greyturkey Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 (edited) Hello, My husband (Danny) and I (Ashley) recently purchased an African Grey who was being re-homed as her previous owner was unable to care for her anymore. Her previous owner has alot of larger birds, and she ran into some bad luck recently with her other African Grey who ended up with a broken wing. She decided that she was downsizing her bird collection and she knew that nobody want a bird who was injured, and probably would know how to care for a AG with a broken wing. I cannot imagine how tough it was for her to get rid of Pepper. She had her since she was a baby, and our little girl is 20 years old now! She re-homed pepper with a pet store, and she was there for quite a few months before i happened to get into contact with a friend of mine who fortunately knew the pet store owner. I went there to check her out and she offered me a deal that i just could not resist... So i am sure you know what happened! My husband and i packed her and her cage in the car that night and brought her home. My husband and I do have experience with both smaller and larger birds already. We started out with a Amazon. Yes! it is a big thing to start out with a Larger bird instead of a smaller bird.... but quite frankly i am scared of smaller birds as most of them are nippy, and go right for your ear or your face. I just feel more comfortable around larger birds. My husband and i had to give our Amazon away as we moved into a smaller home which had problems with the heater and i just didn't want to bring a parrot into that situation. Now that we are living in a more stable environment, and a much larger and warmer house where there isn't an issue with the heating, or air conditioning units. We had no problem accepting the offer for Pepper. I have included a photo of her and i have already been doing some research on the forum. I must say, you are all very helpful and i look forward to us learning so much more from a great bunch of people. A little bit of a warning, My husband and I plan on sharing this account so sometimes it might be me posting, and other times it could be my husband. Eitherway, we will sign the bottom with our name. BTW we are from Ontario, Canada. Ashley. Edited January 26, 2012 by greyturkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Welcome Ashley! My very first bird experience was with my adult grey. Shadow has been such a joy. I always enjoying hearing how others came to share their lives with these amazing creatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyturkey Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Welcome Ashley! My very first bird experience was with my adult grey. Shadow has been such a joy. I always enjoying hearing how others came to share their lives with these amazing creatures. Thank you for the welcome! Ashley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 well welcome to the family and how very nice of you to take pepper home w/you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Welcome Ashley, Danny and pepper the grey to the grey forum. Kudos to you for takeing on an older and handicapped grey that needs a special home and a happy life. I believe you will enjoy it here because of the type of members that make up this forum. The best of luck with Pepper. Your life has just changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Hi Ashley and Hubby Danny. Congrats on your new companion Pepper. Looking forward to hearing more about you and Pepper! Welcome to the Grey family! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Welcome to our family! Congrats and bless you for taking in Pepper. I look forward to hearing more. Love the pic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyturkey Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 Thank you all. I appreciate your warm welcomes Ashley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel-TAG Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Welcome Ashely, Danny and Pepper. Congratulations And Blessings! And thank you for the advice you gave me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawL Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Welcome to you all! Loved the pics of Pepper. How is she settling in with you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyturkey Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) Hi DawL She's doing great, shes really opening up and swinging on her swing. Edited February 1, 2012 by greyturkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Welcome Ashley, Danny and Pepper! Looking forward to getting to know you all! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyturkey Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblivion Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 High 5/wing! What kind of dogs do you have? Labs here. My older one (8) ignores anything I tell her to. The younger one (5 - away with a litter of puppies - coming home soon) is a bit more rambunctious and I'm interested to see how she's going to be when she comes home. She's more needy of pets and will push anyone out of the way when attention if being doled out, so I've got to keep that in mind, but I have faith I can keep peace. My real wild card is my cat (6-ish) who completely ignores the birds most of the time and then stalks them from across the room other times. I have to keep two eyes and a squirt bottle on her. Welcome and good luck. I just recently moved my updates from the 'welcome' room to the 'rescue' room since these older, re-homed birds require 'a little bit extra.' Pop in there with whatever questions you have and we can all bang our heads together. BTW, I love the term 'grey turkey.' I was just calling Spencer one the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 When it comes to socializing dogs & birds, around here at least, the bird always ends up on the upside of the power curve. All but one of my dogs figured that out pretty early on. I am only a referee & stay totally neutral. My only job is to make sure the dog doesn't get to chomp or stomp the bird. The fids do all training themselves. The dogs usually stick their noses where they don't belong until they've had enough of getting nipped. Considering that the smallest of my dogs had a nose at least as big as a parrot's head, you'd have thought the fid would be a little more severe. But the funny thing is, my birds have never done any actual damage during this stage of training. This includes Phenix who drew blood on me even before I brought him home. Once the dog agrees that the fid has certain unalienable rights to any thing or territory it claims, the fids start to reward them. I know they've worked things out when I realize the fid's deliberately throwing their food to the dog. And/or, start to hear them literally calling the dogs, praising them & ordering them around. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Hi DawL She's doing great, shes really opening up and swinging on her swing. She also loves to whistle songs by Roger Whitaker. I don't normally listen to music like that but i find it adorable when she whistles along with the song, she is pretty in tune with some of the songs too. - and the lady who had her before raised her on those types of songs. There are still somethings we need some help with and i know that i shouldn't expect any changes over night (and i dont expect any) .. but some of the things just don't make any sense to me.. For instance - She is a BIG bully. She'll taunt my dogs alot during the day when she is inside her cage playing with her toys and swinging on her swing. Now this behavior does not happen when she is out of the cage.. only when inside the cage (i think she feels safe and knows they cannot hurt her when she picks on them and of course they are the dumb ones who keep going back thinking she wants to play) She'll do a whistle and then say "Come here" they'll go to the cage and before i notice they're there she'll bite them on the nose. I try to discourage this behavior as i know she could do some serious damage to them. I tell her no, and she just laughs. I'm wondering how i can correct this as i don't want her or the dogs to be hurt. Also i have a VERY hard time with her when she comes out of the cage. She is extremely nosy and curious! She gets down off of the cage (the dogs are not in the room at this time) and she will wonder around the room, she will hide in areas that i didn't know she could fit in (i bird proofed my house before bringing her home) and i look for her.. once i find her she tries to bite me when i go to pick her up. I have even tried bribing her with her favorite fruit or a cracker. Of course, she will snatch the cracker or fruit from my hand and back up. She lunges at my hand and i think its possibly because she wasn't out enough at her previous owners? I am not exactly sure.. Tonight my husband had to come in the room and pick her up. Although she acted the same way towards him. I know that were just starting out with her and that we should give her some more time to get used to us - we have alot of patience with her and talk to her alot, The only thing i dont understand is -- when i let her out of the cage, and try to give her her space... how do i pick her up when all she wants to do is attack our hands / perch. She's 20, so she is set in her own ways and thinks she can do what she wants. Any advice? This area is for Welcome and Introduction threads/posts. In the future, please post in the other appropiate areas/rooms such as Grey Lounge or wherever it applies. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyturkey Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Thank you, and sorry about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Hello from Misty and me (Steve) . Welcome and thank you for taking on an older bird. I am certain you will find it both a challenging and rewarding experience. How is Peppers wing now? Steve n Misty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyturkey Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 High 5/wing! What kind of dogs do you have? Labs here. My older one (8) ignores anything I tell her to. The younger one (5 - away with a litter of puppies - coming home soon) is a bit more rambunctious and I'm interested to see how she's going to be when she comes home. She's more needy of pets and will push anyone out of the way when attention if being doled out, so I've got to keep that in mind, but I have faith I can keep peace. My real wild card is my cat (6-ish) who completely ignores the birds most of the time and then stalks them from across the room other times. I have to keep two eyes and a squirt bottle on her. Welcome and good luck. I just recently moved my updates from the 'welcome' room to the 'rescue' room since these older, re-homed birds require 'a little bit extra.' Pop in there with whatever questions you have and we can all bang our heads together. BTW, I love the term 'grey turkey.' I was just calling Spencer one the other day. I have 2 basset hounds. One being 6 who was around my Amazon, and the other one is 2 she's a rescue dog so she's not used to birds as she was primarily used as a breeding dog and locked in a barn most of her life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Well done, birdhouse! Welcome to the Avian world, training the dog world. They always rule! LOL I was lucky my dogs who are unfortunately in bird heaven, taught new pups. Sophie would have done just fine, but was lucky to have an ally, named Max. They are all excellent friends. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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