so I can leave him at their houses for brief periods of time (a few hours at most) while I am out where he cannot go. I am reluctant to leave him in the hotel at all, especially because I will be at least 45 minutes from the hotel most of the time, and up to 2 hours away. I would rather he be with us. Any other advice on traveling with him? Also, I do not want to leave him at home while we are gone with someone to come in and feed him. I spent one night away from him a few months ago and he was NOT happy about that. I cannot imagine what he would do without the hustle and bustle of our daily life. With all the kids around, it is usually busy all the time here. ALso, I would miss him terribly! Beth

The mirror is not where he can see it, but he knows it exists. He also knows a mirror exists in teh bathroom down the hall. He frequently takes off at a run for the bathroom and stands on the floor chirping until we pick him up to see. The reason why we did a mini clip before (only outside 3 feathers) was to slow him down. He was still able to fly. I am just concerned about him flying into the mirror.

When I picked Radar up from the breeder, we did a mini clip of his wings. He was 12 weeks old then. He is about 17 weeks now and the tips have grown most of the way back. He keeps leaping off his playstand and flying into a mirror. I need to do another mini clip on him for his own safety. However, he no longer willing lets me manipulate his wings and I have no other adult in the house to help me. I am also worrying about him getting angry with me about doing something he wont like. How do I get around this and clip him? I have been slowly insisting on handling his wings this week, but I am still so nervous about it. Beth

He is only 4 months but I find about 8-10 of these fluff balls every morning beside the cage on the floor.

Okay... I'll bite.... snowing?

Quick question... How old is a grey before they start to talk? My Radar is only 14 weeks old and says morning and hello plain as day, and tonight he was he started making all sorts of fun sounds and he said his name. I also thought I heard him say stop. (I say that to my kids a lot!) I hear him practicing the words in the morning before we all get up, but tonight he was in the middle of things joining in the noise of the house. So I guess what I am getting at, is 14 weeks young to talk or is that normal? (I should mention I have 7 kids and we talk to the bird constantly during the day.) Beth

Hello all! I am new here and a new grey owner. Radar is 14 weeks old. He is such a delight to our family. I can tell that even as a baby he will be a real character as he grows up! He insists upon floor time with toys several times a day. He squawks at his shadow, growls and pounces on toys( small wooden beads, wooden sticks, and cardboard bagels are his favorite). Just this morning, when everyone was still in bed, I heard him start his usual chirping, and then a squawky parrot sound, and then clear as day he said.. morning.... hello... morning.... and went back to tweeting before going back to sleep. He has no lack of conversation, as I have seven kids and we chat to him constantly. While on the floor, he just recently started making mad dashes down the hall to the bathroom. I cannot figure out if its the mirror or the perching on the shower rod he is after. I have noticed he has gotten rather defensive around the kids, especially when he is tired. The kids poke their fingers at him way too often and we are in training with the kids to stop that. One thing that I find amusing, is ANYTHING newly introduced, he decides it is EVIL and he wants nothing to do with it. I bought a play top to keep on the floor for him and he would not even look in its direction...that was until I put his favorite food on it.. he snuck up and extended his body as far as he could reach to grab at the food, growling the whole time.. kinda like, "FINE, I will take the food but I WILL NOT LIKE IT!" Today he explored the top just a bit with his beak. I think in another week he will be all over it. Anyways... That was a Radar introduction. I have found this site very helpful so far and look forward to reading more about these special birds.