nickraph

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately I’ve not found anything that she goes absolutely nuts for. Her favorite foods are pistachios and peanuts, in that order. I do use those as treats BUT something I’ve noticed is that she will not go out of her way to get them, especially if it means doing something she is not comfortable with. She will definitely wait me out on that front. She may have that one treat that she goes crazy for that I haven’t found yet. She was never given a varied diet and only ever ate a nut and seed mix from a jug. So we’re experimenting with new foods. Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it.

Hello all - so sorry for the delay in replying. I’ve been pretty busy with work and Maxi. She is quite the character. She is making progress daily, she has her moody days just like any of us do and on those days she gets a little more “alone/me time” but most days she’s a real gem. She loves to be out and about on her cage, she will even come off her cage if it is close enough to the countertop she is next to and she will walk all around on it and play with her toys, eat, etc. something I’d really like to work on with her because she has not yet done it nor show interest in it, is stepping up. She will not allow me to hold her, she does not even attempt to step up and while I know nothing with African greys goes quickly and patients is key, I do worry about the safety aspect of not being able to move her from place to place of needed. I’m not sure she’s ever been held to be honest. I’d just like to be able to get her on my hand to move her if needed and introduce her to different areas of the house down the line. Any thought or tips on how to start this training, she is terrified of anything new like perches so I can’t use those to pick her up. I can walk up to her and put my hand to her chest and she will either walk away from it or give a warning nip. In my personal opinion the step up command is really going to open doors for her development and growth, but I bow to the experience here and will gladly take any advise i can get. Thank you everyone and sorry if there are typos, this is typed on a phone. Thanks again.

Hello all - just posted a little introduction thread in the new members section and wanted to hop over here to give the full details on what Maxi has been through in the 18/20 years she’s been around. I am not new to parrots and have worked with them over the years, however I’m very new to AG’s, especially having one in my home so any feedback, tips, etc. would be greatly appreciated. So from what I’ve been told by the woman who owned Maxi, she started out as a hand fed chick purchased from Petco back in the day. She was playful for about a year or so until she started testing her limits. This led to the owner being bitten and created a fear of the bird beak. She has been in the same cage ever since literally only being let out twice in that 17 time frame, one of those times being an accident and led to Maxi living under a couch for several days. As soon as she came here, her cage door was open and only being closed when we left the house. She slowly started coming out and climbing on the door, this further led to her exploring the unused play stand on top of the cage, however she had no clue how to get back in the cage once up there and was stuck for two days on top because she does not allow handleing and is terrified of towels. She had her food and water up there with her, but she eventually figured out how to menuver on the outside of her cage. She now spends a considerable time on top of her cage and in her cage, it’s her choice. Her diet has been completely hanged from a seed/nut diet to veggies, fruits, nuts, pellets, and other random foods she may get from us. She seems very happy now and making progress. However, the only time she will tolerate touch is when she starts doing her little mating dance and begins panting and squeezing, if she is doing this she will let you scratch the back of her neck for what seems like forever but His doesn’t feel right because the more you scratch her neck the more worked up she gets and it doesn’t feel fair for her to get all worked up, but it’s the only way she allows you to touch her, she will even hold your finger and at one point stepped onto my hand but moved as soon as I moved my hand. So that’s where we are right now, any tips or other information you guys might seem useful?

Hello all - I’ve recently adopted a female CAG who is aproximatly 18-20 years old. Her name is Maxi and she lived cage bound in the same home since she was a baby. We’ve had her about two months or so at this point and she is very sweet however does not tolerate touching and does not step or nor know how to step up from what I can tell. Anyways, I’m going to start a thread under the general section that will have a few questions in it. Any feedback or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!