Isn't it absolutely amazing how they surprise us! You don't think they know how to talk and then suddenly, they spew forth all these words, AND sentances.
Thanks for sharing - I love to hear about Nelly.

Diane, that's hilarious!

can't wait to hear what else she practices when I am not home

Sounds like you have a similar cage to my Miki's. I knew my bird could swing those discs and get out when I bought the cage. I never went the screw route.....I just use tape and replace it every so often....if I do not he gets his foot and toes and pulls at it until he works it off then escapes througt the little space....he has done some major damage to the windows and door frame.
Here is a pic...I use white duck tape!

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ell it was another PARTY NIGHT at the neighbors last night. Those of you that have read about Nelly's first words know what I am talking about. It started at 9pm and got full blown at about 1am. Nelly and I had been asleep for a good couple of hours and then all of a sudden I was awakened by the sound of smashing glass and and Nelly letting out a god awful scream. She had apparently been so sound asleep that the noise caused her to fall off her perch! I jumped up and there she was standing in the middle of the floor with her foot up saying "stop it" over and over again I put her back up after calming her down and laid back down hoping for the best. Not to happen I looked over at her after a couple of mins. and there she was hanging off the side of her cage trying to pull the curtains back all the while chattering like magpie. Enough is enough and called the police. Mine was the 4th call and they were sending 2 cars over immediately. So since sleep was not to be had for awhile I decided we both deserved a snack. Nelly got pine nuts and I had ice cream. So now the cops come and break up the party. All becomes quiet. I calmly explained to her that we could go back to sleep all the while giving her skritches. Well to my surprize she said her 3rd word...
"GOOD" Gotta love it!!!

Hooray for Nelly!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry that you had to get waked up but am glad Nelly's learnng how to talk.

What to talk about?

I do believe it is Contest Day!

Well there is alot going on in our house lately. Yesterday(friday) Nelly finally got the dreaded nail clipping. One of my previous posts talked about it but it had to be cancelled. Now I can hold my baby with out having blood dripping down my arm. She was actually pretty good. No screaming but when we got home she wouldn't come by me for a couple of hours. But like my good girl that she is got over it;over this no grudge was held Anyway we are "eagerly" awaiting the onset of night to see if we are going to be invited to the neighbors "regular saturday night party" We are hoping not. At the end of the month I am going away for 3 days. My anticipated Nelly sitter is in the hospital and won't be home by then. OMG what to do??? Well as it turns out my assistant manager was going to be staying at my apt. to take care of the teils and keets so I told her oooppps there would be one more. This will have to be planned very carefully since Nelly is not exactly a people person. So we are starting tomorrow (sunday) with the young lady coming over and getting to know Nelly. We will be doing this every couple of days till my departure. Should be very interesting. The one good thing is that Nelly's basic routine will stay the same since the girl works the same hours I do and her food/water dishes can be gotten to from outside her cage. She does understand the words "go in your house" and she will at least be home in a familiar enviorment. The last time someone stayed at my apt. to care for her was a few years ago and Nelly completely terrorized her by coming down off her cage and chasing the girl into the bedroom As you can imagine there were many phone calls. So only time will time. I am hoping Nelly will have mellowed with age More on the "first meeting tomorrow".

WE HAD THE FIRST MEETING. It actually seemed to go well. Maybe Nelly is mellowing with age Her would be caretaker,Ellen, came home with me today and at first Nelly was very excited to see me but then spied Ellen behind me and OMG the tail flared and the crest went up. Ellen stood a couple of feet away from her cage and spoke to her very quietly and Nelly just sat on her perch and watched her. The next step was I gave Ellen a few pine nuts,Nelly's all time favorite, and let her put them in her dish near the perch she was sitting on. Surprize...Nelly didn't lunge at her. HMMM! The calm before the storm? So we sat and talked awhile all the while giving Nelly her just due. No screaming and no freaking out so I decided to move into phase 2. A little quickly you might think? So did I but what the heck. So I picked Nelly up and went and sat down on the couch next to Ellen. This was good. A little tail flair but not to much. Ok so throwing caution to the window I eased Nelly closer and to my surprize she went over and sat on Ellen's knee!!! Of course I told Ellen don't get to brave and move your hands She sat there a bit and I being apprehensive took her back with me. We sat and chatted for a few more mins and then I put Nelly back on her perch. She happily finished off her pine nuts and when It was time to leave let Ellen get close enough to touch her tail without Nelly freaking out. I was thrilled because the first meeting went well. Much better than I expected. But the thought lingered in my mind...was this my darling Nelly or did aliens come when I wasn't home and switch bodies. Only time will tell Of course we have several more meetings scheduled before I go away.

Way to go Nelly! Hopefully she wasn't just sizing up the opponent and is biding her time waiting for the right moment!