Greetings from the San Francisco Bay Area

[ScottY]

Hi, my name's Scott and my Congo African Grey's name is Alexander. He's 25 years old. I handfed and raised him from a baby.

 

Parrots have been in my life from the age of two, beginning with our family half moon conure, of who liked to ride on my shoulder. Quite a few years later, I got my very own first bird, a handfed cockatiel followed by a lovebird, grey cheek parrot, and a society finch. I got Alexander in 1984 from a local bird enthusiast/breeder and helped wean him. I later purchased a Lesser Sulfur Crested Cockatoo and B&G Macaw, but a few years later had to rehome them because the cockatoo became too difficult to handle (unpredictable nervous biting behavior) and the Macaw unrelentingly terrorized Alexander. From then on (20+ years), Alexander's remained the one and only bird in my household, so we've grown up together to form a wonderfully close owner/bird relationship.

 

Though I never taught him to talk, he's picked up quite a few words and phrases on his own over the years. He's shy speaking in public, so reserves his talking only when myself or other family/friends are around, yet is uninhibited at whistling & making any other non word vocal sounds at will. Rather than teaching him to talk, I taught Alexander (via clicker training) to perform behaviors like: "step up", "Wave", "turnaround", head bob yes/no, etc. Recently, I've been teaching him to respond 'verbally' to my commands (cues) like getting him to make a kissing sound when I say: "give me a kiss". At 25, Alexander has retained everything he learned back early in his life and continues to pick up and learn new behaviors as quickly as he did when he was 2, and continues to get excited about learning new things/behaviors I teach him.

 

I left Alexander fully winged (un-clipped) until he was about a year old, but have since kept him clipped as one of my other birds flew away because someone in the house accidently left a door ajar briefly. Though I initially regretted clipping Alexander's wings, after 25 years, he's remains well adjusted and happy in spite of this. I continue to

debate the possibility of allowing his wings to grow back and perhpas getting him an Aviator Harness for going outdoors, but everytime I do, I hear of another parrot owner who lost their parrot because they left a door/window open briefly. Ok, this brings my story up to now:

 

Two weeks ago I purchased a Pak O'Bird Backpack style carrier to take Alexander around in. I think this may be the best thing got for Alexander in a very long time as I'm now able to take him just about ANYWHERE I go. I can take him in the car, on the bus, train, subway, on walks & hikes, and he's able to enjoy the surrounding view easily yet on first glance, passerbyers don't know that I've got a bird in what looks like a backpack. Here are some pictures of Alexander in his Pack O' Bird (with stainless steel mesh) carrier. Feel free to check out pics of Alexander in his Pak O' Bird carrier on my profile page.

 

I look forward to sharing and exchanging experiences with other African Grey owners on this forum.

 

 

 

[lovethatgrey]

Welcome aboard!{Feel-good-00020114}

[judygram]

Hello Scott and welcome to our family, we are so glad you could join us and we look forward to hearing more about you and Alexander.

 

What a wonderful introduction, I feel like I know you already, Alexander sounds like a great bird and you have had him for a long time, you must have some great stories you could tell us about your adventures.

 

We have loads of useful information in our many threads so browse thru them at your leisure and do ask questions you may have and we will help you in any way we can.

 

We love pictures here so if you have some of Alexander you would share with us we would appreciate it.

[Luvparrots]

Hi Scott, very nice introduction. Alexander sounds like a marvelous grey. I always have soft spot for the older greys. I look forward to hearing much more about Alexander. Welcome to the Grey family!

[danmcq]

Welcome Scotty and Alexander!!

 

What a wonderful introduction and story of your life with your FIDs.

 

I also have a Pak-o-bird carrier with stainless mesh and we take our Grey with us many places in it as well when the harness is not the best choice.

 

Looking forward to hearing lots more and seeing some more photos and videos. Alexander sounds like quite a character and I would love to see those tricks you've taught him. :-)

[Eckobird]

Hi Scotty! Welcome to the forum! Its good to see you on here. That was a great introduction, you and Alexander seem like great friends! I hope to hear more from you and Alex on here.

[ScottY]

Thanks to everyone here for the warm welcome. I'm looking forward to becoming an active forum participant.B)

 

danmcq wrote:

I also have a Pak-o-bird carrier with stainless mesh and we take our Grey with us many places in it

 

Great. I'd love to see pics of your Grey enjoying himself in it.

 

danmcq wrote:

Looking forward to hearing lots more and seeing some more photos and videos.

 

In addition to the pics of Alexander in his Pak O'Bird carrier, I just uploaded a few more recent pics of Alexander to my profile page

 

HERE

 

if you want to check them out. <br><br>Post edited by: ScottY, at: 2009/08/13 05:10

[danmcq]

Those are nice photos you uploaded of Alexander to your profile.

 

Did you you take him for a ride on that carousel? ;-) I'll bet he had a GreYt time there. :-)

[Luvparrots]

I checked out your pictures. They are great. Thanks for sharing!!!

[chelseaB]

Hi Scott, welcome from a fellow Nor-Californian! I am a new member also. I am now about where you were 25 yrs ago, anxiously waiting for my baby grey to be weaned. I should be getting it in the next couple weeks.

You really got Alexander used to the Pak O'Bird quickly!! How did you go about acclimating him to it? I have already purchased the Pak O'Bird for my baby & hope to start using it right away I so can take him/her (still waiting for DNA ) out and about with me.

Looking forward to hearing more about Alexander, he sounds like an awesome bird!!

[JillyBeanz]

Hi Scotty - nice to see you and Alexander. He is a fine looking bird, and looks fresher than I did at 25!

 

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences over the last 25 years!

[ScottY]

chelseaB wrote:

You really got Alexander used to the Pak O'Bird quickly!! How did you go about acclimating him to it?

 

When Alexander first saw the Pak O' Bird carrier, he wouldn't willingly on his own go inside it, so I used clicker training & treat rewards to first acclimate him to feeling comfortable near the carrier. By the 2nd day, with clicker training & target stick and rewards, got him to climb in himself and by the 3rd day, he willingly climbed in and out whenever i ask him to. He really LOVES riding and going places it it now.

 

I realize your Grey's just a baby, but I highly recommend 'clicker training' for teaching your bird to teach basic behaviors (step up, toilet training, etc) and tricks, as it will make their learning stimulating, fun and rewarding as well. Alexander anticipates and loves his clicker training sessions.

 

I've read & highly recommend these books:

 

Bird School : Clicker Training For Parrots and Other Birds, by Ann Castro

 

The Click That Does The Trick

 

Chelsea: Looking forward to seeing pics of your new arrival.

[she]

Hi and welcome. With 25 years experiance of greys you will have a lot to offer in terms of experiance to the forum.My grey is 6-7 years old but we also have a grey in its 40s in the family who has been with us all his life since being wild caught in Africa and brought home all those years ago when my cousin was at sea.I have a real soft spot for the older greys.

[yoyo1106]

Welcome Scott and Alexander. Nice to have someone from the Bay Area too! YoYo and I are from San Jose, so we are practically neighbors! :laugh:

 

You must have LOTS of stories about Alexander been with him for 25 years. My YoYo's a baby (10 yrs) now comparing to Alexander. Looking forward to hear you both soon at the forum.