Greetings from Apopka, Fl !

[Cocoascaregiver]

My name is Lee and I live in Central Florida.

 

I call my home a zoo as We have 3 inside only cats, Tigger, Gizmo and Straycat , my little buddy Silverbelle a Mini Lop rabbit who lays next to me on the floor every night watching TV and licks my face when I doze off, a cockatiel named Jimmy Buffet and a Ring Necked Dove I rescued from my jobsite 17 years ago aptly named "Lucky" !

 

I just became caretaker of Cocoa, a 12 year old hand raised Congo African Grey.

 

Cocoa's previous owner had to be placed in an assisted living home and I am custodion which may or may not be permanent.

Depends on how much Man's son misses Cocoa.

 

Cocoa has a vocabulary of close to 100 words, an assortment of whistles and sound effects like only other African Grey parrot owners could even imagine, whistles the song "Don't worry , be happy " and no telling what else as he has said new things every day so far.

 

His wings are clipped so he can not fly, but cannot crash and hurt himself either, but "glide" to a landing according to owners son, who raised and bred African Greys as a Hobby for years.

 

Cocoa's being raised by a man and being his daily full time companion, has given me a head start getting to know him and him to know me too as Cocoa has really taken to me.

 

We ( Wife and I ) got him August 11th 2009 and he was letting me pet him through the cage the very next day. He has shown me that he wants my attention and follows my every movement through the house.

 

I have been sitting next to his cage , which is in the living room, and talking to him and petting him every day before I leave for work and in the evenings when I get home.

 

When I ask him to "come here" he comes to the side of the cage and presents himself for some soothing neck rubbing.

 

Today, in just a couple of hours, Cocoa will probably bite me for the first time as I am going to let him come out of the cage and hang out on top .

 

I'll see what happens from that point as to how much he wants to interact with me, but I have a strong feeling he'll want to hang out close to me.

 

I am here to absorb as much of your knowledge and experiences as I can to be able to keep Cocoa whistling and smiling in Central Florida.

[judygram]

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

 

Maybe he won't bite you if you don't go about it expecting a bite for they can sense any kind of fear but from what you have told us I think he will do fine. He justs needs a few days to settle in and he seems to have taken a liking to you so hopefully it will go without a hitch.

 

He sounds like a lovely bird, well taken care of and for your sake I hope you do get to keep him but I understand that is not your decision.

 

We do have loads of useful and helpful information in our many threads and we have some knowledgeable members that will be able to help you with any problems, all you have to do is ask questions.

 

We do love pictures here so if you have some of Cocoa other than the one in your avatar we would love to see them.

[Cocoascaregiver]

Thanks for the welcome !

 

As you can see from my avatar photo, Cocoa made his Apopka out of the cage debut a little while ago !

 

While he enjoyed the birds eye view of his new home from atop his cage, he chose to not get on my hand. He did however "hold hands" with me for almost a minute which was pretty cool.

 

Today was also Cocoa's first picture day here at my house so I don't have much to offer yet. As we get to know each other and build the trust I expect to have with him, I am sure photo opportunities will present themselves frequently.

 

I am not expecting a bite so much as to be telegraphing any fear to Cocoa, but am aware it's possible during our getting to know each other process.

I would be oh so happy to skip that part of our relationship so we'll see what happens.

[danmcq]

Welcome Lee, Cocoa and the whole flock!!

 

It's GreYt having you here and thanks for the wonderful introduction.

 

Cocoa sounds like a great Grey and has obviously taken to the new home and your family very well.

 

Looking forward to hearing more and seeing more videos as well. :-)

[Luvparrots]

Great introduction Lee. You sound like an old pro with greys. I hope you get to keep Cocoa if that is what is in your heart as I believe Cocoa wants to be your companion.