Few Questions

[Elliot]

My first post on this forum.

 

A little into, I have 3 birds,a parakeet, cockatiel, and a Timneh african grey parrot; named Elliot. He is about 1 and a half years old, hand raised since he was 3 weeks old.

 

One of the questions is why does he nibble on my fingers when I am holding him? After a while the nibble turns into a soft bite.

 

Another one is, what is the best way to trim his nails? I have done it with clippers before but he didnt like that at all. And he only likes one kind of cement perch and I havent be able to find it anywhere. I have tried other perches but he just freaks out as soon as he sees them. Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[Char]

I have the same problem with Whisper. If I put any new perches in her cage she freaks out. I tell people who are thinking of getting a Grey to put the cement perches in the cage from day one. I wish I had.

 

I tried trimming Whisper's yesterday and only managed to get a few of them done. I toweled her but she manages to wiggle out before I can get them finished. I used clippers for birds and have styptic powder handy in case it bleeds. I can not hold my Amazon down and do his at all. He is so big and strong so I am just going to schedule a trip to the vet and let them do it.

[judygram]

Elliot, you should probably discourage the finger nibbling if it turns into biting, just don't let it get started, he thinks its fun but its not if it leads to biting. Give him some foot toys to play with, something else to nibble on besides your fingers.

 

If he won't accept any new perches then you might have to take him in to the vet for trimmings, they have a dremmel tool that takes care of it in minutes.

 

when you do get new perches or anything new for him, lay them where he can see them and get used to them before you put them in his cage.

[Elliot]

Believe is or not, but I have had the cement perch next to his cage for the last two months... I did use the towel method and it was successful after much stress but I really need an extra two hands to limit that stress. Maybe a vet is the answear.

[Dave007]

A vet may be necessary for basic work that's done on a bird but as far as you doing the nail clipping, it isn't unusual for a bird not to like it and most external work that's done by the owner normally takes 2 people to accomplish the task.

Judy said a very important thing concerning the biting. Many birds won't do that when they're extremely young but will start that as they slightly mature and they do that type of thing when the owner is involved with other activities besides holding the bird. A common area is a bird who is standing on a shoulder. The bird has to not be allowed on the shoulder if the biting becomes very uncomfortable and starts to hurt.. Other birds can stay on a shoulder with no problems. It's just a individual personality thing. Judy's suggestion about the biting is a good one. A bird can't be stopped from nibbling, especially the pressure of the nibbling.

Many birds get disturbed by many new things and as Judy said, it's a good idea to let the bird see them first. But even if you do find that certain perch, it doesn't mean that it will keep the nails blunt. It's all about gripping and length of time on the perch.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/12/13 17:35

[danmcq]

The others all gave excellent advice.

 

One thing you might try with the nails. We used to use a dremel and it was always a minor struggle to get it done and did stress our grey.

 

My wife was using an emery board on her nails one night while Dayo was sitting on her. I suppose it looks like a large pop-sickly stick to him and he kept try to clamp down on it, rubbed his head on etc. Thats when my wife had an epiphany. Lets see what he does if she tries to file his nails with it. He enjoyed it and still does. Now my wife just files the needle point tips off when they get to puncturing our skin. It's a good experience for both the bird and owners. :-)

 

My Grey has a cement perch as well. It has been in his cage for over 2 years. He really gets on it and thus renders it purpose useless other than for occasionally perching on it. I did find that hanging toys he loves over that cement perch made him stand on it to grab and bang on the toy. But, that was still not enough perch time to keep the nails filed down.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2009/12/13 17:53

[Luvparrots]

I just have my daughter clip the tips with nail clippers while I am holding them in a towel. They seem to trust me so there is no struggle and it goes smoothly.

[hugoaguiar]

Hi there

 

Phoebe is 6 years old - advices are welcome:

 

1) She completely freaks out with any new object. She doesn't have too much toys because of that also. For example if I bring a new toy and I put the toy one meter away of the cage she just freezes on the other side of the cage for 2 or 3 days (then I quit and I take the toy out from there).

 

2) I don't find nothing to give her that she likes the most, I can never reward her with food because I cant find nothing that she loves the most to eat. So I just reward her with my energy (with gestures or sweet words)

 

3) She used to step up and to play on my shoulder. But I had to move and I left her with my parents for almost 3 years (I was with her only on weekends and holidays). When she made one year old she started to don't let anybody touch her besides me. So during those 4 years she was mainly inside the cage.

So now I finally could bring her and she is again full time with me, she just step up very few times, and when I put my hand in front of her she start to nibbling (very softly and she starts to shake her hand and giving me foot already eaten [i dont know the verb in english ] She looks very happy - dancing and doing sweet sounds, she gives me always one hand but she never comes up with the other. It seems that she still doesn0t trust me to step up (I try all days).

So she just step up when she flies and fall down, then she needs me to get back to her cage.

(still I think that last 2 months there were some improvements on our relationship)

 

=D

[Dave007]

"""For example if I bring a new toy and I put the toy one meter away of the cage she just freezes on the other side of the cage for 2 or 3 days (then I quit and I take the toy out from there)."""

 

Because all birds are different as far as accepting something, you may have to change what you're doing in a few areas. First off, take your bird away so she can't see you when you put a new toy in. Put the toy farther away than you've been doing. Leave the toy in that area for a longer period of time. When you eventually wanna put it closer, remove her again. Keep doing it that way until she accets the idea that it's around. Some greys will take to something pretty quickly; others will take a long time to accept things.

 

As far as treats-I don't know what is available where you live but many greys like different types of unshelled nuts. Partially crack it open and instead of handfeeding it, put it in her food dish. If you can get an item called Nutriberries, give that in the same way.

 

"""When she made one year old she started to don't let anybody touch her besides me. So during those 4 years she was mainly inside the cage.""""

 

By one year of age, most greys start having their permanent personalities coming through.

 

To be honest, 4 yrs in a cage wasn't a good idea. Many habits, likes and dislikes start to develop and may not be so easy to change because the bird has gotten used to those new habits.

 

I feel that because of the unusual situation you and your bird were in, it's gonna take you a much longer time to redevelop a relation and that's not unusual. Many people here have birds that were adults when they got them and they also had to spend more time with their birds.

 

""

So she just step up when she flies and fall down, then she needs me to get back to her cage."""

 

Basdically, she has to learn how to fly again so it's a wise idea to put a small rug around the cage if she's falling straight down. When you pick her up put her on a playstand but remember that she has to get usued to that too.

 

Others here may offer other advice.

[Luvparrots]

My grey just learned to fly. She was clipped when I got her. You will have to give Phoebe a chance to exercise her wings. Phoebe will have to learn to trust you again so you must take things slow and easy. My grey loves pine nuts for treats.