Kaleah

My CAG is 4 years old. I've only had her for two weeks. When I got Kaleah I was told she didn't talk at all, but to my surprise she does! Not a lot mind you, just simple "hello" and the occasional "pretty bird", but she always uses "hello" appropriately. When I come home she will let out a delighted whistle and say hello. When the phone rings she says hello again, but with an inflection in her voice that sounds like it's a question, and she only says it if I pick up the phone. If the phone is not answered and the caller hangs up before the answering machine picks up, Kaleah will still copy its beep because she knows that a second after the phone stops ringing the answering machine will kick in and eventually make the same beep. For a 4 year old that has only been in her new home a few weeks she is doing extremely well. I have no doubts about her intellect, I can look into her eyes and know she has as many thoughts, plans, ideas, and questions going through her mind as I do. And I feel, in time, that she will be able to verbally communicate those with me, even if only on a basic level.

Thanks for the advice. Last night when she was on my shoulder I pulled my hair down so it covered my ears, just to see what she would do, and she didn't regurgitate or whimper. She sat nicely on my shoulder and played with strands of my hair for nearly an hour! It was so nice being able to spend time with her where we were both relaxed. It is the first distraction that seems to work. I'm going to try it again today and see how it goes.

I have had my 4 year old CAG, Kaleah, for nearly two weeks and things are going great...for the most part. Two days after bringing her home she started regurgitating whenever I would be holding her. After finding out what it means, I was so happy that she had decided to bond with me so quickly. But then it escalated. Now I can't play with her, or even have her out of her cage without her whimpering for me and making the motions to regurgitate. I love playing with her, but the fun for me has been overshadowed by her constant need to do this. She doesn't do it in her cage, only when she's out, but I refuse to leave her in her cage all day just because it's getting to me. I take her "advances" for as long as I can and then it's time to distract her with something else. She has a fave toy she only gets when she's out, but today she didn't even want that as much as she wanted me. When I would try to distract her with it, she would hiss and try to bite me, only to climb onto my lap, up my chest, and onto my shoulder so she could "love my ear up" some more. Everything I've tried from ignoring it, to putting her back in her cage, to redirecting her attention, and so on has made no difference yet, she just tries that much harder. I had someone even tell me that it's possible she has regressed since coming to live with me and that I should feed her oatmeal. That seemed to have made things worse. I have had my two cockatiels for eight years, but this is my first Grey. I'm learning things with Kaleah that I never experienced with my other birds. But the regurgitation is the one thing that I'm stumped on how to stop. Any advice at all would be most appreciated.

One word of caution on rubbing her down her back and especially her tail area, she is 4 years old, as old as mine and touching her in those areas are her sexual arousal areas so by stroking her you could be lighting a fire if you catch my drift and you don't want that. If she starts holding her wings lower and out from her body and makes wimpering sounds then say "thank you" and walk away as you don't want to sexually frustrate her. Yes, she does whimper. What I've been doing when she starts to pump her head and whimper, is put her back in the cage. She stops almost immediately. I wasn't aware that stroking her back could sexually arouse her. I'll just stick with neck scratches for now. Don't want to lead her on any more than I, apparently, already have. HAHA

As of two days ago I just brought home a rescued 4 year old CAG, that I named Kaleah. Kaleah came from a home where she had beaten for not talking. I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me with her, but I was more then ready. The night I brought her home she had an accident...getting her head stuck in the fancy scrolled bars on her cage. After a brief moment of panic on my part I put my hand in her cage and had her stand on my arm and then with my free hand slowly turn her head as gently as possible to maneuver it out. It took about ten minutes but she finally got it out herself. Obviously shaken, she wouldn't let me put her down. I had read prior to bringing her home that any accidents that happen with your bird in the first few months/weeks may set back any progress you've made. The thing is, it seems to have pushed our progress ahead immensely. She's trusting me more and more each day. Yesterday I found out just how accepting she is of me when she started trying to feed me regurgitated food. I wasn't sure why she was doing this so I looked online and everything I read all said that she has accepted me as part of her "flock", loves me, and views me as her mate, I guess. It just goes to show how amazing animals' abilities to love and trust can be, even when having been abused. Already she is the light of my life and has picked up so many noises from around the house. Even saying hello! I can rub my hand up and down her back and apply pressure to her tail feathers, something she has never allowed anyone to do. She's brilliant, smart, funny, and has completely stolen my heart.