Jnx Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Hello, I'm a new owner of a rescue(?) African Grey, and have just passed the 24 hour mark. I've had some negative experiences on completely unrelated forums in the past, but when I've stumbled upon a good one I've found them to be unparalleled sources of knowledge and experience, and a quick perusal of this site led me to hope that'd be the case here. I've got no burning questions thus far, but thought I should introduce myself, so, hello! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Welcome! We luv pics! Can’t wait to hear more...what’s your greys name? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 22, 2018 Author Share Posted October 22, 2018 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Talon said: Welcome! We luv pics! Can’t wait to hear more...what’s your greys name? His name is Willy, and he's 26. Long, sad story short:: we've been reunited after nearly a decade. I couldn't take him when my life long best friend (she's since passed away at a relatively young age) decided to rehome him, regretted it ever since, and just found him last week on Craigslist when a rescue was rehoming him. He's had an alarming number of homes in his life, and we just spent the best first day reminscing. I've done equine, canine, and feline rescue for decades, but just got into birds (guinea fowl, chickens, zebra and Gouldian finches), and finally, thanks to an orchid hobby, keep my home warm enough for the indoor species. I have nearly zero parrot experience (did due diligence before bringing him home, but am still a noob), except second hand with Willy back when my friend had him. He's home forever now. I know the cage in the pic is too small for him. It's only his "bedtime" cage in my studio. I work from home, so he'll be out while I work, and I do have a parrot flight cage that I'm setting up in our living room so he can watch tv with us, too. This all happened very quickly, but I'm doing right by him, finally. Edited October 22, 2018 by Jnx 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytness Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Welcome aboard! Looking forward to getting to know all about you and your new rescue! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Welcome to you and Willy! Looking forward to learning more about the two of you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Am I reading that right? You were re-united after you found him again on CL after a decade? That's pretty dang'd amazing story! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 21 minutes ago, SRSeedBurners said: Am I reading that right? You were re-united after you found him again on CL after a decade? That's pretty dang'd amazing story! Yup, that's correct, not quite a decade, but almost.. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 How did you recognize it was your birdy? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 9 minutes ago, SRSeedBurners said: How did you recognize it was your birdy? Well, his name, age, location, the history that the rescue was aware of, everything he says, all the sounds he mimics, and his band. Plus, he recognized me. That was important, too. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Wow, how fortunate that you happened to see him! Thank you for giving him a forever home 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytness Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Wow! I'm amazed that he could still recognize you after all these years! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 20 minutes ago, Greytness said: Wow! I'm amazed that he could still recognize you after all these years! Huh, I never gave it a thought that he could forget me; I don't forget people that quickly, some horses (lots of ungulates, actually) remember people even if they've only met them once, and dogs retain scents for life. Never even entertained the possibility that a Grey could forget a person they'd known for years. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Timbersmom said: Wow, how fortunate that you happened to see him! Thank you for giving him a forever home I was sooooo lucky I saw the ad so quickly. It was only up for an hour and I was one of three people who had already responded. And the rescuer was so kind to have me meet him to see how he reacted to me, and gave me dibs because I knew him previously. Just so, so lucky. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Oh I don't doubt you knew it was your bird when you met face-to-beak. I'm just wondering how in the world you saw a CL ad and knew who it was. I have a bird I lost 25 years ago to a divorce. She ended up with my aunt so I was able to see Odie (my Grey) after we hadn't seen each other for 20+ years. We both knew each other instantly. But I'm not sure I would see an ad and have any inkling it was Odie. I'm just amazed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 46 minutes ago, SRSeedBurners said: Oh I don't doubt you knew it was your bird when you met face-to-beak. I'm just wondering how in the world you saw a CL ad and knew who it was. I have a bird I lost 25 years ago to a divorce. She ended up with my aunt so I was able to see Odie (my Grey) after we hadn't seen each other for 20+ years. We both knew each other instantly. But I'm not sure I would see an ad and have any inkling it was Odie. I'm just amazed. That must have been rough, divorce is no fun. (understatement) That's great that you got to see Odie again- bet it was a heck of a reunion! I developed a habit of clicking on every ad for a Grey I saw on CL, just looking for him. I saw the pics first (my profession is very detail oriented, and relies on my ability to see subtleties and differences in individuals, so I'm something of a freak when it comes to seeing.) I saw the pics and just knew it was him by posture, mannerisms, and colouring (gave me goosebumps and all), then read the text, saw the name, and dialed the phone as fast as I could. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoow Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Welcome to the fourms! What a lucky find! I hope he is settling in well and adapting to his new home. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 58 minutes ago, Jnx said: That must have been rough, divorce is no fun. (understatement) That's great that you got to see Odie again- bet it was a heck of a reunion! I developed a habit of clicking on every ad for a Grey I saw on CL, just looking for him. I saw the pics first (my profession is very detail oriented, and relies on my ability to see subtleties and differences in individuals, so I'm something of a freak when it comes to seeing.) I saw the pics and just knew it was him by posture, mannerisms, and colouring (gave me goosebumps and all), then read the text, saw the name, and dialed the phone as fast as I could. Haa, I get goosebumps just reading how you found him. The birdman in me says it was just meant to happen. I know how much these guys mean to some of us. Would love to see more about Willy. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytness Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Such an awesome story overall. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Thanks again for the welcome, everyone! Willy's doing really well, talking up a storm and seems overall relaxed and playful. Right now I've got him in my studio (attaching pics from his view- forgive the plant mess, I just moved everything back inside for the winter, and am placing everything painstakingly), as I'm generally in there working. He has a rolling play stand, and I'm setting up a flight cage in our living room for him, too, so he has a cage besides his studio bedroom cage, and can be more in on the action after he's settled a bit. He's going through his sounds to see what gets my attention when I'm not in the studio. I am ignoring anything I don't want repeated fifty times a day. 😊 We took a nap together yesterday during a nice autumn thunderstorm. (After I managed to get soaked wrangling the guineas and chickens back into their coops, lol.) Only issue I'm having so far is trying to get him to accept pelleted food and veggies. Always was a seed and fruit junkie, and that has not changed. I'd like to balance his diet, though. Any tips? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 We have chickens and guineas too. The guineas are a riot! My daily go-to parrot buffet consists of the following: - sprouts (china prairie or the bird mixes from sproutpeople.org) - cookable (Volkman featherglow soak and simmer AND Volkman Featherglow Birdeez Buffet 15 Minute Soak and Serve) - If I have frozen peas,corn(not much), or other veggies, I throw them in the cook - Fresh choppables: banana, jalapeno, sweet potatoe (toss in the cook), bell pepper, brocolli, cauliflower, whatever else I may have - Sometimes I mix in soaked and cooked bean mix too. It looks like this usually and they go nutters over it. I generally make a 2-4 day supply. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 41 minutes ago, SRSeedBurners said: We have chickens and guineas too. The guineas are a riot! My daily go-to parrot buffet consists of the following: - sprouts (china prairie or the bird mixes from sproutpeople.org) - cookable (Volkman featherglow soak and simmer AND Volkman Featherglow Birdeez Buffet 15 Minute Soak and Serve) - If I have frozen peas,corn(not much), or other veggies, I throw them in the cook - Fresh choppables: banana, jalapeno, sweet potatoe (toss in the cook), bell pepper, brocolli, cauliflower, whatever else I may have - Sometimes I mix in soaked and cooked bean mix too. It looks like this usually and they go nutters over it. I generally make a 2-4 day supply. Wow, that looks good! I'll have to order the Volkman mixes. Thanks for the recipe, I will give it a try! I'm a little reluctant to go through too much prep initially, as he refuses all veggies. He picks them out if I mix them in his seed mix, and throws them on the floor in a mic drop sort of move. He was always like this. Even the fruit he'll take is limited. (He just threw plum all over the floor because it was not an orange.) Have you had any experience with this sort of dramatic refusal, and conned a picky eater into loving veggies? He has such a limited palate. As for guineas, our neighbors hate them, but we had zero fleas or ticks this year. 😄 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 When Huey came to us he was on Fruit Loops for breakfast and who knows what else. I dumped the Fruit Loops on day 1 and his mission in life was to eat what was served or watch GreycieMae eat it all in front of him. It didn't take long and he was digging in. He is now a good eater and really looks forward to breakfast. I only break out the treats: seed mix, nuts etc for special treat time. Otherwise I don't give them a choice to throw all the hard work stuff on the floor and eat only goodies. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnx Posted October 26, 2018 Author Share Posted October 26, 2018 On 10/24/2018 at 5:29 PM, SRSeedBurners said: When Huey came to us he was on Fruit Loops for breakfast and who knows what else. I dumped the Fruit Loops on day 1 and his mission in life was to eat what was served or watch GreycieMae eat it all in front of him. It didn't take long and he was digging in. He is now a good eater and really looks forward to breakfast. I only break out the treats: seed mix, nuts etc for special treat time. Otherwise I don't give them a choice to throw all the hard work stuff on the floor and eat only goodies. Holy heck! Froot Loops! They're not good for anyone! If I'm going to have sugar for breakfast I go for a cheese danish, lol. Not that that's much better. Thanks to your advice and some Google searches I've now got him to eat pellets for breakfast! I take his feed out at night, and give him pellets first thing in the morning. I ate a few in front of him the first day and then offered to share. Worked like a charm! Also, they're delicious- he may have to fight me for them. 😉 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Yes, that's another brilliant way to get them to eat something: eat it yourself. And for added affect, act like you don't want to share it 🤣 😂 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 On 10/23/2018 at 12:31 PM, Greytness said: Wow! I'm amazed that he could still recognize you after all these years! Greys never forget people in their lives. I have read so ma y stories of grey. Ding reunited with their first owners after many many years....they’ll always remember....just like dogs and horses do! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now