LNCAG

I thought it would be a good idea a while back to teach my CAG Snickers what water is, by saying water whenever I let him have a sip from my glass of water. At first he only occasionally requested water which I immediately rewarded to ensure connection was made: water request = water offered. Big mistake. Over last couple months he's become a very water-demanding creature! He says "Canna water" and continues to demand it if ignored. His first request of the day (usually in the afternoon) seems to be genuine thirst (yeah, he has his own water bowl) but he will take a good 10 - 12 swallows of my water. But his later requests appear to just be demands for my attention - with only a sip taken, or more, grabbing cup edge and refusing to let go. I've even deliberately filled his water dish directly from my cup to show it is the same water. Last evening, when I offered him some apple (his favourite fruit) -- I dampened his apple cubes under the faucet before offering them. He ate most of it. So I knew he was NOT thirsty but he kept demanding water anyway. Just to make me walk over for him to barely take a sip. So -- what do I do? I created a monster. Do I just continue to say 'no' and ignore him when I know he's not really thirsty? Or, is it possible he doesn't really understand water at all, but just connects it to me giving him more attention? (Yeah, I didn't think this training through... It's just I have more time to devote to him these days and had never really worked with him before with this type of training).

Court indeed -- made me laugh! :rolleyes:

My spouse has sadly passed now. But Snickers absolutely loathed him all those years after our adopting him. Whether that was Snickers remembering their first encounter or jealousy based, I guess I will never know. They say greys can become one-person parrots -- Snickers definitely is. Just remembering Snickers antics towards my late spouse actually brought a smile to my face -- Snickers could be a real jerk and I had forgotten that! lol I also know Snickers was in a bad home before he was returned to the breeder's -- the former owners divorced and Snickers can recite bits of conversations/arguments from that early home. (Actually, he hasn't done that lately, thankfully!) Snickers is very afraid of objects -- I can't walk by him with so much as a shoe box or can of coffee in my hands without announcing I need to get by him, while walking slowly & baby-talking to him, and turning my body to stay between him and the 'scary object'. He was definitely damaged goods -- which made our connection all the more special to me. Thanks for asking -- I do love my Snickers so much -- it was meant to be with us.

My Snickers had been returned to the breeder and was considered unadoptable -- he was like a permanent resident at breeder's. He was described as a biter, hated all people, etc.. The breeder wanted to sell me a baby CAG and used Snickers as an example of how well they could talk. Well, I wanted Snickers -- not some baby CAG I'd have to raise. My husband was against adopting Snickers and the breeder was very reluctant to let buy him. She basically made his adoption a trial period. I had never met Snickers before and was resigned my new parrot would simply be a talking but un-handleable parrot. We ordered a Kings cage for Snicker and had to wait for it to arrive before we could pick up Snickers (obviously). When cage arrived, I stayed home completing cage assembly while my husband went to pick up Snickers. It took him forever to return -- but return he did. Bandaged. He said it took 3 people at the breeder's to get my Snickers into his carrier. My husband said the breeder wanted to cancel everything but my husband told her he'd never hear the end of it if he came home without my bird. Hubby was very dead set against the bird based on all that happened when he picked Snickers up (to be fair -- Snickers took a huge chunk out of his hand). The breeder had advised my husband that (since Snickers bit if handled) we line up the door of the carrier to the door of the new cage -- and pray he walked into new cage. He didn't. I was never afraid of anything with feathers (yeah -- I realize how dumb that is now). But anyway, I reached in the carrier and said "step up" and he did. No biting! Today, I would see my immediate success with Snickers as a rescue scenario -- poor thing had been traumatized with lots of people removing him from his safe haven home there. Whereas I approached him with my bare hand -- not a perch aka stick -- and I suppose my voice must have conveyed I loved him already and didn't fear him. Anyway, Snickers took a chance on me. At that time, I didn't realize my luck with handling him was probably because it was a rescue scenario. I just knew I felt blessed and special. lol This was in 1997. I love my Snickers and have absolutely no regrets! I will say, he loves me a little too much sometimes -- he is quite intense.

I avoid letting my grey ride on my shoulder because even though he is a gentle sweet loving parrot -- if he should get startled -- I don't want an injured eye (or any facial bite). I know he wouldn't hurt me on purpose, but I can't control everything in our environment all the time. Thunder outside, cat knocking something off the table, etc.. Since I can't guarantee there won't be some sudden noise or something that might make him react poorly, it's just not worth the risk to me. Just my 2 cents worth -- good people will weigh in differently, I am sure.

I feel ya. I wish this poor fellow could go to a sanctuary and be with other greys or be adopted by someone with the time and patience to tame him. I fully respect OP making the best decision they can. But still... this tyke needs so much. I want ALL parrots to be wanted, loved, and given the best home possible whether indoors or outdoors. This type of story... depressing. You see the ad and think "is there anything I can do from half-way round the world?" :(

Late to discussion but mine are also flighted. I turn off ceiling fan when they are out and am careful with exterior doors. I will put my bird up to answer the door.

Agreed with above comments. If you cannot tame this one and give it lots of time of out cage --- then definitely a large aviary is needed so the tyke at least has some room. But, that also sounds very lonesome. I admit, with untamed birds, sometimes I believe they do best at a sanctuary/refuge where they can form bonds with other greys. Sounds like the current owner really wants to make a sale though, not surrender to a sanctuary. I doubt anyone here will judge you whether you pass on this one or attempt to give it a home -- and who knows -- it may bond with you and tame up if you work really hard.

I stock up at grocery store during the holidays. In fact, sometimes I see them discounted after the holidays and buy out the grocery store. But I don't chance them running out and stock up at full price since one year, there were no after-holiday nuts for sale. lol Anyway, when those run out, I purchase from Amazon.

"Butcher one wing" (shudder) It is amazing so many did survive. I had zebra finches in the 80s but no parrots -- got my first parrot in 1996 and life certainly hasn't been boring!

@Ray P -- enjoyed reading your post!!! @birdhouse -- I remember well those dark days. My Bibles back then were Guide To A Well Behaved Parrot By Mattie Sue Athan and anything written by Sally Blanchard. Plus, who can forget Bird Talk magazine. I was lucky I was a sysop in the (John Benn) Pets Forum on Compuserve when I got my first parrot back in the mid-nineties I know at one point Compuserve did open a Birds forum but there was as much misinformation as helpful stuff shared. And those forums eventually vanished with the coming of the incredible world wide web. And sometimes that web feels too big, too impersonal. So, it was such a delight to stumble across this forum!!! Such wonderful people sharing love for our feathered grey companions.

True! There is definitely off-gassing! I prepped the room before we moved in. It was the same for painting and having Orkin do a good spray prior to moving in -- everything needed to air out first. Plus, I am asthmatic (which isn't a great combo with birds) but really, if something isn't good for parrots, it probably isn't that good for us either. I also lined the hard-wood floors with shower curtains duct-taped together before putting a rug over them. Those floors looked good when I removed the rug/shower curtains (well, floor was a bit dusty) but undamaged.

My CAG isn't overly fond of nuts. I have to shell anything offered or it's simply thrown. And even shelled, I may still find them when I clean out the papers on bottom. I found the unsalted dry roasted more of a hit. Maybe he just hates raw nuts. Dunno. But my macaw and amazon are huge nut fans. I always figured it must be a grey thing. :confused:

I find my grey is much more chatty if I am out of the room (out of view) from him. The one thing he does say when I am in room with him (I moved him to my living room) is "Whatcha doing?" (and this can be annoying!) And I feel compelled to answer -- as if he really wants to know. :rolleyes: Surely he can see what I'm doing -- usually reading a book or online. If he wants to be held, he simply says "step up?" to request out of cage time. Oh, and he will whistle sometimes when I am in the room. But mostly, he does his best chatting when I step out of the room a few minutes.

Snickers was clumsy when I first got him (1997) and he would hang by one toe from the top of his cage and I would say "Be careful!" And if he did slip and flutter to bottom of cage, I'd say "Are you okay?" when I checked on him. Well, even though he hasn't been clumsy in nearly 20 years, he still remembers how to use those phrases. A few years ago I was up on the stepladder and he called out "Be careful!" And if I get up in the night, he has started asking "Hello?" as a question (ala 'is anyone there?' sort of usage). Well, I would ignore him because I didn't want to wake up the household by answering; so Snickers does a few 'hellos?" before finally demanding "Are you okay?" I usually get tickled and say "I'm okay -- go back to sleep." He has actually done the "are you okay" thing a few times in the middle of the night -- I guess he considers it concerning for me to get up in the middle of the night. Greys amaze me with their ability to use phrases so appropriately.

11 years ago, I thumbtacked shower curtains around my bird room. It kept parrot splatters from touching the walls, but when I moved (recently) I took them down and discovered that's where the seed moths were laying larvae. The seed moth mess mostly brushed off walls easily, but still, disgusting. Kept me from having to paint though. Current solution: Since my CAG expects to be covered at night, I just leave the cover on (basically a black flat bed sheet held onto back/top of cage with clothespins). I just roll the sheet back 85% or so to uncover each morning. I find that sheet on the back of his cage really keeps down a lot of splatters. Plus, the sheet is easily laundered. Guess this trick only works if your cage is against a wall anyway.