scared african grey

[fazmg09]

hi, i have had my african grey for a year now and before i bought him his wings were not clipped properly. his wings were clipped too short to the extent where they were not growing. so i was told to individually pluck them out. as cruel as this may sound i felt i needed to do it in order for the grey to regain its flight. it has been some months now since they were plucked and now they are regrowing to the stage where he can fly a few feet before he crash lands on the floor. However the problem is that from yesterday he has become very fightened of me and growls loundly but does not bite. he runs to the other side of the cage whenever i stand up, call or even look at him.i have not hurt him in anyway since his wings were plucked and since then up untill yesterday he had been himself, playful and interacting with myself. any ideas on why such a change in behaviour or suggestions on what to do.

many thanks.

 

Post edited by: fazmg09, at: 2009/07/14 17:45<br><br>Post edited by: fazmg09, at: 2009/07/14 17:47

[judygram]

Excuse me but what fool told you to pluck them out? That is a cruel and sadistic thing to do to a bird and no wonder he growls at you, if I were him I would growl too and bite the $h*t out of you too while I was at it.

 

The wing feathers will grow back on their own when they molt out and you do not have to pluck them out as they will fall out on their own.

 

I would imagine the change in behavior is from his wing feathers are growing out now and he thinks you are going to pluck them out again, shame on you.

[myafricanqueen]

I agree with Judy.

As if clipping wasn't bad enough, then he had what was left pulled out...Awe that poor birdy.

Also be careful of his landings as he can break delicate bones in his chest.

My lovebird had a HORRIBLE clip, I rescued him from a person who had an ad on Kijiji selling this poor baby 7 weeks old. Im sure that he was not weaned properly either.

When I went to pick him up I noticed the terrible clip job and the poor little guy couldn't fly AT ALL.

But his little wings have slowly slowly grown back and he has a couple very nice flight feathers on each wing and he is SO PROUD of them. As soon as he comes out for play time he stands tall and flaps his wings.

 

Now I thought THAT was bad but your Grey has been put through HELL. Im surprised that you wouldnt have known that pulling them out one by one was WAY worse than the bad clip job.

 

I cannot offer you any advice as far as gaining back his trust as I dont think I would trust you now either.<br><br>Post edited by: myafricanqueen, at: 2009/07/14 18:14

[Eckobird]

Hello, I am sorry to hear this has happened. Whoever told you to pluck them out was wrong but its done and over now and there is nothing you can do, hopefully you know not to do it again. Unfortunately your grey has lost his trust in you, and it will take some time for him to get over this too. You have to be patient with him and let him go at his own pace. Don't force him to like you again or it could get worse, just give him space.

[judygram]

You have got one difficult task ahead of you now, your grey does not trust you and who could blame him and it will take lots of time and much patience to win him back if ever. Greys do not take to change very well and when something traumatic happens to them they remember very well and he associates that pain to you for you caused it.

 

You have a tough road to hoe but you might as well start by talking to him softly and giving him treats, do not touch him unless he allows you to and by all means stay away from his wings. Never force yourself on him, just let him go at his own pace and maybe one day he will get over it but I doubt if he ever totally forgets so you may never get him back to like he once was.

 

I am sorry this has happened but whoever gave you that advice to pull his feathers out was dead wrong and if you were a true bird person you would have known this was not good advice.

 

Don't make the mistake of ever doing it again and it might take months even years before he feels like he can begin to trust you again.

[Talon]

What a horribly painful thing someone told you to do. That's like ripping fingernails off a human in my opinion! OUCH! :angry:

 

As Judy has said, you have a long road ahead of you, IF your bird decides to trust you. I wish you the best of luck, keep loving it, talk sweetly ALL the time to it, give treats, and have someone else do the day to day care. You shouldn't stick your hand in the cage until he trust you, or he never will. Again, this is MY opinion. :dry:

[Luvparrots]

What a sad story. What is your grey's name and how old is he? He does seem afraid of something. Have you changed anything in his cage? In your place I would just talk to him and offer him treats and go about things normally until he feels he is safe. Let him come out of his cage at his leisure. You can't change things that happened in the past, only move forward with love and patient.

[fazmg09]

thanks for all your replies. they have helped me from getting angry and keeping my patience by understanding what he has been through. i feel that since yesterday there has been little improvement interms of he allow me to walk past him without him running off. unusually he is now fine with the other members of the family which he wasnt before. will keep posting on updates and hopefully one day he will be fine.

[she]

It will be a long long time before your grey can trust again.Greys are very sensative complex birds and most often timid and suspicious by nature.You have been given some very wrong ,sad advise in the past but lessons can be learned and If you read through the threads on hear and ask any questions you need to,I am sure we can help,but be aware that this will take time and no guarantees of success.Please keep in touch hear and let us help you help your bird.