Lilly Grey comes home saturday

[FloridaBeak]

Hello everyone,

 

A little about me and my wife. We live in central Florida, just outside the city. Working as a software engineer and having two young children I enjoy coming home to 5 acres of tropical fruit trees sitting across from a state park on a dead end road.

 

My wife and I raised parrots when we lived in Australia (Sydney), where Galah's, and Sulpher crested cockatoos set you back a paltry 40.00 at most shops and a Macaw or grey would be somewhere around 2500.00. After moving back to the US and having two small children we decided to hold off on acquiring any feathered friends until we had more time to spare.

 

Well just two weeks ago our grey found us. We had just traveled an hour north to Tampa to pick up a new bed, and had been visiting puppy stores to no avail. We noticed a bird store in the same complex and went over, just to look around. Upon walking in I noted that the owner had a scarlet, a female eckie and a grey sitting on a dragonwood play-gym and they were all getting along. All three birds were as well adjusted as I had ever seen, all three willing to step up and be interacted with. This is far removed from the typical parrot in the typical shop as you all may know. Well the grey stood out as being quite engaging and knowing full well their capacity to learn (and be a wonderful feathered friend) my wife and I barely put her down the entire 2 hour visit.

 

It was an easy decision this time, since my wife and I had been considering a new puppy already. This grey chose us, and we made a deposit. This was not quite too weeks ago. Since then my wife and I have tried to visit her (oh yes, our new baby bird is a girl). every other day.

 

Back to that first day: My wife and I looked her over and both concluded she was a she. The owner and resident groomer said boy, then moments later the owner flipped his guess to girl as well. We had her DNA sexed and low and behold we were correct. * For us it was the size/shape of the head and less "anxious" demeanor when compared to her rambunctious cage mate (another grey).

 

That week we named her Lilly Grey. We have ordered her cage (6 ft play top), and Monday we were told she is ready to come home this week. She is not quite 4 months old but holding weight and weaned. Each time we visit her, she does something new. She is just starting to make very interesting clicking sounds when she is happy. She will let us scratch her on her head, neck, touch her under the wings gently. My wife discovered that she loves fresh apple, taking tiny bites and licking more than eating it. I have read that greys do enjoy apple juice on occasion.

 

Our family is very excited about the new member, and hope to have her home this Saturday. I realize it will take her some time to adjust. We will see if she likes her cage next to a window looking out the back 3 acres. We plan on getting a play gym for the living room as well, since we want her to feel like part of the family.

 

She also seems to like leather toys with knots, and anything with a bell on it. What are some of the best toys for greys?

 

A few pictures of Lilly:

 

 

 

[Dave007]

Welcome to our family. Hope you like living the the US. You picked a sunny state. Your little girl looks lovely.

It's a good thing that you waited until you moved because

1--it would have cost you a fortune to get your grey anywhere overseas.

2--you'd be waiting a long time because your bird would have to have been in official quarantine which could have lasted 1 to 2 mts before you got the bird home.

3--the price of a grey is much more reasonable here.

As far as toys, I'll let others who have very young birds tell you all about toys. When greys get much older they start to focus on certain things and push aside other toys BUT for now, enjoy the experience.

 

PS---I still think Russell Crowe is a great actor.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2010/04/07 19:14

[JillyBeanz]

Dave007 wrote:

PS---I still think Russell Crowe is a great actor.

 

Ha Ha! I can't wait for Robin Hood, released next month!! Just watched Gladiator for the millionth time (oh, and not just for Russell's acting ability either)!!!

 

Back to sunny Florida and beautiful Lilly Grey! Welcome to our family. It's great to have you all here, and I look forward to finding out more about you all and finding out how Lilly adjusts to family life, I bet you can't wait!

 

Hope you enjoy it here

[Elvenking]

Congratulations on your new Grey. I always love hearing about people who really care for birds getting a new Grey.

 

As far as toys go, it's hit and miss...but you seem to have noticed some things already. I can tell you that Issac loves the toys with rope and breakable wood blocks on them. He loves the ones with dried corn cobs on them too, however those last three days maximum with him. Many greys love shreading papers and cups.

 

Early in Issac's life, and still sometimes now, he liked to play peek-a-boo with a towel on the floor. This is really cute. You can hide your head under a towel and peek out and say peek-a-boo...and your baby will probably not be able to resist coming to get you. Issac also loves the plastic caps and lids to things. So long as they didn't seem harmful, I would let him go to town.

 

The next level of toys comes with these things they call boings, rope perches, and atoms. The boings (or monkey tails) are shapeable rope-like things that greys love to climb on. I have one inside Issac's cage and one going over the top and around. I used tie wraps to shape it around the outside of the cage.

 

Lastly, the atom is by far the best (yet most expensive) toy I have gotten Issac....but...it is by far his favorite. It is 22" in diameter and you can hang his favorite toy in the middle. It is fun to watch him enjoy that so much.

 

Other than that, some greys love foraging toys you can stick little treats in. Heck, a wadded up piece of paper can provide a ton of interactive fun between you and your grey.

 

That is all I have to offer for now. It is a constant effort to find things they like...and things that will last as well. My next move regaring toys is to not present them to Issac as toys, but to leave some brightly colored toys around his play areas secretly and to let him find them on his own. Much like he finds my remote controls for my electronic equipment and other things I'd rather him not get into. I think if he feels he has 'found' something, he is more apt to play with it. Lots of trials with toys.

 

 

Enjoy your new Grey! You are in for quite a treat with these little guys...they are more than you can imagine as companions.

 

PS: Pictured below is Issac's play area. Welcome to the forums.

 

Post edited by: Elvenking, at: 2010/04/07 19:44

 

Post edited by: Elvenking, at: 2010/04/07 19:44<br><br>Post edited by: Elvenking, at: 2010/04/07 19:47

[Luvparrots]

Hi, welcome to the forum. What lovely pictures of your sweet Lilly Grey. I can't wait to hear more about her and see her homecoming pictures!

 

On another note, I had the good fortune to visit Australia about 20 years ago when my first granddaughter was born. I loved seeing the cockatoos and wallabies just everywhere.

[Joolesgreyuk]

Oh what a lovely name - Lilly Grey and such a cutie too. Welcome to the forum and welcome to the adventure which awaits you with your new companion. It's a great idea to have a forum such as this one at your fingertips as owning a grey really is a learning curve, there is sooo much to learn but luckily you have plenty of time to learn it and some experienced and knowledgeable members here to help you.

 

Can't wait to hear about the homecoming!

[judygram]

Hello FloridaBeak and welcome to our family, you are about to embark on a wonderful journey that will last a lifetime so get ready to be amazed.

[katana600]

Be still my heart, Lilly Grey is another captivating grey. It sounds like you are ready for your adventure in caring for your little sweetie. Welcome to the forum, it takes a little while to find your way around but there are so many helpful people here to kindly guide you while you learn about Lilly and share your life with us. You are lucky that you were found at just the right time for Lilly to come home. We are glad you found us and of course happy you have such a lovely little girl.

[judygram]

Lily is a real sweet looking grey and that second shot of her with her eyes closed enjoying a head scratch is absolutely precious, thanks for including the pictures in your intro post.

 

We have lots of members here who have a vast knowledge of greys, all aspects so do not hesitate to ask any and all questions you may have. Be sure to browse thru many of the threads for lots of useful information but if you raised birds before you probably know most everything by now.

 

You are so lucky to have your grey choose you and not vice versa, many of us did not have that pleasure but that doesn't mean we love ours any less.

 

It will take her some time to settle in when she comes home but give her time and lots of patience and she will do fine, after all she is a baby and they adjust easily.

 

Do take a good stroll thru the bird food room for lots of ideas of what to feed your grey and for what is toxic to your baby, we have lots of threads with meal ideas and recipes too.

 

Most greys love any kind of bells, find a good heavy one that she will not be able to destroy so she can knock it around and make noise with it. Provide her with a different variety of toys, wooden, leather, paper, cardboard, acrylic and etc to find what kind she prefers, some foot toys are favorites too. Be sure to check out the homemade toys room for lots of ideas on homemade toys, very cheap.

 

Be sure to put her cage in the most active room in the house, the family room for most people, they like to be around their flock and feel like they are part of the action.

[FloridaBeak]

Sorry for the extremely delayed reply. Apparently i signed up here just before the big change, and long story short, could not login after i reset my password since the website was not successful in sending me emails. All of a sudden I received 24 emails and here I am

 

Lily came home Sunday, a very calm hour long drive home. She rode up front with my wife so she could see the sights. I must say she is one of the most calm Greys I have every come across. The shop owner and staff confirmed that they receive the babies the day of hatching and socialize them every day from then on. We brought the toys we had bought for her while she was still at the store home, to give her a more familiar environment. Her cage (a playtop model) is within view of the family room and kitchen. She has proved to be adjusting very well, chirping to get attention (contact calls i think), and early attempts at forming new sounds / words. Oh her birthday was December 14th She is quite happy to get scratches, and steps up without any issues. Interestingly enough she doesn't beak hands or fingers, like all of my previous parrots. It seems she has some confidence that the human hand or arm is sturdy enough to be trusted.

 

One unexpected surprise was that she is not fully weaned. Although down to 1 feeding a day and thought to not need it any further, I believe her grey cage mate at the pet shop was eating most of the zupreem. My wife was quick to go pick up some Exact and make sure our little girl got a good meal. We have given her warm sweet potatoes, carambola and other fresh foods in addition to a balanced seed mix and she is doing quite well. Boy, mushy foods are fun and quite messy, there was sweet potato on the walls.

 

I am from California originally, I worked in Australia for a bit, then landed back in Florida to be near my wife's family. We had a fantastic time over there, and may go back one day. I am just thankful Beak and Feather disease is not as common here as it was over there.

 

We are delighted to have Lilly home finally, the entire family is getting along great. Thank you all for the toy information. her first toy was a hanging bell set with rubber duckies and pacifiers attached. Needless to say the pacifiers are gone and some ducks are missing heads and behinds

 

Maybe later this week i will give her a shower. Anyone have any tips?