I met my baby yesterday!

My wonderful partner drove me 45 minutes away to go meet my baby congo and the owners of the aviary yesterday. The aviary owners were incredibly kind and helpful, and I can tell they were very passionate about their birds. They answered all of my silly questions and I have zero hesitations about this now.

The babies are only a month old, so they couldn't be kept out for too long without getting cold, but I got to coo and fawn over them for a few minutes.
The one on the right is officially mine, and I will definitely be bringing him or her home sometime in June



They wait until they perch to clip their nails and get a blood sample for DNA testing., so for now I just call it my little one. A boy will be Versailles, and a girl will be Nephele.


I'm so in love already!


...My partner is also pretty smitten.

A short video of my boyfriend petting my little one

I'm so very excited to bring my baby home in a few months.

NNNNNAAAWWWW!!!! What super cute bundles of grey fluffs! :smile015:

Will you be visiting your baby a few times? This had to have been SO very exciting! LOVE the names you've chosen, too!

I'll visit a couple of times, but the breeders assured me that my absence wouldn't really be noticed by the little one. Apparently greys don't bond with their new owners until after they leave the "nest" (the aviary itself). I hope to go up at least one or two times before I'm ready to take little one home, but it's no longer a priority, which is good, because I was getting too anxious about that haha
I'm actually the closest customer they've had since they had to close their store due to family health issues, and then the eventual death of a family member (they were kind enough to tell me their story about why they downsized, which alleviated some of my concern). People usually come up from out of state just to pick up their weaned babies, so they never see the babies in person prior.
The birds all grow up around other birds (they have companion macaws and a turquoise green cheek!), as well as a very sweet dog and docile cat, oh, and their young daughter and her friends haha. So the babies are socialized from a young age.

I was so excited and then exhausted from the excitement that I kind of had my boyfriend plop me on my couch with some KFC and Game of Thrones (just finished season 2!) when we got back to my apartment. Stress (and eustress) take a lot out of me physically because of my health. Otherwise, I definitely would have been posting this yesterday as soon as I got home haha

I'd been looking forward to that moment for several months. For it to finally happen, oh man. I'm so incredibly happy right now. It's almost surreal.
Just a few weeks ago I thought I missed my chance to get a baby this year (only two eggs hatched and they currently only had one proven pair since they downsized). They knew I was very interested and messaged me directly to tell me that the other person ahead of me had to back out of the sale. So it's been a huge rush of emotion these last few weeks for me.

What cuties! It must be so wonderful to be able to visit them as they grow. I had the opportunity to see Shiko grow through pictures, but I wish I could've been there throughout just to fawn over him as you are with your new addition!

I look forward to the many pictures and awesome stories to come. And your partner is a keeper... nothing like some yummy food and an awesome TV series to unwind - though I swear GoT stresses me out more than necessary at times

Awww, look at those precious little fluff balls! I'm so thrilled for you and your little one! I can't wait to see this lovely story unfold, thank you so much for sharing your journey.