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[pacoparrot]

Hi everyone! My name is Jacob. I'm a fairly experienced parrot person. I have an dyh amazon named Paco, hence the username. But he's more of my mom's now a days. I got him in 2008 from the rescue I work for. But he likes my mom much better than me for some reason, haha. I foster for the rescue too. I have an umbrella cockatoo named Sydney that I'm trying to find an experienced home for. She's sweet and actually the quietest cockatoo I've ever fostered. I also have a retired pair of cockatiels and a pair of proven green cheeks that just laid an egg. I have been considering adding a grey to my family. Congo's are expensive around here. Most people want $1500 for a Congo baby but Timmy's are only like $700-$900. I think Timneh's are neat. I don't really care if the tail is maroon or they are a tad smaller. I fostered an older Timneh Grey named Smokey. He wasn't tame but boy did he talk up a storm. He would imitate all sorts of stuff. He was old but I could swear he was still learning. I'm developing my clicker training skills with parrots. As you may know, in order to train a bird they have to take treats. I have been having difficulty finding a bird to train. Every bird I've managed to teach a few tricks to ends up turning into a wonderful pet. It's like you form a language that you can both understand and benefit from. Once they understand how to ask for treats and attention their behavior improves. Like I had a sun conure that I was fostering a while back and he loved apple slivers. I training him targeting to teach him the concept and then retrieve. After that if he wanted attention he'd just get one of his foot toys and try to give it to me. I think a baby would be perfect for me. I just recently lost one of my birds and it's been really hard on me and my mom. She was an elcectus parrot. We used to sit on my porch on sunny days. One day someone drove by and their exhaust backfired and she spooked and flew off. Mine you her wings were perfectly clipped and I was holding her feet but not tight enough. Luckily we had a contact call developed incase something like this ever happened. So I found her pretty quickly but she was 50 feet up in a tree. I coaxed her down a few branches but then some squirrels spooked her again and she went flying. The poor girl flew right into a parked car and died on impact. It was really traumatizing. But I learned from it. The next baby I get is being trained to an aviator flight harness. I have a giant flight cage with a playtop that would be perfect for a Timmy. I'd really like to hear from everyone about their pet african greys. I hear people saying their aren't really cuddly but I've seen pages of youtube video of people with some pretty cuddly greys. I'd like to think it has to do with how they were raised. Oh and I hope I get a talker. My dyh amazon parrot is supposed to be "one of the best talking parrot species in the world". Would you believe he hasn't said one word in the 5 years I've had him, haha! Thank you everyone! Have a good morning!

[danmcq]

Welcome Jacob and flock. Thanks for the GreYt introduction. I am sorry to hear of the horrific loss of you Eclectus. I look forward to hearing a lot more about your flock and seeing some photos and videos if you have them.

[pacoparrot]

Thank you Here's some pictures.

[danmcq]

Thanks for the photos. I am uncertain if you know this, but the url your images are pointing to could indicate you have a virus affecting you web browser. Here is a link explaining it.

 

http://blog.teesupport.com/useful-tips-for-httpsfbcdn-sphotos-a-a-akamaihd-net-virus-removal/

[judygram]

Hello Jacob and welcome to our family.

Since Paco doesn't talk I just wanted to remind you that not all greys will talk either, some choose not to for whatever reason but even if they don't they are still awesome creatures to share your life with.

Most greys are not known for being cuddly but as with most other stuff there are exceptions to the rule and we do have a few members here that have cuddly ones, most can be somewhat snugglers when they are babies then they quickly out grow it, what you see on youtube is a small portion of the grey population and if you think about it, most are of actions out of the ordinary, hence is why the video is posted in the first place.

Those prices you quoted are quite high so maybe you might consider taking in a rehome grey versus getting a baby grey, they can make fine pets also for they just need the right person to bring out the best, whatever you decide to do we will be here to help you in any way we can.

[Inara]

Hi Jacob and welcome! Let me tell you about Timneh L O V E ! In the 70's through 90s I shared my life with a wild caught DYH Amazon who never uttered a word (he was a mess when he came to live with me, had been neglected and abused); and a wild caught Congo AG who was in the same shape. They were much older, and while the 'zon never spoke a word, I adored that guy! The CAG eventually talked up a storm even though his last round of former people said that he did nothing but scream and shriek. Loved them both to pieces and wouldn't have traded either for the world, despite all the neuroses and vet bills.

 

Fast forward to after each of their passings, and several years of being birdless. After taking an early retirement, I decided that it was time for the last bird of my life. I was searching for a Congo, and had looked at a few when I stumbled upon this beautiful, brilliant, and adorable two year old Timneh. She took me completely by surprise and I am totally besotted with her. Her original humans paid $1400.00 for her as a baby (in our area); hand raised her until 24 months old and she came to live with me with her cage, toys, and play perch for slightly more than that price. Her people had decided that due to economic circumstances she needed to be "rehomed."

 

What was less important to me than the dollar amount, as I could have picked up any of the CAGS that I had looked at for much less plus cage(s), was the fact that she is just such a fantastic girl! She immediately decided I was going to be her human, and she never looked back for an instant, and neither did I. She's only lived with us for about 6 weeks now. She settled right in, was amenable to being weaned off southern comfort food and onto a much more parrot healthy diet, and she not only has begun talking up a storm but we're working on true language usage and not just repetition. The other folks here know that I consider her my "mid-life-sports-car-model" of a companion bird. To take that auto metaphor further, if my CAG was a Corvette, my Timneh is an F1 car. :D She's sleek, quick, and high performance.

 

Snuggly? Well that's a word that's relative. She is very affectionate, though. She immediately gives me kisses whenever I pick her up, she loves to have me stroke the feathers from the top of her shoulder blades backwards to the top of her head, and she now loves to have me "tickle toes" -- she lifts up her toes for me to tickle, and will verbally ask for it. She can become a bit "beaky" when she's tired or hungry, but is not "bitey." I have been a bit under the weather the past few days, and yesterday while I was lying on my side on the sofa, she got up the nerve to do a short flight from her play perch to land by my chest (we're working on flying as she never learned how), then softly preened my hair and gently put her little foot onto my face. I could go on and on about her, but I have to say that while I consider her my "little bird," her personality is complex and fantastic. As for her coloring, I say that she is the "Goth" version of the Grey family. hahaha

 

All that being said -- get the bird you love, get the bird that wants *you*. I can say having experienced both CAG and TAG (however, both having been brought into the world under completely different circumstances) -- I would re-choose my Inara in a heartbeat, but I would also re-choose my Lestat (my departed CAG) in an instant. Lestat was definitely a "rescue" and Inara was "rehomed." More than just semantics there, but my own philosophy is that there (as you are acutely aware) are so many birds who need homes that perhaps you can find a young one like I did that needs a home, rather than going for a hatchling?

 

To make a short story even longer, don't hesitate at all about a Timneh -- just be ready for how light s/he will feel to you compared to a 'zon or a CAG.

Edited November 4, 2013 by Inara