JeffNOK

My six month old baby Gracie does not allow much touching. I can give her a kiss on the top of her beak, and sometimes she lets me rub her beak a little with the knuckle of my finger. Well today I gave her a kiss and held my balled up fist to her(she doesn't like fingers). She started butting my hand with her beak and rubbed her beak and tongue across my hand. Then she started panting and making little baby noises (similar to begging noises when she was being handfed). This is the first time she has ever panted like that. I don't know how to read this. Any thoughts. PS: On top of that she has now learned how to open up her cage by unlatching the door that holds her water bowl. UGH

This story warms the heart. Congrats and looking forward to more stories of progress.

I would let your new baby take the lead as far as whether to come out of the cage the first day or two. I brought home my grey six weeks ago, and she was content to come out and explore a bit. I didn't force the issue, though. It was her choice, so it really depends on what your grey seems to want. As far as bonding, I don't think there is any guarantee about who the bird will bond with the most. They have a mind and heart of their own. I am single and live alone, so my grey doesn't have a lot of choices, but in a household with many members you really never know. It has also been observed that greys may switch bonds later in life. I guess the best thing is to make sure everyone interacts with your grey so that it can have a positive relationship with many people despite the choice of "favored person"

Mistyparrot --Lol--I'm not British, but I spend a lot of time in the UK and I sometimes watch the soaps there. Maybe I will teach Gracie the opening theme to Coronation Street! I've always liked that little ditty.

Goregous birds!

In theory I would prefer not to use bribery to entice Gracie to behave, but I'd hate to endure a battle of will for bedtime. Treats have been a godsend for me==for better or worse, but I'd rather resort to that than get bitten. At the end of the day it seems a treat would result in a win-win sitution. I'm not sure how a treat for compliance would end up causing bigger problems.

Lol--my intentions were pure luvparrots! But if she happens to be a matchmaker more power to her!

You know, I am encouraged that she allows some scritches--even if she bites at times. Also, when you put your hand in her cage and ask her to step up, the fact that she just puts her head down or moves away shows she is not an aggressive bird at all--she is just expressing her wish to be left alone. If she was aggressive you would KNOW it and have some bandaged fingers! She may be set in her ways to some extent, but from what you describe, I am hopeful that with time, patience, love and baby steps--you may very well be able to form a very nice fulfilling bond with this bird. You are in the right place in this forum and you will learn loads from all the experienced Grey parronts here. Good luck and keep us updated.

My Gracie is a very chatty chirpy girl. We spend about an hour every morning whistling to each other after she has her breakfast. Sometimes I try to copy her chirps when she calls out. Other times I try to teach her a wolf whistle as our contact call. I started this about a week ago. Well, occassionally she responds with some approximation of the wolf whistle, but I was never sure if it was just a coincidence as one of a possible infinate number of random notes. Well yesterday morning I had some work to do online from my bedroom, and I had to forego the morning chirp ritual. I would come and check on Gracie every ten minutes or so, and we would do a quick serenade, but I had to retreat to my room to get back to work. Whenever I went back to my room, Gracie would seem to vocalize more frequently and more loudly. Then I noticed she got quiet for a moment and I heard a halting hesitant--"whOO--Hwew"--wolf whistle. I immediately came to her and praised her and wolf whistled back to her. I wanted to reinforce our little contact call. After a few minutes I went back to my room to finish my work. In a few minutes Gracie did the wolf whistle again! I again rushed to her and praised her and whistled back and went overboard being excited. I don't think it was my imagination. Now she hasn't done it since, but I suspect we are getting closer day by day. To add to my happiness--she hasn't nipped me in a week, and she steps up willingly without a bribe 80% of the time.

Dave--In all fairness to Ajax--I don't think she was demeaning dogs or comparing the relative value of each species. I surmise that she just gets frustrated that many prospective parrot owners don't do proper research and don't know what they are getting into. Too many precious birds are rehomed because many expect a parrot to be a domesticated dog in feathers and when that doesn't materialize the bird suffers. I don't mean to speak for Ajax, but that is how I interpreted her post.

Welcome home Hattie!

The last couple of days I have just let Gracie "rescue" herself when it comes to the picture frame. I have found that when she loses her beak grip on the frame she is able to fly rather than crash like she did before. Although I like the interaction with her, I think her confidence is building as she becomes more self reliant.

Very nice. Gracie is about the same age and weighs about 380. She hasn't let me scritch her yet, but your video has given me hope.

Very cute! Hope the wait goes quickly.

You know--I have no desire to dominate Gracie. I second guess myself sometimes because I read these posts of those who talk about being a "flock leader". Deep down I just don't think that is the way forward with Gracie. She is her own person, and I am my own person and we will find a way to live together as equals. Yes there will be times when I will have to take the upper hand for safety reasons, but other than that--I have no reason to assert my will over hers. I get discouraged sometimes, but I know in the long run we will make a good team.

How old is she now? When do get to bring her home? I'm excited for you. I've had mine home a month now--It's a wonderful adventure so far.

I appreciate the feedback. I'm 6ft4, so she is never really "higher" than me even on top of her cage--although she is at about nose level there. I may try to move her to a different room to interact with her. That would be my bedroom. I have a one bedroom condo open plan. Her bird room is a former dining area. It is basically right there next to the living room. She certainly prefers to stay in that area. When I try to move her to another place she flies off my hand and goes back to her cage or playstand. I am learning her body language. I must admit, I noticed her tendancy a few days ago with the ball, but I decided to try again anyway. I should have just left well enough alone. When she nips I do use a stern voice and let her know I am not pleased, but I don't make too big a deal about it.

When asked how things are going with Gracie, my response varies depending on the day. I've had her a little over a month and it is still a roller coaster ride. On the positive side: 1. She seems very happy and content. She eats well. She loves playing with her toys. She sits quietly preening or dozing with one foot tucked up in her downy feathers when she is relaxed. She also vocalizes and chirps and squawks with cheery abandon a few times a day for 30 min to an hour at a time. 2. She now enjoys vegetables which she didn't before. 3. She now enjoys baths which she didn't before. 4. She is not very messy. 5. She is flying much better. She navigates and lands well. She will be six months old next week and she is still learning to fly. I can't believe there are people who think a grey is fledged at 9 or 10 weeks. 6. Gracie seems to feel safe. She doesn't get spooked by things like she did the first couple of weeks. Mixed Blessings: 1. Gracie will step up and go where I need her to go when necessary. HOWEVER: She only steps up when she WANTS to or when a BRIBE is involved. Stepping up just because Daddy wants her to is not yet an incentive for compliance. She will occassionally step up on my forearm after refusing my hand without a bribe--but this is only about 50% of the time. 2. Gracie will allow some limited affection. I can kiss her on the top of her beak, and sometimes she allows me to rub her beak with my knuckle for a few seconds. Yes I said seconds! I am happy to caress her beak for 5 seconds. That is IT--but it is better than before. Absolutely no head or neck scritches. I don't even try anymore. 3. During the last week she has flown to me and landed on me when called. AGAIN this is only for a bribe! Once the bribe has been consumed--off she goes. Concerns: I have two situations where Gracie gets nippy and even bitey. As some of you remember I talked about how Gracie tries to chew up a print I have on the wall. In her endeavor she ends up hanging by her beak from the bottom of the frame legs dangling and wings flapping in need of rescue. Well now when I rescue her she sometimes tries to bite when I return her to the cage. If I stand there and let her sit on my hand while she continues to chew up the frame she is usually happy, but when I move her away from the print and put her back on her cage she nips--sometimes hard and more than once. A more serious issue involves a foot toy. Gracie has a little ball that she carries over to the edge of her cage and drops for me to catch. I catch the ball and return it to her. She then drops it for me to catch and I again return it to her. Well at first this was just a fun game, but recently it has become vicious. At first we just sort of play catch, but after a few minutes rather that taking the ball she tries to bite my fingers. Once she lunged at my fingers when I went to take the ball when it was sitting near her. She meant business. This was not a bluff or a nip--it was a bite! I guess she is territorial of the ball now and we can't play anymore. It makes me sad because I thought it was a way to bond. I try to let her do what she wants and not assert any dominance over her. To be honest, she doesn't misbehave much and there is no reason for me to push her. The other day I read an article by Maggie Wright from the Grey Round Table--and she said her bird became nippy over time because she had not established herself as the flock leader and that she had to correct that in order to have a different relationship. She didn't bother to mention what she changed in her behavior, though. I don't know if I am doing the right things with Gracie or if I'm being too passive.

The dust and mess are small price to pay.

My CAG is still young--only 5 months old. I have been pleasantly surprised at how little mess there is, so far. She seems to prefer pooping only in certain places, and she rarely misser her mark. She doesn't throw food, although when she eats, some bits and crumbs get on the floor around her cage. I just put a few newspapers on the floor and it catches most of it. As far as dust--I really haven't had any issues yet. I bathe her regularly and just do normal cleaning. I don't know if it gets worse as they get older, but mess has been no issue so far.

Dave007--I was a little confused by your comment saying that all your greys were older and beyond the "quality time stage". Could you comment on that? I'm completely new to birds, but I envsion having quality time with Gracie 'til death do us part'. I would assume that as intelligent, social animals, quality time would not be something that they would outgrow.

I have had my CAG Gracie a little over three weeks. She is very independent and not a cuddler. BUT she is very vocal and playful. I have three main ways of spending quality time with her. The first is handfeeding her. She is fully weaned, but she still enjoys being hand fed. I usually do this twice a day and she sits on my hand while I feed her. Although I give her treats from time to time, she just loves when I hand feed her. No matter where she is or what she is doing, when she sees that I have formula prepared for her, she steps up and enjoys about 15 minutes of intimate time with me. The second thing we do is play with toys together. I am a sucker for buying toys for Gracie, and she is always interested in anything new. Whenever I get a new toy, I introduce it to her and play with it a bit. Then we take turns playing with it together. Gracie loves her toys--she plays and plays for hours nonstop either chewing or battling them. The third way I interact with Gracie is vocalizing with her. Gracie is a very chatty fid. She loves to sing and squawk and chatter. She says something and I respond--back and forth--sometimes for an hour or more. It is so cute as we try to imitate each other. I find that when we do this, she is very focused on me. We are engaged in an exchange of communication, and it's really fun.

LifeIsGreyt: I also ask Gracie.."Wanna Come Out?" before offering my hand. For two days she basically said --"No I don't wanna come out buddy". But yesterday and today she seems happy to hop up. I know I sounded hard on myself, but I'm actually in a much better place mentally with everything. I'm learning that things will be up and down back and forth forward and backward --but eventually we are heading in the right direction.

birdhouse--You are so right. It's all just chalk. Today was very special precisely because it was unexpected and soooo welcome just when I was feeling low. It's interesting that you mentioned unconditional love. I had to ask myself this morning when I prayed, whose interest I was most concerned with. Was it my expectations or Gracie's happiness? I was measuring success by what I wanted. I was thinking about myself first. Gracie may not be in a position to love me unconditionally, but I can make the choice to love her unconditionally. She is a baby just barely five months old. How dare I have any expectations of her at all?

Emma is a lovely grey. I'm a new grey parront (3 weeks), so my question may seem naive. Is it necessary for us to make sure our greys are upright on their perches before covering them up for the night? Would it have been a problem for you to just say "nite nite" and cover Emma even if she was not quite settled? I know a lot of parronts have issues getting their fids in their cages at night, but once they are inside, does their posture and postion matter that much? Can they get hurt? Usually my Gracie is in one place when I cover her at night and at another when I greet her in the morning. So far when i put Gracie to bed she is pretty settled, but in the event that she is climbing the walls or hanging from the ceiling, should I make sure she is upright before covering her up? I've heard greys don't see well in the dark--is this the concern?