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my new baby


crossfit

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I am having a hard time being patient until he comes here to live. Its only a month or a little more. I know the time there is important. He will be fully weaned and fledged when he gets here. She also has older Greys who play with the babies and teach them about being a parrot that I can't do since he will be my first.

 

But boy, its tough.

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Waiting isn't easy. Hawkins will be with you soon and it all be worth it. You will get used to waking up every morning and counting the days to his arrival that one day you will wake up, start to count and instead jump up to go check on him.

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Katana, I am so excited for that day.

 

But its okay. I am learning so much while waiting. I want to be the best parront I can possibly be. I also have my family to educate.

 

I have spent a lot of time thinking about typical grey problem behaviours and what might come up in our environment so I can try and mediate that right away.

 

One thing - we have three dogs who all love to bark out one of the windows. I anticipate Hawkins is going to learn to bark. I don't think I can avoid that. So one thought is to put it on cue and then only have him do it when I want. Of course thats a bit advance but he won't be barking for a while since he won't be doing too many noises at all at first.

 

Another is stress with change. We have a LOT that goes on in our house as I homeschool my 13 year old son and people are coming and going all the time. His cage is in a place where he can see but also retreat. So some ideas I have had is to make sure he has a box or snuggly house to retreat into when he doesn't want to be seen. Another is to make sure he gets used to change on his own terms. I already have told the family and homeschool group that we won't be hosting much the first month he is here and then will invite one family at a time before we host a full study group here.

 

I am also going to keep him flighted. Living in the US, I never even thought that was possible. I grew up with thinking that if you had pet birds, you clipped. So I have been excited at the thought that I can teach him to come to me, go to a perch, and other such things. My dogs recall well so why not my bird? This has meant lots of house safety so I have been thinking a lot about what needs to be put away until he knows where he is allowed to land and where he is not. We are an animal oriented family so I don't have a lot of fragile things. I ordered drapes for the windows. We live in the forest with no nearby neighbors so we haven't had window coverings in some of the rooms. I am hoping to train him to know where the glass is but I now have the coverings in case that doesn't work.

 

Ah well, as you all can see, I am obsessed. lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got some more pics. These are dates March 22nd.

 

DSC_0092.jpg

 

 

DSC_0096.JPG

 

DSC_0145.jpg

 

He is at the end on the left in this one with his siblings and an adult grey that loves to help play with the babies.

DSC_0147.JPG<br><br>Post edited by: crossfit, at: 2010/03/25 01:42

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The vet is probably right about the toe, since he was born with it he doesn't know his is any different from the others in the clutch and will never be a problem besides none of us is perfect and neither are our greys, you have made a wise choice.

 

He is a fine looking fella and I love that last pic with the adult grey with the babies, he is doing his part to bring them along to being a proper grey.

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I love that older grey. There is a series of pics from about a month ago where he is teaching Hawkins to eat a cheerio. Tina, the breeder, made sure I realized this grey wasn't hurting my baby, but I have learned enough from you all and the pics I have seen and the greys I know, to know that his body language was one of helping and directing. I think knowing they are birds and learning bird behaviour from the older birds is really helpful and one of the reasons I chose this breeder.

 

As for the toe, I will have my avian vet look at it when he arrives here and we go for his first week check up. I am game for helping him even with it being a hindrance but the vet will tell me whatever I might need to know in order to make sure it is fine. Tina's vet said it looks like a "pied" toe and that the color isn't black so that also makes it different. But she said that he holds on more like a monkey since he doesn't have the toe nail to grip with like the others do.

 

I am getting impatient. I know its less then a month at this point but we are waiting on him and he will decide the right time by his flight skills and complete weaning. I keep reminding myself I am a grown up and can be patient. lol

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I agree, the waiting is soooo hard. We waited from July to November last year and it was well worth it and as it turned out, it saved my sanity. Then, we waited longer and now that Kopi is here, I know the extra time with the breeder and other birds in the house was a huge bonus for him. It will all be worth it in the long run and it means you have a dedicated breeder who knows what they are doing. All those baby pictures tug on our heart strings. I feel for you being all set up, waiting for the right time. The day you get your call will change your life.

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Great pictures of Hawkins, what a lovely boy! I wouldn't worry about the toe- especially since he was hatched that way- they learn to adapt to such things easily. You are going to have so much fun with this little one. Congratulations to you!

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Monday!!!!! How exciting!!! I'll bet you can't wait! I only waited a week from finding Alfie to bringing her home - longest week of my life!!

The pictures are great - he sure is a beautiful baby!!

Can't wait to hear how he settles in!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, its been a few weeks since Hawkins came home with me. He is a real love. He had a vet visit and did very well. Vet signed off that he was in great shape. He has gone out with me in his carrier and in his harness and done very well. He even went to a friends 60th birthday party. He loved all the live music as our friend plays in a band with my husband. He particularly like the three part female acapella group though. Right now he is eating some lettuce in his cage. I have started putting food around in various places for him to forage for. He loves our dogs though the big one and him seem to not be sure how to get along. So far, he only gets to see them when he is safely in his cage. I want them all more reliable before I trust a mixed pet scenario in the living room. He already loves to mimic. He likes to play whistle games, whistling to us and we whistle back. He has said things that are almost words. He gets the cadence and rhythm of the speech right but not all the sounds. I would swear he has almost said, "hello", "Sam", and "I love you". Sam is my son. Since we are always calling him to do his chores that name gets said the most around here! He also adores when my husband practices bass. He will listen very closely then start calling back. The other day my husband noticed that hawkins was calling the first four notes of the melody in the correct places. I think it will be quite amazing if he ends up singing music along with Jonathan!

 

I can't think of anything else at the moment. He is such a joy. This was a very, very, good thing for me to do. I love my baby.

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