UKIkarus

Hi folks, Just wondering what kind of toys or other objects can be used as a means of keeping greys occupied when inside the cage, our grey "Tia" has been let out alot more recently though unfortunatey every toy we have got her in the past has been destroyed. The problem is since she has no toys in the cage at the moment, she keeps swinging from the top and grabbing her own main flight feathers. After which they are all frayed and broken and wont go back into place, she then gets annoyed at them and bites the ends off leaving her unable to fly properly and having a very messy rear end covered in broken feathers. This has happened before and it took quite some time for them to regrow, when they did however she was circuiting the room several times haha. Basically needing some suggestions for toys or items which may keep her occupied and give her less reason to bite on her feathers, she is getting alot better and keeps trying to fly to me but ends up landing on the other end of the sofa in a fluffy pile. :rolleyes: I have several piccies now since i recently got a new camera and can show the extent of the damage, it really is quite upsetting to see her demolishing her own feathers like this.

Ok, no problem... She is just very quiet with 99% of people except myself and my grandad who she seems to feel comfortable enough with to whistle/talk to us when in the room, as you say for the most part she just listens and peeks over the bars at whatever happens to be going on lol

Just wondering why our grey "Tia" seems to always be quiet and never make a sound whenever people are in the room with her *except the odd few like me when alone* as opposed to when people are out of the room? she is always whistling or talking when people are out of view.

What kind of veggies can I give to Tia? We usually steam our veggies so i'm guessing they will be ok as they are unsalted etc and home grown...

Hi Jayd, I'm unsure as to what kind of grape you have in mind, but these are certainly not the size of her head ... they are tiny black seeded grapes about half inch round grown in the greenhouse and she only has about 2-4 every 2-3 days in the morning as a treat

No problem! The grapes are simply given to her in the morning as an extra since grandad has a huge load of them in his greenhouse as for the perch, it is not so much a playstand but more of 2 triangulated feet with a round cage like perch between them (very sturdy indeed but intended more for perching on rather than playing) we do of course hand her something to play with when she is on it.

Time for an update.... We have had Tia out alot more recently and she has been getting alot better with people as she once used to be, she is however very persistent when it comes to flying onto a certain chair which is forbidden (closest to her cage) She will fly to my arm at times when being called however, she does not seem interested in taking the treat and I am uncertain as to wether or not she has actually associated the treats with a good act yet. Most of the time she will just sit on her cage happily and do her thing, if she is on my arm and I go to tickle her she will often look away at something else (like the chair) but never bite or anything which is good. If she is in the mood for a tickle then she will of course lower her head and insist on being tickled, but she just seems to be so interested in the chair and everything else than staying where she is allowed to or wanting to be with us. Another thing I have noticed that is once again becoming a little bit of a problem is pooping, she is pooping alot more than she used to at times (although it could be the grapes she has had lately) and she may not always get back to the cage but we cant help that can we . She does still sometimes nip at people which we are trying to get her out of doing, but we just cannot seem to keep her away from this chair or get her to pay attention much, if we put an object she dislikes near it she will not stay away from it but rather fly at it and knock it off with her beak :rolleyes: any advice would be greatly appreciated, I understand greys are not cuddly birds by any means and since she is growing up she will want to be more independent, but having a calm comfortable bird with us or where she is allowed to go as she used to be would be very nice as she gets to be herself and also gets to be with us and get used to being around people again. (she does have a perch we made for her that she did eventually get comfortable with, however we have not used it in a looong time would it be worth while getting this out once again so she can become comfortable near people? (it has a poop tray too ) Thanks for all the welcomes and advice it has been very well recieved and is helping greatly

Attached is an image of Tia, unfortunately I couldnt get a great picture as the lighting was not very good and the tripod isn't quite tall enough hehe. Should be ok though

Yes I must say she was caged alot longer than usual recently due to everybody being in and out of the gardens and generally being busy working on the family car (MOT and all) She certainly does have a unique personality, it seems she always laughs right on queue whenever something funny is said or done (such as a bald friend slapping suncream on his head LOL) She is often quite happy just sitting on her cage or edge of the sofa, as said before she is beginning to start flying and being alot more curious about her surroundings now she is out again

Hi Jayd, Yes when she does this we usually tickle her head a little and walk away until she calms down, after which she will do a "yoohoo" kind of whistle and lower her head for a tickle Edit: Thought I would mention that if we do not respond she will lower her head and use her own foot to tickle herself while mumbling "good girl" hehe I will try and get some pictures of her at some point and upload them for you all, will give me an excuse to use the camera. lol

Hi Danmcq, Yes we got her from a breeder and have had her since the age she began eating properly, she was and still is very comfortable here with everybody... however she has began to nip a little over the years but very rarely. She does seem to be closest to my grandad, however he does make a fuss of her and play around alot tickling her belly and under her wings just as I do (when we do this she will often lower her wings and run back and forth a bit making a kind of squeeking sound and regurgitating seeds) You could say she's become a little lazy over the years hehe, she used to fly all over the place all the time but nowadays waits to be picked up although she is beginning to take flight once again She absolutely loves pine nuts and will do almost anything to get her beak into some (including flying to our arms which she used to do in the past) we are trying to associate "want a nut" with rewarding her and getting her to come to us with the "come" command amongst other things. We have only been doing so for about 2-3 days so far but it seems to be working She will fly back to her cage by herself to poop most of the time, except the odd time when she gets a little excited but for the most part we catch her before she poops and take her back. From what I have read, it is best to try and teach birds in a room away from the cage but she often gets very nervous and breathes heavy when I take her away from it, until of course I give her some time to roam and relax. Will let you know how things go and look forward to hearing about others experiences.

Hello, I have a Congo African Grey parrot who is 7 years old called "Tia", when we got her she was hand reared and was great with everybody including strangers. However we were wondering if we could get a little advice on how to create a stronger bond with our parrot, when she is in her cage she is often very calm and chirpy and although she does not currently have many toys to play with she does enjoy swinging on the top of the cage and chewing the odd cardboard tube (have heard that they like to chew and it’s safe to use cardboard tubes) We often talk to her and interact with her quite a bit and I personally (not so much other family members) can stroke her through the bars or with the cage door open without many problems, when I do this she lowers her wings and makes noises whilst trying to feed my hand. (any info regarding this?) When she is out of the cage she is often atop her cage or on our arm getting quite a lot of attention, most of the time she is fine, however we have noticed times when she will nip at somebody out of the blue at which point we either put her on the cage top (which I have heard can encourage nipping to return home) or putting her inside the cage. We do realise that sometimes she is beaking or loses balance and this cannot be helped and wondered if there is any way that we can get her to be more trusting towards us. If I try to touch her when she is atop the cage she will often run in the opposite direction and avoid me however possible unless she is instructed to step up, if I take her into another room she is ok with several people or alone over time. However if I take her alone and it is quiet in the house then she will often look towards the door and breathe heavily (a sign of fear I believe) and I cannot get her to pay any attention to me or calm down without letting her roam a little and get used to the environment. We have treats for her which she absolutely loves and would like to try and get her to nip less and perhaps teach her something new (although we are unsure of what at this moment in time) is there any ways we should approach this? Any help would be greatly appreciated. She used to fly to us on call and land on our arms, although nowadays she is lazy and will wait for us to go to her and ask her to step up. :rolleyes: I apologise for the long post, name here is “Daryl” I look forward to hearing from you all and sharing any experiences we have with our Congo Tia