MyGrey-Gary

First let me start by saying Thank you. Second - we rescued Gary a week and 2 days ago from an abusive family. I'm wondering what would be some great trust building training besides step up? I think we are doing great based on what Gary does. My last post just a few min ago was REALLY long so going to keep this one short! He already has a few words and sayings that he has from us. It's crazy that the previous owner called him "a stupid bird". Thanks again.

Thank you.. thank you... I made some more outstanding (unbelievable) progress yesterday. I have to start by saying Gary was scratching his head. While he was still in his cage and the door was closed (fiberglass curved front door), I was talking to him and softly scratching the door. He came up and put his head down and against the door. so while he was doing that, I pet the top of his wing thru the cage while pretending to scratch his head on the door. He stayed there while I did that, so I figured I would try to go one step further. I went on the side of his cage and scratched at it. He again lowered his head and I was able to scratch his head for a few seconds before he attempted to bite me. I got a bit braver and opened the door. (all this while I was saying scratch Gary) when I said scratch Gary again and did the scratching motion, he put his head down and allowed me to scratch his head for a few seconds. I stopped and did it again. The third time, after I scratched his head for about 3 seconds, he went to bite me. I said no. that's not nice Gary and closed his cage. I really do need to train him that it's not ok to fly down to me from his cage and land on my shoulder. I hope someone can tell me what (EXACTLY) what to do when he does that. I'll be watching TV and all of a sudden I hear wings flappin and bam! Gary is on my shoulder. The other night I spilled some wine on the couch cause I was caught so off guard. He will also fly down to my son's knee when he's watching TV. The bad thing is when he flies down to my shoulder or to my son's knee, he goes to bite us when we attempt to have him step up so we can put him in or on top of his cage. We do not ever force him to step up - we are persistent until he does. but it sometimes takes up to 10 tries before he steps up without biting us. ANY IDEAS? Please............. Also - We just don't understand why he will still try to bit us hard - especially when he seems like he will be loving. Why would he go to bite me when he lands on my shoulder? Why will he go to bit me when he seems fine to me scratching his head? I will only scratch either up to about 5 seconds or he tries to bite me (which ever comes first). I know I can't complain. I have only had Gary for a week and 2 days now. So please advise.......... I will certainly not allow him on my shoulder any more - at least until he stops biting at me. but what do I do when he flies when I'm not paying attention and he lands on my shoulder (remember - he goes to bite my hand when I ask him to step up). What I typically do after I let him sit there for about 30 seconds is lean into the cage and have him step up there. As a side note - I would really like to potty train Gary. I can't seem to do any training yet since he still bites me - but I'm wondering... do you think it's a good start by saying a keyword when he poops? while in motion? right after? Do you think he will learn the keyword and it would be easier to potty train him later when he knows that keyword? If you are wondering what I mean by potty training - I would like to get him to potty either just in his cage or a specific perch in his cage. Right now, he will even go in his food. well - it lands on the side of the bowl... Wow - this is getting long - hope your taking notes before commenting (giving me recommendations) one last thing - is it possible he doesn't know he's biting us so hard? Cause I know he used to bite the previous owners and he used to get smacked by the wife...and they guy would grab his beak, hold it and do a no motion while he told him NO and bad boy.. or something like that. Thanks so much for all the advice given to me! It has certainly helped. I know for a fact that I would not have Gary so comfortable with us if it wasn't for all of you out there! so maybe I should sum up all the questions now - since I'm looking at this book update that I hope someone reads.... 1.) How do I get Gary not to fly to my shoulder when I'm not paying attention? (he will bite me if I try to have him step up to my hand). 2.) Do I continue to try to scratch Gary's head if he allows me for about 5 seconds? but he goes to bite me at random times - 2-5 seconds... 3.) Should we continue to attempt to have Gary step up? seems fine sometimes.. and other times he tries to bite. We hardly get bit because we can see the diff... 4.) Does he know that his bites hurt? and he will stop doing that once he fully trusts us? 5.) Lastly, should I say a keyword while he is pooping, right afterwords? and will he recognize that keyword when I can attempt to potty train him later? Or do I just wait? I would imagine good training will come after he trusts us and won't go to bite us. But (and sorry I guess one last question) won't training assist in getting him to trust us if we are not pushing him? Thanks again - I know this was REALLY long. Just have lots of updates and even more questions... It's too bad my mom lives a couple of states away. Once again - THANK YOU!

okay, so I've had Gary for a week now. I think we have made some tremendous progress... but still getting tons of mixed signals. We try to keep his cage open all the time while we are home. He comes out and sometimes we can't get him back in. he won't step up to me. He will just look like he wants to bite me. Last night (and this has happened twice now) he flew from his cage right onto my shoulder. He's done that before when I had food - so I figured he just wanted to share some food. But last night, I was just sitting on the couch and he came right to my shoulder. No problem, right? Well.. when I wanted him to step up to my hand, so I could put him back in his cage, he wouldn't. so I ended up having to stand up and lean into the cage so he would step up into it. He also talks up a storm when we walk into the other room. Almost seems like he wants us to go back into the room. He already said a couple of words but this morning he said "Holly Molly" which is our dogs name. (Molly wasn't in the room). When we walk out of the room, he starts going thru everything he knows - all the whistles, sounds effects and words... He will only do this while we are not in the room OR when we are in the room and we are not paying attention to him (or have food he wants). Today marks the first week he's been here, so I can't ask for much more...... He doesn't seem to bite me to the bone anymore. When I ask him to step up, he will just look at my hand. He will fly right to my shoulder but then won't step up to my hand most of the time. He will step up to me every so often...... when he sits on my shoulder, he will only be on one foot, and make that grinding noise. so I would imagine he's very content. No miracles in a week - he's not stepping up to me MOST of the time. I'm wondering - am I about there? When he does step up, we will step up to everyone - Me, my wife and son. then we end up putting him back onto of his cage or inside his cage. Will he always go to bite me when he doesn't want to step up? I don't fully trust him - so I can't expect him to fully trust me - kinda....... I haven't ever forced him to do anything and I haven't gone to bit him Great progress for his first week here! but I want more!!!!!! lol

I'm wondering when is a good time to start training? I've had my Grey for 2 days now and would like to start training after about 2 weeks. Is that enough time to get acclimated? If Gary my African Grey seems to be comfortable with me and is coming out of his cage on a regular basis and making sound effects - (in two weeks)... is that long enough to wait? do I just stick with positive reinforcement alone? do I also do clicker training? I'm going to start reading some books on training since I haven't ever trained a bird before (gee.. bet you couldn't tell) but would like some advice from here. Thanks.

I completely agree with you birdhouse. I believe this is moving very quickly. Also - when he goes to bit, he doesn't position himself - so I don't know if he's going to bite or step up. He doesn't duck his head, he doesn't reposition. When I have him step up it's because he's flown down to the floor or the coffee table. or he is trying to get to the top platform on his cage. Last night - he was pretty active. he would go to the top of the cage platform and tear the paper that was up there. He was making some sound effects... but he seems to go back and fourth pretty quickly. Seems to trust one sec.. and not the next second. I can certainly understand that from my previous posts and the information you listed above. I've just been trying to make sure I go with his pace. If he trusts me.. I want to show him he can and that we are not going to force him to do anything. But I don't want him to think he can do anything he wants in the household. I'm holding off with all training until he gets to know us. I would really love it if (and hopefully this is possible) he would go back into his cage when I tell him, have a potty spot (even though accidents happen), not to mention a vocabulary.....and I am well aware it's going to take some time. I haven't ever trained a bird and have done lots of reading and viewing of videos - for clicker training. I'm not sure if that can start 2-3 weeks or 2-3 months from now, etc... I would imagine a lot of people want that for their Grey. I am willing to put in countless hours. Currently - I make sure at night when I cover him up - I say good night Gary... see you in the morning. And in the morning, I say good morning Gary.... and before I leave for work, I tell him to have a nice day and see him after work. When I give him what I was told is his favorite treat - peanuts (at least for now) I tell him good boy and um..umm.. good. Which is after I hold my hand next to him without him biting at it. I would imagine I'm going to be one of "those people" that needs lots of guidance. My mom has an Amazon Parrot since I was in high school. But I didn't ever try to train it. I spoke to him and gave him treats... watched my mom clip his wings, etc.. but this is my first time owning my own bird. She also had love birds, parakeets, and some others...... ANY advice as to what we are doing wrong or what we should be doing - will be GREATLY appreciated AND utilized. I really do not want to move tooooooo quickly, I do not want to give him any bad habits and I do not want him thinking he will rule the roost. But of course I will spoil the hell outta him. We certainly have the effort and are open for suggestions but lack the 100% knowledge to know we are doing all the right things - (right things, right timing, etc). And more importantly, know this forum is the right place to go to!

Thanks..... I may just create a post called MYGrey-Gary nightly Journals....lol Because I have to give an update from last night. I'm sure there will be days/nights that are not good...but yesterday I was surprised again. We give him attention but we do not force or chase him. If he's at the front of the cage, we get right in front of him and say hello...etc. if he moves to a back perch - we leave him alone. Yesterday I saw an opportunity to have him step up to my hand and he did. I tried petting once and he did not want it. But what he did do is go up to my shoulder. He sat there for a few min but when I went to get him he went to bite me. So I left him up there and leaned towards the cage and he stepped up from my shoulder to the cage. when we all left the room, he started making his noises... microwave beeps, water dripping, bird chirping, etc. We came back down trying to get him to say hello...... he didn't.. but he did continue with his sound effects. Overall... not a bad night. Sometimes he will step up to me.... sometimes he won't. If he doesn't...... I just leave him alone. Hopefully he gets that or he will very soon. He even steps up to my son....(sometimes as well). I really wish he would with my wife. She gives him peanuts which are supposedly his favorite (and I'm not putting in his dish). We only give those to him by hand.

Great comments - Thanks! Gives me a sense in what everyone is doing. Last night (being the first night Gary was with us), I could see that Gary was getting sleepy at about 9pm ish. So I went ahead and covered him up. We also went upstairs so he had it nice and quiet. Not sure if it will go like this every night - but seemed to go well. Thanks again!

I'm addicted to both my newly rescued Grey name Gary and the Grey forums! A few of you know about the rescue of Gary's abuse and have seen my photos. But the good thing is - if you are reading this... I'm NOT alone! Of course I'm new to both Gary and grey forums...but plan to be around for a very long time to both. We want to give Gary his space AND we want to talk to him so he gets to know us. and on that same token - since I'm in IT and on the computer all day - I tend to hop into the forum and view some posts to get tips and ideas of how to get Gary accustomed to us. So I hope you do not get tired of seeing me around. I'm sure I'll settle down and post a "reasonable" amount instead of an excessive amount. So now about Gary and how he is doing... I thought Gary did very well for the first night. I've read about the "honeymoon phase" but I would have thought that would have taken at least a few days to jump into. Gary (of course) doesn't let us pet him and I wouldn't expect it. But I thought he did exceptionally well. His eyes were NOT pinning. He was making a grinding noise He was perched on one leg. His feathers were fluffed BUT every so often he looked like he was shivering. (house was at 70 degrees so it wasn't that he was cold). More like he was nervous. His cage was open and he would come to the front of the cage and would just stand there and look at us while we would talk to him. (hopefully he knew we were not going to invade his personal space). He would hang upside down and actually got out and and on top of the cage door. He christened the floor at that time. When he flew out of the cage and landed on the coffee table in front of us. He seemed to just be standing there, looking around. He did a step up onto my hand. I held him for a min while speaking to him. I attempted to pet the top of his head, but he turned like he was going to bite me... so I stopped trying to pet him. He sat on my hand for a min while I spoke to him and then I had him step up back in his cage. (Didn't want to press my luck). He really didn't seem to express any aggression. Even when I attempted to pet him, he didn't go right to bite me. He just gave me the signs that he didn't want to be pet. The previous owner said he says a few words like hello... but mostly mimics sounds. We didn't try to get him to speak but we spoke to him - he would just look at us, tilting his head. He would stretch a wing (not really flap). and the previous owner was holding his wings open trying to show me where to clip the wings (which I have seen my mom clip her parrot's wings for years)... and I would tell him - OKay... and try to get him to let go of Gary's wing. He was really making me mad! URGH! Mad just thinking about it. OKay - sorry about that... and he even did some head bobbing when my wife and son were talking to him. so here is where you guys give opinions. We want to take it slow but we would also like to go with Gary's pace. too fast, too soon? or as long as he doesn't hide in the back of his cage, does come out of his cage, and steps up to me (only to go back into his cage), we are going at Gary's pace? I was mainly concerned about Gary's quivering. Sorry - I'll try to keep posted less winded!

I rescued Gary last night and while reading this - it just hits me... We received Gary last night at about 5pm and at about 9pm my son (Brian) was eating something (can't remember what it was right now). Gary flies out of his cage and lands on the coffee table. He looked like he was walking to Brian. He must have wanted some and was comfortable enough to go get some. We would have allowed Gary to walk around buy we still need the dogs accustomed to Gary. They were wanting to sniff him and I didn't want any accidental bites yet - so Gary actually did a step up and I eventually put him back in his cage. The previous owner said he loved peanuts so when I get home, I'm going to see if he will come to me for peanuts and actually eat them instead of grabbing it from me then just dropping it on the floor like he did last night.

Thanks bridhouse and everyone else for the current :rolleyes:AND:rolleyes: ongoing support I'm going to receive

Thanks everyone! I have to tell ya - The previous owner was giving me some "advice". I told my wife once he was gone - no way I'm listening to most of what he says - if we have questions, we ask my mom or the Grey Forum. He was giving me this crap about making sure I let Gary know I'm boss - making sure he doesn't get above my eye level... not to put up the purchase above his cage cause it's too high and Gary will think he dominates over me... This was info his wife read in a book.... so it wasn't just something he made up. I was also aggravated last night when he brought him over. He had Gary in a kitty carry cage and it was rather cool outside and I wanted him to go into the house rather quick... He also said he usually cleans the cage about every two months and it had been two months..... I had him take Gary inside and I broke out the hose to clean out the cage. Got it pretty clean and dried - then we took it in. Anyway - Gary (for now - unless he wants to be called something different) is in a safe loving home. I spent about 10 min with him this morning before I had to go to work. My wife also spent about 10 min with him as well... We just hope to gain his trust and have him love us soon. He did do a step up to me when he landed on the coffee table. But all of us have some trusting to do. We were afraid he would bite us and I'm sure he's afraid we might hit him or something. But he will soon see he has hit the "birdy jackpot". see you all in the Grey Lounge. And I'll make sure the next photos I post are not so huge.

Hello..... one last post here before I move on to the Grey Lounge... SO Gary - (which we are thinking of calling him Max and we better do it soon or keep Gary), arrived at about 5pm. Got him all settled in... Came in an relaxing environment. (after the previous owner left). That's a story in itself... ANyway, Seems kinda strange but about just an hour ago - Gary flew out of his cage and landed on the coffee table (just a foot or two away). I had him step up onto my hand... I went to put him onto of the cage - play area, but he didn't step down. so I went to scratch his head but I could tell he didn't want me to, so I stopped. I held him for a couple of minutes and he was just looking around. Then I put him back in his cage and had him step up to his perch. SO the night seems like it ended pretty good...... we put a dark sheet over his cage and hopefully he's sleeping by now. Earlier, Gary seemed pretty comfortable. He was on one leg and making that chatter noise with his beak. He was on the back side of the cage but when I broke out the camera, he came out to the front. Seemed to know what that was. And so I've got a couple of photos for everyone to see. Next post will be in the Lounge. (if anyone was wondering - the owner dropped him off. He didn't re-clip Gary's wings so I may have to do it in the next couple of weeks. He was showing me how he did it and was just really rough. He was holding Gary's wing out and wouldn't let go. We (My wife and I) were like - Okay... I see.. and he just seemed like he's always gotta be the one in total control of Gary. I'm sure Gary won't miss that. He was trying to get Gary to do some stuff.. and Gary would just bit at him. Strange love,hate relationship with Gary. So here's a couple of photos of Gary.... which we are thinking we may just continue to call him Gary - Just really unsure at the moment. I'm not sure if he likes it here and would be happy with Gary - or if we should do the name change. Oh by the way KimKim, I found him listed on Craig's List. Let me know what you guys think of our new family addition...

Thanks for all the info - I'm sure some of you have seen my other post by now. We have decided to rescue the bird (which you would know what I mean if you read the other thread). Anyway - My mom has a parrot named preacher and she has had him since I was a freshmen in high school (long time ago). I really was asking all the questions because the bird has been abused. So I have a little experience but not a "real" previous bird owner. I also understand a bird poops - and poops often and everywhere. But I would like to (over time with lots of patience) train my grey to fly to his spot to potty. As far as my wife - Since the abuser was a women, I wasn't sure if the grey would associate that with my wife. But turns out when we went to visit him - (and learned about the abuse while we were there) the Grey was about to step up to her but the owner didn't allow it by trying to take over.... I'm so glad that I ran into this forum. Even though I ask my mom - I'll still have the same questions here just to see if I get the same responses or maybe open it up to other possibilities. Thanks again for all the responses!

I'll need to know for next week - since I will keep (Mr. Grey - currently don't know what I'm going to name him yet since he's not here) in the Family room, is it ok to put a sheet/blanket over his cage at 9pm or so when we are still downstairs watching TV and talking? Do I just go by him? whenever I see him starting to doze - I cover him? And over the course of the week, I'll figure out when he likes to sleep? Same thing for early in the morning - My routine is to head downstairs, let the dogs out/back in, make a cup of coffee for my wife and I, then head back upstairs. Will that wake him? do I uncover him at that time? or do I wait until I go back downstairs to spend 5-10 min with him before I go to work?