gardinerca

So my 9 month old African Gray have been doing quite well since we've been together. I have one question however. I'm always trying to get him to see new things and objects that are both different in shapes and sizes, but also safe to bite and chew. Some items I've had a bit of struggle getting him use to though. When he fluffs up and starts to growl is it better for the object to just "go away" or to stay there for a long period of time in from of him? How do you introduce things to your gray?

Heres some pics of my african gray http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057824&id=1267110049&l=36e595caa3 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046884&id=1267110049&l=652247abd7

I have one and my gray loves it. I live in southern California but those of you from here know the nights get quite chilly. I went out on a limb and bought one of these from amazon. When I got it I put it in the cage and allowed him to step down on it to give it a shot. The hard plastic or whatever material the perch is made out of seemed to be slippery so his grip was a mess from the start so he quickly moved off. I removed it and threw on some grip tape and tried it again and now hes addicted to it.

Im good at keeping up with daily cage cleaning so I know thats not the issue. Ive switched out all 4 of the toys in the cage with the window perch toy hook and he plays with all of them with ease. I have 3 different size perches for him to choose from inside the cage and hes taken a liking to the larger of the 3.

Ive had my baby gray for the past 3 weeks. It seems very happy and carefree. After about a week I had it flying from the top of its cage to my hand (where ever around the house I happen to be, I just had to make a certain whistle sound). Its always been a fussy eater. Wont try any fruit but bananas. I normally feed it half veggies, moist seed, and fruit in the morning and also at night but it normally goes uneaten. I wake up around 6:30am to find him already eating on the organic pellet food I leave in his cage at all times. Is this normal? He never wants to be in his cage. No matter what. If I have to run out to the store for an hour or two, I come to find him on the floor of his cage either doing the drag foot thing in the corner or hes just staring at my door. A few days ago hes attitude about his cage grew. He would leap out the door off his perch only to be stopped by his wings. He would fly out on the ground or out my room and just wait for me to pick him up. I clipped his wings because I figured he would know he no longer could jump leap and bounds and have it be ok. He was an excellent flier and I'm positive he learned the fundamentals of flight. My major in school is cognitive science and Ive worked with birds so I clipped his wings myself. He allowed me to do it to my surprise. He no longer jumps from his cage but he still never wants to be in the darn thing. He either climbs to the opening in the top or if that's closed or he just chills at the bottom until I open the door up. After being clipped hes been exposed to the outside and has taken a liking for it. The only behavioral issue Ive noticed is that hes a lot quieter and he just wants to be on his window perch and look out. Every so often he'll lets out a little cerp and ill go over and he'll step up and ill try and offer him his cage for food and water but he just poops and then climbs up and will cuddle on my chest for a few min while i scratch his head then just wants to go back to the window perch. Sometimes I swear he wants to sleep there but right after dusk I have to beg him to stepup and go to his cage for the night. Basically I just want to know what I should be doing with him at this stage of his life. I live in a fairly large house and he seems to love exploring now that I give him outside area. His food situation seems to be a concern for me but I assume eating this pellet mix and from the treats I give him throughout the day is sufficient. His weight seems to be on the right path so I'm guessing hes just eating the heck out of the pellets.