samansad

This is a brilliant idea. I hope Alex will like that too. For now I am trying to build trust with Alex to trust perch too. It takes a long time for Alex to step on any perch. If the perch is not super stable then he freaks out. Thank you for all your encouragements

Thank you guys for being encouraging. Alex is so happy now and we are spending time together with so much fun. He is still scared when I place him on the ground and he walk slowly with so much conscious but we are working together so he can overcome his fear. Just to make you guys laugh. Alex likes to make the sounds of the birds. Few days ago there was this bird came and sat close to Alex then they started making noises. It was like they were talking. After few minutes, I think Alex got tired and started making cat sound and poor bird got scared and ran away hahaha

Things are really going well. Thanks for asking. Alex loves to come on my hand and when he comes to me I try to walk him around but he is still scared. So I just walk few steps and then I go back and sit beside his cage. He loves hanging out on my arm and the only game we play is I sing for him and he tries to copy me hahaha He is still scared of everything. So I cannot hand him a toy if he is away from his cage.

Thank you all for being so supportive

Just to share a really good news. This is the video of Alex stepping up for very first time. I feel so happy and my relationship with Alex is so good now. He loves to hang out on my shoulder. I just have a question. What is the best way to play with Alex? Like when the two of us are together how can I make his time to be more fun for him?

Dear all, Just to give you an update, I have been out of country for couple weeks. I came back two weeks ago and I found out that my family moved Alex outside of the house. I got so mad and started arguing to bring him back inside. However, in last 2 weeks I was not successful and something made me to stop arguing. I can see Alex is way more happier now compare to the time that he was inside. Alex allows us to touch him, he doesn't bite anymore and he is playing well. (I did not try to bring him out and ask him to step up yet). Today while playing with Alex I saw new behavior from Alex. I recorded his video. Two things are new, first the sound that Alex is making, and second, Alex throw up food intentionally and leave it on my finger! What do you think that sound means and why he is leaving food on my finger? Thank you,

Thank you for all your input guys. I still don't know what to do. If being outside is not an option then I might end up finding new home for him

Thanks for the link. I consider that if I end up letting go of Alex. Also I am living in Nashville TN. Anyway, I am not sure if your African Grey does the same scream, but as I said Alex is not the only one in our relatives. There are couple of more African Grey in our relatives. All other African Grey that I saw, growl and make the African grey scream but I never saw one that make his body big like Alex then scream like that. Alex's scream does not sound a joyful or relax or normal to me at all. I had different type of parrot before and she was not screaming this way unless she was asking for help because she was scared to death. Usually she did that when she was scared of another pet.

Thanks for understanding the pressure of other house members, rather than judging blindly. Well if I can find a way to keep him, I never let go of Alex. I was also thinking since summer is here, then maybe I can place Alex's cage outside in the deck. Is that a wrong idea? If I do that, then he will be alone till I get home and spend time with him. Also if and only if Alex was not this wild and allow us to pet him or move him around the house then I could make a place for him to be there when I am not home then bring him in when I am home. Because Alex rarely screams if I am around, but as soon as I leave, even if I go to restroom he keeps on screaming. Alex does not allow anybody to get close to him and he bites and chew the skin and make my fingers bleeding badly. I gave up on bringing my hand close to him or asking him to step up. I touch his belly when he is in the cage and he doesn't get angry. he still gives me kisses and if the cage door is closed he allows me to touch his beak from outside. But if the cage door is open he does his best to bite. One other option is to change Alex's cage to a small cage so I can move him around using his cage. I am not sure if that is a good idea at all. I also cannot blame other house holds. For last one year Alex did not show love to us even for a second. If his behavior was different then maybe they could accept him better too.

Well I don't think Alex is too noisy! But I am sure that type of scream is not normal.

Hello all, It has been a long time that I did not post anything here. I wish I could write good news and nice things but sadly, after more than a year Alex did not make any improvement. He is still so aggressive and bites to death. He even tried to bite my dad's eye, while he was refiling his food. Luckily my dad moved his head at the right moment. However, Alex left a big cut on my dad's eye brow. He does not step up and he does not allow us get close to him. The biggest issue is that Alex screams too much. I had parrot before and I know they are noisy but Alex's scream, does not sound normal African Grey. Alex never growl! We have 4 other African Greys in our relatives and none of them scream like that. His scream sounds like out of stress and anger. It is a type of scream that if you are in the same room with him you will get headache in few minutes. I took a video of him screaming. You can check this: Anyway as much as I love Alex, I am being forced by my family to find new home for him because of his screams. I don't know how to do it. I was wondering if any of you knows a good website that I can post about him and find new home for him ((((( Reminder: Alex is 19 years old and I got him last year. Thank you

This is so awesome. I wish one day Alex will step up and be more friendly

Acappella: I have to say that you are 100% right. After couple of days persisting on this approach, now Alex doesn't trust me as before. I can feel that he goes out of his cage, and sit on his perch outside the cage. Then as soon as he sees me going close to him, he runs back to his cage. I never tried to make him stand up while he was inside of his cage. Also during the practice time, Alex showed his frustration using a clear action. Each time that I made him to step up, and then step back down, I offered him a treat. He either refused the treat, or he got it then throw it away, and make an angry sound. And even if he is in his cage and I want to talk to him, he stays far from me. I am stopping this approach, and I will just give him time. It has been almost 5 months that Alex is with me. I thought it is time for him to start next level of trust, but it shows that not yet. Also I think Alex has a huge fear of a perch that is not stable. He does not trust swings and he does not step on a perch if it is not so stable and unmovable.

Hi All, I know most of you know about Alex. I am working on his step up and I ended to the point that he is running away from my hand and he is not biting it anymore. So, I started using a perch to make Alex to step up on that. At first he fought badly. He tried all he could to break it. Then he hold the perch with his beak and hold it so tight so I could not bring it close to his legs. Anyway after a short time of wrestling, I made him to step up on the perch, and I brought him close to my face while he was on the perch. He was scared to death and he was shaking badly. I offered him prize and he did not open his beak at all. I praised him with my words and then brought him back to his cage T perch and he went back on the T perch. I could see that he felt better. I offered him a prize, and he accepted it. After a short while of praising him and when he finished his prize, I brought the perch close again and he freaked out and start fighting again. I wrestled with him till he stepped up again and did everything same as before. Again he was so scared till I placed him back on his T perch. I did not give up and attempt it for the third time. On the third time he start screaming. The scared and angry scream of a grey. I did not give up until he stepped up. This time when I placed him back, he did not wait and ran to his cage so I cannot ask him to stand up anymore. From that day if he sees that perch in my hand he runs away in his cage. I was wondering if I should continue this process or I should stop it? Will this make him to loose his fear or it will make him to be more fearful and more aggressive? Thank you

Thank you all for your great notes. I can agree with neoow. I do not know how much baggage he has. I am sure he is still scared of me. There are so many times that I go close to him and I can see him shaking, and being quiet. After I talk to him, and sometimes kissing him then he starts acting happily. I can feel that he was punished in his passed, life and he is scared of punishment. But also there are times when he is so arrogant, and when I go to him he make a very loud sounds (not scream) and he puffs up to show that he is ready to fight. Mostly when he is resting. So, I should talk to him and maybe shake my head till he feels relax and start dancing with me. Greywings: I think my trust for him is ok because my love for him is unconditional. So till now I am playing with him and still touching his beak, but just more focused on his body language to see if I should stop. I also like to learn one action that he does. Sometimes he start dancing and shaking his head then slowly he starts hitting his cage, or his perch with hit beak. What does this mean? Is he frustrated or is he excited? I had parrots before that didn't have baggage and it was way easier to read their mood. Unlike Alex is so complicated.

Great point for new birds. Thank you

What do you mean that the other hand comes in for help? Do you hold her beak? Does she attack your other hand? I heard from another person that he use to tap his Grey's beak to show him stop biting.

So I think I did something wrong last night. I was playing with Alex's beak. He put my finger in his beak and at first he didn't bite. Then suddenly he started chewing my finger with all his power. I was quiet and act as if nothing happened. Till I started bleeding and I couldn't handle the pain anymore. so I stood up, look to his eyes with anger, and said No. He did not stop, and I kept repeating No, Alex No. After a while I got mad, turned my finger, and pulled it out of his beak. Then continued staring in his face with no voice, but with angry face. He started acting like a victorious proud bird and tried to bite my face, but he couldn't reach my face. So I told him, Alex No and he didn't stop till I got really mad, and made a big mistake. There is this small dear's horn that I have, and Alex is so scared of it. I picked it up, and as soon as he saw that in my hand he got scared, and try to step back. I brought the horn close to him, he screamed, and started fighting with the horn. I continued till he gave up and moved to the side of his cage out of fear. Then I closed his cage door and left to take care of my bleeding finger. After I was ok, I came back to him, and started talking to him. I touched his beak again and he did not try to bite me. I know what I did was wrong but I want to know, what could I have done to take advantage of this moment, and move one step closer towards building trust with him? Before, with my other types of parrots, I used to hold their beaks in situation like this. When I hold their beaks, they stop biting, and stepped back. I am not sure if this is a good idea for Greys. I was also thinking maybe I should have brought my other hand towards his chest to make him step up, since his beak was busy biting my finger.

Welcome to the forum and welcome to Grey lovers family. I agree with things that others said. Grey's are best friends if you know how to treat them and how to appreciate them. They might have strong outside but you will see that inside, they are sensitive and kind. If you treat them with love they will respond with love too. I think best suggestion that I can give is never try to break their bubble. Try to join them in their bubble. This requires you to give them time to trust you enough. When they realize how much you love them and how much you respect them, then they will respect you too. Alex is still new in my house but he does not bite anymore. When he doesn't like what I am doing, all he does is pushing my hand away from upper of his beak, and sometimes he says "No" at the same time. Also remember their honeymoon time

I am speechless after watching this I think anybody who wants to buy an African Grey must know where they are coming from!

What makes us laugh is when he says "No No!" Then after that he says "Alex.. good!" He does it because when he screams, we tell him "No", and when he does a good job we tell him "Alex good" or "good job Alex" So basically he says "No!" then he encourage himself saying "Alex... good" hahaha

This is the latest video of Alex talking. What makes it funny for me is that he call himself good. I love this cute boy.

Thank you so much guys. Just for your info I checked Alex prescription and he prescribed "Fluoxetine (Prozac)". I might not be a vet but as a person whose parents are both psychologist I know this medicine effect brains chemical. And I can say something clearly: Alex might be stress because of all his past life, and how he was treated, and rehoming, but I can say Alex is happy boy, and he enjoys playing with all his toys. I think for now I wanna let Alex enjoy his life, be relax and try to build trust with him. It was actually good for me that I brought him to this vet. Even if this vet didn't know well, I learned so much(mostly from you guys). Alex is 500 grams that means he is a big boy. Again thank you so much for all your help and always being here to help one another. I know you guys might not be a vet but you know greys better than so many vets out there, since you lived with greys for several years.

Thank you guys again. Well, he actually has some bare spots under his wings. But I can say Alex is much better compare to the time I got him. Alex did not have any tail feathers on day one, but now they are growing. So I will give him a few more months to see if he will let his tail feathers grow well or he will chew them again. Thanks you guys for all your help! This forum is really best help for me.

Hi guys, I brought Alex to vet because he is picking his white feathers under his wings and on his back. The vet gave me mental medicine and he said it will make him be more relax. I am wondering if I should trust this vet or I should use soothing spray instead or maybe I should consider visiting new vet? The other reason that I am doubting this vet is that he said Alex should be 2 pounds (1,000 grams) while Alex is 1 pounds and 2 ounces (500 grams). He said Alex is under weight, which sounds so weird. Thank you,