revisiting

[annmarie]

Some of you may be familiar with some of my posts. We have been through a lot in finding the ’perfect’ bird for us…along the way I have learned so much. Our first choice was a grey. I had a change of heart thinking we needed a “family” bird that would like to be with all of us. Being our first med. size bird and knowing how exciting it was, I feared feelings would be hurt if the bird didn’t take to all members of the family. I was disappointed as we waited a long time for one. Reality set in and that just may be a fairy tale with any parrot.. you just never know who they will like, or who they won’t. Doing a lot of research on other species brought us back to the grey. It has been a roller coaster for us and a huge amount of consideration. So I would like to share we are getting a grey after all. We have one picked out and have been visiting him/her the past two weeks. We are all holding and cuddling the baby so he/she gets familiar with all of us from a young age ( 6 weeks now) I feel at ease knowing we did make the right choice and no longer have any doubt this is the right bird.

 

I hope I am welcomed to learn and share with all of you, this is such a great site with tons of knowledge from all of you. I haven’t posted much, but I have been reading away which has taught me a lot already. I know it was a rocky start and mistakes have been made along the way, but I would like to wipe the slate clean and have a happy fresh start.

Thanks

Ann Marie

[casper]

Ann Marie,

 

That is great news!

You can never tell what the babies wil be like, some will turn into one person birds others will remain social with all the family.

 

Do you live near to the breeder? Will you be able to visit quite often with your new baby?

 

Congratulations! I cant wait to hear more about your new baby:)

 

You know you are always welcome here, with or without a grey!

[judygram]

Ann Marie, just be sure you are prepared for this grey to pick one of you for it's favorite as that happens a lot but if the whole family pitches in with the feeding, cleaning cages and otherwise socializing with the bird then it will be more likely to be a family bird who may only allow certain ones to do certain things but will likely allow each member of the "flock" to handle or interact with it.

 

You are certainly welcomed here, we don't fault you for considering another bird, in fact we are proud of you for researching to find out the right fit for your family. Its the ones who jump in and get a grey on a whim that make me mad, they go into a pet store and see one and it talks and they have to have it, bring it home and it bites the crap out of them and they wonder why.

 

Don't worry about mistakes, we all make them, I make them with Josey but I learn from them and you will learn a lot from this site as you already have by reading thru the threads.

 

Welcome to the wonderful world of grey ownership, you have just made a lifetime committment.

[annmarie]

Casper, Thank you... yes, we have been spending a lot of time with the baby. It's really wonderful that we can ..it will make the home coming easier for him/her. Everyone of us is holding, cuddling and talking to the baby. He will be familiar with us and know each of our voices... I am at ease and in a comfort zone with him.. it's such a great feeling when you know it's right.. we have been through a lot and I know I may have sounded crazy, but this is a huge commitment and I had to get past many question marks..glad I did!

 

judygram..thank you for writing..yes, we are aware how they can be. We visit a few times a week, a few hours each time so he/she gets to know all of us. Hopefully he will be kind enough to a least tolerate most of us.. I ordered cd's from Barbara Heidenreich from Good Bird.. parrot behavior and training and understanding parrot body language.. can't wait to get them..any day! we also subscribed to the magazine... we have had books and we all have read them as well..the more info. the better

 

Thanks!

Ann Marie

[Jane08]

Great to hear you decided on a grey.

 

That is a good training cd you ordered, we went on a course with her just after we got our first grey as we were having issues with him, he hated my boyfriend.

 

She really changed that for us and made us more aware of why our grey did what he did and what we could do to change it.

 

Good luck

[annmarie]

Jane

wow!! Lucky you!! She is really an amazing woman... She was at our local parrot society last year, I did not know until after the fact and we missed it. I am glad to hear everything worked out and you & your BF can now enjoy him! I am sure we will learn a lot through her...

Ann Marie

[Tycos_mom]

Wow Here I was checking the Other birds room to see which bird you decided on and here you are in the African Grey section yipppeee

I'm so glad you decided on a Grey they are extreamly awesome birds. I love mine to bits both of them. Thats not to say I don't have other favorites also but The Grey is definatly way up there on the list. I've been very blessed with a few wonderful parrots and I wouldn't trade the experiance and companionship that we have for anything in this world. My birds are like my children and they get all the love and caring I can give You are giving a very speical gift to your children also to grow up with a wild animal that can give love and sense eveything you feel is a awesome gift. My children always had birds growing up and they will always love and repect them. They trully are more than just a pet.<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2009/05/02 19:43

[Jane08]

Anne Marie she is amazing and she is so calm around the birds, what a shame you missed her. I really feel strongly that all first time bird owners should go on some sort of course if they can.

 

Rangi was only 6 months old when we took him to her and she even showed us how to teach him to step up the correct way. We made the mistake of reading books that said push you finger gently into his abdomen to get him to step up. Big mistake and I am so ashamed we did that. No wonder he hated my bf who was the main culprit of this.

[BaxtersMom]

Hi Annmarie, I too was wondering what kind of bird you were going to get and it turned out to be a grey afterall. They are awesome birds and even if your grey does eventually pick a favorite that does not mean the rest of the family will not enjoy him or her just as much. My grey picked me for his favorite but my husband still has a good relationship with him so it all worked out.

 

Later on my husband got an amazon and it favors him but I can still do a lot with him too. At our house it's not so much they only like one person, it's more like they pick a person that they prefer to handle and touch them. My husband can't pick up Baxter at all but they do do alot of stuff together anyways so I still think it will work out.

 

Many of us here on the forum start with one bird and end up getting a second bird after that. They (parrots) are so amazing you can't help but want another one.

 

Please let us know when your knew addition will be coming home. and just so you know, you would have been welcome here what ever you decided:)

[Luvparrots]

Congratulations, Ann Marie on selecting a grey as your first companion bird. Is your grey a Congo or a Timneh? If you have any pictures of your new baby, we would love to see them. Can't wait to hear more about your baby and see some pictures!!!!

[CarolandFamily]

Annmarie- You know I am happy for you!!!! Remember what I told yu do what is right in YOUR heart it don't matter what we say because it's your house and your family I am happy that you are getting your baby! I can't wait to hear all about him/she yippeeee{Communicate-0002011B}

[annmarie]

Thanks so much for letting me join in again after all my ups and downs..and I had a few ..

 

Jane.. please share how she taught you to properly do step up.. you left me hanging ..lol

 

Patricia (tyco’s mom) awh, thanks so much for thinking of me and checking. That was so sweet! We are very happy, we really are. My brother has a grey who is 12 years old. He is an amazing bird.. smart as they come. A few of our friends have them also, so we are pretty familiar with them, even though they are a look don’t touch.. we enjoy them even so.

 

Baxter’s mom, Thank you also .. that was so nice to think of me! ( I was checking there also looking to see what bird we got.. lol) My kids want to name him Alex.. They love “The famous Alex” We have his book and watched his video’s many of times, just amazing. I wasn’t crazy for it only because it is very popular.. then again, I guess it will work with being a male or female. While we were visiting, there was a lovely woman in the store. She came up and talked with us for a while.. all of a sudden she said “Greyson” for a name..I actually liked it, but the kids didn’t.. they actually hated it. .lol will see…

 

Luvparrots, Thank you! He is a congo. The owner thinks he’s a boy because his head was bigger.. I do not know if we can take that to the bank, but I will probably have him dna’ d. I have to figure out how to post pictures on here the last time I tried to post a picture, it said it was to big, tried to get in from ‘my pictures’ I’ll try again! He is still not fully feathered.. just adorable and sweet! (for now. .lol)

 

Carol.. Now you know every time I see your babies, I drool.. talk about cute! Love them! How much longer??? The waiting is not easy! We are in it two weeks now and it feels like two years… it’s hard. We were there yesterday and today to visit. He is such a sweet baby.. my son holds him for over an hour and he is just so darn cute. He fell asleep in my sons arms.. one lady who works there saw this and said, you definitely have the right bird ..look how he feels safe and content in your sons arms. . I was so happy to hear such a nice comment. .he seems very calm, more so than the other babies that are there. Next week the owner is going to start giving us a turn under his supervision to give him a hand feeding… can’t wait..I hope he remembers this when we take him home!

 

Thanks again everyone.. it is so nice to be able to be a part of the world of greys!

Ann Marie

[Jane08]

LOL Anne Marie. Watch this video she took of Rangi and my boyfriend doing step up training, it's about 1min in. It shows how it was done.

 

We used sunflower seeds as the treat. Now this was the first time we had ever done this and I was so suprised as Rangi would always bite my bf if he got that close. Rangi loved the training and for the first time I saw the delight in my boyfriends face.

 

Now we use this method of training for everything we do, positive reinforcement.

 

[she]

AnnMarie I am so pleased for you.Far from making a mistake I feel you acted spot on in questioning the suitability of a grey for your home, I wish others were as sensible.Barbera Heindrich is fantastic,you wont go wrong with the dvds. Keep us posted.

[annmarie]

Jane, wow, amazing! Thanks for sharing! How great was that! I am going to keep a 5lb bag on hand..lol How lucky you were to be in her class! Rangi is adorable! So glad your BF is enjoying him.

 

 

She, It was the best decision we made and are very happy... having you guys and Barbara H. makes it even better!

 

Thanks!! Ann Marie

[CarolandFamily]

Awww That is so awesome AnnMarie! My babies might be here end of the month! My breeder sent me an update esterday the rwins are REFUSING there morning feeds! Yipppeee so they are eating on there own in the mornings and are cutting back on the lunch feeds! So the litte boogers are almost weaned! lol She wants them fully feathered, flying on there own and eating on there own before they come here. I say either the end of May or maybe the second week of June. I am in no rush I just want them to be ready.

 

I am so happy for you and glad we were able to share messages back and forth on here. You have my email send me one whenever and I can't wait to hear more about your baby!

 

 

Jane- I am going to have to check out your video. I was on Barbra's website earlier today she looks so wonderful. I gotta check her out too

[annmarie]

Carol, that is great and exciting news! Your breeder sounds wonderful! It makes a huge difference when your babies come from someone who does it right and really cares. I am so happy for you, I feel your excitement {Nature-000200C9}

[danmcq]

Congratulations Annmarie!!

 

It's wonderful to hear you are able to visit and interact with your new baby grey. :-)

 

Now you know we need to see lots of weekly photos... ;-) :-)

[annmarie]

Thank you Dan! we love to visit. He is a very calm baby and falls asleep in my son's arms..it's so cute! I have been trying post a picture of the baby..no matter what I do, it will not post..I have tried from my picture folder and photobucket.. sooner or later I will get it to work

Ann Marie

[danmcq]

Ok, in photobucket, if you hover your mouse over a photo, you will see options appear below, click on the IMG Code and it wil turn blue, right click on it and select Copy, then go to the thread you posting in and Right Click, then select Paste.

 

You will then see the link to your image in the body of your thread like http:\\someurl.com\photo\mine.jpg....

 

You can keep going back and forth selecting a phot, copy, paste etc. to your thread and posti as many photos in a row as you wish.

 

Hope this helps. :-)<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/05/03 17:23

[annmarie]

Thanks Dan, That is what I have done.. I am trying again ...

 

[danmcq]

GreYt Job!!

 

Awww, what a cute baby Grey you have there, thanks for posting it. :-)

[annmarie]

ok, it worked! here is the new baby above. is is 6 weeks old..here he is in my son's arms...

 

Ann Marie

[annmarie]

I think we were writing at the same time...thanks for your help...

[Luvparrots]

It was well worth the wait!!!! Your new baby is sure a cutie!!! Thanks for sharing him with us, Ann Marie!