Scoop

I've only done it two days so far, today was a rest day lol.. Tomorrow though! Ill keep you guys updated..

Im trying to teach my Grim to make R2D2 sounds. Obviously I cant make these sounds myself so I have to resort to recordings. Here is what I'm doing- Ive set my computer up to make the sound I would like him to copy, and wrote a macro that plays it 4 times, 20 seconds apart, every 20 minutes. So basically, every 20 minutes it makes it 4 times while Im at work for the day. Just wondering if this is overkill? Should it be only once every hour? every couple of hours? I know he may never pick it up, but I think he will, he already makes the sound of the house alarm when we set it.. Thanks Scoop

Grim's cage is always open if we are home. Lately Ive been leaving it open when I go to work too. He just has no interest in being off of his cage. The only time I have been closing it down is to go night night. It saves me having to run him into his cage more than once a day lol. He is going in pretty good now on his own. When its bed time and I start shutting things down, he goes in because he knows Im coming to get him to go inside. I know he will come around somtime, just sucks waiting.

Thanks for all the info guys. Curiosity got the best of me, and a little bit of impatience. Ill not chase him off the cage again. Back to the wait.

Hey guys, its Scoop with Grim.. intro post - http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?194218-New-CAG-%28rehomed%29 Anyway, I decided that I wanted to spend a bit of time with Grim away from his cage, just to see how it goes. Here is my problem, Grim will NOT step up and bites me on his cage. So I try to use a step up stick.. He runs from the stick and bails out off the cage onto the floor. Here is what confuses me. When he gets off of his cage, as long as I'm slow and deliberate, I get him right off the floor, he steps up from hand to hand, will sit contentedly on my shoulder. He will even preen, click sounds and talk back and forth to me. He lets me rub his head. He is a totally different bird when off his cage. Now when I put him back on the cage he seems pissed. He won't take treats. Well, he grabs them from my hand and throws them, he shakes when I talk to him. He seems like such a changed bird off of his cage and now seems mad at me that I had him away from it. Am I helping our bond by spending the time up close and personal, or am I hurting the bond by running him off of his cage with a step up stick? Thanks Scoop

Grim started beak grinding this evening. Such a good sound. I havent heard that in 20 years, since I had my TAG.

Is something wrong with Zupreem fruit?

That sounds great, my problem is that Grim seems completely oblivious that there is even a toy in his cage. He seems like its just stuff "to get him my way" "that I have to go AROUND to get to where I want to go" Maybe that will change sometime. Being set up to be a breeder originally in life, I dont think he got too much attention the first 5 or so years of life, and maybe didnt have a toy? I dont know. He has plenty provided now, and Im thinking of getting one of those that dispenses paper off of a roll that he can shred, maybe that will be more to his liking.

Lol.. no.. we both work.. me more so than her. She works full time I work overtime. So he is alone every day for a bit. Ive been leaving the TV on and pointed at his cage though. And he has the window to look out.

Yes, Im afraid its going to be a long waiting game now. Improvements - When I get up close and talk to him he chatters back at me with noises, purrs, clicks.. When I give him a treat, he used to grab it and jerk it out of my hand, now he takes it very easy. When I shut down my computer (there are switches I click for the monitor, desk lamp, sound system, he heads into his cage. No more shooing. Do you guys think eventually he will want to step up and hang out with me/on me?

I tried to have a "step up" session yesterday. He bit me. Not hard, but hard enough. I have been around enough birds and have a high tolerance for pain so I just ignored it. Short of missing a finger the bird wont see me flinch Unfortunately, he freaked and bailed after I didnt respond to his defense. After he was in the floor he stepped right up. I held him for a minute while heading back to his cage VERY slowly. He seems a little more nervous when I walk by now. Little step back, no more asking him to step up, Im sure I will know when its okay.

Thanks for the advice. His cage is right beside my desk. (in the living room) Our house is set up for functionality, not for company, not to look pretty. We dont have cable TV or Satelite dish. We have Netflix, Hulu, and 7 computers in the house lol. Basically what Im getting at, is he is in the center of ALL activity unless we are gone or asleep. He can see the entire living room, my wifes craft/sewing/embroidery business room, into the kitchen and dining room. Like I said, unless we are sleepin or away he is as involved as he can be. He also sits beside a 8 foot picture window where he can see the trees, a road and the lake in front of the house. He gets to watch ducks and geese in the lake. Basic routine for him now - when I get up I open the top of the cage and the front door, I feed and water him. He hangs out until we are ready to leave. I shoo him back in the cage until we get home from work. I open it all back up again and he stays out until we go to bed. Im not so sure the shooing thing is so good for our relationship. I have been trying to keep an eye out when it gets late and catch him in the cage so I can just close it up. I offer him bits of what ever Im eating at the time. Last night he had a little broccoli out of my Chinese food. We have found he likes to dance. The wife and I will put on some music with a good beat and dance and sing around his cage. He will bob his head up and down and makes a water dripping sound. Not sure where the sound came from but it cracks us up. We both talk to him a lot. He pays attention and listens. One thing is.. He NEEDS a new cage. This one is horrible. The tray on the bottom has duct tape over a hole that has rusted through, some of the welds are broken, and its just old and ratty. I have some money coming up and Im going to get him a new one. I hate to change him to a new one because its just one more change for him to get used to, but if I dont get the cage when I have the $ something will probably come up and then we are stuck with this one. Its going to be the super pet EZ care cage. Im just not sure to buy the one for medium or large birds. The meduim one is actually a bit smaller than what he has now, the large will be bigger. Im thinking with him in the cage for 8-10 hours a day during work, the larger will be better.. Here are links to the two - http://www.superpetusa.com/product-list/ez-care-playtop-cage-for-medium-birds.htm http://www.superpetusa.com/product-list/ez-care-playtop-cage-for-large-birds.htm Just have to decide. Price not so important.

Think Ill keep the rock out. When I got up this morning he was sleeping on the perch closest to where his rock was. He doesnt seem distressed at all that the rock is missing. I may put it on the front outside so he can sit closer to me (hes right beside my desk where I spend my evenings.

Hello all you guys/gals. Ive been reading a couple of days now. Lots to learn lots to know. Just wanted to write up a "Hi, Im Sam" post and maybe get a little help. A little history on me: Earlier in life (highschool, when I could drive) I worked at a pet shop. Mostly cleaning cages, catching mice/rats/crickets for food for customers. Bagging fish. The owner got in 3 TAGs. They were wild caught. This was right at the end of wild bird importing. I bought one of them for cost. I think I gave around $100 for the bird. This bird hated everyone and even up to the end it only tolerated me. I probably didnt go about it the right way. This was before the internet, information was limited, the shop owner probably didnt help much. Its been a long time ago and I dont remember much of it. I sold the bird to buy an engagement ring for a girl I didnt marry. (probably should have kept the bird) Long story short, I have wanted another Grey ever since then. Now - My wife bought me a cockatiel for my birthday a year ago. I love the little bird. I named him Fluff. He was a hand fed baby that was supposed to be a female. When he molted he came back a boy. He talks with limited vocabulary, whistles a few tunes (including star wars imperial march, and the adams family) and is very affectionate. He will sit on my shoulder and rub his head on me begging for a head rub. At the local pet store for about 3 months, we watched a sweet Blue Crown Conure go from outgoing to ragged and sad, sitting in a corner all the time. We felt very sorry for the bird and my wife wanted a bird to bond with after watching me with Fluff. We worked out a great deal with the shop owner and brought home KiKi. The wife and KiKi never could quite get along. He started out pretty luvvy, snuggling up under her neck and cooing. It was short lived and he resorted to biting her hard and laughing about it anytime she would do anything he didnt like. I have a good friend that has had falcons fall in love with KiKi and we passed him on to my friend. That bird is spoiled rotten now and happier than ever. He ended up in a good home. We got my wife a hand fed baby female cockatiel and cage about 4-5 months ago and she loves her. Now she has a little fluffy bird friend too and all is well. (I know this is long winded, but I didnt have time to write a short post) Last week sometime I get a text from a friend that is very active in pet relocation. She is always posting on facebook "looking for a home for this poor dog/cat". She sent me a text saying "looking for a home for a grey conure, you interested?" I asked if it came with a cage and got confirmation that it did. I told her that I would take the bird. I knew I could keep the bird for a while and find a good home for it if I needed to. I also knew she wouldnt be asking it there wasnt some urgency to it. Anwyay, I got the number of her friend that knew something about the bird. I got in touch with the lady and she told me very little of the bird. She knew it was a grey conure and the family that owned it was getting divorced. The lady moved in with her new boyfriend, and the man couldnt take the bird to where he was moving. I agree to set up a time to get the bird. A while later that evening, I ran out for a minute and come home to my wife talking on my cell phone. She is talking to the lady that owns the house that the bird is in. She whispered to me "Its not a grey conure, its an African Grey" My heart just about stopped. I have wanted one for SO long, but just couldnt justify the cost. I talke to the lady that owns the house and find that this particular bird was from a breeder that wanted to breed him. I guess after he reached sexual maturity, he wouldnt breed so they sold him as a pet. Im not sure how long the family had him. Im betting he wasnt messed with much in his earlier years. His name is Max. I LOATHE the name Max. Sounds like a name someone gives an insecure dog to boost his ego LOL. I get a time the very next day. Im starting to worry "they are going to back out, free grey with a cage" But the evening finally rolls around, I get directions to the place and we go get the bird. I walk into a house that is filthy, smells, and has gas heat with temperatures reaching into the 80s. They lead me to a small room off to the side of the main living area. There is the bird, all alone in the cage and it is horribly filthy too. I talk to the bird and he makes clicking sounds at me. I try to get him to step up and he tries to bite and then runs from my hand. He gets on top of the cage and bails off. I note right off that he has full flight feathers, but plummets right to the ground. I dont think he ever learned to fly. When I put my hand down to get him and say "up" he starts saying "its okay.... its okay" and steps onto my hand, only to try to fly off again and right to the ground. We put the box down we brought with us and shoo him into it. I load up the cage and we head home. Once home Max sits in the box and I hose the cage off outside, and scrub the crap out of it. Its nasty. Once thats done, I bring it in and the wife dried it all out. Fresh seed, fresh water, the couple of new toys we bought on the way home and we put the bird in the cage. He has a rock that attaches to the side of the cage that he sits on all the time. The two perches in the cage are rather small and made of some natural wood with bark. He seems afraid of them. Its been two days since he has been here. We have decided to call him Grim. Hopefully the name change will go over well. If not, I guess Max it is, time will tell. He seems to be adjusting well. He sits around preening on his rock, watches both cockatiels, eats and talks. He makes lots of sounds I cant pick out. Mumbles lots of things I cant make out, and says a few things I can. When I have asked him to step up he acts like he wants to bite my hand. I tell him a firm NO and move my hand back. (Im not afraid to get bit, I have been bitten by EVERYTHING working in 2 different pet shops and taming a wild TAG) He is COMPLETELY FREAKED out by a hand stick. You can see him raise up, feathers smooth down flay, eyes wide and starts to look for an escape route as soon as you walk toward him with a stick in your hand. I pulled the two natural perches out of his cage this evening and replaced them with 1" wooden dowels. I was hoping he may like these better. I took the rock out of the cage for the time being to maybe try and coax him to use the perches.. to see that they are not so bad. Im looking for any advice that anyone may want to throw my way. I have MUCH more patience than when I got my first TAG and just want to be sure I do things right this time for me and the bird. I want a long wonderful relationship with this bird and dont want to mess it up. This evening we shared a little bit of apple bundt cake. He seemed to enjoy that. Thanks for your time reading this lenghty post, I have enjoyed sharing it. Sam