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Hi everyone. Writing a post to introduce myself since I'm new to the forum. I have been reading the forums for a while and there's a lot of great info! My name's Ben, and I live in a small town in Ca. We've had a male Jenday Conure, Pippin, with our family since 2001. He's a handful. He likes to hang out on his perch and demand attention 😃 He's target trained, talks in a squeaky voice, and does a few tricks for treats. He's also pretty phobic, and that's something we've been working on. Before Pippin, we had a Sun Conure, Gabby, but she unfortunately became egg-bound in 2007, went into surgery, and did not make it through. Anyway, on Monday, and after a long wait, we brought home a baby female Congo African Grey! We named her Vim. She is about five months old and beautiful. She seems to be doing well, eating her veggy mix, drinking water, exploring. I've been watching videos and reading about Greys for a long time, but now that she's here, I'm feeling a bit discouraged (for lack of a better word). The thing is, she is very shy. Emphatically shy. I understand that Greys are naturally phobic, but when Pippin and Gabby came home, they both enjoyed my company right away. But Vim is different. When I put my hand near her, she growls a bit. Not like an angry growl, but more of a fearful one. I have been able to give her a few treats by hand. Yesterday, she was flapping her wings and glided off of her perch onto the carpet (she's clumsy as can be). I picked her up, although she didn't seem to want me to, and then she let me scratch her head. She seemed like she really liked that, and nuzzled against my shirt. Afterward, on her perch, she let me scratch her head again, and then allowed me to put her in her cage for bedtime. But this morning I offered her a piece of fruit, and I left my hand in place after she took it. She dropped the fruit and bit me. I did not react much, but I did flinch and say "Ow" because she bit me kind of hard. I want to earn this bird's trust, and I'm fine with being patient. I have been working next to her, talking to her calmly. She smiles at me with her eyes, if you know what I mean, and seems comfortable (she naps, stretches, doesn't mind me walking behind her, etc.). I have not asked her to step up because she seems scared, nor have I tried to scratch her head again. Does that seem like the right tack to take? Just be present around her and let her come to me in her own time? Thanks for reading, and for any advice!

Thank you for the responses, SRSeedBurners and Greytness. What you said makes me feel better about taking things slowly with her. Last night she let me hold her and scratch her head again, but this morning she's once again bashful. If I'm reading her correctly, then I think that everything is going well. I'll keep at it and report back. Thanks again!

There's a saying amongst grey owners that everything must be done in 'grey time'. Tons and tons of patience is needed until she relaxes. If she growls, then that is her queue she's not yet comfortable with whatever took place. You've only had her a few days, so what she's doing is completely normal! She'll get there! You just can't rush the 'grey time'. She's beautiful, btw!

Sounds like you're doing everything correctly. My GreycieMae was a very headstrong independent chick. When I went to the breeders to first look at her, she really didn't want nothing to do with the two-legged creatures in the house. Her sibling however was a love bug and that's the one I wanted but she was already spoken for. It took a few months, maybe even more than a year to really get through to my grey but over time she's become the little love bug I always wanted. I just couldn't help but persist to get into her good graces. Now all she wants to do is hang on my shoulder 24/7. They are very malleable at this age so you've got a nice little lump of clay there to work with (analogy). Persistence pays off big time with these greybies.