A fresh beginning...

New Starts are usually pretty scary...  well I had wanted an African Grey Parrot for twenty years (got my first issue of Bird Talk when I was twelve), let's not do the math.  I believe the stars were aligned when I started looking and a few weeks later, after trying to decide baby vs. rescue, and there was Dexter on Ebay Classifieds.  He was very inexpensive for a Timneh (http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/africangreys/a/africangreys.htm for those of you who arent familiar with African Grey's subspecies) and I was met by him at the door on the shoulder of his previous owner. 
     Dexter has a tendency to do a weird whistle when he's nervous almost like a "What's up".  I of course looked at all the factors , cleanliness, and behavior.  However who is to know what the hell you are going to get yourself into when you "recycle" an older bird.  Nerves can dictate them changing their behavior, and a new environment can put them in what some like to call a "honeymoon" phase.  You think that they are soooo quiet, and so reserved, and trust me I know... I am the luckiest parrot owner in the world.  Boom... someday when you are least expecting it to happen, you will be hit with something that you would never expected.  Don't say i didn't warn ya... lol!  However I can tell you that you will survive. 
    
When I started this blog I thought that I was going to have profound moments of rescuing this little guy and I would document everything and eventually take my love and compassion for this "abused" animal and turn it into a book.  WRONG!  lol!  Dexter actually hasnt been that much of a problem (KNOCK WOOD), and is very determined to stay true to himself and not even attempt to try things that he doesnt want to.  That is one thing that I learned when I was younger and got my first birds, they are much like people and they will basically have their own temperments, and they will not change into what you want them to be, no matter what.  So you just have to deal with it.  Those birds that you see on TV have been trained for years, and they have been trained by people that have been working with animals for years.  No one is Dr Doolittle.

So basically to make a long story short... I think you are pretty much caught up.  We travel with Dexter in his  travel cage, and he loves it.  My aunt told me about her Mexican Red Amazon that would get car sick in trips.  She said it would be once in a lifetime to see a parrot vomiting due to motion sickness.  Thankfully Dexter is a pro in the car, and really just wants to be with my partner Eric, his golden retriever Clay and just me... the flock.