Inanimate Objects

[CuteMandaPanda]

I know it's only been 10 days since Baby (he'll be 2 yrs old in Dec.) has been living with us, however I'm still concerned about some of his habits.

 

He prefers contact with inanimate objects. Approach him with your hand, no matter how slow, with gentle coaxing, gently talking, etc...and all he wants to do is bite. His bite comes with a quick noise too which to me makes him sound aggressive. He'll lunge for you as well. Occasionally he lets me pet his beak. Most times he tries to snap and I put my finger up with a firm "No," and try again. But it's an over and over again routine.

 

He loves to be pet!...BUT! Only with a toilet paper roll? I can sometimes swap it out and use my own hand, but he definitely prefers to have the paper roll be what touches him.

 

He won't step up onto anything other than "the stick." (His "before-mommy" has him accustomed to that??) Sometimes he'll step up onto our hand from the stick, but not from any other places. However, from the floor he will step up and obviously it's because a Grey doesn't want to be on the ground.

 

Does it sound like a time thing, that he should grow out of as long as we keep trying? Or is this just his temperament? And he will be a no-hands-on kind of bird? I'm not afraid to take the bites, but he just keep doing it over and over again, sometimes a few at the same time?

 

Any advice? I've been reading stuff, it's informative. The vet says that we just have to show the bird who is boss and that his bad attitude isn't going to get him anywhere. But she did say he's a good bird, he was good for her. But he did go to bite a few times. But he stepped up out of his carrier for her without a problem. To me, that made sense as I'm sure he wasn't thrilled about being in there in the first place.

[JillyBeanz]

CuteMandaPanda wrote:

The vet says that we just have to show the bird who is boss and that his bad attitude isn't going to get him anywhere.

 

What a sympathetic vet! Baby has been taken from all he knows and brought to a place and a family he doesn't know either ~ of course he's not going to play ball straight away!

 

Adopting a bird is a big deal - and I commend you for doing so. Baby is scared - he doesn't know you know him no harm.

 

I know it is infuriating for you that he's not the "cuddly" Baby you want - but at two he knows his own mind.

 

Mind you, Harvey is 11 months and like this with my husband - it's just the way he is. My husband perseveres though - even through all this rejection - I just keep telling him to be patient - the day may come, the day may not come.

 

Like you said, you've only had Baby an exceedingly short time in terms of ownership - it will take a while for him to accept you and feel comfortable - don't give up

[CuteMandaPanda]

Thanks Jill & Harvey. I definitely don't want to give up. I will be consistent and so will his daddy. We will do everything we can to make him feel comfortable, loved, and cared for with nothing to worry about. We want him to know there's nothing out of his cage that will harm him. I hope he comes around. He's very talkative and seems to rebound well from things that seem to make him uncomfortable right at first.

 

Thanks again.

[danmcq]

Jill made some good comments.

 

One thing to remember regarding your Grey. He was trained by the previous owner. I suspect that person was afraid of getting bitten. Thus the use of a stick to get him to step-up.

 

A hand is a hand and that Grey "suspects" that if he bites, threatens to bite, lunges etc and that hand quickly moves away. It is just as he thought, he see's same behaviour works everywhere. :-)

 

If you are going in slow motion with your hand and you see his body language is telling you he is going to bite. Just stop and slowly back your hand away or divert the path you had it going and act like you were going to pick something else up.

 

This is a behaviour that has been developed over a two year period and is how he was taught to interact with humans.

 

It sounds like form all your previous posts regarding this, that you guys are taking it slow and trying to work at the step up away from the cage. This is the best thing you could be doing, since you already know he is cage aggressive.

 

Time and patience will get you all through this. But, do not have any anticipation that this grey is going to be a cuddle muffin. It could happen over a long time, but I doubt it.

 

I hope you have the patience to just interact with him at his pace and respect his "Space" for a while.

 

FYI - Our Grey has always been a "Cuddle Muffin". However now at 2 years 7 months old. He is becoming much more independent, biting if you don't pay attention to his body language and at most evenings now, prefers to sit in the room with us, but on a stand or the back of the sofa, rather than getting cuddles on my wife's lap. However, we love him to death and appreciate the occasional head scratch when he wants it. :-)

 

What this means to you, is your grey is a teenager with an attitude and is establishing his space and enforcing his likes and dislikes.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/11/16 20:55

[Luvparrots]

Amanda karma to you for taking in an older grey. I believe in time you and Baby will be the best of friends. Just be patient and take things at Baby's pace and he will come around. Remember it has only been 10 days and he has two years of his "old" life to get over. Patience and love and you and Baby are on your way. There are many threads with oodles of information here at the forum so read away!!! Good luck to you and Baby!

[CuteMandaPanda]

Thanks for the words of wisdom! I appreciate it. I feel that part of my problem is confusion. I know that patience and repetition is the key. I know that respecting him and his needs and space is key. But at the same time, isn't this the time that he'll develop bad habits or continue his habits like biting if he's not shown other wise? I guess I'm confused as to where the happy medium is.