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My daughter and I have been blessed with two African greys. They are 18 and 16 years old. Both came from the same owner who raised them since they were babies. The male was very friendly when we meet him at his home. The female was very shy! Three weeks later, she has become a very loving bird! She loves interactions, stepping up and will even walk the house looking for us. She talks and talks! He has changed and refuses to step up. When we approach him, he fluffs his feathers, puts his head down and will lunge to bite if pushed. This makes going into his travel cage very difficult. He will take treats and food from our hands. If he flies to the floor he will step up without any hesitation. Any advice?

omg...that's terrifying. It's my worst nightmare that I fear.

Thank you very much for your response. I like that African Grey time is slow time!!

Find his treat he can't live without! Then use it to condition him to step up. It's not like he doesn't know how, he just needs to redirect his thought processes.

Wow!! Thank you for giving these babies a new forever home!! just from your attitude, i can tell they are in good hands!! Be patient..this is normal in many cases...as I have said before, Rome didn't pop up overnight.... (PHOTOS, PHOTOS PHOTOS)

I look forward to the replies as I have a similar issue!

Thank you oh Lord for the saving of the Parrots and property. Please bring health to these beautiful creatures of your's and the saving of our beloved Luvparrots. Please bring strength to Sterling Gris to move forward past this ordeal for you truly protected them all. Please give strength to Luvparrots for the ordeal that stands before her. Bless your creatures big and small. We all share our tears with you...Amen Reverend Jay

I know I've already commented but I wanted to add: if Sterling-Gris makes a habit of it, you may consider talking to a vet about using Haloperidol to settle him down for a while. I've mentioned it here before but I'll repeat it - our new bird, Huey has an abused past and when he gets stressed he will tear the scales off his feet and keep at it until they're bleeding and eventually would lead to putting him down. It's a nuerotic behavior he gets into and once it starts the only way to stop him is dosing him with Haloperidol. It settles him right down. The vet put our Huey on 3 drops morning and night which he was on for I don't know how many years. When we got him I was determined to get him off the meds. He went 1.5 months and then one morning I went out to the aviary to get him and his feet were bloody. He got cold and paniced and went after his feet. So back to 3 drops and I'm slowly weaning him down to zero. It's just a thought, I hate meds as much or more as the next guy but I've seen how it can stop a neurosis on the spot and helps the bird to settle and then off his meds.

Hopefully this may be a one time reaction from the house filled smoke. Thank God all your fids are OK Give Sterling an extra hug and tell him we are all happy he is OK.

If he steps up from the floor i t`s just a mater of time and he will step up from any place. Remember grey time is slow motion and they need to build a relationship with you. It sounds like they had a good life in their old home so I believe this will continue with you. Good Luck

Greetings! Thank you for joining this great forum! I give you your first trophy...you have four more coming....one for each new post! Photos rule! Post about you, yours, and your Fids!

it might play on a computer or laptop. I’m on my iPad

Last night, it was almost bedtime and Salsa had been fighting yawns and trying hard to keep her eyes open...when I finished getting her cage ready, I turned around and found her like this.....she opened one eye and I swear I could hear her say, "I can talk, I can fly, and I can twist my head 360 degrees....can you?" ooooohhhh, that feels so goooood! Right there...

They sure know how to talk body language don`t they. Cricket could speak volumes with her body language and never utter a sound.

She is gorgeous!!

I have never had problems with plucking.... until now. Background. Sterling Gris, is a nine year old CAG that has lived with me since he was weaned. In fact I finished his weaning at home. He is a big guy easily twice as big of my 11 year old TAG, Ana Grey. He has always been a scaredy cat. He is afraid of anyone but me. Well.... Last Sunday I was making mash for the birds and had just put the pot of mixed dried beans on the stove when my neighbor called and asked me to go shopping with her. i said yes and quickly changed my lounge clothes to going out clothes and dashed out the door. Had a great three hour time with dinner included. But has we were almost home she got a call from her son asking when we would be home and he was told we had just gotten off the highway and were almost home. We knew something was wrong..... When we got out of the pick-up we could hear the alarms going off in my home and I dashed to the front door and my neighbor was on the cellphone calling the fire department. Her son dashed into my house and started opening windows. I moved the burned pot of beans, turned off my stove burner and rushed to the bird room to get my parrots and canary out of the smoke filled house. I keep bird carriers in the bird room and just grabbed the parrots and put them in carriers and rushed everyone out the door. After the smoke cleared out I put everyone back in the cages and all was fine I thought..... The next morning I was leery that something might be wrong. Fearing I might find cages of dead parrots, I was grateful they were all alive BUT Sterling Gris had plucked all of his chest feathers off. I was devastated but it could have been worse (I keep telling myself), he is alive, they were all alive and hopefully Sterling's feathers will grow back. (Thank you Dave, I have re-read your post on plucking. I still miss you, Dr. Flock). I'm too old for this kind of excitement in my life! Ana Grey, Sophie and Moe (canary) were not phased at all.