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I am a new member and just introducing myself and our newest addition. I have had little birds, a cockatiel and a greencheek, for 19 years. We resently had the opportunity to adopt a 28 year old African Grey named Vannah. She has lived with same companion humans for the past 22 years and seems very well socialized. They offered her to us because they are in their late 70's and wanted to have a choice in where she goes instead of waiting until something happened to them. She was the only bird in the house, but she did have a dog for a while some years ago. We brought her home July 5th, and since then she has warmed up to playing with new toys, having us clean her cage and perches, and is eating well andtalks more every day. She won't step up regularly yet, and ignores requests to go inside her cage or to leave the baseboards alone. We just entice her with something better tasting and she kind of goes where we need her to. Does anyone have a suggestion about how long we should wait on really reinforcing the stepping up? We are trying let her settle in and relax in her own way, but I don't want this to become the 'new normal' for her.

Hi Jenn, and Welcome to both you and Vannah! Greys are by nature very cautious. The key to winning over a grey is to allow her to let you know what she's comfortable doing. Once we inject what we want onto them, you've taken a few steps back. Having just recently lost her home, it'll take time for her to go through her mourning stage followed by accepting her new home and flock members. Exercise patience and proceed based upon her queues. Congrats to you!

Our new to us Grey came to us eating seeds, fruits and veggies, and the occasional cracker or chicken. She is still taking the that diet, but our other smaller birds are on a pellet and seed diet with the fruits and veggies. At 28, do I need to work her toward some pellets too? I would kind of like to, but don't know if it's something I should put at the top or bottom of the list in getting her acclimated to our home.

Hello and welcome to you and Vannah! As Greytness said, I would give her plenty of time to adjust before pushing anything. Most greys adapt very slowly to change, and trying to rush can end up creating trust issues and make the process take even longer over time.

As long as she receives and eats a wide variety of fresh veggies, some fruit, a few nuts, and sprouts as her dietary base there's no need to incorporate pellets into her diet. A small amount of a high quality seed blend is okay, too.