My six month baby grey keeps screaming..Help!

[greystar]

I recently got a six month baby gray , Star, and he was hand feed. He is so clam and allows me to stroke him and feed him some of his seeds, although he gives me a firm easy bite, which is not painful at all. The thing that i cant understand is that first, he keeps on calling and screaming, whenever i come in the room or leave , and sometimes i walk to his cage to asure him that it's ok but i try not to do so whenever he creams. Even if there are people in the room he will still do the same thing but as soon as he sees me he moves to the side of the cage where he is close to me. does this mean he knows i am his mummy, even if its been lke to days, he is always in my room, watches me on he computer on the phone even when i sleep he has to be near me by moving to the closet part of the cage and keeps on calling and creaming.

 

The second thing is that yesterday i tried to get him out of his cage, i have a bit of difficulty but i managed to get him on the cage, however he was still screaming , sometimes when i stroke him , he stops but not always. When i tried to bring him down again i made him stand on my fingers but he was trying to go at them , gentally i know for sure he was not ttrying to attack, so i put my free hand next to his head, and he held on to it. What seemd like a gentel bite suddnly became stronger and stronger, it really hurt but i kept calm and not to show that he was getting my attention by doing this. can is this normal?

 

i really what Star to be happy and loved but i still dont know why he screams and i dont his bitting to continue as he grows

i really need all the help i can get thanks.

p.s Star has lots of toys and plenty of food and water.

brought up

[danmcq]

Your Grey is still very young and having only been there two days is insecure and needs assurance all is well.

 

Greys flock together only and your his flock now. When they want their flock member, they contact call and seek them out. Add being a needful baby wanting his Parront close by and you've got exactly what you are experiencing.

 

In regards the biting, it's sounds more like "Testing the Perch" to me. All Parrots naturally check something they are about to perch on to ensure it will hold them and is stable. They also do this just to feel the texture of all items they encounter. They beak eveything.

 

One thing I would recommend, is when he goes beyond the gentle beaking to clamping down harder and harder. Is that you don't just sit there and try not to react. YOu need to let him know that after a certain amount of pressure, it is unacceptable. Either gently move your hand just enough to make him stop or tell him something that you will constantly use like "Careful", "No Bite" etc. and correct him by using your other hand to make him step up on to it to stop the hard "Testing". Your grey will soon learn that beaking too hard is not acceptable. This is how they learn. If they beaked a member of their flock too hard, I guarantee you they would get corrected immediately to let them know that is not proper behaviour.

 

But, if you truly need to leave him in his cage most the time, you will need to just start ignoring the calls instead of going there immediately everytime he calls. If you continue to do that, it will become an expected behavior.

 

Spend quality out of cage time with him. Then when he needs to go back in, place him there and do what you need to do and ignore his calls.

 

At his early stage in life, you are teaching him how the flock (you) interact with each other and what is expected from each.

 

Looking forward to hearing more from you.

[judygram]

Dan is so right, Star needs more time to settle in and feel comfortable in his new home, two days is just not near enough, he does need the reassurance from you that he is safe and loved.

 

He is already showing a preference to you and the bonding process is already started and I can imagine that the screaming or calling out for you will subside some as he feels safe and assured that you are around. Sometimes all he needs is a call back from you that you are still around even though he can't see you, he is calling for his flock.

 

At this point he probably feels safer in his cage so he is hesitant to come out but just let him come out on his own, he will when he gets curious enough to find out more about the world around him, let him set the pace.

 

Beaking is normal, that beak is kinda like our hand, he uses it to test and feel things but biting down hard is not acceptable and it is up to you to correct that. Dan gave some good advice on that so I will not repeat it here.

 

I look forward to hearing more about Star and I bet he settles in very nicely in the coming weeks and months.

[Lemeus]

I'm having the same problem!

 

I've had my African Grey since he was around 2 weeks old though. He's almost 8 months old now. Over the last 2-4 weeks he's started this HIGH pitch squeal. It's driving me CRAZY!!! :woohoo:

 

He starts it as soon as he hears my alarm in the morning, then goes non-stop for at least an hour or more. I work from home, so I get to sit through all this torture. I've started putting the TV on a music channel and that does seem to help. But as soon as I walk by the room, or he hears me in the bathroom or kitchen, he starts in again! He has food, water, big cage, lots of toys, so I don't know!! I think he is wanting attention from me on a constant basis... but he still does the noise alittle when I'm in the room, but it's not nearly as bad. I sit and watch a movie (his cage is in the living room) and he's pretty good, but as soon as I take a break and leave the room, it starts and keeps going until I come back. While this is kind of flattering he loves me, my patience is wearing alittle thin with this noise.

 

He's also testy with his beak. Will lightly apply pressure and keep going and going. He has broke skin on my wrist before. If he loves me so much, which he does cause he lunges at my mom when she visits, why must he hurt me!! lol

 

Years ago I had a Blue Fronted Amazon, and she did this same thing with testing pressure, so I avoided handling her as much, when she got to be around 3-4 years old, she just stopped. It's like she reached her maturity she then loved me with everything she had and never tried to hurt me again. Sadly I lost her about 4 yrs ago to a terrible accident. My EX left a teflon pan on the stove and it basicly caught fire and the fumes killed her within 30 minutes. I went into severe depression after that, she was my everything, and still is sadly. I miss her SO much. I would of NEVER thought I would of gotten so attached to a pet, she was like a child to me.

 

I finally branched out and got another bird, my African Grey named Alvin. Who likes too nibble alittle too hard too!! African Greys are so much more different than Amazons though....

 

I read through the replies on how to correct the nibbling, I've noticed when I've tried to wiggle out of the grip of his beak, he doesn't let up easily and then as I wiggle more, I think it irritates him, so then I'm basicly afraid to put my hand right back up there in fear he's annoyed and just will take a chunk out of me or something. :ohmy:

 

Any additional help or advice for this is greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Melissa

[judygram]

Melissa, how much out of cage time are you providing your grey? They must be out of it for at least 4 hours or more if you are working from home. He does sound like he wants attention but that does not mean you have to stay there right beside him, take him with you when you go into another room to do something for any length of time. Have several playstands or places where he can perch and see you and when you do have to leave the room for a short bit and he calls you answer him and let him know you are coming back. They are flock animals and they just want some company, you wouldn't want to stay penned up all day in a cage would you.

 

As far as biting, it does not mean he doesn't love you, they use their beak like we would use our hands and they convey what they don't want with it so a bite happens because he is trying to tell you something.

 

I see this is your first post, why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us some more about you and this grey.