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Hang in there Nancy. You're doing fine. My Jonsey, who is about
eight years old just loves to cuddle. Lately though he has discovered
the other Greys that I have and has been climbing down off his cage and
going into my bird room to visit. Since he keeps getting his feet
chewed to ribbons by one of the other males and is always sitting near
a particular female, I moved her into his cage to see if they would
bond/mate.
Even though he has been hand fed, it really depends on the amount
of attention he got where he was raised. If all they did was hand feed
him then he may be used to that but not used to getting alot of
attention. I raise LoveBirds and I found that just hand feeding them
isn't always enough. I have one baby that is an adorable attention
bird, who just loves to be petted and played with. I spent about 40
minutes a day with her for about a week after I separated her from her
parents. I did not hand feed her at all and she has turned out to be
a perfect bird. As tame as can be.
I have another bird that I hand fed but did not give much of any
other attention to and she is not half as friendly or lovable.
Give your Grey as much close attention as you can. If you eat or
drink anything around him, then offer him some also. That's seems to
work well with me as the bird identifies the sharing of food between
us. I am using this method on Jonsey's future bride and it is working
out fine, but slow. Isabell or Izzy as I call her was a wild imported
Grey. She will not take food directly from me, but if I set it on top
of the cage she will eat it. Since I have started working with her,
she has gone from growling the second I came near the cage to only
growling a little if I pet Jonsey who is sitting right next to her.
I have found with the Greys that I have worked with that many of
them love to have their head feathers rubbed forwards, not backwards,
like normal but forwards. Jonsey absolutely loves this. He even goes
as far as to pick up my hand and hold it above his head. He then lets go
and puts his head underneath my hand to give me the not-so-subtle-hint.
Keep working with your Grey and he will come around. It just takes
a while sometimes. I've been working with Izzy for about a month now
and she's slowly coming around.
Good Luck!
Mark
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| I agree with Mark on every count. I have used the methods he described
with two Timneh Greys, one very wild and abused Blue-Front Amazon, and
recently on a very wary Mealy/Blue Crown Amazon. You might want to add
the approach that you let the bird come to you when it is in the mood,
by sitting near enough to its cage with the door open, or near the
playpen with a ladder down to a spot near your arm, while you are
reading. He might want to choose the time when he is the most relaxed
and trusting, which might not always match the time you have available
to be with him, but it might help to give him some options like this
from time to time. Try talking to the bird without attempting to
pet it or make it sit on your hand, arm, or shoulder - share space,
as they say. Because you are very good about spending time with him,
you are bound to see good progress as the weeks pass, although not
as quickly as it would seem it should happen. The bird just went
through (is going through) a major transition, from the breeder's
environment for him, to yours, so some of the hesitation is probably
due to his waryness in general about the new open space he finds
himself in (check out the article in Bird Talk last month or this month
about the stress of open spaces on birds who are used to more confined
quarters...the good news is that they *do* adjust!!). /Linda
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| Thanks Linda and Mark. Sluggo is a bit more comfortable around me now,
but it's slow. I have got him to the point where I can place him in my
lap and pet his head and neck against the feather pattern, and he
fluffs and seem s to really like this. While I'm doing this, I have to
begin by holding his wings and body firmly with my left hand and
stroking with my right, however, after a few minutes I can let go with
my left hand. When I try and hold him just perched on my hand or
fingers, however, he still cry's and tries to bite. He is more
comfortable on his stand now (that very expensive Advanced Avian
Designs stand I bought just for him...excellent quality, though!) and
will eat from his food bowl or from my fingers while on it.
When I return from work, etc., I yell "hello" and he answers me in his
house like sound. He also is very anxious to come out of the cage when
I get home, but is just still uncomfortable perched with me. I'm
working on it though. I insist that he spend some quality time with me,
and I'm also petting my B&Gold in front of him, and he watches how much
Chiquita likes to be petted. He doesn't seem to be jealous at all, just
curious, and when I talk to the B&G, Sluggo will make some of his
pleasant (non-crying) sounds.l
Any of you who have more tips, etc. on the Grey's, personality, etc.,
or speech lessons, please write.
When do grey's typically begin talking???
Thanks again,
Nancy
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>When do grey's typically begin talking???
Other talking parrots - amazons, budgies, macaws - start talking when
they are quite young. Greys, however, don't really start to talk until
they begin to hit adulthood - maybe 1 1/2 to 2 years old. However,
when Sluggo *does* start to talk, you will probably find that he soon
says words or phrases that you tried to teach him *months* ago. You'll
realize he has been listening all along!
/Rita
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