TinaM

Oh he's always grinding his beak and lifting his foot. If he's not touched, he's the perfect picture of happy bird! lol When I leave the room, he'll whistle for me and say "Up! Up!" lol. I do my own thing. I'll keep out of the room for 15 mins or an hour, depending on what I'm doing and he gets used to it. But he always does the whistle and up up in the beginning. Right now he's making clucky noises at me because I'm typing and not paying attention to him. lol

To Dave: It's not others, it's me he's doing this to. To LovemyGreys: The breeder would have him step up, and then he'd lean into her, she'd snuggle him like a baby and he'd make those cute little baby chirps at her. He was handled this way by her, her husband and her two adult children. They had the babies in their house so the babies got used to a household type of environment, all hands-on. I've tried laying on the bed with him and letting him explore - he doesn't. He just sits there and clicks his beak the whole time, not even playing with his toys (and he loves toys!). I don't try to initiate any of our 'hands on time' near his stuff, but a neutral place... though he's been everywhere in the house and has had a chance to explore whatever he wants. It's just not 'his' place or cage, or whatnot. He will readily step up, and asks to step up a lot. He loves to be talked to and acts very distressed when I'm leaving the room to use the bathroom or head to the kitchen. So, it's not like he's hissing at me or ignoring me, he is the one that initiates interaction a lot of the time. He's a challenge! I will try the time out method. He really dislikes cage time, and is out of the cage most of his time, except sleepy time. Maybe his dislike will work in my favour! Thanks for the advice!

Today marks the 3 week mark of owning my 18 week old CAG. He seems settled in, hates to be alone, always calls for me, whistles when I leave the room. He likes to be picked up and walked around a lot. He gets a lot of toy time and play gym time, and he's around me about 12 hours a day (He sleeps about 10 hours and has a couple of 'alone time' hours in the morning or evening as well). Izzy was hand-fed and hand tamed. His breeder could cuddle with him and scratch him. She'd kiss his beak... The problem I have is, he won't let anyone touch him. At all. He bites with multiple strikes and always grinds his beak to draw blood. I'm used to birds, so I simply don't reach to it. He bites, I give him the 'stern look' and tell him 'no bite'. His biting is random, not simply when I try to touch him, he'll be fine then lower his head and 'chomp!'. I know biting is a 'learned behaviour', but I have no idea where he'd learn this. He didn't bite his breeder, and I've never reacted to his bites WHEN he does it. I don't yell at him, or shake my arm or anything physically scary. I just calmly tell him 'no bite' and the glare. Then we move to more positive things where he can get a treat. I'm not giving up on him, and I don't need him to be a cuddly bird, but I do want to be able to touch him enough to where if something happens, I can handle his body without driving him into a stressed frenzy. I'm kinda at my wits end with him. I don't know why he feels the need to bite and no, he's not giving the usual 'I'm going to bite you' signs - no eye pinning, no sneaky side-looks. He'll go from the "I'm a cute little bird baby" look to CHOMP! Any advice on further techniques that might work with him would be very appreciated, because after 3 weeks, simply saying 'no bite' isn't working. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the warm welcome. My Grey's name is Izzy, he's 18 weeks old and I've had him since Easter (I know! So short a time!). He came as a surprise to me from my family, in fact. So, I didn't get to pick him, or rather, have him pick me. He's DNA male, and a beautiful, big boy. I've been letting him settle in, not asking too much of him. However, he has other plans! He is everywhere, and into everything. Nothing scares this bird at all. New food, new toys, new noises, he's all for it. The bad part is ...he doesn't like me much. Figures doesn't it!? lol He adores my mother, and will step up for her, let her pet him, doesn't bite her. He will give her whistles and little baby cheep noises. Me? I get the pointy end of his beak and a glare. My Mom stole my bird. lol Unfortunately, my Mom isn't into the 'upkeep' part of birds. So to clean his cage or give him food, ect.. I'm in contact with him constantly, not to mention Izzy's cage is in my studio where I am 90% of the time! He's content to hang out near me, but if I move, he's all about the snapping and biting. I know birds will be birds and you cannot force a friendship, but I feel really kinda dejected lol. My dream bird and he wants none of it. I still love him, I can't help it. He's beautiful and if he never wants to be friends with me, so be it. But, it still makes me sad. Anyway, that's my story so far. Here's some pics of Izzy! http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/piwackett/Izzy/<br><br>Post edited by: TinaM, at: 2008/03/27 21:55

Hello, I'm new to the forums here, and joined because I recently acquired my dream bird; an African Grey. I've had other birds (and still do!) ranging from parakeets and cockatiels as a kid, to a mischevious set of conures now, and through my life and family owned, an assortment of macaws and even a crotchety old amazon.