My latest addition. Just had to share !!

[Hrw1959]

Hi,

My son-in-law was asked by a workmates, if he knew anyone who would be interested in taking on an African grey parrot, as he knew of an elderly lady who needed to rehome one. It turned out that the ladies husband had died and although she loved the parrot she couldn't cope with hearing her husbands voice all the time. Lucy, the parrot, is a great talker and mimics her husbands voice. My son-in-law knew how much my husband had always wanted a parrot so he said yes we would have it. My daughter asked me if it was alright that she gave the parrot to us, I obviously said yes. Caroline and Les had to keep the parrot for a couple of months till they could bring the parrot to us. Lucy was to be a surprise for Paul, my hubby, so he knew nothing about it. When my daughter was able to bring the parrot home I was in hospital so I had to wait to see her.
There was a patient on our ward whose daughter worked for the parrot rescue uk and she gave me a lot of advice on the care of Lucy. Paul was delighted with Lucy and chattered on about what she was doing all through visiting hours. Lucy, was 16yrs old when we got her in 2011, and is amazing, she talks very well, when she wants to and doesn't say any swear words. We were told by the lady from parrot rescue, that African greys tend to favour one person and Lucy certainly favours Paul. She will sit on his shoulder whispering in his ear and cleaning his beard, it's so funny to watch and she also tries to feed him. She settled in very quickly and loves to see our grandchildren. We never allow people to put their fingers through the cage as she will bite, but she loves to be given treats from people. Even though she is Paul's bird she is my companion. I am in a wheelchair and can only go out when my husband is not at work, so Lucy and my two dogs are my daily companions. She chats to my carers and let's us know if she doesn't like a programme on TV. When we go out she says 'see u later' , when my husband comes home the first thing she says is ' you want a cup of tea?, my husband drinks a lot of tea. She mimics the dogs, when she speaks it could be Paul's voice I hear or her previous owners voice or even her favourite tv characters voice.
One of her favourite toys is one I made for her, I bought a mop head and tied some little cat toys and bells and little wooden blocks in it. It had outlasted the toys I paid a fortune for, she loves it. She loves to tease the dogs and sings baa baa black sheep or the macdonalds theme. I wish you many hours of joy with little Archie, he may not take to a change of name, I will try and put a picture on of Lucy. we cover Lucy's cage at night, as I am unable to get upstairs I have a bed in the lounge, and every night when I turn the tv of she says ' see you in the morning' it's so cute.
I look forward to hearing about Archie, and seeing his pictures.

 

[zolabud]

I tried to upload some pics but it said that the file was incomplete. Something like that....

 

[anna29]

Great parrot stories :thumbup:

Remember my local Avon lady having an African grey parrot .
Kylie it was named [after yep Kylie Minogue ]

It could do her door bell sounds to perfection .
Took her a while to twig it was her parrot doing this .
After endlessly going to their door - no one was there !
Same with her landline telephone - the parrot had this sound to perfection too .

She knew and loved the tv adverts well too .
Could do the sounds and knew lines to the adverts perfectly .

Amazing animals

 

[Janiept]

This is the best post I have read for ages. Your excitement and happiness made me smile for ages and I just know that Archie and you are going to be very happy together.
Thanks for sharing this lovely story with us and please keep us all updated on how he is settling in.
Still Grinning......

 

[zolabud]

Day 2.

As the first day went so well and I didn't cat nap during the day I was in bed by 11.30 which is almost unheard of for me.
I left Archie in the front room and put a big dark red duvet cover over the cage and crashed in my bed. Also a bit of a rarity as I usually crash on the sofa.
Woke up at 7.30 went in the front room and as I didn't hear anything I assumed he was still asleep. I said "Morning Archie" before I took the cover off as I didn't want to freak him out.

He is extremely vocal and very funny first thing in the morning.

I changed his water,put Jungle sounds on Spotify which he loves and I have it on on my lappy and then I can watch Saturday Kitchen at the same time and it doesn't disturb me in the slightest. He got through 3 toilet roll middles yesterday and I have just hung a rice cake in his cage as I spoke to his owner this morning and she said he also likes ricecakes.

I will attempt to get him out on Monday when his Java tree comes. Then just hope he doesn't eat all my lovely plants or trash my red velvet curtains as he did as his last owners. As long as I supply a plentiful amount of cardboard and don't let him get bored we should be OK.

So it's all going well so far.

I have again tried to upload some pics and it says the file is invalid...

I will put them on Photobucket and put a link to the page I thing.

 

[audsital]

Hi zolabud, so glad Archie is settling in well. From the sounds of it he has won the lottery in having you as his new mummy. He sounds like he is going to be great company and great entertainment for you. Keep up with the Archie updates! Best wishes Auds

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[zolabud]

Put some pics up after uploading to Photobucket.

Hope this works ok....

http://s291.photobucket.com/user/zolabu ... ent&page=1

 

[CollieBoy]

Lovely bird :thumbup: , but agree that beak could be a vicious weapon :shock: - enjoy :thumbup: :thumbup:

 

[anna29]

Zola .

Archie is a real handsome parrot - 'looks quite a cheeky character too'
His markings on him are stunning , beak is a bit fearsome though .

How well and happy he looks also .
He has really landed lucky with you as his new owner . :thumbup:

Please keep us updated on his progress with his character and personality
Also any words/sounds he will say and do .

Great to see the piccys of 'archie' - thanks for sharing them with us all .

Anna .

 

[Robinredbreast]

He looks a handsome bird and a bit on the cheeky side too. Happy days to you both

Lovely photo's

RRB

 

[Kat100]

Great news ......


Archie.....does he have a blanket to keep him warm at night....one that goes over his cage...some do.....he is going to love you so much...and you will love Archie your little baby boy....he sounds really happy.....soon be on your shoulder k x

 

[WeeWillie]

Such a great story zola and my, isn't Archie a handsome lad.
I'm impressed also with his cage, he looks quite at home
sitting in there on his perch.
I can just imagine what a great companion he'll be for you,
in the years to come. :thumbup:

I feel really happy for you.

Best wishes to you.... and Archie, of course. :wave:


willie.

 

[Hrw1959]

Hi, just had a look at Archie's pictures, he is such a lovely looking bird.

 

[zolabud]

Update.

Just over 2 weeks in and tonight there has been a breakthrough.

I open the top of the big cage every morning after he has eaten his breakfast and had enough water. Today I learned that if I keep the cage open all day he just goes in and out eating and drinking when he wants and doesn't sit on the cage top for 6 hours without going in for food. Apparently 6 hours is the maximum time for a parrot to be out without food and water. Apparently "I have to be the boss". I thought I was being "The boss" by shutting his cage top up when he eventually went in for food. This didn't work as he liked being out so much he didn't bother going in for food. As he knew as soon as he went back into his cage I shut the lid quick.So he was sitting on the top of the cage far too long... And he didn't like it when I got my new falconry glove on and started chasing around trying to get him in. He just didn't want to know.

On the Sunday after he arrived ( 3 days later ) my 32 year old son and his girlfriend and my Grandson Jack came for a rare visit.
"Have you had him out yet Mum"
"Not yet Russ. His previous owner said to wait for a few days"...
"I can help you get him back in..."

So against my better judgement I opened the top of the cage and stood well back. As I said before he is a large bird with an urgent looking beak.
Archie calmly walked up the inside of the cage to the top. Down the outside,across the floor and across to Russ. Walked up his trouser leg and up his shirt sleeves to his shoulder and promptly bit him on his ear. Russ said "****, he bit me !! " and walked to the cage and put him back in.
As there was a bit of a flap going on in my small flat which ad 3 extra visitors in and an errant parrot no one thought to **** the top of the cage up. And Archie can be VERY quick in getting to the top of the cage and getting out... So.....
Archie did the same thing. When he got to Russ's trousers he walked up his other leg and up his shirt sleeves and bit his other ear and this time he drew blood.

II was pretty freaked out by this. I knew I had a tough job on my hands taking on a 2nd hand parrot and I am constantly being told "Show him you are the boss". But I am and always have been a bit of a walkover. It all seemed rather daunting suddenly....

Anyway the falconry glove arrived and I just let him out by opening the top up twice a day and used the glove to get him back in.
It was a bit of a struggle as the front door is small and Archie learned pretty quick that all he had to do was open his wings so he was bigger than the door and he would calmly walk up the front of the cage and take his place of prominence on the top of the cage. This was not entirely good news as apparently I should be higher than him to prove "I am the BOSS" !! The cage is big. When I am sitting on my sofa he is 3 foot above me on top of his cage. So he is sitting there looking down on me... Not good.

Anyway... 2 weeks later and tonight I had a breakthrough. I have been saying "Head down Archie" every morning for a fortnight and attempting to give him a good head scratch which apparently he loves. He puts his head down and as soon as I put my fingers through the bars he goes for me. As I am now a bit (!!) scared I whip my fingers away before any damage is done.

His old Mum Paula who rings me every night to see how we are doing said "Well of course if Archie meant to do damage he would have taken the top of Russ's ear off. He was only playing....They can take your finger off if they want to..."

I have been pretty scared of Archie for 2 weeks which is understandable but a shame. Our life together will be a long one and if I don't do it right from the start there is little hope that we will really get on.

I let him out as normal at 10.00am. He chattered and whistled til 4.00 and I managed to get him back in without much fuss. Come 7.00 I stood up and said "Do you wanna come out Archie?" He immediately quickly came up the inside of his cage and I opened the big doors at the top and he immediately hopped onto the top and looked liked he wanted to step onto my shoulder. He has never done this before but he did indeed get onto my shoulder and fearing for my ears I rang Paula and said "What do I do,he is on my shoulder and I am scared !! "

She said "You've cracked it. Well done. You have done everything right and he will now want a scratch on his head."

For an hour I just kept scratching his head and saying "Good Boy Archie..." He nibbled my fingers and seemed in a trance. I was SO happy.
After an hour and wondering what his **** had been doing I said "Step up"... (No glove) and he hopped onto my fingers and I quickly got him in the cage and covered him up and he been silent ever since.

2 weeks. And I am finally there and no longer scared.

Wahahahay !!!!!!

 

[Janiept]

Delightful story and thank you so much for bringing us up to date.
Lucky you and lucky Archie. I am made up for you both

 

[Kat100]

Dear Archie, he is gaining confidence and putting his trust in you, the cage is his
safe haven, and now he must be feeling safe being with you....this is such great progress...
Lovely yo hear your story of your journey together....
You are both going to be so in love with each other....x

 

[Hrw1959]

Hi,
I was just wondering how Archie is doing?

 

[Aprilb1967]

Hi Zola - you are the first person I have written to since finally joining the forum. I chose you because you are as passionate about animals as I am! You sound really lovely and I know that you and Archie/Charlie will be very happy together. I have a little chihuahua called Herbie Humbug. He's 10 and my baby - I haven't got human children.
I am type 2 and was diagnosed in 2009. I am vegetarian (no fish) and need some inspiration about low carb veggie meals so I thought I might learn a good few things here as I don't think my DN is much help.
X
April


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