jhumberger

FYI... My avatar is a picture of him in the carrier

His cage is in my office. He currently does not want anything to do with a play gym, in fact the only time he seem secure in any way is in this carrier.

Yes, we have a few play stands. I will certainly give that a try.

Would it be best to leave him the pakobird until he chooses to come out of it. He seems so comfortable in it...in fact, since he has been in it the last few days he has seemed like a totally different bird.

Ok so here is the update. 3 days ago, with much trouble, I was able to convince him to get into the pak o bird. I kept him in there all day and at night of course he opened up. That night I left him in it but closed the door so he did not get hurt. The following day, moved the carrier up to my office and set it on my desk, interacting with him about every 20 minutes or so, by 3pm he was asking for scratches and allowed me to touch him, that night he was relaxed and singing, bobbing his head and talking, the next day, seemed relaxed all day, and would allow me to give him scratches, kisses, etc as long as he was in the carrier. Here is where I need some help... The little guy cannot live in this thing forever. When he is out of it in a cage he seems petrified so I've not forced him out of it. When I try to get him out of it he does night bite ( he is the most unagressive bird I've ever met. He would prefer to run than bite). So with this in ind, Do I purchase a small cage and start gradually increasing the size. The other issue is that when he is in the carrier, I can take him with me into different rooms of the house and I think he like the attention. I could really use some help here from the experts.... Thanks again! Joe

Could be... Its hard to find out the whole truth. Have you heard of Congo's personalities changing after dark? Getting more relaxed? Less anxious? Or is this unique?

Dude - You and I think a like. His Carrier, as you can see from my avatar is pretty good size. Today, I left him in his carrier (he slept in in last night), and put a table next to my desk with he and his carrier on it. He seems to be doing better with that. We will see as time goes by. Thanks again to everyone for their help...

I was told by the original owner today that he was fine stepping up and just one day out of the blue, he stopped and acted scared. She told me that she thinks that perhaps one of her teenagers was carrying him around and he lost his balance and fell and hurt himself. She was not sure, but just assuming... :-(

He seems to open up when the sun goes down. Is that normal for Congo? Also once the sun goes down and he opens up, he is opened up for the rest of night and as cuddly as a puppy. Once he is tucked in for the the night, the next day it is as though he completely forgets who you are and sits and shakes all day in terror. It just totally baffles me... I told the wife tonight, I might have to start working midnights just to enjoy this little guy... :-)

He is skittish with all people including myself. We have only had him for 2 weeks. Here is the story we were told. Bought from a breeder at 6 months. He was the perfect bird for 12 months (1.5 years of age) and then the son left to go to college whom he adored. He started plucking at that time. The owners thought that perhaps his skin was dry so they started misting him with water. This apparently scared and then lost all trust of people. The day I picked him up, I would have guessed he was a wild grey. Completely frightened by people in general. Sits and shakes most of the time. My office is in the second level of our home where I spend 9-12 hours a day. Yesterday was my daughters birthday, so I kind of forced the issue to get him into the pak-o-bird carrier. Once he was in I brought him down with the family for the evening. This was around 4pm, around 7pm his whole personality changed. The original owner mentioned that this would happen but I was reluctant to believe it based on what I was seeing.

Thanks! He seems to do better in darker lighting. I have always been around timnehs so having a Congo is a new experience. Just curious if anyone had seen something similar. Thanks for your help!

I recently adopted a 2 year old male Congo. During the day the bird is petrified of people. Even when taking a seed out of a persons hand it appears as though it is going to pass out from fear; however, then evening rolls around and at about 7pm it becomes the most cuddly bird you would ever see. He will beg for head rubs and want kisses, eat food with you... Any thoughts? (Side note... I work from home and spend all day and all evening with the bird. My wife refers to him as my business partner.)