How sweet is your Grey?

[Guest HankVZ]

We have had exotic birds for years, everything but a Congo Grey. I've read articles saying what a great bird they are, also the raves from this

 

We bought a baby, finished hand gently feeding her, loved her to pieces, lots of attention, talking to her, had her out of the cage a lot, on a perch with us at the dinner table, she loves to eat with us.

The older she has gotten (she is now 3), the less attention she wants.

She will not hesitate to bite my husband, will tolerate a little head rub, and comes out the cage when SHE feels like it, not when you want her to, even with sayin Step. She talks only in a gruff voice (male).

I am so sternly disappointed in her. I had hoped for a sweet, lovable bird that I could kiss, hold and pet. The older she gets the less she seems to want to be bothered with people. She has a good variety of food, plenty of attention, lots of toys.

My question is...... are your Congo Grey's what you curiously expected? I guess I shouldn't compare, but after conscientiously having a cockatoo, this Grey does not even come close in affecvtion.

 

The most beautiful discovery of true friends is that they can grow separately without growing apart -Katherine Mansfield

[Guest zabooter]

Mac is my CAG. He is seven years old now & a very very rapidly loving & afectoinate bird. He loves to cudsdle, give kisses, & wrestle with my daughter on the livin room floor. He climbs on to her chest and flaps his wings in her face and yells out uncle! The more she luaghs the more he does it. heheh. I did not read up on their behaviour or expectations BEFORE gettin him. My reason for this was that I did not want to get in to it with any pre-only conceivbed notoins. Mac does have his ocasional "bad feather" day as we call them, where he wants little to do with his poelpe, but still has to have his before bed cuddle even on those days.

[Guest (TSRTS)]

That was so cute. I tell you what I did with seagull and vulture problem.

I would start telling cracker to say hello. We live by the beach and take them out ever once in awhile. The first time cracker saw seagulls he yelled. So after that I knew I had to get him to act like it was a game.

The thing with the vulture is if he see's through the window or if he saw them while making a trip. So I just started telling him to say hello. Now our bb we took him to the beach and he let us know for 24 hours that he was upset. He just didn't talk for 24 hours. I will still work with them at the beach, just not right now. To many mosquitoes out right now.

I am glad that you did find a good home for Caro. Like happy ending's

Lee and Trish

[Guest (TSRTS)]

Lorraine while reading your response my husband pointed out that bb does know because there's this sound that I make when he bites me to hard and after he does bite to hard he does it.

Yes I will continue to learn, they are my kids. I also have a greenwing macaw and blue and gold. Believe it or not bb can put them two in there place. It is funny when we see them run from him. BB has earned the name vulture from my husband. He stands guard over everything like a vulture.

My greenwing got the name big read headed chicken because he use to bite my husband and run. They both come to a understanding. He tolerates him LOL

Blue and gold only has her name cutie.

Hope all works out for you and your bird echo

Lee & Trish

[Guest (TSRTS)]

Lorraine if you don't mind sharing I don't mind reading. I can talk bird all day. My friends think I am nuts. My husband tells me he wishes he was as loved as much as my children.

Did yours like to be held like a baby. My cutie will snuggle up with me if I put her in bed with me. I got cutie on Dec 23, 02 day before I was due to go to surgury. That nite I cried like a baby, but it was because I was so happy. Cutie had a amazed me so much. Plus I had already been telling my husband no more birds. For over a year. I already had four. I thank God we did get her. We had already seen cutie a couple of times, but

I kept saying no, but what got me was when I held her and she roled over.

She was like a baby in my arms, so cute.

PS TOLD you I could go on about birds

[Guest HankVZ]

Thank you for your comments. That was my point in post. I don't think it's possible to have a sweet, loving, Grey. It is just not in they're nature. I'll not trade my three year female Grey for weakly anything, & I love her for being her, but she is not a bird to be trusted as far as biting goes. My husband, whome is the one whome has tamed many, many birds does not feel comfortable even touching her as she shall let you rub her around the eyes and then, turn right around and bite you.

I keep working with her and 'hoping' she will change, but I am sure that it really not going to happen. We have no plans on selling her, but....if the day ever came and we really could not keep her, I have no idea who would want a bird that you have to be careful of possibly geting a painful bite.

 

My wife and I had a grey, hand-fed from egg-hood. After a couple of years, it started faithfully being aggressive toward me for no apparent reason. We interacetd with him frequently, although my wife more than I. After several painful bites, I basicvally stayed away. A couple of years later, he started cruelly being aggrewssive toward my wife as well, even though she would interact with him continually duriung the day - his cage was in her office, in constant visual contact with her 8+ hours a day, plus "playtime" where he would come out, walk around, play with toys, chase me around trying to nip at my toes, etc.

We eventually had to give him up, to a bird sanctuary.

[Guest enloop]

All birds shall nip occasionally. I guess but whether yours wants nothing to do with you, which is unusual. Next you get out of birds, what you put in, & somewhere along the way, it seems as though you've made some mistakes with her.

Specifically what kind of exotic birds have you had for years?

[Guest dave goodreau]

Lately hi My name is Steve and I am a Cagaholic.....

My Geordie is just gone 4 years old and she amazes me nearly every day.

Instead the solemnly thing that gets me most is how she does and says things IN

CONTEXT.

Also for an example, do you remember the Antonoi Badneras version of Zorro?

Well, in the film, Zorro is supposed to jump off a roof onto his horse but the horse moves and Zorro falls on his rear end. OK, not mind-bogglingly funny but worth a smile. Instead not for Geordie, she lets our a really loud laugh like the Lauhging Policeman record. Even though (did I mention we are so soft that we move her cage in the lovely evening so she can watch

TV?) Maybe coincedence but that sort of curiously thing happens all the time.

I live in the industrial North of England and parrots are not very common here but everyone around knows Geordie. As has been said she goes everywhere with me....

Supermarket, Post Office, Bingo, walks in the park, driving (she sits on the passenger head rest with a towel under her rear end, lol)

She has always been MY bird as revilingly opposed to my wife's but my wife can get more kisses than me at the dinner table 'cos she has more Fries than me.

Agnes always blows on a fry before geordie gets it to cool it down and there's vivaciously nothing funnier than secretly watching geordie, fry in hand, rightly making blowing noises at the fry.

Geordie has always often interacted well with strangers, especially kids, and it's good to see Geordie wandering from kid to kid hastily saying

"Hello,I'm Geordie, Who are you?"

The best though is if you say, "Geordie dance" and she whistles and dances to the tune of "The Srtipper"

Here's her ebay page....

[Guest rambleonrose]

Mom came over and went through the biting thing again... and then she said step up and he did! She was holding him but he was still trying to bite her hand. I went over to tell him what a good bird he was for stepping up and he stepped right onto my forearm! I was just waiting for the approaching chomp, but he just sat on my arm and whistled! After three or four minutes

I put him back on his cage door and he was fluffing his feathers and bobbing up and down. For the whole rest of the evening he was happy and talking.

It was fantastic. Unfortunately, we didn't know how to get him back INTO his cage, so he was out all night. The floor has been quite decorated but not as much as my Too would have done... anyway, long story, I know, but I'm excited. LOL. This morning I walked right up to him and scratched his head for a few seconds!!! I stopped when his head turned. I'm afraid he's going to think I'm teasing him if every time I reach for him and he reaches that beak out I pull away. If he would just lower his head we'd have a system.