Kchill

Hello , i posted last week with questions about me adopting a grey, i had two to choose from. As some of you may know i adopted a 8 year old named Henry. The original owners had him from a hatch-ling and due to moving out of country forced the re-home. anyway they said he had cage aggression bad!!! well after reading LOTS of advice on here i kinda took all the info and applied it new are new family member #1 let him decide when its time. It went like this. I went to pick him up Friday November 16th. it went good i was unable to talk him into coming out of his cage, the owner chased him around the cage with a stick to get him to step up. he talked all the way home it was great. when we got home i was able to get him out of his car carrier without issue. and could handle him with out getting bit per owners fear. he was put in his cage in our living room and the next day not really talking and when we walked by his cage he would go to the top rear, we just talked to him. over the days to follow he would offer his head to be petted but only to me. and now he steppes up while in cage out of cage whatever it doesn't matter if i walk by his cage its ( Henry's a good boy i love you as he puts one foot up as to say come get me..) hes on my leg as im typing this. I can rub his beak put my fingers in his mouth, rub his back, pet under his wings we are buddy's he took a shower with me Saturday and LOVED it. hes still a little nippy at my wife and kids. but if i give him to them hes fine ? I could go on and on and on. Im very happy and just wanted to share my story.

We are home !!!! Three hours in the car and she talked ALL the way home!! Hi , what are you doing, I see you, among much more. When we arrived home I put her so she could watch me as I set up her cage then I said ok here goes nothing I opened the travel carrier she came out with no hesitation, I offered my hand and said step up. She did it with zero problems I held her by the cage for a few minutes she put her head down and towards me so I pet her on the back of her neck. She liked this a lot. I said ok time to go in your cage ( didn't want to over do it ) and she said kisses I put my head down ( with caution ) she actually kissed me on the mouth then made a rather funny kissing sound..

Thank you guys very much!!!!!!! The owner took her to get trimmed up today and gave me the vet info. i actually ended up calling them (trying to get as mush info as i could) i spoke to the vet tech that actually trimmed her and he said the bird was perfect no aggression whatsoever and said she was the first bird that actually talked the whole time including beak trim he said it was amazing, that don't normally happen. he also said when the owner tried to get bird from him he tried to bite her but know one else? The birds diet is a mixed blend of three different goldenfiest foods. is that a good brand? i haven't had time to research it>

Just an update! Picking up Henry around 10:30 tomorrow morning. Am I insane or normal ? I'm actually loosing sleep over the anticipation of getting her. I went to a local bird supplies store this morning and wow it didn't take long to rack up a almost $300 bill in toys,puzzles, healthy treats. Of course all to be used once he's comfortable. Ill try to figure out how to post pics. Last thing I was on the phone with the owner and she's taking Henry to a spa day today and as we were talking she was going to get the car carrier to put Henry in it. As she approached with carrier I hear ( what are you doing ) from Henry . She said we are going to the spa step up, Henry then said NO. I almost died with laughter .

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=9c6254e8f3&view=att&th=13b00465b9c45a87&attid=0.1&disp=thd&zw

Thanks judygram, yes the owners are making a lets call it a cheat sheet, everything from food likes dislikes, bedtime ECT. What vet they use so on so on. i am so exited i can hardly stand it. i was told today that the transition may make her not talk for a while, any truth to that ? i was then told once she starts talking again shes getting comfortable ?

I'm going to pick up the 8 year old this Friday!!!! I went into detail conversation on the owner saying the bird has a tendancy to bite. She said the bird is in a bedroom with cage door left open and the bird is allowed to fly about! If the bird is in or on the cage it will bite has drawn blood. If the bird is on stand or anywhere else there's no problem and often asked for kisses!! Owner states they use a pirch to remove bird from cage. They said becouse of everything going on with getting affairs in order to move the bird has not been showed to much time lately. They also state the bird will bond very fast once showed a little more affection. This all sounds like cage aggression to me ? Anything you could add to help me would be wonderful. The bird will be in our main (living room) and I'm self employed and very rarely need to leave for more than 2-3 hours a day if that, I'm hoping lots of time and affection I can turn the corner fast but if not that's ok. Thanks again for all the feedback.

@ greywings , in your opinion with time, as much as it takes is it possible to earn the birds trust to the point of letting my older children handle or interact with her? Or will it always be a ? Mark.

Thanks everyone, ill respond to some post and give more detail. Yes the two year old was intended as a breeder, the owner though really confused me on her lack of knowledge ( example ) are first conversation went like this. Me: is your grey a Congo ? Her: no it's a parrot !! I'm not joking and her intentions was to breed? Anyway the entire conversation went like that and she wants top $. Something just don't sit right. Now the 8 year olds owner and I had only email conversation for three days with her wanting to know everything about me my living situation, past and present pets ect ect. And our first conversation started with her husband as he's explaining the love they have for the bird his voice started cracking and he lost it giving the phone to his crying wife. They are moving out of country for job. Anyway they agree that I'm a perfect fit! They want until Saturday so they can take her to have a spa day and get nails and beak trim. Not to mention the California king cage for a macaw. I'm leaning towards the 8 year old because I can tell it was loved dearly and I think that counts for a lot . And I made a comparison to dogs this was only an example!! I was raised with a umbrella cockatoo and scarlet macaw, my parents birds. My parents are old school telling me I should only get a bird from the breeder and be part of the weening process. That's why I originally asked if age makes that big of a difference. Thanks again

Hello, I'll keep this short. I've looked though all the post the majority of the day and found a lot that kinda answers my question but not really. I've been doing my home work for almost a year now and I'm stuck. I'm going to adopt a Congo there are two available in my area. One is a 2 year old that had a mate now it don't and per owner now plucked its own feathers out. The other is a 8 year old been owned by same humans since weened job relocation out of country forcing rehome they said its not mean but has tendency to bite??. So my question is are greys like dogs in the aspect of the younger the are the easier the transition? I'm concerned that at 8 the bird may be set in its ways? Any advice would be great thanks for your time.