bivsw

I'm facing yet another challenge I hope you guys can help me with that as well. Now that she's all comfortable and used to the new home she talks ... and I mean ALLLLLL the freaking time. She sits in my room next to my couch and TV and just says something or makes noses NONSTOP ... It's pretty much impossible to make her stop, like when I'm on the phone or trying to work or watch TV ... unless I give her something to eat or a carton to chew on, she will chat and chat and chat with no end in sight. I'm really happy that she tries to communicate with us and feel happy, but not ALL day EVERY day ... Is there any technique I can use to teach her to be quite for a while? I try to tell her not to whistle loud or scream bloody murder every time TV or music is on, but she doesn't seem to understand. Thanks.

Yea, my native lang. is Russian I keep talking to her in Russian, but she doesn't seem to understand anything I hope she will one day. I've been living in the U.S. for over 8 years now and it's actually easier for me to talk and speak English at this point, but I can't say a word of English when it comes to her

her nose I can't remember what's it called in English to save my life and only after I realized that Peacock is the name of the big bird Sorry about that

I keep playing her the old good and she seems to pick it up, needless the say that she LOVES it

She's also seems to be very reactive to Asian languages ... I study Aikido and every time I watch a video on youtube when some Japanese master speaks in his native lang. (with subtitles for me:) she just jumps on every word and tried to repeat everything she can hear I can't understand anything, obviously, so I ask her to translate for me It's just a little weird, when I speak to her on my native lang. (Russian) she doesn't seem to want to say anything ... but the second she hears Japanese or an Asian lang. she's babbling like she's been speaking it all her life

I also have a question ... about the way I try to teach her not to bite ... Every time I extend my hand towards her she wants to bite my finger, most of the times very gently (or just lets me massage her neck). Sometimes, I guess when I'm being to persistent, she'd bite my finger a little bit harder ... not TOO much, but I can definitely feel the pain ... When she does that, I always pull off and pretend like I'm in A LOT of pain in front of her ... and then I usually just leave her alone and tell her that I'm not going to play with her if she's going to bite me ... I'm not an expert, but I want to ask you guys ... If I always leave her alone (with some upset words about her behavior) going to lead her to think that if she bites me hard, she's going to get it her way, or if she's actually going to recognize that I'm in pain after the bite and won't do it in future? Thanks

I gotta be honest I have no idea what's the difference between a baby grey or 3 year old I'm clueless when it comes to intelligent birds My friend and my roommate had African Greys before, so it was their idea to get one. She has been with us for only a few days, but I can honestly tell, that I'm already in love with her I just wish I could understand her better ... what she says, what she wants, her body language ... etc ... She's my little baby girl I don't know what she's been through her first 3 years of life, but I know she's gonna be the happiest baby girl as long as I'm alive

I will try to post some pics in the next few days I honestly don't know what to call her I've been trying to come up with a good name for her ever since she moved in with us ... Previous owners never had a name for her, they just called her "bird" ... She's very smart and talks a lot, but she never calls herself "bird" or even respond to that name. When I bring some water into the cage or poor myself a glass of Coke, she says "Water?" She's literally like a chatter box especially in the morning, when I wake up and turn on a TV She's just talking nonstop ... Most of what she says is just kissing noise that I do when I talk to her and some Spanish ... But I don't speak Spanish, so I have no idea what she's saying She likes music, every time there's a music on TV or in some movie, she starts to talk and dance on her cage Oh and she doesn't like to be in the cage ... When I put her inside to sleep at night or when she's alone in the house, she just sits there quietly ... but the second I open the cage she either climbs out of it herself or lets me take her out. She loves water Especially taking baths, I put wide container of fresh water on top of the cage, she dips her head in it and sprays her flapping wings ... I came up, dip my hand in the water and sprayed it on her She was so happy, flapping her wings .. until she got all wet and didn't wanna bath anymore I try to teach her how to say something simple like "pretty girl" ... or my name ... but she doesn't seem to respond, she's only talking when she wants to (like right now as I type this message) ... and says something jibberish. I need to read up a little more on how to teach greys to talk. Also, I don't know what to make of it ... She always scratches her peacock ... I'm worried that she might need some vitamins or something else ... She used to bite her legs up to the point that she'd hurt herself ... Previous owners said she did it 'cause of stress ... I try not to let her do it anymore, I give her a fruit or something to bite on and tell her not to bite her legs ... She seems to understand. Thanks.

Thanks, it was almost like an impulse buy for us. I always wanted to get a pet, but every time something didn't work out. When my roomie moved in, he said he used to have African Grey ... told me how smart they are and how much fun to have around. So went to a pet store to check them out ... They told us the price is $1300.00 + tax + cage + other stuff she needs, on top of that a 2 week waiting period ... So we came back home, went on Craigslist and found that little beauty for $700 with everything included: Huge cage, lots of toys, food etc. etc ... $1300 is not a lot of money, but HALF of the price of private owner was a lot better So we just went and brought her home I donno about ownership really ... we are pretty good friends with my roomie, I never thought that far in future ... I guess whoever she likes the most at the time when we part ways will get to keep her. Thanks.

I think she's warming up to me. I put her on the couch last night, while my roomie and I were watching TV ... She stayed in the corner for a while and than climbed up on my lap and pretty much demanded to pet her I spent close to an hour in a half petting her and massaging her neck (she like the massage SOOO much) ... I was thinking that at some point she would get tired of being pet, I know my cat, that I had when I was a child, didn't like to be pet for more than 5-10 minutes, but she just wanted more and more She still can't get used to my roomie though ... She bites him every time he tried to pet her. I told him not to hit her again, even lightly and I hope she will forgive him for previous misunderstanding Steve, I'm not sure what you mean by older Grey, she only about 3 years old ... considering that the live 30-40 years, I'm not sure I can say she's THAT old Thank you guys for all the advises

I won't let him hit her He doesn't mean ANY harm to her by any stretch. I just asked, 'cause I wouldn't even think of hitting her back for biting ... I'm not sure if it's the correct technique to a train parrot not to bite. She's getting pretty comfortable already, sitting on the couch next to me eating jalapeno pepper and drinking milk I think she likes spicy food, she ate the whole Pringles chip with jalapeno pepper taste last night But when she tried the real pepper, she shook her head in disagreement and dunk her peacock into a cup of milk before we brought it to her

Hi guys and gals So my roommate and I just got African Grey girl 3 years old yesterday. She's absolutely amazing, cute and pretty However I have a lot of concerns ... I've never owned a parrot before and what I've learned reading up on the internet, they are extremely intelligent ... Some Discovery videos I've seen even claim that they are as smart as 3 year old child !!! She's very shy and what I can only describe as terrified ... Previous owners said she was VERY stressed out (I don't know by what) ... so bad that she started to bite her own nails and legs. We let her alone to give her time to adjust to the new place and people, she was shaking like a leaf when we brought her and just as much after spending a night in the same room with me. I thought she was cold in the morning (it wasn't the hottest morning in Los Angeles today), but by afternoon the weather outside got hotter than hell ... She was still shaking She eats very well, more than I do from what I know She started on her food before I even woke up and we gave her a lot of fruits and vegetables that she was gladly eating during the day. I'm afraid that she doesn't trust us, she was biting every hand approaching her when we brought her last night, today she went a little easier on me, she let me pat her head and scratch her peacock. She loves music, every time any music starts on TV she starts to sing or copy whatever she can hear, but any time I talk to her or approach her and ask to say something, she stay very still and looks at me like I'm "enemy number one" I'm sorry for a wall of text I guess I just want to ask you guys for advice on how to win her trust, so she wouldn't be afraid of me or my roommate. Also, my roommate always tries to make her get on his hand, so he can carry her around or to the couch ... and every time she tried to bit him, he hits her on the nose/head ... I can't even look when he does that ... I think it's TOO cruel but he says it's how you train a parrot not to bite (he have had a parrot before ...) I would appreciate any advice or personal experience Thanks.