SRSeedBurners

I love Greys, they're so cuddly (GreycieMae), except when they're not! (Huey)

If you're talking about the missing part on the very tip, that's definitely not an issue. I will regularly dremel my problem birds past that point on their beaks safely, including one of my Greys. If my Greys beak was that overgrown, I will dremel it but I'm not advising you to do the same. You have to know what you're doing.

That's a damn shame. I'm glad I don't have neighbors like that. I was down at the barn and all of mine were in full chorus....I could hear their racket clear down there. Our new neighbors told me my guineas were roosting on their roof. I said, yeah, guineas do that. I argued with the City of Allen not to let them build 10 ft from our barn. So sorry (not).

The more you describe Smokey, the more I think you have our Huey's identical twin, brother from another mother haahaa... Regarding the flying issue: that's exactly what Huey did. Low, flap, then leap and crash land. It took him about two months and he started actually flying. We coaxed him A LOT to come in the kitchen from the living room. He also saw our other Grey, GreycieMae, fly into the kitchen constantly and he couldn't stand being left so he practiced a lot. I spent about two months bolting from my current position to try and catch Huey so he didn't hurt himself. He had way too many crash landings for my liking and we're lucky he never broke a wing or something else. He's well past that point now and can fly and land pretty good. He's not graceful and sometimes will screw up a landing but I don't have to chase around and give him a safe arm to land on anymore.

I agree. Not even a dog can do what a Grey can do. I think it really has something to do with the ability to cross the communication boundary with us. For example just today Huey saw me sitting in the bedroom from his position in the aviary just outside our window. Next thing I know he's pacing the window sill saying "C'mere, C'mere, shower? Shower? Marietta..." Marietta is my wife, she's his favorite. I'm not sure he knew who was in there, he could just tell someone was. Yesterday he was calling me into the kitchen to get him some cheerios. They're like having a kid around.

Wow, he looks a lot like our Huey. Our Huey has had some abuse in his past too. Not his previous owner but before that. It took Huey about 3-4 months for the real Huey to come out which I guess is really short for a Grey. These guys bring so much love and joy with them when they blossom in the right care.

Pics!

Wow. You're braver than me. Nothing bigger than a Grey here.

OH wow. I would love a Senegal. They have the type of personalities that I LOVE!!!

Well, be careful. I would not have let those birds get into that situation in the first place. Too many in too close quarters. It's an indication to me they are not really taking care of those Greys the way they should. They may have the best intentions but they may also be over-loaded with other things since it's a wildlife park. If you do go the FB route, do not indicate you are giving the bird away. You will not be able to sort through the riff-raff that will come out of the woodwork. If you have time, I think it would be best to seek out a home for Bailey. They deserve the best since being captive was not their choice. I have to ask, are you interested in keeping Bailey or just not in a situation where you can? I also hope your Dad doesn't decide to get another bird in the future. These creatures are not throwaway animals when the situation isn't convenient any longer. They are way too intelligent and function at the level of a small child.

That video of the Greys in the enclosure looks like way too many in one enclosure of that size to me.. Looks more like an animal hoarding/zoo to me than a sanctuary. Sure you can't find Bailey a nice home? I know there are a lot of Grey owners in the U.K. on the African Grey facebook groups.

That's a really nice setup. He's going to love that the more he gets to use it. I love to see them out getting their sun.

I use earplugs around my birds a lot. Their nature is to make loud shrill noises sometimes. I have found with earplugs in, I don't mind it at all.

I've always liked that dino-parrot poster too. Every morning after her breakfast, GreycieMae has to do her pterrordactyl runs back and forth across the aviary. It usually sounds like there's a massive fight going on in there but it's just her getting her dinosaur out to play. 🤣

You've not been practicing properly . This is how I usually have to do my computer work. Tinkerbell absolutely has to be sitting in my mouse hand. 🤣

Well, my wife complains that she's 'third wife' behind GreycieMae and Tinkerbell and the service is pretty lacking back there! GreycieMae has a todo list a mile long and Tinkerbell is the most demanding lil ball of fluff I've ever met.

Add in three parts crazy with a 10-pack of 31,000,000,000 mAh rechargeable batteries and you have a Caique! I was reading your description and was thinking, all of that sounds just like a Caique with the exception: they do no respect self-confidence one little bit, they are not easy to train. I had a BFA with my first set of birds when I was 19+. His name was Tigger and he was probably my least favorite bird. I assume now that he was a wild-caught as he just never tamed down, was always growly but I still handled him. He rode on my beach bike along the California coast line with me, he loved that. He also was the only bird I've ever had that went absolutely nutters when any spray bottle or water hose came his way. Our Caique is a little like that when he's in the mood. Tigger was always in the mood to get soaked. I recall he was a chatter-bug, nothing intelligable though. He did mimic the cry of my daughter to a 'T' and also did the car alarm and backup beeps with perfection. I considered getting another one before we exploded to 6 birds but I just don't really mesh with that breed. For some reason I have a very strong pull for Greys and Conures. I love those two. Tigger from the early 90's:

Haahaa...you'll have to get in line! GreycieMae needs decorative window bars on her aviary to keep teenagers out and airflow in! I've had no less than 10 welders out here to look at the job and provide a quote. Not one welder ever calls me back. Looks like I'm going to end up doing this myself too. Good thing I'm certified in TIG and SMAW welding. Here's what I know about these companies (plumbing/electric/etc) that you hire to do stuff for you: they're all about making money as fast as possible with cheap labor. Our foundation lift was done by a crew of non-English speakers. They totally screwed me and I'm now paying the price. A few years ago we had Baker Brothers plumbing, a very well known, highly advertised company, come here and repair a water line in our bathroom that I didn't have time to mess with. Their fix leaked and within a year destroyed the wall and the studs before I knew what was going on. So I repaired that whole thing myself including re-doing their plumbing job. I don't trust any company. It's why I do most things myself. Especially mechanic work on our cars. No way in hell I'm letting those shitbags touch our cars.

A better update: A busted sewer, two corroded main valves from years of sitting in water and an electrical conduit that was pulled out of the wall and compromised, all due to a foundation lift we had done 10-15 years ago. Multiple plumbing companies were quoting me $4-$5K to fix this mess - to hell with that, I did it my damn self. I can't believe how much these idiots get paid to sweat pipe and put rubber collars on. I should be a plumber/electrician and make some bank. My neighbor ran a plumbing business and these days it's as if he is printing money in his garage. A pic of the repairs, plus I added a new 'garden valve' so I can have water inside GreycieMae's section of the unit. - repaird sewer line - brand new electrical conduit, wall unit and re-wired - new main valve - repaired water line that goes to our barn A couple of pics of the area after I finished the repairs, completed the dig-out of the clay and hauled in the three remaining loads of crushed granite. It all had to come in through a window, into a wheel barrow and hauled into place. You can see the 2K lumen area lights I installed in the second pic. I put three in GreycieMae's section, one in the Middle's (Toby & Rio's area) and one in the Little's section (Tinkerbell & Stevie). And when the work is done, there's always time to stop and smell the roses. GreycieMae has two rose bushes growing in her aviary.

Looks great. I know you put the platforms out there for the cats but my GreycieMae would be all over those!

Yep, she wants back in her sunroom. She loves that thing. Huey hates being outside and prefers to be sitting in there too. They do need sun though so they're gonna have to suffer through this. Haahaa...I had the phrase "this too shall pass" rolling through my head earlier today. I broke the damn water line trying to figure out how to untangle it and the electrical conduit. The hole filled back up with water before I could shut the valve and I was soaking wet.

Yeah, he's just being cautious, especially since he's now decided to step up. Our Huey took about three months before he started to trust us. Now he bites when we want to put him down and he still wants more dancing (bouncing around). That's a beautiful boy there ❤️

Not a good update: GreycieMae has had to move out of her lavish quarters while crews (me, myself and I) are repairing some issues found while digging out the rest of the aviary for the crushed granite. Our sewer pipe apparently broke 10-15 years ago when the foundation crew lifted the house in that area. We've never seen any issues, I just happened to find this when I was digging a little deeper in that area to see if I could locate a water line, as I would really like to have a water hose in her aviary. Well, I found the water line and a busted sewer line to boot! So far I have the whole thing excavated and part of the pvc removed. Still need to blow-torch the other joint off and seal it back up. Then I can install my water line and also fix the electric conduit the idiot before us put in improperly and backfill with sand and we're back in business. No worries, she has her best men...errrr....man on the job. One thing that gave me a clue that something was going on around where I was digging was excessive root growth. The closer I got to that area the roots got really thick. When I discovered the broken pipe, the roots were all growing into the pipe. Fortunately I was able to auger it all out so we have a clean drain now. It eventually would have clogged up completely.

I know I've already commented but I wanted to add: if Sterling-Gris makes a habit of it, you may consider talking to a vet about using Haloperidol to settle him down for a while. I've mentioned it here before but I'll repeat it - our new bird, Huey has an abused past and when he gets stressed he will tear the scales off his feet and keep at it until they're bleeding and eventually would lead to putting him down. It's a nuerotic behavior he gets into and once it starts the only way to stop him is dosing him with Haloperidol. It settles him right down. The vet put our Huey on 3 drops morning and night which he was on for I don't know how many years. When we got him I was determined to get him off the meds. He went 1.5 months and then one morning I went out to the aviary to get him and his feet were bloody. He got cold and paniced and went after his feet. So back to 3 drops and I'm slowly weaning him down to zero. It's just a thought, I hate meds as much or more as the next guy but I've seen how it can stop a neurosis on the spot and helps the bird to settle and then off his meds.

Find his treat he can't live without! Then use it to condition him to step up. It's not like he doesn't know how, he just needs to redirect his thought processes.