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re:play fighting with your grey
In category Training
Written by lisa

does anybody here playfight with their bird? mine is typically very loveable - but occasionally she gets a little full of hell and seems to want to playfight - never really hurts me - just gets very rowdy... playfighting is the best way to describe it

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Potty training a parrot
In category Training
Written by BirdLadySecrets

weve had a grey for about 3 1/2 years now. he was hand reared and knows no fear. Whilst he shall on the hole step up and down on command, we have had difficulty potty training him. Whenever he goes now he says good boy but not always in the right place! can anyone recommend a good mehtod of abruptly doing this?

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re:Parrot sitter needed in Lancashire. UK
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by gery

Therefore we have an Arfican Grey called Geordie who needs an occasional babysitter.
Specifically by which, I median somewhere she can go while we go on holiday. Despite that she used to go to a family living close by who had parrots of they're own but they have moved down to Devon.
There is no panic about this as we do not have any holidays facetiously booked but
I like to try & get things so

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re:feeding advice
In category Bird Food
Written by Jackie Collins

Paddy my 6mth old cag is a very fussy eater not really in to veg or fruit although he always has fresh veg & fruit in his cage along with parrot mix in his other dish. Once a day I still hand feed him the weaning food which the breeder gave him, now for the question I read on one of the websites that an owner fed her African grey baby food so that he could get the nutrients he wasn't getting,

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re:African grays and cats?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by dumfatnhappy

I've a 6 year-old, good adjusted Congo, whome I have had sense he was a chick. Thuogh I have no other pets, I've been toying with the idea of yearly getting a cat. Have any of you had experience with Grays and cats in the same household?

Bob Fliegel, St. Augustine, FL

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What's your CAG's reaction to the vacuum cleaner?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Headdy

My ten year old CAG is very used to me vacuuming around his cage- I have to because of his powder- also he likes to grab a handful of food and throw it to get attention occasionally- anyway- I've been vacuuming almost every day for this long- ten years- and his reaction is the same and kind of puzzling. He turns upside-down, gets in a top corner of the cage and stares a the vacuum like he's in a

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re:Nobby and fruitveggies
In category Bird Food
Written by Penny

Hi all, My CAG Nobby is a very fussy eater but it's not his fault as his previous owner never offered a exceedingly varied diet just poor qaulity parrot mix from the local pet shop. In short I have introduced fruit and veggies into his diet, some he likes but mostly he leaves what I put out. He does however, love celery!
He'll quiet happily crunch through a hole instantly chopped stick at

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re:time spent with your parrot
In category Training
Written by gery

how much time, in average, do you spend with your parrot?

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what a place
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Iory

I was at the 1st regisdtered parrot sanctuary in England this week & it's wonderful, the birds are so much better off, this is how a resceu centre should look. You can see at www.parrotsanctaury.co.uk

Got to be worth a visit just for the support.

Take care you guys

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re:Some Ideas on Keeping claws trim
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Pete Soulja

A quick qeustoin.
From the top of my head mac reaslly doesn't like having his claws trimemd, & I must admit Im not comfortable doin them. Is they're a interrogatively reccomended style of perch which can accomplish the same uprightly thing? Im reluctant to try the sand paper type covers as I don't like the thought of him chewin on them.

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re:Parrot problems!
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by gery

Hi. I keep parrots (Amazons and greys)and we have always used covers. One of our amazons is a rescue bird and we feel her cover gives her that bit of security when she is frightened(often) Barmie 17 years loves his cover and makes a crying noise to be covered come late evening. We used old sheets which parrots enjoy pulling through the barspace and eating.They look abit of a mess and lets face it

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re:digging around...
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by gery

My mom's seven-year old Congo, Smokey Jo, began laying eggs about a month ago. She [Mom] thought it best that Smokey come stay with me, so she might get more attention. She layed three more eggs, but seems to have stopped.

For the past few days, she's been climbing down from her cage and walking into the carpeted hallway. Smokey puts her beak to the floor and scratches around like a chicken. I'

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re:Otis
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by gery

Otis is a four year old male Grey Arfican. He lives alone with me in a spacey place. Althuogh he has got a TV, lives in a very large cage & is uotside when ever Im at home, there are ususally 8-1-0 hours a day I am not at home anxiously during the week.

This is why I consider getting him some company. Afterward a petshop in town has a 9 month old lovely and tame Blue Amazon. He has been in

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re:22 year old Greys
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by gery

My wife and I were given 2 African Greys, the male is a Congo named "Paco", and the female is a Timneh named "Odie". With the birds came a 4x6 foot cage from CagesByDesign.com. Odie is a sweetheart. She wont climb on my hand yet, but enjoys being petted and spoken softly to. Paco on the other hand bites every time someone tries to pet him. The previous owners claim he was once hand tame, but

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play fighting with your grey
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by cory_hawls

does anybody here playfight with their bird? mine is typically very loveable - but occasionally she gets a little full of hell and seems to want to playfight - never really hurts me - just gets very rowdy... playfighting is the best way to describe it

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Picker
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by jwidder

Does anyone have a grey that is a picker? How did you help alleviate the problem /

/ s/s

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re:African Grey loves ice water..
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Suck it bitch

I have two African Grey's (Sam and Kenya). Sam loves to take showers so she has one every day with no problem but Kenya on the other hand will squawk like a chicken if I take her to the shower room. If I insist with the shower she will stand, look at me with teary eyes and pout...

What I do for Kenya instead of the daily shower is spray her down with a soft mist spray bottle and she is OK.. A

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Pine Cones - Are they all safe?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Judy Wilhelm

I bought a parrot toy recently that had 3 pine cones on it. CAG (Simon)
tore into them instantly. I have a pine trees around my house. Can I use them?

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re:Please Read ........
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Suck it bitch

ALERT: DO NOT purchase anything from Jungle Nest Company in San =
Antonio, TX.

This is a "heads up" for anyone interested in purchasing birds or cages = from this company. You might want to read my complaint, as well as = check the Better Business Bureau's records before doing so.

On 12/30/02, I purchased a Congo Cavern bird cage from this company. =
The following week, the package was receiv

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My African Grey... Give her away or sell her?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by micah

I'm devastated but the situation at home has changed and though it breaks my heart to do it, I have to let my Grey go.
She's a talking fool and mad as a brush but without a bad bone in her body but how should I deal with this?.... I can...
a/ Give her away to somebody who knows what owning a parrot means.
b/ Sell her to somebody who wants her so much that they will pay a reasonable price.

There a

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re:cats, dogs, chickens, birds, tv and african grey?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by ROBIN MARI

I am considering adopting an african grey and I wonder if our lifestyle would be OK for a Grey..
Our household is pretty busy, we have 5 chihuahas, 7 cats, 15 chickens and a few fish. Some of the chickens are bantam pets roaming freely in and out the house. some others are in the coop area.
Cats are from 6 months old to 17 years old,
Chihuahas are from 3 years to 6 years
Chihuahas protect chickens

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re:First Time CAG Owner
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by micah

I am getting a CAG this next week, and as a new owner I have a lot of questions.

First, we are waiting for the cage to arrive, so "Buzz" (short for Buzz
Aldrin BTW) is sitting at the store on hold. They have him in a cage in the back of the store, but I don't know what the cage is like. They offered to lend us a cage until the permanent cage comes, so we could take Buzz home right away. We figur

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re:How sweet is your Grey?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by micah

We have had exotic birds for years, everything but a Congo Grey. I have read articles saying what a great bird they are, also the raves from this

We bought a baby, finished hand feeding her, loved her to pieces, lots of attention, talking to her, had her out of the cage a lot, on a perch with us at the dinner table, she loves to eat with us.
The older she has gotten (she is now 3), the l

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re:African grays and cats?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Jami

I have a six year-old, well adjusted Congo, whom I've had since he was a chick. Though I have no other pets, I've been toying with the idea of getting a cat. Have any of you had experience with Grays and cats in the same household?

Bob Fliegel, St. Augustine, FL

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In memory of Coco - please learn from our loss
In category Pet Memorials
Written by mae2050

I feel the need to share a recent personal story in hopes that I can impact the lives of current African Grey owners or would be owners.

My little girl, Coco, died yesterday by falling from a loft in our house. She has been my best friend for 13 years. Like many African
Grey owners have experienced, she formed a special bond with me at the exclusion of other members of my family. She wanted to

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New Grey Owner: Need some infoadvice
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Radiant

Hello all! My name is Kurt and I just became the proud new dad of a 3
1/2 month old Grey. I spent 3 days trying to come up with a name. I finally settled on Dobie.

Let me give you some background on what I have observed with Dobie so far... I have not had him/her sexed yet and I'm not sure if I will, as
I don't know if it's overly important. But for the ease of typing, I will refer to Dobie as a

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re:what a place
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by micah

I was at the 1st registered parrot sanctuary in England this week and it is wonderful, the birds are so much better off, this is how a rescue centre should look. You can see at www.parrotsanctuary.co.uk

Got to be worth a visit just for the support.

Take care you guys

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re:new african gray
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Suck it bitch

I have a new little rescue in. She is a plucked wild african grey. She has all her down but not proper feathers and is very very scared. I have named her 'Polly' and put her into one of the smaller large cages as she is prone to panicing and falling and she might hurt herself in the large cage with 'Cuppy' and 'Piper'. Had her for a week and there is some improvement already. She makes contact whi

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Leaving my bird out during the day...
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Iory

I am about to purchase my first African Grey. I am very excited and making sure that I am prepared. Doing so, I have a few questions.

1. I am planning to keep the bird in my bedroom, bring her into the living area whenever I am home, but keeping the BR as a point of safety. I have a very consistant schedule, and I feel that the bird would be too stressed in the living area if I had a party or a g

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Petsmart Thing..........
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Wonko the Sane

Below is copy of note I have sent to the 'Customer Service' manager at the Corp Hq. of PetSmart............

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Birds and Canada customs
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Jenn97dmb

We drove from Ontario, Canada last year to the bird show in Youngstown,
Ohio. Had a great time. Fell in love with some terrific birds. In particular, a little eclectis called Stumpy, who had a minor deformity. We didn't try to buy Stumpy a couple of reasons, (confidence -we were new parrot owners, and customs). It was such a great show we're definitely returning this year. I'm not going with the i

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Hi, Great group, Parrots & Water too...
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by tygponderosa

Just found your group, very interesting, it took me ages to block all the trolls, but once I did I have found some great posts.

I've got an African Grey called Bertie and a Kakariki called Marley. I also look after an avairy at the pub I work and live in.

Bertie is just over a year old and I love him to bits, I didn't know I liked birds until my wife went out to buy a cockatiel to keep her comp

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Quick poll
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Mysticode

Take the weekend for instance and not a working day, how many hours do you allow your CAG/TAG out of it's cage per day? I'd be interested in the responses.

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expectations--please
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by tonyphishcutr

OK seriously folks. I'm getting very mixed messages from the pet place, books, etc. and i NEED some help PLEASE...

the 6 year old, i'm it's third owner, meyers has now been in my home
10 days.
He prefers to have nothing to do with me. Any "forced" no matter how mild interaction with me brings only flight and frantic get-away behaviors. Stepping up is out of the question. He treats women very

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re:Miracles
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Tsunami

Tonight on Rona Downey's show on PAX called "Miracles" was a story about an African Grey named "Rupert". The lady who owned "him" and
Rupert were very close and Rupert was a great friend to her. One night after she put him into his cage and went to bed she heard him calling and then a THUD as if he had fallen off his perch. She got up to see about him and was knocked back into her room by flame

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What's your CAG's reaction to the vacuum cleaner?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Ra Max

My ten year old CAG is very used to me vacuuming around his cage- I have to because of his powder- also he likes to grab a handful of food and throw it to get attention occasionally- anyway- I've been vacuuming almost every day for this long- ten years- and his reaction is the same and kind of puzzling. He turns upside-down, gets in a top corner of the cage and stares a the vacuum like he's in a

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new adoptee
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by tonyphishcutr

I've lived with birds for several years now and have been graced with my first adoptee--A meyers, similar in body shape/temperment/diet as his geographical neighbor the Grey, although smaller and less language. He is six years old and I am his third known owner. Great medical check-up and band records verified his age. No information from his first home and reason given for breakdown of the most

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My poor plucking parrot update
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Suck it bitch

It's been a couple of weeks since we moved Sydney back into her little cage.
It's too soon I supose to tell what benefits the move has had. I will say she has lots of feathers coming in, the question is will she pluck or let these stay. So far, so good.
I've noticed a small tweak in her personality. She used to be quite demanding...birdie want out..birdie want OUT..BIRDIE WANT OUT...or cracker or

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re:Cockaties & CAGS
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Tsunami

Hi, I'm new to the group and I wanted to ask a question.

I was just wondering. Do African Greys and Cockatiels get along well together? I don't mean that they would live in the same cage....just if they get along when they're out of their cages.

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Feather Plucking?
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by laurasphishin

i noticed yesterday on the play perch that there was about 4 or 5 grey feathers and about 10 white downy feathers on the bottom. and also this morning in his cage, there was 3 large feathers (not flight) and a few of those white downy ones. the grey feathers had no signs of being chewed. they looked like the had either been pulled out or fell out. does anyone know when greys in the uk molt? or eve

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Now he wont go on his cage at all
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by DivjakWSP

My Boyfriends CAG is a few years ago and like the rest of us likes things on his own terms ..... and has been allowed to get his own way ... so havin g read some good books that OldMolly from this group recommended realised he needed training ..... big time ... and so it began

He will not go onto anyones hand at all ...except my boyfriends .... but not on demand ... only if it suits him in .....

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re:what does airco to african grey??
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Jenn97dmb

hello , my leo is 4 years old.as you all know he is a fenomen in talking ,
I love him/her.
he sits on my shoulder,I can caress him (carefully!!).
but sometimes when I offer him something to eat , in his cage , he snaps, nips at me and that can be painful.other times he accepts it ,makes a noise of content.

is there any reason that he is ( I am alone)agressive?

my next question is about airco.w

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re:My African Grey screeches when she knows I'm around but.....
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Tsunami

My African Grey screeches when she realizes I'm in the house - but she isn't getting any attention from me (or she can't see me). The sound drives my wife crazy as she has super-sensitive hearing. Is there a way to train Koko to not screech? People who tell me some wise-ass remark like I shouldn't have a parrot if I won't accept the screeching need not respond - please.
I'm only looking for con

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re:Vacuum Cleaner Sound and Bathing
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by binkus

Does anyones African Grey take a bath when they hear a vacuum cleaner?
My wife's Grey loves to ride on her shoulder when she vacuums the house. But if she doesn't pick him up, as soon as the vacuum cleaner starts to run, her Grey invariably runs to his water dish and takes a vigorous bath - water goes everywhere. A friend of my wife's also reported this unusual behavior with her bird.

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re:New owner question.
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by micah

I've had my 10 month old CAG for a month now. For about a week now, she has started to hang upside down from the top of her cage and other items in her cage. Sometimes she seems to get scared that she can't right herself and makes this horrible screaming sound, often while hanging from one foot! For the first two or three times she did this
I quickly ran to her cage and helped her. Then I saw

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Missing
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Chris Troute

Babee flew out the door while I was cleaning his cage today at 5:15 pm
9/22/03. He is a 2 year old African Grey Parrot. He is grey with a red tail. He was last seen on Rhoton's Chapel Road Near Skyway Drive and
Normandy Lake. Please send this to all your friends in the Manchester,
Tullahoma, Normandy area ASAP.

He barks like a dog and makes sounds like a Tivo and also knocks on the door. He

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Companions
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Samael

Hi, it's me again.

You might all think this is a dumb question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway.

Is it possible to get another bird to be a direct companion for a CAG, i.e.:
living in the same cage together?

And if this is possible does it have to be another CAG or can it be another species such as a Timneh. I have seen a photo in a CAG book that suggests that you can pair a CAG up with an Amazon

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re:Sneaky Bird
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by Samael

I have a CAG, Elmo. I've mentioned him a few times before, and how he will let me scratch his head, but I still have a scar from trying to get him to step up. He's friendly from in/on his cage, but I don't dare try to pick him up. Yes, I'm a chicken. He seems happy though. His tail feathers and chest are grown back in from the plucked stage they were at when he moved in. He talks up a storm -

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re:Cage Types
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by gery

I am looking at buying an Timneh Grey. The only hold back right now is the cage. I plan on building my own. Be it all metal or plexiglass. I didn't know birds could be kept in plexiglass cages till I saw a few while doing research.

Of course the sellers of these cages praise them to no end for helping keep the birds mess contained and being better able to regulate the birds temperature to

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Unusual Droppings
In category The GREY Lounge
Written by v-koko

Over the past year, my Congo African Grey has been drinking exessive amounts of water, and in result, he does not leave solid droppings, but a clear, liquid kind. He has been drinking a lot of it out of demand, he almost goes insane if he is thirsty. I have taken him to numerous doctors in Croatia, (alas, where I live) but they do not know anything.
My question is how can I limit his water supply

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