ashleymarie2322

Its been a long time since I posted here. Last time I was here I was a single college student with a bird for a baby. now am married with two new human babies to add to the flock. I knew Rio didn't much care for kids and is aggressive towards them when I got her, but of course I didn't have kids then! Or foresee them in my future. I was told I would never be able to have kids so I rescued Rio. It was just me and her. I had no problems handling her. Then I got married. She fell in love with my husband. Listens to his every command of course it took me a month of sitting next to her cage to earn her trust. He walks in and bam, love at first sight! But he's not that into birds. So the feeling isn't really there for him. We hit hard times when I was pregnant with my first child. We had to move in with my parents and I think that's where the stress started. My mom wouldn't allow me to keep her upstairs because she was to loud. So she had to be put in the basement. I hated it and tried finding her a new home because I knew this was no good for her but rehoming a bird that started off as a rescue....not simple. Fast forward two more years and we have just finally moved out of my parents house. We are in an apartment and Rio is out in the living room again. There is light and activity. Just what I wanted for her but now she is emotionally stressed out. She will screech until I cover her cage with a blanket...the activity of a 2 year old and a newborn seems to have her over whelmed. She wont let me bathe her anymore. She has picked up her eating and is doing better everyday but I know I have a long way to go with her. After I rescued her it took hours and hours...and near 1000 dollars to get her healthy and happy. Now I feel like we slides backwards. I can't rehome her. I know she doesn't like my kids and its not safe for them....my oldest really doesn't like Rio. Cries everytime she squawks to loud. But there are no people I know who will care about her enough. Rio is still my first baby, I rescued from a neglecting home. I feel bonded to her so I want to make this work. I'm looking for any suggestions, advice....anything you have to offer. I want my family to get along together and I really want Rio to adjust to life with kids.

that article was perfect!! thank you so much! I see maybe what we've been doing wrong and what I can do to fix this. it'll take time that's for sure but I feel much more hope now that it can be done. her behavior was really starting to worry me. anyway thank you!!

Well, as some of you may know, I've recieved Rio from a family friend over a month ago and for a while everything seemed great. she was coming to me, stepping up, showing affection, talking like crazy, and most of these she still does. except for stepping up. the problem has become getting her out of the cage or off of the cage. when she's away from it she steps up with ease and is wonderful but when i try to get her to come she bites my finger or hand. whatever she can reach. I've tried using a stick, but the moment I pulled it out she freaked. I thought she would hurt herself the way she was running away from it. then I tried getting my hand behind her heels but she stands firm in her ways and found a new way to reach around a bite. this is something I want to stop quickly but I'm at a loss for ideas. :dry: any advice?<br><br>Post edited by: ashleymarie2322, at: 2008/08/15 20:13

yea the situation is pretty tricky. and I'm glad she takes it but she's so angry with me after I give it to her. and she bites and yells when I try to catch her with the towel...which I have to do because she won't step up for me, because she doesn't know me! :\ the baby food idea might work. the meds are liquid ish...kind of thick just like normal cough medicine.. I may try that tonight. I'm just worried I'lll never gain her love and trust if we start our relationship off of fear. which she has from the towel and meds. thanks for the advice! I'm grateful for anything that might help my baby and I have a better time with this.

Hello!! I just got Rio last night and we're already facing a few issues. I hoping I can get some words of wisdom here from all you wonderful fellow bird lovers. The vet found an infection in Rio when she did a mouth swab and so twice a day I have to catch Rio in a towel. hold her still, and give her the meds. She HATES this. this makes gaining her love and trust almost impossible. she already doesn't know me or trust me but this giving her these meds this way makes everything sooo much more difficult. is there another way of giving the birds meds? that maybe wouldn't make her so angry and so now when ever I go near her cage she starts throwing her hanging toys around with an pretty angry maner. she won't step up or have anything to do with me unless I come bringing food. I've been letting her eat fruit that I eat with my lunch. today was watermellon. and if I open the door she'll hang outside the cage just to get some. so I've tried just giving her fruit by hand and sitting next to her cage talking to her but I'm not sure what else I can do to gain her trust. thanks for listening!

I've been looking to get a good table play stand for Rio. I don't have a whole lot of money (even more so since I paid so much for Rio) but I still want to get something good for her. I know the table ones cost less but I'm not sure what kind is the most fun for the birds. I want her to like it. any suggestions?

do you think that changing her name would be to much for her? at 4 years old I feel like she might know it to well to change anything. I don't mind Rio so really its fine...my boyfriend was just a little curious. thanks for all the advice! I'm very grateful for everyone here helping me out.

I guess I got a little over excited about getting your wonderful advice on my bird and forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ashley. I'm currently attending college and my major is in psych. I plan on doing counseling for children in elementary school. I used to work with cockatoos and sun conure’s in a life lab (sort of a educational center to bring children). I have a sun conure at home (tequila sunrise) and was planning on getting a baby cockatoo when a friend of mine came to me about Rio. Rio is 4 years old and although the owners loved her they weren't very educated in how to handle her. She wasn't brought out of her cage often or trained very well to step up or anything. The owners were hardly home so she spent a lot of time by herself and they decided that it wasn't best for her and that it was time to find her a new home. I figured there were tons of people who would want a baby cockatoo but not many would take in an older bird with some behavior issues (even more so since they are asking for a lot of money), and although I've never worked with or even handled Grey's before I feel up to the challenge. And although she’ll cost a lot of money I think it’s totally worth it if I can give her a better life. I want to bring her to my home and love her and give her as much attention as possible. I want Rio to get to bond with me and get to spend lots of time outside of her cage. I want to give her the best home possible. In wanting to do so I've been finding as many grey forums as I can. I want to be in close contact with other people who have done this before so I can insure I do things right for Rio. I have until July 15th to learn all I can and then the fun begins! As soon as she is here I will post some pictures! Thanks for reading! Ashley

in two weeks I'll be getting my first grey. she is coming from a friend of our family who've had her for a while but never had time to train her or really even get her out of her cage. because she's had so little handling and because she's 4 years old I'm a bit worried about bulding a relationship with her. I've been going around to as many grey related places I can so I can get advice from as many people as possible. I want to love this bird and be able to bond with her just like I would have if I had raised her but I'm unsure of what are the best ways to do so. she does bite and scream a lot and she won't step up for anyone but one person who she was very attached to. any advice on what I can do with Rio (the bird)?