Leaderboard

Hello everyone! I've browsed these forums long enough...so I joined! My wife and I will be adopting a 6 year old female CAF. Her name is Bella, she is coming to us with everything from her previous owner..cage, travel cage, toys, her diet, UV light, ect. The only thing I'll need or build is a mobile perch for her. We have no kids but do have 3 dogs, a very fat cat, 13ft Burmese python(own room in the basement) and a tegu. We have bird experience but never with a grey. We plan on letting Bella have a spare room upstairs to her self. Now a couple questions... When we first bring her home, should her cage go in her room? Or a family room so she can socialize? I know she's going to be in shock a bit from the move. How long should we give her before simply opening her cage and letting her explore? After she gets settled in, I'd like to keep her cage open 24/7. Again she'll have her own room and it will be shut at all times when she is in there. Good idea? Bad idea? I know I'll have to plug the wall sockets but I have a solution for that already. I know I'll have more questions but I should get back to work now lol. Hope to hear from some of you!

Thanks. About the other pets, well the dogs and cat...I don't plan on introducing them right off. Luckily they are all "older" and have been with us since they were weaned. Agree with you 100% about washing hands after handling the snake and lizard. It's been a practice in our house for 12 years of owning reptiles, specifically large breed pythons.

Thanks so much! Our plan is to have a few stands placed in the family room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom and sun room to have her out with us as much as possible. I kind of want her room to be mainly for security and sleep. Is this good or bad?

We chickened out. He was freaking out because he couldn't come in, so he flew in and totally behaved himself. I am such a softie.

We added a curtain so Tyler can eat in peace. Do you think this curtain will alienate him? I hope not.

Interesting take on this situation Jayd. Brutus is 10 years-old. We will try the physical barrier, and dinner will be calmer for all of us. It seems like that is the worst time for him to act up.

This isn't unusual, it's possible he feels Tyler is from another flock and intruding. How old is Brutus? It could be just a "Grays change of life" grays flock in large comunitys but small family groups..His Group might have reached it;s limit...If this is whats happening, the best thing to do is ignore it.... Grey's family lives are a lot different than other parrots. A normal parrot weans and kicks out their chicks of the nest and starts over. A Grey family will have a couple chicks and train them to be part of the original community. They will stay together until they find a mate. At that time, the newly mated Greys will leave home and become part of the same community. An ideal captive home family unit would be to have the parents and their mated offspring in your living room. Most parrots are invaders and leave their family units for areas unknown and start a new family with their new flock. A Grey has more human characteristics than most may realize.

If there's a place in a living or dining room where his cage can be up against at least one wall, and where he can see the activity in the house and people can talk to him from a safe distance that would be ideal. Unless you spend all your time in your room, then your room is fine.

It's going to take time to get your bird used to you. Right now he's scared of everything and everybody. When greys are scared they fluff up their feather to make themselves look bigger. Sit as close to him as you can without him fluffing up or screaming. Then just talk to him in a normal tone of voice. Read a book to him. You're just trying to get him used to your voice and presence. When you do have to get close to his cage to change food and water dishes approach from below him and from the side so he can only see one eye at a time. This way you look less like a predator and less scary. The guy at the pet store clearly has no idea what is good for his birds - that cage is way too small like others have said. It's good to have it in a corner right now so that he doesn't have to look out for danger from all sides. Move toys closer to the cage slowly so that he can get used to them before you put them in the cage. Like I said, this is going to take time, especially if he was captured from the wild. All he knows about humans is that some of them grabbed him from his home and his flock, shoved him in a cage with a bunch of other scared birds, then shoved him in this small cage and sent him home with you. Building trust is your first job. Oh, and the sounds he's making sound like contact calls to me. Answer him in a sound you'd like him to learn so that he knows where you are at all times. You're his flock now.

Thank you my friend.. Keep posting...

That sound great! Try it and keep us informed....

Thanks chezron.......Fantastic...

Greetings and welcome to the Grey Lounge... ....including her baggage which at this point you really don't know how much baggage she has. Re-homing for a Grey is extremely life-changing. You almost have to start from anew. I praise you for your efforts. A Grey is usually the head of the group or flock. They don't have an alpha male but they do have a leader of each group and each group consists of one or more families. With your large group, this could pose an identity problem so I don't like to see a Grey in a room by themselves. This could potentially cause social and psychological problems so I would recommend if you are going to put Bella in a room by herself, you might consider getting her a female partner. A possible problem that you need to consider is that each of your pets can be deadly to a Grey but with your experience, I don't see any problems. When you bring her home, start treating her the same as you would later on...just don't push her, just be a little slower and more forgiving. If she has her own room, leave the cage door open 24/7...no problem. Of all the parrots, our beloved Greys have the most psychological and social problems. Some Greys are extremely social and others can be antisocial. If she is in her own room, I would suggest a radio or TV. Under the right conditions, they can intermingle with other pets. You have to remember, after touching or holding the Tegu and python, you need to wash and change clothing etc. before handling your Grey to prevent cross-contamination. Thanks and welcome...Jayd

Looks good..In our Joe's case, we can't bring out the floor fan..lol

Hi, thank you, don't alienate them, At ten, Brutus is near do for a "Change in life". As a Gray ages, they for lack of a better word, Contemplate their life more, they become wiser, son gray this is the breading age. Just as you saw a change at 1 year and 2 years old they go through this stage and finely the last stage when they just kick back and are quiet and self absorbent...You have always been a good Parront...

It is so weird, just this morning Tyler was rubbing Brutus' beak with no problem (I wasn't there). This aggressive behavior seems to happen at night. What is different is we are all sitting together. Brutus may be thinking Tyler is competition or something. My boyfriend, Dave, he loves though! Dave and I are always hugging and smooching and Brutus has no problem with it. So this makes no sense. For peace's sake, we are installing a temporary tension rod and curtain panels between the kitchen/office (where they are) and the living room (where we eat dinner). Problem is Brutus will probably just hop down on the floor and stroll in. Oh well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe tension rods on the floor and the ceiling with curtain panel threaded in both. My boyfriend's son, Tyler, is 6 feet one inch tall, and it seemed to happen overnight, so he is no small kid. Last night Brutus probably flew at Tyler 5-6 times. Poor Tyler. He seems to take it in stride though.