SRSeedBurners

Forgot the link Dave? I'm interested in whatever it is too.

You'd love Toby the Caique then - he goes nutters when he gets a shower. It's like sticking a fresh battery and winding him up real tight.

I've been meaning to post about this but since I've mentioned it here: along with the cage time, I meant to mention also that clipped Greys seem to talk more. This is just from a random smattering of watching videos from people on this and other FB/Forums where I'm able to also see how 'mobile' their bird is. I'm just noticing that the Greys who are more immobile, for whatever reason whether it's caged or clipped just seem to talk more and maybe it's because that's how they find to fill their time without going bonkers. My GreycieMae fills her time patrolling her sovereign skies within our house and wrestling with me, her hanging chain and just plain playing all the time. She has no real need to talk our language as she can just about get what she wants without it.

Ok...I thought my Greybie was being slow about talking. Yours is taking longer. I'm thinking about looking into training techniques to see if I can kick start her talking ability a little more. Mine gives me blank stares when I tell her what things are. Maybe I need to stop reading her mind and giving her what I know she wants based on her behavior. I also have another theory that Greys that are caged more talk more out of sheer boredom. Just a theory though. Does your baby get a lot of out-of-cage time? I'm talking about caged only 1-2 hours per day if at all.

How old? One of Greycie's first words was peek-a-boo. It must be easy for them because I know a lot of Greys will say that phrase.

You sound like a good candidate for some Felix trainings. He will get you sorted out.

Mine does the same. She gets super anxious when I get ready to leave for work even though she gets to stay home with mommy. Then when I am home, she's bitey, aloof, cantakerous.... I solve some of it with laps around the living room, seems to take the edge off of her.

Glad to see you back. How old is Marco now? We're dealing with terrible two's here too and Greycie will be two in three months. She's super jealous of the other birds, very nippy and naughty. She still has her sweet moments though. She won't talk that much for some reason, says the same old same old that she's been saying since she was around 6mos and hasn't learned anything new. Did your Marco do the same? I've never been into tatooing myself but I've though about getting this - just the bird, not the 'I <3' part...

I only have three and I had a flight situation last night. My Grey ended up chasing my Jardines, my Jardines used his well-practiced evasive maneuvers around an orbit and faked a landing on the sink. Meanwhile my Caique buzzed (Caiques buzz, they don't fly) through the living room and crash landed in the dark foyer where my wife has a ton of crap piled. Took me a while to find him as he won't say a peep when I'm looking for him. For about 20 seconds I had birds going everywhere - chaos.

Pics!!!

I'm sure Tigger is out there riding his beach bicycle upside down from the handle bars with his wings spread wide. He loved that. Oh, he loved showers too. Never seen a bird get so excited about getting hosed down until I got my Caique - Toby.

Grey Power!

Staying tuned and hoping for the best. If this succeeds it will be hard to pin it on what worked?!?

I dealt with empty nest syndrome by stuffing my house with birds. Actually the running joke around here is they are my mid-life crisis. One of my wife's friends is hitting rock bottom with her husband - no love, no sex, no nothing in the last six months. I've advised he's seeing someone else and/or is just tired of her sh*t (male perspective). My wife, who is a psychologist by trade has advised her that her 44 yo husband (same age as me) is having his mid-life crisis and is most likely seeing someone else. During all of this I overheard a discussion about me and my midlife/empty nest crisis and my 'stuffing the house with birds'. It's somewhat true although I can remember pining for another Grey shortly after I lost my first one.

I voted and I wasn't late either. But I saw that one entry that was just so-so with 400+ votes...some nepotist at work.

Haa...sounds like GreycieMae. She has made it her lifes mission to keep the counters clear. The only things safe are items which can't be dragged, pushed or tipped over and rolled overboard. The cussing and swearing when glass shatters in the kitchen is gettin less and less. Either we're running out of glass items or we're learning to put stuff away.

Aluminum cages are usually the cages people go after if they have the money. They are among the most durable as they will not rust. If welded properly (I used to weld aluminum) a gorilla cannot get out of them. OTOH, I can't justify the expense of an aluminum cage unless I was going to keep it outside in an all-weather situation. What's your apprehension about an aluminum cage? You're other big $$$ option is stainless.

When they say don't go to fast, that means your speed. Sounds like the Greybie is telling you he's ready to trust and build a relationship. I'd jump right in. What to do when jumps in your lap? Skritches! If he'll let you give skricthes, they love that. I'd keep a few favorite toys handy too, they love to play with their humans. I have a very simple stainless chain with a rattle whiffly type ball attached to the end. Greycie loves to have me swing her back and forth on it. Find something he likes and play with him.

You've got a jealousy issue going on there. I only know because we have the exact same issue here. GreycieMae has not gotten along with our Caique since the day he arrived. They fluctuate in their hostility toward each other. It goes both ways with these two because Greycie has persisted on being a shit for so long that now Toby the Caique goes after her when he gets a chance. I've got some of the nastiest bites out of Greycie when she's showing aggression towards Toby. Greys can be very territorial over their people too.

Dave put together a nice couple of threads on this: Bathing method 1 Bathing method 2

Haahaa...it's not really a struggle and force here. Think of it more like the usual song & dance. She knows I want her in there, she resists, plays hang-on and we go round and round - sometimes we'll start dancing and she'll sing. After a while I can tell she's had her fun and she'll willingly go in. Sometimes bedtime takes up to half an hour. Last night she was really pleased with herself as she drew it out to the max and as usual - I let her drag it on and on.

Wrestling match and I win. It's the same with her night-night sleep cage.

We had no problems with two birds. We found the big jump was from two to three. - No longer is everything just one trip. Now I need two trips: one trip I can take two birds then I have to turn around and go get the third. - We can't take them 'all' for rides or harness outings anymore. Someone has to stay behind which doesn't work so only one can go. - Feedings are now a real PITA. I have to feed them in stages instead of all at the same time. - The birdy area in the living room is no longer big enough, one of them has to go somewhere else to stop the bickering. ...etc

What say you. Your caique is unpredictable? Mine is 10ft tall and bullet proof. hahaahaaa. My Toby has to stay locked up in the bird room while the other two are out roaming free. He escaped through a side door my wife left unlatched and I caught him on the birdy-cam mugging Rio in Rio's sleep cage. He had him cornered and Toby was doing his stand tall, side-to-side bully routine. Caiques are nutters and like no other bird.

Wow, 8 birds. I feel like I've overrun my wife by adding a third. Are all of your birds flighted and roam freely?