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African Grey Check-In

Susan in So Cal

Walking the driveway
Avenue Veteran
Joined
8/16/15
Messages
195
Location
Sunny So Cal!
Real Name
Susan

Nikomania

Rollerblading along the road
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
8/9/13
Messages
4,015
Location
San Diego

SterlingSL

Strolling the yard
Avenue Veteran
Joined
1/21/13
Messages
105
Location
Allen, Tx
Real Name
Steve
I need to update my CAGS! First is our rehome baby Fynn, hatch date 4/26/18. Came to live with us in July. Second is Sydney, our severely neglected rescue in July, approximate age: 12, and then there's Maalik, who started our love fest with CAGS, hatch date 7/23/13
View attachment 292404

Why do I picture him with a massively jeweled crown on his head?
 

Arno

Meeting neighbors
Joined
12/28/18
Messages
71
Real Name
Arno
Very sweet! What did you put into his water to make it become that color?
@Nikomania its a Vitamin/nutrient mix that i got from my local vet for Trompie here in South Africa. He doesn't like plain water but realy enjoys the vitamin drops i add to the water as its has a fruit flavour to it
 

Arno

Meeting neighbors
Joined
12/28/18
Messages
71
Real Name
Arno
Such a gorgeous Girl you have there MnGuy. She Looks really happy
 

nightfly

Meeting neighbors
Avenue Veteran
Joined
3/4/19
Messages
24
Location
Arizona and NJ, U.S.A.
Real Name
Don
I'm surprised there's no option to edit previous posts. Oh well.
Like a lot of CAGs, 29 y/o Toby is pretty verbose. We started a steno notebook with one page for each letter of the alphabet to write words he learned, but it got out of hand after a while, as there were some things he would repeat, and others we'd hear once and seemingly never again. He will learn words and short phrases if I keep repeating them, but I didn't buy him to make him into a science experiment. I will always remember Alex and how he looked, seemingly stressed out, as Irene Pepperberg put him through his paces. I didn't want to do that to my bird.

I also didn't realize how lucky I am. Toby isn't loud, doesn't destroy many things, and spends most of his time in and around his cage, despite my routine of opening the doors to the cages in the morning and putting he and my Pionus (Max) to bed at dusk. He'll walk around the house looking for me when he wants something.
He will nip at me if I'm doing something in particular that he doesn't like, but hasn't bitten hard enough to break the skin at all in over 20 years. So for that I'm thankful.
We keep a radio on during open cage hours, and he's picked up numerous words from it. I lived in a Polish neighborhood for a while, it seems that passers by would talk to him, as he started saying a few things that were clearly not English, but that stopped too, when those people stopped going by. We started him on people food as soon as we brought him home from the bird store (Paterson Bird Shop in Totowa, NJ) and he's quite content to eat whatever I do (I avoid all the rotten things like caffeine, avocados, and onions), but he does like some odd things like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If I eat it, he wants some. Favorite food is of course, pizza, but he likes lots of Italian things as well.
I also have a Pionus, Max, and have written a bit about him on the pionus forum. Toby and Max are both males, and as my female pionus died, the boys and I share a batchelor pad. They.....tolerate each other, but will occasionally fight if one sees food in the other's cage that he wants. So daytime, I have to be careful about leaving snacks in the cages. They have to come to me for snacks, and I always keep some fruity pellets in their bowls (mix of large Pretty Bird, Kaytee, and Zupreeme, because they like stuff they can pick up to eat). They get some breakfast, lunch and dinner with me, and whatever isn't eaten gets tossed to avoid fighting. So far, it's worked pretty well. Each has his own cage:

Toby has a white one, Max has a gray one. got them on ebay for $199 each. Basically about 24"x36"x about 36" tall
on the inside. They stand 5'8" with the accessory round ladders, perches and toy hanger above that. Total height is said to be 88" high.
I don't know if that's too much to post here.
 
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