FirstPenguin Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Hi Grey Forum, This is kind of a re-introduction to the grey forum. I've been a lurker and an active member as a prospective grey companion and a fairly well versed parrot owner for some time. I've many times come close to adopting rehomes, one (expletive) even backed out after agreeing to rehome his bird to me. I've reached the point where I don't want to wait and my girlfriend is on board. We're going to buy one from a breeder who we found that is very pro-flight and keeps all her companion birds flighted and will sell us an un-clipped bird. Which is what we want. It's a surprisingly hard thing to find. She has both a boy and a girl and we're wondering what would fit our flock best. we have a three year old female senegal that is bonded to my girlfriend. We'd like the a grey (cross our fingers) to bond with me, being male, and hopefully get along with or at least tolerate the senegal, who by the way, is very social with new humans and in no way territorial. We had a get together recently with people she had never met. There was a couch with 4 people seated on it and she landed on one persons knee and proceeded to hop from one knee to the other. She'll only let certain people pet her, but she'll land on anyones shoulder if it suites her and when we board her at the vet will settle in on a vet techs shoulder and just hang out when they let her. She's exposed to being around other birds when boarded, which happens a couple times a year. We often watch youtube videos on my desktop and now on our big TV. She's very excited by the videos and has been known to fly over to my desk and try and manipulate the keyboard or mouse. We assume this is to get more videos of birds because she seems bothered when it doesn't work. She also is quick to find a place on my shoulder when I sit down to edit or manipulate video (my profession). Recently she saw a congo on our TV make a kiss sound something she often mimics and she made a kiss sound back. All of this makes us hopeful that a new bird will be agreeable despite the stigma of Pois disliking other or new flock mates. I'm also curious if anyone knows of any general personality differences between male and female greys. My girlfriend has also read that by having two females, one could set the other off hormonally and or cause them to see the other as a rival. Therefore a male would be better. Thanks for reading this epic. Love to hear your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I recently had the same question! Everyone here has such great input. Ultimately, I felt like I needed to go with my heart while heeding the advice of those around me with more experience. Whatever you choose, your bird will have it's own personality regardless of male of female. My Grey likes my husband best....Shadow is a girl who likes boys best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 I recently had the same question! Everyone here has such great input. Ultimately, I felt like I needed to go with my heart while heeding the advice of those around me with more experience. Whatever you choose, your bird will have it's own personality regardless of male of female. My Grey likes my husband best....Shadow is a girl who likes boys best. I realize this question may be somewhat redundant to other older threads. If you know of threads on here that would pertain to this I'd love if you'd post a link. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 My question was about Amazons, as I had been told there was a very big difference between the two. Reading through the many posts here, I am not certain that it matters as much with a grey. Unfortunately, I do not recall a specific post for boy/girl discussion of greys. I am sure others will have some advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 Well I pulled the trigger or will be... I've arranged to wire a deposit on Monday. They're two months old and have another 1-2 months minimum before they're weaned. The breeder with out asking offered to give me time to choose between the two. It's a clutch of three, one is spoken for and I have my pick of the two remaining until someone wants to put a deposit on the final one. So I have sometime to learn more about the two and pick between a boy and a girl. It's really great that she has them sexed already. I won't get to visit but I'd rather get it from a pro flighted breeder who seems to fit the care practices I share than settle for someone who is going to effect the development of a bird for the rest of it's life. I've been unable to find this in the north-east (US) where I live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Congrats on arranging the deposit. If you are able to go and visit, then let one of the two greys remaining pick you if possible, regardless of sex. Not a lot of difference between a male or female grey other than the laying of eggs possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 (edited) I have both a male, CAG, and a female, TAG, and they both are affectionate and love their scratches/tickles. They both come to me when I call them by name. Ana Grey came to me from a clutch of 5 and Sterling Gris was the last of a clutch of 4. Both breeders spent time socializing their babies. So I don't believe it makes a difference male or female. It really depends on how they are socialized by their breeders and how you bond with your grey once you get him/she home. Edited July 7, 2012 by luvparrots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 Thanks for your thoughts. Chances are I won't have time to fly out there between now and then, it's that far. I had a breeder or two, still not close enough to visit regularly, say they would selectively keep one unclipped but, I fear two things. Mine would get isolated from the clutch and end up spending more time in a cage and they won't encourage it's flight since even they're companions are clipped. I got an email from this lady saying I'll get back to you in a few hours I have to go free fly my birds before it gets to hot. That's what I want to hear! So I think I'll play my hand this way. I got this from her earlier... Males tend to be more rambunctious than females. More apt to get into things and more outgoing. Females tend to be more reserved and laid back. Many males, but not all, think it's great fun to chase other birds. Not to hurt them but just for the fun of the chase. We have 2 male companions that are like that, 4 that are not. It is good exercise but my girls don't like it. Personalities really begin to emerge once they start flying. At this point the male is more into playing than the female is, however she is the youngest and that may change. She is quieter and seems more reserved, still sleeping alot throughout the day. Yesterday though she was up a lot more and trying foods and playing. This morning she was perched in the cage so I believe she is now ready to grow up some. Over the next week I should be able to tell you more about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momo Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 i have a male CAG and my friend has female CAG.my CAG is active and 'dare' to try different new things.in other hand my friend's CAG more shy and calm down. my male CAG will push my limit to get what he wants and even though some things is not acceptable(and he knows i will never let him),he will keep try to get it. i think male is more bold than female one. im not expert but this is what i see from the different between them.none of birds will act the same,so both sex can be an excelent pet. my advice is forget about the sex and let the bird pick u. good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Hi Grey Forum, This is kind of a re-introduction to the grey forum. I've been a lurker and an active member as a prospective grey companion and a fairly well versed parrot owner for some time. I've many times come close to adopting rehomes, one (expletive) even backed out after agreeing to rehome his bird to me. I've reached the point where I don't want to wait and my girlfriend is on board. We're going to buy one from a breeder who we found that is very pro-flight and keeps all her companion birds flighted and will sell us an un-clipped bird. Which is what we want. It's a surprisingly hard thing to find. She has both a boy and a girl and we're wondering what would fit our flock best. we have a three year old female senegal that is bonded to my girlfriend. We'd like the a grey (cross our fingers) to bond with me, being male, and hopefully get along with or at least tolerate the senegal, who by the way, is very social with new humans and in no way territorial. We had a get together recently with people she had never met. There was a couch with 4 people seated on it and she landed on one persons knee and proceeded to hop from one knee to the other. She'll only let certain people pet her, but she'll land on anyones shoulder if it suites her and when we board her at the vet will settle in on a vet techs shoulder and just hang out when they let her. She's exposed to being around other birds when boarded, which happens a couple times a year. We often watch youtube videos on my desktop and now on our big TV. She's very excited by the videos and has been known to fly over to my desk and try and manipulate the keyboard or mouse. We assume this is to get more videos of birds because she seems bothered when it doesn't work. She also is quick to find a place on my shoulder when I sit down to edit or manipulate video (my profession). Recently she saw a congo on our TV make a kiss sound something she often mimics and she made a kiss sound back. All of this makes us hopeful that a new bird will be agreeable despite the stigma of Pois disliking other or new flock mates. I'm also curious if anyone knows of any general personality differences between male and female greys. My girlfriend has also read that by having two females, one could set the other off hormonally and or cause them to see the other as a rival. Therefore a male would be better. Thanks for reading this epic. Love to hear your thoughts. There's no guarantee that some of the things you're hoping for will work because of the sex of the bird. You've given a long history about your senegal, the behavior, likes, dislikes, temperment, attitude towards people etc. None of this has anything to do with owning a grey. They're 2 species with 2 naturally different temperments which nature has bestowed on them. You're comparing apples and oranges. There's no guarantee that either will or wont like each other. It has nothing to do with the sex of either bird. Your senegal isn't responding visually to the grey in your video. He's responding to the sound it hears. BUT there's one very important thing you mention here which isn't good---- ~~~~~We'd like the a grey (cross our fingers) to bond with me, being male~~~~~ That's an extremely bad idea concerning grey ownership. So many people write in crying about how their grey likes the other person in the house but not them. They have no idea what to do. Well, they didn't do one very important thing when they first got the bird which was socializing the bird so that the bird would accept all family members to a greater or lesser extent. That usually starts off when the grey is very young and isn't given the chance to develop favoritism. It may look nice right now but they'll be a price to pay in the future as the bird gets older. That price isn't refundable. Sex and hormones and rivalry. ~~~~~My girlfriend has also read that by having two females, one could set the other off hormonally and or cause them to see the other as a rival.~~~~ A long time ago, what first got you sexually excited and got your hormones going, another guy or a girl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 i have a male CAG and my friend has female CAG.my CAG is active and 'dare' to try different new things.in other hand my friend's CAG more shy and calm down.my male CAG will push my limit to get what he wants and even though some things is not acceptable(and he knows i will never let him),he will keep try to get it. i think male is more bold than female one. im not expert but this is what i see from the different between them.none of birds will act the same,so both sex can be an excelent pet. my advice is forget about the sex and let the bird pick u. good luck!!! That's sort of the debate I've been over a million times! I'd love to have the bird pick me, but I'd have to compromise my beliefs and give in to someone who's just humoring me at best. Or I can make a list of ideals based on what I believe as bird companion and apply those to a nation wide search. Which is my current approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 That's sort of the debate I've been over a million times! I'd love to have the bird pick me, but I'd have to compromise my beliefs and give in to someone who's just humoring me at best. Or I can make a list of ideals based on what I believe as bird companion and apply those to a nation wide search. Which is my current approach. I am not sure what you mean by this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 I am not sure what you mean by this? Sorry if it wasn't clear enough. I have a certain criteria for what I look for in a bird and it's breeder. I believe after talking to a lot of people, reading accounts over the past 2-3 years that much of the issues greys have relate to how they're reared in the first 2-3 years. From this research I've built a list of questions that I ask a breeder. I've emailed a lot of breeders and no one I can find with in roughly 200-300 miles of my home (what would be a reasonable distance to visit a few times before bringing a bird home) really matches the philosophy I've got. The people I've found out west and much farther away are far more aligned with my ideas. So I'm left with two options really. Have the bird shipped from a breeder who I'm 100% on the same page with but can't visit even once in some cases, or compromise and get a clipped bird from someone who I strongly disagree with there techniques in rearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 ****I believe after talking to a lot of people, reading accounts over the past 2-3 years that much of the issues greys have relate to how they're reared in the first 2-3 years.***** That's referring to you, not any breeder. They only get them ready for sale after being weaned. You'll be the one dealing witth issues and it'll have nothing to do with the breeder. ****or compromise and get a clipped bird from someone who I strongly disagree with there techniques in rearing.**** A bird will grow back feathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLB Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I can't help but think there may be some benefit to seeing first hand the type of breeding environment a bird is coming from rather than putting my trust in a long distant conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 ****I believe after talking to a lot of people, reading accounts over the past 2-3 years that much of the issues greys have relate to how they're reared in the first 2-3 years.***** That's referring to you, not any breeder. They only get them ready for sale after being weaned. You'll be the one dealing witth issues and it'll have nothing to do with the breeder. Let me rephrase, what I said was a little heavy handed. I feel some of the major issues greys have begin during there first year or two. A quarter of that time is spent where they're reared and weaned. ****or compromise and get a clipped bird from someone who I strongly disagree with there techniques in rearing.**** A bird will grow back feathers. Yes they will. But I disagree with what you're implying. Any living creature with the ability to learn establishes neural pathways early in life that effect their development and I think those first first two years matter. One clip will effect a large part of that time. I can't help but think there may be some benefit to seeing first hand the type of breeding environment a bird is coming from rather than putting my trust in a long distant conversation. This is part of my dilema. I'd love to see every setup. However that only gets you so far. Most breeders won't let any outside people into the space where their breeding pairs are. Thanks to everyone for all the input. Can anyone recommend someone in the NYC tri-state area? Anywhere with in 2-4 hours drive? I've been very frustrated by the local offerings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 ******Yes they will. But I disagree with what you're implying. Any living creature with the ability to learn establishes neural pathways early in life that effect their development and I think those first first two years matter. One clip will effect a large part of that time.****** Well, after dealing with greys for 27 yrs I can definitely tell you that no major problems develop in the few months that a bird is being reared unless some extreme bad event happens. It's the people who buy those birds and don't do the right thing during the first 2/3 years that cause problems to develop. They let the birds rule the roost. And they're quite a few people who aren't savvy in the ways of dealing with medium to large parrot species that have the most difficulty. I'm not implying anything. I'm just telling you the real facts. I assume you came here for facts? It's a free country so believe what you want. Oh by the way, I've been breeding greys for 21 yrs and I know hundreds of other breeders throuigh the years, some who clip and some who don't. I wouldn't associate with any of them if I knew that they were creating future bad situations for any birds they're selling---nor would they associate themselves with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I totally agree with Dave, its not so much the breeder but the person who takes that grey home that has the most impact on the bird's life and how it relates to people in the way they handle and treat the bird. A bird has its own personality which is predetermined by its species and parents and since it is with the breeder a short period of time they do not have the impact on it that the people who take it into their home will have, just like human children it is all in the upbringing of the child that determines in the most part of what kind of person that child will turn into. I think you expect too much of a breeder from what I have read, you shouldn't demand to see the parents of the babies as the parents do not like human interference and most breeders would not allow it. You seem to have found a good breeder in your opening post in this thread so go for it if you want a grey Now about whether taking a male or female it is another misconception that opposites attract, that males bond easier with females and vice versa, well that is hogwash for my grey is a female and she is bonded with me. My answer to you is if you truly want a grey then get one and accept whatever personality it has and enjoy what you have as no two birds will be alike, many members here have birds that will do things that my bird will not but its all in the individual bird, if you want a grey then get it but take what you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstPenguin Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 I totally agree with Dave, its not so much the breeder but the person who takes that grey home that has the most impact on the bird's life and how it relates to people in the way they handle and treat the bird. A bird has its own personality which is predetermined by its species and parents and since it is with the breeder a short period of time they do not have the impact on it that the people who take it into their home will have, just like human children it is all in the upbringing of the child that determines in the most part of what kind of person that child will turn into. I think you expect too much of a breeder from what I have read, you shouldn't demand to see the parents of the babies as the parents do not like human interference and most breeders would not allow it. You seem to have found a good breeder in your opening post in this thread so go for it if you want a grey Now about whether taking a male or female it is another misconception that opposites attract, that males bond easier with females and vice versa, well that is hogwash for my grey is a female and she is bonded with me. My answer to you is if you truly want a grey then get one and accept whatever personality it has and enjoy what you have as no two birds will be alike, many members here have birds that will do things that my bird will not but its all in the individual bird, if you want a grey then get it but take what you get. Thanks, Judy, I appreciate your more diplomatic candor, I overstated my position to drive it home. I totally get what your saying and in most cases agree. What happens once a bird is home matters most. I think what people are glossing over is that this is where my research lead me. One post after another it's apparent that there are many contradicting opinions based on anecdotal evidence and few hard facts. I'm just trying to apply my research to give a grey a great life being a part of the of the rest of my life. Thanks for debunking the opposites attract theory. That's the kind of evidence I'm looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 I wish you could fly out, and let baby pick you! It is very important in my opinion. Our rescue picked Ryan, Kiki picked Sean, (baby Amazon), Sophie our grey, ( rehomed at age two), picked me. I don't think there is much difference between a baby girl, or boy Grey. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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