esknomoe

Brutus and me.

Congrats. My Grey was 12 when we adopted him. Our Conure was seven. It takes time to adjust to them, and you'll soon see what they learned, or didn't learn, in their previous homes. My Conure never had toys in his pervious home, and he still doesn't play with toys much, even after our having him 8 months or so. Brutus, the Grey has a couple favorites that came with him from his prior home, and we have added to his collection.

I kave three parrots and five dogs. They all seem to get along quite well. My Conure will even ride around on one of the dog's back. Brutus, my Grey, likes to bark at the dogs, he can immitate two of them perfectly, and order them around: "Go lie down"..."Come here Shadow (one of my Labs)"...."Go outside"...etc. Every nite, before bed, my Conure likes to tell them to go out and "Go pee pee". LOL

I think they like to play "tough guy" with their toys, sometimes. Brutus doesn't attack any of the stuff in his cage; but sometimes I will let him play on my computer desk, and he loves to violently attack and throw things like my keys, pens, my wallet, etc.

Brutus absolutely LOVES chicken, and turkey. Bones as well. He actually seems to like any meat; beef, chicken, turkey, pork, etc. Last time I tried giving him tuna he didn't seem too impressed.

I have reason to believe that Brutus was wild caught. The reasons I believe this are because: He has no leg band His previous owner supposedly purchased him from a pet store, rather than a breeder. Pet stores, in the late 1990's commonly purchased wild captured parrots. He is a little over 12 years old, which would put his hatch date at the late 1990's, which was at the time when hundreds of thousands of wild captured birds were being exported from Africa.

Brutus also likes to tell the dogs to "GO LIE DOWN". He will also call them with his "wheee o wheet" whistle.

It's hilarious. Brutus immitates the barks of our Cavalier and our Shih Tzu.

Of my 5 dogs and 3 parrots, only 1 was purchased by me, as the first owner. All of the other dogs and birds are rescues or rehomes. My White Eyed Conure is one of the oddest. She was about 6 or 7 years old when we got her last fall. When the previous owners, a husband and wife, had their first baby, they relegated Phoebe, the Conure, to a spare bedroom, for several years. She was fed nothing but seeds, and had absolutely no human interaction, other than being fed, watered, and her cage cleaned, occasionally. As a result, she has an overgrown beak, because of fatty liver. Getting her to eat healthier, even pellets, has been a chore. The oddest thing is that she is scared of humans, and will not step up on a finger, unless she is on the floor; but she will climb onto Buddy; one of our Black Labs' back, and ride around. She absolutely loves Buddy the dog. It's very strange.

I have a CAG, a White Eyed Conure, and an Indian Ringneck. Brutus, my CAG, is the most adept at holding his food with his foot. In fact, he will climb around the cage bars with his beak and one foot, while clutching a piece of food in the other. The Conure is also fairly adept. The IRN drops everything; but he is the youngest, at about 9 months old. I just don't think he's become proficient at it yet.

My CAG, Brutus, is 12. His previous owner, a young man, got him when he was a teenager, and eventually got married and moved out of the house. They didn't take Brutus with them, and he was left with his elderly grandmother. I don't know for sure, but I believe the reason they decided to rehome Brutus was because the grandmother had neither the patience, nor the desire, to interact with a very smart Grey. Brutus will still say things, in the old lady's voice like "Brutus is a BAD BAD boy." Or "Brutus is a BAD bird." Or "Get out of here." It saddens me when I hear him say this stuff; and I never repeat, or acknowledge him when he says them. I work daily on being as positive with him, in the things I say to him, and don't make a big deal out of any misdeeds. He really is a good boy, and doesn't have any terribly unacceptable habbits.

Annette Wolter's book, "African Gray Parrots" is pretty popular. There are also several books about parrots in general that have chapters about Greys.

As a Grey owner, you get better and better at reading body language. Sometimes I'll misread, and OWWWW.

I've worked with Brutus with a spray bottle. He gets mildly annoyed if I spray a mist straight up in the air and let it fall on him like rain. He absolutely hates having it sprayed directly at him. I have a bottle of that EZ Care Bathtime stuff, and he goes nuts at the mere sight of the bottle. He will violently attack it on a table. Occasionally he will bathe himself in his water bowl in his cage or on his play stand.

A couple pics of Brutus: