SRSeedBurners

Did Fynn ever get over his whatever it was? He's such a cutie in that picture. Hope he likes squeezes.

I'm just waiting for the day when you update us that Alfie has you wearing the harness and sticking your nose through the loop for a treat 🤣😂

Glad to have you back, especially since you will now be posting videos! We have a talker too now but he doesn't talk like that. He's more of a one-word type of guy. I wish I had one to converse with like HRH Inara. Our Huey responds to my wife but I can't get my wife to hold conversations with him. I'd talk all day to him if he'd respond to me. Wish we had a vet in my area like the one you are seeing. What you describe is very rare, most vets are sort of useless e.g. our Huey being on an anti-psyhotic for 10 years - vet prescribed! GreycieMae plucks in a similar way. It was bad for a while and then she stopped the bulk of it but she loves to pull a down feather out right in front of me where I can hear it pop out and I get riled up about it. I think she enjoys getting me torqued. Next time you make a video, hide the camera in the HRS Inara's room, it'll be easier to make out what she's saying. What a stinker she is.

Don't beat yourself up. Greys are very resilient. You should not have clipped the bird but they will recover. In the 90's the advice was to clip one wing. We're now at the point where clipping is detrimental no matter what. However, if you're bird learned to fly at some point, being clipped now won't be much of a hindrance once they get their flights back. Your biggest problem is fretting over it. They will sense this like you have a snack in your pocket. Just get over it, the feather wills molt out later and we'll all be back to normal.

And careful about using advice from FB, there are a lot of parrots there that just repeat garbage they've read without any real thought about it. My favorite is the "how long do they live" and then the "80 years+" answers start rolling in. Anyway, if you would have asked here first, I would have suggested putting towels on your windows and mirrors until they get the lay of the land. That's a much better solution than clipping. All 8 of my birds are flighted. I will never clip a bird as they love the freedom to scoot around in the fashion birds do - through the air. Im' a little jealous actually. You just need to take precautions for escape exits and ceiling fans etc. Use the forum to ask, someone here knows.

Look up Sally Blanchard's Chair Exercise. Not the first time I've read about a clipped bird losing trust.

GreycieMae's problem is her daddy is a hyper high-strung human. Her must be on her toes all the time. Poor thing can't relax much.

I remember you Charlie Grey. Time to post up pics - pronto.

Well, you're further along with Dixie than I am with Huey. I can't pet Huey on the head like that without a definite hard bite. She seems to be somewhat anxious and playful at the same time. I can tell you'll get a long ways with her if you don't lose patience. Try interacting a lot with her at night just before bed time. They all seem to put their inner dinosaurs to bed early and then you're left with a cuddly Grey bird to interact with.

Schooner will soon be training you 🤣. Actually, sounds like it has already started! You might have your work cut out for you. Once a Grey has been mishandled, they never forget it and will carry that baggage forever. That biting down and grinding is most likely the result of being handled with gloves and learning how to bite down into them. Greys usually don't bite like that, they are a bite and release type of bird. The effects of mishandling can lessen over time but they can still be wary of things that trigger them. Our Huey (22 y.o.) was abused by a male two families before we got him and does not like men. His previous owner treated him well for 10+ years and still got the business end of Huey from time to time. We've had him for just over a year and I've made great strides with him, to the point where he will show me he doesn't want to be put down by, of course, biting the hell out of me (hoomans can be dense sometimes). Took about 7-8 months before I had my first real break-through with him so it can take a while but if you are patient it's rewarding. I'm getting better at reading Huey's body language. He does not like me banging on things in his kitchen drawer (he's the proud new homeowner here apparently) nor does he appreciate me putting up new ropes and toys in his aviary. He flew at me and bit the crap out of me just yesterday but I knew it was coming and was ready. It only took a few times before I realized what was triggering him. A nice flying bite attack helps speed up the learning process. I also have to be careful when my wife's around. She's his wife now and I've been given several eviction notices. But as much as he has it out for me, he loves to spend time with me and LOVES to be around me when I'm playing loud music and bouncing him around. Took a long time to get him to that point though. I'm just north of you (Allen). I'm not familiar with anyone down that way other than the guy who runs J.C. Aviary in Austin. You may try to contact him and see if he knows of anyone or maybe he can eval the Schooner and give some insight. Also one thing you might try is making a tight fist and bending your hand so the skin on top is nice and tight. Then offer treats for step-ups onto your fist. They have a hard time getting a nice grip on that tight skin. I had to do this with Huey for a long time till I got him stepping up without blood-letting. Schooner's a cutie pie!

I feed a base of Volkmans soak & serve and birdeez buffet. To that I will add different things: sprouts, apple, jalapeno, banana, peppers, whatever is safe frozen mixed veggies - whatever is safe in the fridge. I have had two birds come to us that were dirty and smelly and within a month or so you could see the change in their plumage and overall health. They brighten right up. If you can see the improvement in the bird, you're doing something right. Baths help too....

Be interesting if you are able to finally get Alfie in his harness. I would love to put a harness on Huey but I like my fingers too much. GreycieMae was easy, she was a baby. Biggest problem with her is I need one made from steel cable as all she does is chew on it.

How old is the whislter? Mine started talking a tiny bit in her first year but was a big whistler. She doesn't talk at all now. If you talk to the new baby and he's got it him to talk I don't think the non-talker will have any bearing on whether the new one talks or not.

I don't recall seeing this thread either and I was here in 2014. I can't believe I've been here this long, still feel like a newbie. Glad to see you've come back. This forum has grown real quiet with Facebook destroying the landscape. Stick around, I love seeing posts and stories about the birdies.

Same thing in the aviary...so much work to do. But it keeps Baby Huey off the streets gettin into trouble. Need to find him a wooden hammer.... https://photos.app.goo.gl/pc5v6AZzj9dVNfZo8

We're doing good over here, although were very very busy with the constructionings. Took over Mommy's cutlery drawer. It's Huey's now. Has his own cutlery now, and boxes and newly fashioned sides to the drawer to nibbles on. Very very busy here....

I'm convinced that birds, like toddlers, have the inability to connect the whole body with the head. When a human toddler matures they go from drawing stick bodies with big featured heads to drawing the whole body full-featured. Since our birds are assumed to have the same intelligence level as toddlers, I think they have the same predicament: your hands and toes don't belong to that face they are lovingly attached to. Several of our birds will viciously attack our feet and are complete sweetys otherwise. I have a conure that will go after feet and hands as if they are there to kill her but will run to my face and cuddle and preen me. White-cap pionus, same way.

Can you post a video of his head twitching?

Tell Alfie to be careful with news updates, most of it is biased fake garbage. He's better off asking for cartoons.

Might as well get Alfie his own credit card to use for purchases!

Alfie busy assimilating another hooman. Good job Alfie!

Sad to hear this too. She was a long-timer here when I got here. I hope Precious is in good hands, I know she loved her dearly.

Happy New Year to everyone too. I feel blessed every day when I reach in to the sleeping perch and find my lil Grey waiting for me.

Good for Tali! I'm pretty sure the Aviator Harness is what helped save my GreycieMae's life. When I trained her early on to wear her harness I would take her on daily bike rides down a trail to a duck pond 2 miles from our house. She must have ridden that trail with me 50-100 times at least. When she got out thanks to my idiot sister-in-law, I found her after two days sitting in a tree on that exact trail near the pond where we had been riding to together. I'm convinced she knew the trail and was waiting for me, especially since she called to us at the end of the second day in the dark after we had given up for the day and were headed home. I still take her to Home Depot/Lowes all the time in her harness. She's a store favorite, they love seeing her.

I saw that story on BBC earlier today or maybe yesterday. I got a kick out of it. There are several videos on youtube of Greys interacting with Alexa. But this story was too funny because of the order history: watermelon, strawberries, light bulbs, ice cream and a kite. That had me rolling....