MoonRock

Hello forum folks. It breaks my heart to announce that I need a new forever home for Oscar and Ellie Noel. These two great Greys need more time and love than I can give in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, both birds do tend to bite and can be unpredictable (as can any Grey). I will be adopting twin boys on the autism spectrum who have curious fingers and no bird experience, who are also noise sensitive. I have no choice but to find Oscar and Ellie Noel a wonderful, caring and committed home for the rest of their lives. Oscar is a male CAG with a great sense of humor. When upset or nervous, he will squawk loudly, but is generally quieter when he is content. He sometimes squawks for attention, which is not unusual for a Grey. Oscar makes some great sounds, such as a door opening and closing. He is not a "huge talker" but communicates his needs and feelings well. He is sighted in only one eye due to an incident that occurred before I adopted him. It is very hard for me to write this post but Oscar is a wonderful bird and you can follow our past training adventures in "Oscar's Training Journal". Please read it for more information. Ellie Noel is a female CAG with a lot of personality. When upset she will grow quiet, rather than squawk. She will need an attentive owner who can "read" her well and give her a home as a true member of the human family. She talks and watches TV (especially SpongeBob Squarepants) and is very entertaining. Ellie Noel makes various sounds, such as bubbling water. She also announces "Hallelujah!" Ellie Noel is in good health, as is Oscar. Both have been to the veterinarian within the last year. Please read more about Ellie Noel by searching for her name in my posts. I am available to answer any questions you may have about these great birds. There will be a reasonable adoption fee to ensure they go to a home with a financially solvent person. I will admit that it was hard for me to afford their care at times, so you will need to assure me that these two amazing Greys (who must go home together- they are best friends) will be well cared-for. I will expect to be able to visit the Greys on occasion, so please be located in Northern California. Please understand how hard this is for me and be considerate when responding. My heart feels very raw right now. -MoonRock WestCoastEmbers@Yahoo.com (email me directly please, it is the best way to reach me)

OK folks, I am finally going to tally up the "Thanks" this evening and will announce our winners very soon. Be sure to hit the thanks button for your favorite photos, and submit any last minute photo contest photos to this thread: Mischievous Greys!

I have one Grey I definitely rescued, and another that was "just" a rehome from a very loving family. I got the rescue Grey first, and it worked out well for me. However, I had to be prepared for trouble. I don't have a lot of room in my apartment, but I knew I may need to keep the birds separate (and even out of sight of one another). Furthermore, Greys are very sensitive and I worried that Ellie's slight feather picking habit would develop into something more troubling once she came into my home and saw that she was not the only Grey. Luckily my birds really like each other now, but I was prepared for the worst. I really took a chance, one that I realize now was a little foolish. I got good advice from forum members and my real-life friend Blueberrytunes, who reminded me that my time and finances would be spread thinner. I was OK with this, but again- I took quite a chance that it would all work out. I think it was good that my rescue bird came first, as Oscar got the chance to live with me and bond with me a little before Ellie came along. I think it would have thrown my birds off if I had gotten Ellie (simple rehome) before Oscar (complex rescue). Of course, this is just my opinion and limited experience, but I feel it is worth sharing. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, but I agree with Jayd- what you have with Kizzy is very special and deserves all the nurturing you can give. Unfortunately there will always be Greys in need, so maybe consider another one in a few years? (And yes, if you read my signature, I adopted my birds very close together- I would not generally recommend this!)

I know I am late to the party, but I wanted to congratulate you and offer up my friendship as a fellow rescued-Grey flock member. The above quote could have come right out of my own mouth! Oscar is doing great, and it gives me hope reading about your own Gilbert when we have our tougher days...

Thank you for all the GREYT photo submissions, folks! Keep 'em coming! Announcement: I have come up with some fabulous, but for now secret, titles you can earn if you come in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the photo contest. I just have to run them by Talon. There will also be an honorable mention title (again, once approved by Talon). They are fun, descriptive titles that will capture the spirit of your very own Mischievous Grey! Happy photo-taking!

Is Alfie seriously "drinking" from a brand called Echo Falls?! No wonder he likes it, "Wine by and for Greys- try Echo Falls!"

Look at that guilty face! Hahaha!

This photo totally made me laugh out loud! How could Spock possibly stuff that much fruit into his crop?!

What a smart cookie! And she has respect for her belongings, it sounds like. She's just a curious Houdini.

Haha, you captured Peanut in the act. I like how Skittles is waiting expectantly, as if this happens all the time!

Photo contest rules This contest will be judged by which Grey's photo gets the most "THANKS" button responses. Friendly comments are totally allowed, and the contest will end when we get at least 20 different Grey photos (depending on the relative flood or trickle of submitted photos). You could enter as often as you like, but please use a different photo each time. Please also note your Grey's name and age. Thanks! Here is our first theme: Mischievous Greys! This could mean whatever you want, but should generally refer to photos of Greys looking and acting mischievous. One last thing- no photoshopping please! We want real, natural photos of your Greys acting mischievous. There should be plenty of opportunities to capture a few shots! Happy photo-taking! The fine print: New as well as long-standing members are encouraged to enter the contest! I happen to be fairly new to the forum, and while given permission to be Contest Moderator, I am not infallible and am always willing to hear your questions or concerns (PM me- MoonRock). This is a friendly contest, and in the event of a tie we will determine a tie-breaker. Friendly, considerate "off-topic" comments are totally allowed, and any good photo or snapshot will be accepted. However, please embed your photos into the thread whenever possible (as opposed to providing a link) to make scrolling and viewing much easier.

I finally went for it and opened Ellie's cage and Oscar's cage at the same time. I had expected they would immediately come out and greet (or spar), but Ellie stayed put in her cage. No amount of coaxing, even with grapes and peanuts, could tear her away from the ring swing she loves. So I gave up and sat patiently with Oscar, who now marches right up to me and gives an assertive step-up offer (he juts out his talon and expects me to pick him up and immediately give him a peanut- or else)! Ellie finally ventured out of her cage, probably because she saw all the fun Oscar was having with foraging for (demanding) peanuts. Ellie tentatively moved towards the center of my bed where Oscar and the peanuts were. At times Oscar pointedly turned his tail towards Ellie, and she did the same to Oscar a few times. I am not sure what that means... Soon enough, Ellie gave a quick tug on Oscar's tail, who looked immediately annoyed and turned around quickly to "tell off" Ellie. Ellie toodled the heck out of there, which was hysterical. Oscar got very still when he and Ellie were side by side. I think he was nervous, which in turn seemed to make Ellie nervous. But more peanuts were forthcoming, and the first thing Ellie said when she and Oscar met beak to beak was something like "Oops!" Hahaha! So while not (yet) Best Friends Forever, Oscar and Ellie seem tentatively pleased to have met That Other Grey.

MODS: Please approve the contest, and move this thread to the photo/video room.

OK, allow me to propose a theme for our first photo contest, which will be judged by which Grey's photo gets the most "THANKS" button responses. Friendly comments are totally allowed, and the contest should end when we get at least 20 (?) different Grey photos. You could enter as often as you like, but please use a different photo each time. Please also note your Grey's name and age. Thanks! Here is our first theme: Mischievous Greys! This could mean whatever you want, but should generally refer to photos of Greys looking and acting mischievous. One last thing- no photoshopping please! We want real, natural photos of your Greys acting mischievous. There should be plenty of opportunities to capture a few shots! Happy photo-taking!

I just love everyone's avatars and photos, and I was wondering if we could start a photo contest. We could have weekly (or monthly) themes, such as "Photos of your Greys using technology" or "Photos of your Greys enjoying a favorite food". Just a thought. We could keep it fun and friendly.

Talon, I don't see why you can't just quit your job and monitor the site full time.

I would like to acknowledge that the spam/ bot posts don't seem to stay up for very long. I also like the "reporting" feature. I think that helps clean up the site faster.

What a great joke! I really laughed at that one.

I have noticed more and more spam posts hawking iPhones, electronics, random crap and more iPhones. I would like to suggest the membership approval process be a bit harder- maybe each member-to-be should be required to provide such information as, "Why would you like to join this forum?" Honestly, I can't remember if I was, in fact, required to answer such a question when I joined, but there has to be a way to keep the spammers from joining! And is it just me or do spammers always have obvious spammer handles, like "gfvkynt"? P.S. PM me and I will calculate for you your VERY OWN spammer handle! I calculated mine just now, and it's "blw49shgx". Pretty cool, yes?

It hasn't been a week yet, but here is another joke from me, Oscar: Q. What does an African Grey parrot call Mensa? A. Kindergarten.

Does Alfie know about the "4 the birds" section of this forum? I would love to read about this straight from his perspective. *hint, hint*

As many of you are aware, I started a "training" journal for Oscar. Perhaps I should have called it a "trust, then teaching" journal. I changed my attitude from "Love me Oscar, oh please do love and trust me!" to "Hey buddy Oscar, in time you may trust me. I would like to show you how I am going to treat you, and how I like to be treated." It may seem strange, the part about how I want to show Oscar how I like to be treated. But I feel that respect and kindness works both ways, and I doubt Oscar would grow to trust me if I promised him the moon but didn't expect any particular behavior in return. I don't like being bitten, that's very basic. And Oscar is doing a wonderful job learning (choosing?) to trust me lately. I think the pivotal moment was when I decided to avoid those bites as best I could, rather than do things to Oscar that I really wanted to do but knew the consequence would be a bite to my hand or arm. For example, I was nearly bitten when I touched Oscar's gorgeous tail, and the time I smooched him on the beak. These days I only do as much as Oscar allows, and for quite some time that meant that cage bars were always between us. Amazingly, the less I pushed Oscar to like me/ trust me/ step up/ talk/ etc., the better results I got. I don't touch Oscar unless he seems to practically be begging for it. This may be a much different approach than establishing trust with a new, baby Grey, but remember- not only did Oscar's trust in me need gentle nurturing to grow, but it had been so thoroughly trampled by essentially every single person who came before me. I was starting with a damaged bird (and I say this with all due respect to Oscar). It is so much easier to avoid getting bitten when I don't give Oscar the opportunity to do so! If my nose gets too close to Oscar's beak as he sits atop his cage while I am cleaning it, I will move, say a little something to Oscar in a nice voice ("Oh buddy, I'm going to clean this corner here right now.") as I move away from a potential bite. I do not praise Oscar for refraining to bite me if he lunges and I simply got myself away. What I am trying to emphasize are my efforts to move away/ do something else/ ask Oscar what he needs before he could even process that he wants to bite me. This takes very quick thinking, and keeps me much more in tune with Oscar's moods and wishes. The basis of my ability to think of what Oscar may/ may not do before it happens is our growing trust. A wonderful moment occurred during Oscar's last (very short) flight. Once again he was hanging out on Ellie's cage, and I needed him to come back to his own. I was encouraging him with as much noise and praise as a parent of a little league-er! I kept shouting, "Oscar, come here! You could do it Oscar! Flap, flap, flap! Fly to me, Oscar!" And guess what? Oscar flew to me (or at least to his cage)! I praised him even more after he landed, and he was so pumped with pride (as evidenced by happy, puffed-up feathers and "crazy" pupils) that he totally ignored the peanut I offered! I had always paired a peanut with praise for Oscar, even if all I was doing was giving Oscar a little treat for the afternoon through the cage bars. "Good boy, thanks for taking that peanut so nicely!" So after Oscar's short flight, he opted for praise over the peanut! Oscar wanted my praise more than a treat! What an amazing moment for us both. I hope this post is in line with what we are all talking about. I am basically trying to say, whether "teaching" or "training", I feel trust is fundamental to both. As for me and Oscar? I think we prefer to teach each other. I like a bite-free existence, and Oscar thrives on praise.

I think in line with this statement is my favorite quote (Eleanor Roosevelt): "No one could make you feel inferior without your consent." If I had listened to all the people who doubted that I could get to college as a homeless teenager, I would never have succeeded. I am a teacher now, with a soft spot for special needs teens (as I once was). I gave it my all, 100%. Trying your best is the surest way to "make it" in life.