OzzyCAG

If he does jump down on the floor he might step up easier, at least that was how it was for us. He didn't like being on the floor at first so he would step up pretty fast.

Lots of great advice. I just wanted to add the it took me quite a while to find Ozzy's treat of choice but finally found safflower seeds. He would not eat sunflower seeds but now loves them also. I was told that one of the treats you offer could be his favorite but he might refuse it till he feels more comfortable. He has only been there a couple weeks and that could take a while. If I remember it took me a month or so to find that he liked safflower seeds and how I finally figured it out was when I got him his diet was moslty seeds (which we have gradually changed) and I watched carefully what he dug for first (I experimented first to make sure) then I picked those out of his food which too forever but it was so worth it and I would hand feed him those every chance I got until he learned it was a treat. Then it started working for other issues like getting him to step up to put him in his cage. It was a slow process and he was younger so I would imagine it will take longer for Skye. Watch his body language, and take everything slower then you think necessary. He will slowly trust you more each day. Another thing I learned when I first got Ozzy is that when you are trying to get him to step up to put him back in his cage make sure you are higher than him, I had to use a step stool a lot at first. I don't have that problem now but for a long time if he was higher he would not listen or step up. So just a thought. I look forward to following your journey with Skye and I love the picture he is a beautiful TAG.

Such a great story. Ozzy climbs up the bed the same way and it is cute to watch him blanket climb. I have never woke up to him watching me though. lol It is so cool how resourceful they can be when they want something. That was a great story thanks for sharing.

I have had some problems with hand games too although we do play some if Ozzy bites I say no bitting then we continue but if he does it 3 times we change the game. If I find him biting more after a particular game we change it. He used to love me using my fingers to chase him away from my laptop but he became more bity so we change it to now we use the tv remote. He loves to fight with the remote and chase it and he loves to boss it around. Now the biting is less. So what I would try is find a neutral object he likes like the remote or something that won't get torn up maybe a spoon or a sock or anything that you can use instead of fingers. I am not sure how old your grey is but Ozzy was 15 months old when we got him so I do not have any idea what he was used to in the past. I just try to find different things to do. He is terrified of phonebooks and hates paper but he likes more solid objects. When we got him he used to love to chase toes and bit them we broke that real fast and I haven't seen him do that in a while. I would just keep not doing things that encourage bitting until he understands more and from my very little experience it is very possible for him to understand that biting is not allowed. This has just been my experience. Another idea is teach him to drop pennies or other objects into a metal bowl they tend to like to hear them drop and make a noise. I also like to take a small wiffle ball and roll it. Ozzy loves to chase it and he is learning to bring it back. He also loves to swing it around while making noises

Ozzy is not big on playing except for his toys although I have found a few things he loves. When I watching TV he loves to climb around and play on a laundry basket. I put a towel underneath and he has a blast climbing around and playing all over it. The other morning as soon as he was finished playing with it Harry the cat decided it was his turn. You would have thought it was some expensive toy. He likes to say peek a boo so I try playing that with him. I got Ozzy when he was a year and a half. It has taken a while to figure out ways to play. I have figured out he likes to get on my laptop and likes it when I chase him with the tv remote control. He likes to pretend he is big and bad and fight with the remote. It is hard to find ways to play with them. I wanna just scoop him up sometimes and give him a hug or a kiss but that is not going to happen unless I want to miss a piece of my face and I don't so we try to find ways to entertain him. He also likes to just run around on the bed while we watch tv. He has fun running around and jumping off the footboard onto the soft bed. He also likes it when we laugh at things he does. A new toy he enjoys is pinecones. He likes to get on his back and play with them. Luckily I have a yard full. There are things he is afraid of and paper, phone books and toilet paper rolls are amoung that list. Just take your time and try little ways of having fun. Playing keep away with a straw or chasing him around while he runs on the bed. These things he might hate but there are things you will notice he takes an interest in so expand on those. He like shirt collars so play peek a boo or I see you. I tell him Im gonna get him and then I act like I am running with my fingers. Anything that doesn't scare him that he seems to enjoy. It took me a while to find a game to play with ozzy but once you find one there are usually similar things you can expand on. I have enjoyed following your story.

That is horrible of those people to do that to you. I am glad to hear that Nova is safe but wish he would have been with you. I am so glad you found out the truth though and have located a new baby. I would agree with what everyone else has said about posting bad reviews. If you find their store listed online through the phone number or map location you can usually post reviews their also in addition to yelp and others. I would definitely contact the better business bureau and file a complaint. There are people who check there on companies before they do business. Good luck with our new baby, I am so glad you were able to find it. I look forward to hearing as you follow this new path. It is very sad what happened but this new baby will bring you great joy and happiness.

DJ is adorable and I love his name. His cage looks just like Ozzy's:)

I have no idea but I wonder if he sees it as a preening type activity! Hopefully someone else will have a better idea.

That is so horrible. I am sorry that this happened to you and Nova. I hope they find him safe and he is returned to you soon. I know he was very special to you and would be very hard to replace. I cannot believe what people will do sometimes. They have no consideration for others. I hope justice is served to whoever created this horrible crime.

Love to read all the stories. I think I will keep Ozzy away from keyboards though. The other morning my hubby left his laptop laying open and on its side on the floor. He went downstairs to make coffee while I was still in bed and he left ozzy out of his cage, since it was Saturday it was a great day to sleep in. Well Ozzy had other ideas. I heard an odd clicking sound and I looked over the side of the bed and there was Ozzy perched on the side of the laptop, with one of the keys in his foot knawing away. So the game was on trying to get it away from him before it was destroyed. He seemed pretty happy with himself when he looked up at me and then did everything in his power to keep me from getting that key from him. It was quite shocking to see the pile of keys all around. Luckily they all went back on except the one he had been chewing (of all the keys he could have chosen it was the esc. key he was knawing on) had to be worked on but finally got it back on. whew. It is a good thing it wasn't a common used key but I thought it was funny that it was the esc key. I hope hubby learned not to leave his laptop laying around with an open keyboard because to a grey it is an invitation for a playdate. I forget to take a picture but I think it would have been great in his srapbook.

The travel cage I use is just a wire bird cage I will try to post a picture later sorry I don't have one at this moment. It is wire on all sides with the slide out bottom for droppings. He came to me in it. It is wonderful for outside and he loves it. I travel with him all over and this cage is pretty cumbersome if you are carrying it a lot. I just ordered a pakobird and can't wait to get it to try it out since we do a lot of hiking and outings. I will still be using his current travel one for outside until I can get his outdoor cage but for now this one is great cause I can take it all over the yard or wherever. The other thing I worry about is in his wire cage he loves climbing all over the top upside down when is outside so hopefully he will adjust and be able to use both depending on what we are doing. Hope that helps.

The day before when I got home from work it was such a beautiful day I decided to take Ozzy outside in his travel cage while I did some pruning. While we were outside a big crow flew overhead and his wings were so long and the wind so loud whistling through the air. Ozzy watched him fly by. Then we goofed off for a while with him laughing and me joining in. He was just be so funny. Well tonight at dinner, he was sitting on his playgym in the dining room and he was up on top as high as he could go and all of the sudden he started slowly flapping his wings (he was severly clipped by his previous owner and I am waiting on them to grow in) and making the exact same noise the crows wings made as they were whistling through the air. The funny thing is he flaps his wings a lot but this time he did it slowly just like the speed the crow was going and matched it with the same up and down sound as the the wings made as they were going through the air. It was so unexpected. I never seen him pick up something like that and so fast. I was very impressed to say the least. He is turning 2 this month.

I just wanted to say i think you are doing a wonderful job with her. The touch examples are brilliant and if you keep up with that it looks like you will make tons of progress with her. Ozzy my grey was one and half when I got him and he is now turning 2. I know she is much younger but she seems to be similar to him. It sounds like you are very patient with her and taking your time and that is what it will take. I think you are on the right track and she will come around. I did want to comment on the pakobird carrier you said she didn't like. Did she seem ok with going in and out of it? Was it maybe a longer trip than she liked? I don't know but some birds don't like to travel. Some it is a slow process. Maybe try (you may have already done this) putting a couple of her toys in it and letting it sit where she can get in and out of it for a while. When she seems good with spending some time in there playing or have a while in there, zip it up while she is in there but them immediatly unzip it and give her praises and her favorite treat. Next time extend the time a little until you are able to take her outside and sit with her for a while out there. Then maybe a short walk or ride. She may have been adjusted fine and if so this isn't necessary but if she seems afraid and appriehensive and you want to travel with her in the future this might help. Also sometimes for weird reasons they regress on something like this and you have to start over. I think you are doing really great with her and will be rewarded with a great bond with her that will take time to build but be so rewarding in the long run.

Ozzy does the flop over too. He mostly does it when the cat is around and he wants to tease him but it is usually unexpected when he does it. We have worked with him on going on his back, which he loves so he is not usually bitty when he is hanging there but it has taken some practice to get him uprighted without any mishaps. I guess he has done it enough that we have finally figured out how to get him uprighted pretty fast. Glad to hear I am not the only one with a floppy bird. I wonder if they ever stop doing it once they have figured out it gives you a coronary when they do something so unexpected.

It has been a very long time since I updated but wanted to come here to my origianl thread and give an update on Ozzy. We have had him for almost 6 months and he has been such a great addition to our family. He has been everything I hoped for and more. He is so much fun and he is very entertaining. He loves to travel and that was one of my greatest concerns but he askes to go bye bye and is so happy traveling and if its just us without additional travelers, he is quite the entertainer and chatterbox. He loves short trips and long trips. I love to listen to him talk and he can say the funniest things at times. I will post a video in the grey lounge of his chatters. It is not of the best quality and it was while he was at a job with me so he is sitting on his travel cage. It is my first video so I was too far away but I will work on others. He is silent around people he doesn't know unless they are a teenage boy then he loves them instantly. He loves being held and having his head and neck rubbed. He loves to hang out on the bed and play in the evening while we watch tv. He doesn't care what is going on as long as he is in the middle of it. He is such a blast to have around.

I am pretty new here and don't have a lot of experience but wanted to give my opinion. I got a CAG who was 15 months old several weeks ago and at the time I got him I had the option of 2 different ones. They were 6 years, and 15 months. It was a difficult decision. I was able to see both of them and I chose the 15 month old. There were several reasons for my decision. While both needed a good home the older one was quite a bit more expensive but she was very friendly, vocal and just plain cool. I really liked her but since I was looking for a companion bird who could travel with me and also go to work with me I decided to go with the younger one partially because the older one was plucking and already not dealing with stress, and since I needed a traveling bird I was not sure the older one would accept that. Both of these needed a new home and I couldn't take both of them. I love Ozzy and am so glad to have him and he is already starting his traveling with me and seems to enjoy it. It is a very difficult decision that only you can make. It really depends on what you are looking/planning for in your life with the bird. None of my information will apply if it is a home bird and that was just my reasoning and thoughts. Older birds have certain things they want certain ways but they are still very trainable and 3 years old is still very young. Personally if it were me I would go see the 3 year old since it is in driving distance and see how it reacts with you, see how you feel with it. You might be totally smitten and it with you. Good luck I can't wait to hear your stories.

Oh I finally found the treat to use. Safflower seeds. He loves them. He will take them from anyone so that will be our treat and I have phased out the cheetos he only gets a couple a week now. I am so happy to have found a treat that he loves.

Thank you all for your responses. Sorry its been so long since I have updated. Katana600 your post was very helpful and I went back and read your journey posts and they were so helpful. Ozzy has been doing great and talking up a storm, he does step up but mostly for my son. It has been a few weeks and we are continuing progress. When I got him my goal was to take him to work with me and my breeder friend told me not to wait too long so I took him to work the day before yesterday and he seemed to do great but the following day when I fed him in the morning he seemed to eat as normal and I left and went to work same as always. When I got home his water was clean (he is a major food dunker) and it didn't look like he had ate much. Then he seemed to eat alot when I got home. He acted mad at me and would not look at me for a long time. Then he let me scratch him from the back of his neck all the way down his face to his beak (thats a first) and then he still wouldn't step up but later he decided to step up. It took him a while. I don't know if I did too much too fast and taking him to work was too much stress or what, but he was definetly mad at me. And last night for the first time ever he stepped up to hubby from his cage it was so great. I am really enjoying him and hope to start including him more and more in our activities but I dont' want to take it too fast. Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome and I will try to stay more in touch. I had a cute video but someone stole my phone and I lost it so I will work on some new stuff.

Thnaks for the welcome everyone. Ozzy is doing well so far. He is understandably still nervous but is doing better every day. He doesn't shake near as much and he steps up much easier. He says more words every day. He is quite the character. Yesterday morning, I was still in bed and hubby got up and uncovered Ozzy and went downstairs. Ozzy starts saying Hello lots and in all different voices. After a bit he is silent for a little bit and then he says plain as day Am I all alone? It was so funny. Last night he was sitting on a chair with my son and he said "Give Ozzy a cookie:" I have no idea what a cookie is to him and I have been searching for a treat other than cheetos for a treat for positive reinforcement. Does anyone have any idea what he might mean by a cookie besides a cookie. I cannot get any information from the previous owners so I have to just guess. He still won't eat anything fresh but likes his seed mix and pellets. He won't eat sunflower seeds either. I haven't found anything he will go crazy for besides cheetos. Any ideas? I know he is still setteling in and needs time and I am still taking it slow. He is asking for head scratches more and more and doing less biting so I know we are making some progress.

I am a new grey owner. I just brough Ozzy home Friday night so we are still getting used to each other. He is 15 months old and seems to be quite a character. I could tell a few stories but I am sure they are similar to other's here. I told a breeder friend I was looking for one and the next day she got a call and here we are. I do not know much about him although we do not know if he is a he or a she. I know he lived with a women who's husband hated Ozzy and made her get rid of him which probably explains why he is scared of my hubby. I know he lived with 7 dogs and some teenage boys which probably explains his obsession with cheetos. He has never had a shower so eventually we will have to address that but for now we are just getting him comfortable with stepping up, our schedule, and getting to know everyone. I am just trying to take it nice and slow right now. Looking forward to getting to know everyone here and I love reading all your stories and I have gotten tons of info here and wish I had more time to read all the valuable information here.