A change of heart

[annmarie]

awh, thank you so much to each and everyone of you...you are all wonderful... I am trying to figure out what sub species. I like them more slender than stocky..the Vos seems to be more slender and a little longer. I'll see...???

 

Fairy

 

I know exactly what you mean and I think you are very smart and doing the right thing..you never know, down the road may work out so much better for you. Keep us posted!!

 

Raposa

 

awh, how sad! What sub species was your ekkie?? I am happy you have a wonderful grey,,they are amazing birds.

 

Ranaz..wow!! Lucky you!! That is amazing! If I can only have a guarantee for a grey like yours, I wouldn't have a question mark at all..I am happy for you!!

 

Thanks again everyone!

Ann Marie

[Guest]

Do let us know what bird you are finally getting, Annemarie. No matter which bird they're all so lovely (I found out with my Canary who's a real 'character')

[annmarie]

Thanks Fairy..you do the same... we have a cockatiel,"Freddie" the kids love him.. I happen to like canary's, my mother always had them while growing up, I love their song, very pretty. Puts a smile on my face when I hear of them

 

Have a good day!

Ann Marie

[PekingeseMama]

I'm glad you decided to stick around, AnnMarie! Good luck with your eclectus! I hope you take pictures for us to see him/her!

[oppie]

Hi, annmarie

 

Spencer, our Grey is a great bird, but my heart has to go to the Eclectus! We had a female, and she was more of a people bird. We got lucky with her, because, as you probably know, a lot of females have attitudes. If someone offered me a male ekkie, I'd take him in a heartbeat!

[Guest]

Ohhhhh gender-discrimination, Ralph! :evil:

 

 

(sorry, sorry... just joking )

[annmarie]

Thank you PekingeseMama! It will be great to chat with all of you!

 

Ralph

 

Thanks for sharing... that was the only reason we dicided on an eclectus. Having kids who really want a larger bird, we need more of a people bird. It would of been unpleasant if this bird only liked one of them, or none of them. I have heard about females, so thats why we decided on a male . There are some who have very lovable females, like yours. They are absolutely beautiful..( but I don't want to take a chance..lol! )

 

nice meeting you Ralph..who knows. maybe someday you will have a male ekkie!

Ann Marie

[annmarie]

CarolandFamily wrote:

Awww Thank You Annmarie I have a whole lot of pictures of him in the nursery! He's my doll baby awww I am sorry I didn't mean to pull on your heat strings

 

CarolandFamily

 

Oh you are killing me..look at that baby!! so precious!! You did it again..hehe

Ann Marie

[casper]

annmarie,

 

I hope you find the right bird for you. Its great you did your research and came to the right decision for you and your family.

 

I have three greys which I have had from being babies.

In the beginning they would go to all the family but now they will only be handled by myself.

 

My husband and kids would love to be involved with the birds more but we have to respect they have made their choice of me being the favourite person, who knows this may change in the future.

 

Im glad you will be staying and cant wait to hear more when you find the right companion.

 

Good luck.

 

Caroline:)

[annmarie]

good morning Caroline

 

Thanks for sharing..wow, all three favor you! My kids would be very up set if that happened here. That is exactly why I decided not to get a grey...but I do think they are great birds..I have only met two in my life and they are attached to their owner..you can't go near them. I first thought because they were each raised by one person. I realized

this could very well happen living with a

family, just like what happened with you and your three . My kids have wanted a parrot for a few years already. Now that the time has come I had to be very careful in my decision and what would

be a good family bird..so with us it was the eclectus. I am driving my self crazy in which sub species, not easy when there are a few choices..wish it was more cut and dry like a grey.

 

Have a good day!

Ann Marie

[CarolandFamily]

Aww I'm sorry Annmarie lol I just love that doll baby he will be here soon. Pretty soon whenever you get a bird you make sure that you show us baby pictures too

 

Carol

[sue09]

Annmarie, I agree with what everyone on here has said. Greys are beautiful but do tend to be selective in their choice of humans. I had a male eclectus prior to having Ollie. We only had him for a short while as he was born with a genetic disease, but Mikey was so beautiful and I treasure the time we had him.

[MrsB]

Annmarie, keep us posted on your new addition. I am going to meet an SI Male tonight, he is five and I am pretty sure we will be bringing him to live with us. Not tonight, but if all goes well, soon.

I said the same thing that I wish I wouldn't have to join a separate group, and found out there are other Ekkie's here! Erika (Baxtersmom) has been a great source of info.

[judygram]

Erika and some others have eclectus parrots and a lot of us have pretty much most of the other parrot species so there are members here who can be of help to others with parrots other than greys but greys are our speciality.

[sugarbeth]

Annmarie~ it's great to see your post, because I am in the same situation, and I haven't brought it up yet. I came here to research greys as well, and spent the past year getting ready to bring one home. Then I went and met a few in person, and talked with some owners who were giving their pets away, and I realized that a grey wasn't quite what I was looking for.

 

It is a HUGE commitment, and should not be entered into impulsively. So you've done great to do all the investigating beforehand. Someone told me once, "sometimes you have to walk all the way up to the edge of the cliff before you make the decision not to jump off". I'm glad I didn't jump into getting a grey too quickly, because I've since fallen in love with the little Hahn's macaws, and also, I really hate to dust! The eclectus are super cute, I think that'll be a great bird for your family.

 

I still love those greys, but I will just admire them from afar now. Hopefully I'll get my Hahn's this summer.

[danmcq]

Wise dicisions from both Ann Marie and Sugarbeth. It is truly inspiring to see people such as you two going to such lengths in esnuring your making a good dicision for you and your family before jumping into it. Few people do this and thus the need for rescue shelters in every city.

 

I must say though in behalf of Greys, that they do not all just interact with one person. It all comes down to how well they were socialized when young and introduced to new people of all ages and sexes.

 

As any pet whether dog, cat, bird etc., in reality, they all do have a "Favorite" person they will go to and want to be with more often than others.

 

Even the cuddly CockaToos will have a "Favorite". It's just something we all get used to inlife with both human and critter relationships.

 

But, your definately correct in your findings that Greys are more cautious, picky and tempermental than most other Parrots. Thus "High Maintenance" as us men found out about our women, once they tricked us into marriage. ;-) :-)

[annmarie]

Carolandfamily, you are killing me with cuteness overload.. What a darling baby.. I am it is so hard waiting for him to come home…how much longer of a wait?

 

Sue09

Awh, I am sorry about losing your ekkie . He was well loved and I am sure he had a wonderful loving life with you!

 

Mrs.B.. that is wonderful! How did it go??? Details please J This is a great place , I am also grateful that those of us are non grey people are welcome here.

 

Judy gram..the main thing is we are all bird lovers. Even if we do not share the same species, we all have something in common and that is the nice part.

 

Sugarbeth you are smart for doing your research. You are doing the best that fits you. In the end you and your new bird will be happy… We thought of a Hahns..they are precious little macaws! Keep us posted, can’t wait to here when you bring home your new baby.

 

Danmcq.. now , now..lets face it, you guys tricked us..LOL!

I do like greys very much, I think they are incredible birds. I do know each one is different. The only reason I felt it’s not the right match is due to my kids. They are the ones who have been waiting for a larger bird the past few years. we need a bird who is known for being fond of more than one person … or there will be hurt feelings with them .

 

Ok… here’s what has been going on…. We brought an ekkie home. He was 6 months old. The first day and a half everything was wonderful. He went to all of us and seemed very comfortable here. I bought tons of fresh veggies and fruits (they are one bird who needs a fresh food diet) I also cooked a big pot of brown rice mixed with all fresh veggies and froze individual servings for each morning for his warm meal…

 

Poof! This bird decided he did not like me..bit the S*** out of me with everything he had. Many wounds. I never showed him a reaction. I always held in my scream and very calmly said “No, That was not nice” and walked away… day after day he went after me. He liked my son and husband, never bit them. I got to a point where I did not let my daughter near him.. I was thinking he may not like females . I was also nervous if he would bit my son as hard as he did me. A week of this went by. I talked to a few eclectus enthusiasts and I was told they normally do not bite and felt once he did this he always would and it may be really hard to break him of it. So I took him back. My son was up set , on the other hand he was ok with it because it really up set him when I got bit, he did not want to see me hurt (how sweet is that)

 

The owner suggested a cockatoo. I decided against it in the past because of things I have read and it scared me Talking with the owner, he said ekkies can be a one or two person bird as well, that is why he felt a too was better for us mainly because I wanted a family bird. With that, he took me to a tank with a baby eleanora . Very young, 4 weeks old, still not fully feathered and adorable. ( we have considered an eleanora back when) He said this was the bird for us…it’s so young and it will bond with all of us..to visit as much as possible and help with hand feeding (he will teach us) he also suggested to bring him home when a little older and hand feed ourselves. This is not because he wants to push a bird out and a quick jingle in his pocket as he has older ones ready to go now…he knows how important it is to want a ‘family’ bird. After what happened with the ekkie he wants to make sure we have a nice bird. He stressed as long as we follow what he tells us, we will have a great bird. (not to spoil, don’t hold him all day. Let him learn to play with toys and entertain themselves etc….) The eleanora is not as needy as other too’s and are not know to be screamers or pluckers..

 

I know I must sound nuts at this point, I sure do feel it, but I also feel a bird is a life long commitment who will be with us a life time and then some. Some feel I am putting way to much into it and taking the fun out of getting a bird, but this is a decision I guess I do not take lightly… I am definitely considering the baby eleanora…anyone have suggestions??

 

Thanks!

Ann Marie