Beating my head agains the wall ....LITTERALLY!

[AbbysDaddy]

Well its has been a while since I have been on line .... I will be loosing my internet for awhile because I am currently getting it for free from my neighbour lol. Well Abby officially clams up when she is around me. Last night I managed to sneak in my Apt. (its on the second floor so I have to walk in the door cant climb in the back or I would lol) and since Abby didn't see me she was playing games with my wife (who she wont even step up for) I got to hear her talk and make some new noises that I had never heard be for .... and after about 45 mins of hiding behind the kitchen counter and peeking around corners I came out and of course she clammed back up. One game my wife was playing was the knocking game ...my wife would tapp her finger or nail against the wall and then Abby would tap her beak against something usually the wall or cage ... on top of bobbing her head up and down like she was dancing my wife would ask "do you wana dance" and they would both stop bobbing their heads. I did get her do the head bob dance once and I literally had to beat my head against the wall like Abby does for 5 mins to get her to play the knocking game and then she finally did lol it was so cute ..... ahhhh the lenghts i go threw for Abby ... does any one have any ideas why she clams up so much around me ? I cant beat my head agains the wall every time she wants to play a game lol. It would hurt too much.<br><br>Post edited by: AbbysDaddy, at: 2010/01/20 17:21

[judygram]

I don't know the answer to that question, maybe Abby is the only one who knows why she does that but at least you got to hear her talk.

 

My sun conure does that head bobbing all the time:laugh:

[Luvparrots]

Perhaps she is just having fun with you. You know my pets always know when someone comes into my home sometimes before I do. Their hearing and senses are so much more in tune to smells, emotions and sounds then ours are.

[BaxtersMom]

I have heard of greys who clam up when their owners are around are called "closet talkers" I got my grey when he was already 12 years old and he would never talk when I was in sight. If I was away from him and he couldn't see me he would talk quite alot or even call me from other rooms but as soon as he seen me, he was quiet. I got a set of baby monitors and put one near his cage and took the other one in another room with me. Wow, did I hear a bunch of talking. Mostly rubbish in different voices that I couldn't understand and a bunch of sound effects. I would sit for hours listening. I also took a small recording device (before the monitors) and that was cool, too cuz you can rewind and listen over and over.

 

Baxter will talk around me sometimes now, but he's much more vocal when I am somewhere else.

 

Greys are so fun and yes we do go to great lengths for them, don't we?:silly:

[Jane08]

Our Rangi is like that with my boyfriend. As soon as my boyfriend is in the room he stops talking. Rangi also never speaks when he is sitting on my boyfriend. Now the weird part is that Rangi learns all his words from my boyfriend.

 

We have also found the we don't play the same games with our birds as each other. So Rangi loves me to chase him and tiggle him, but Rangi won't play that with my boyfriend and has found his own games to play with Rangi which I don't play with him. Kea is exactly like that as well we both play different games with her.

 

So maybe you just need to find a game that you and Abby can play together, that your wife doesn't play with Abby.

[Tucker5590]

Grumpy mostly talks and whistles when we are out of the room. On weekends when we sleep in we wake up to his whistles. In the evenings if no one is in the den with him and we are in the kitchen rattling things around he starts in loudly whistling and chattering. Once we are back in the room with him he is content and gets quiet again.

Hopefully you will get to hear her again soon!

[Acappella]

Maybe for Abby vocalizing is her way of calling out for her flock, and when you're both in the room with her where she can see you she doesn't have to call anymore. Only Abby knows for sure. Dorian used to be a strict closet talker. Now he'll talk when I'm in the room but clams up for everyone else.

 

The only thing I can think of to do to encourage her to talk in front of you is to model the behaviour you want. For example, you and your wife, in front of Abby, do a call and response followed by a big fuss and obvious reward with Abbys' favourite treat (if it's a food treat, you will have to pretend to eat it in front of her) Greys don't like being left out of flock activities. She may respond to be part of the game. Short 'sessions' repeated multiple times, probably over the course of days, may encourage her to participate. Of course, when and if she does, you both have to make a big time fuss over her:)! Yes, you will look and feel very silly.

 

I love that you love her so much. Good luck with the training. (make sure the curtains are closed and there's no video tape running:P )

Post edited by: Acappella, at: 2010/01/24 18:23<br><br>Post edited by: Acappella, at: 2010/01/24 18:24

[AbbysDaddy]

Thanks for all the advice ... sorry I have not been on alot lately its not that I don't want to but I lost the internet at my house for a little while so I can only get on here periodically. I cant find any games she likes to play with me seems that she just content seeing me but I will keep trying. The down side to being in another room is that the only other rooms in my apartment are my bed room the spare room which we dont use and the bathroom lol all others are connected by sight. Its great and makes the place seem bigger but even when im the the bath room or bed room she knows im home and wont talk its when i walk out the front door that she goes wild alot of times ill still be walking to my car and my wife will open up the door and say shes talking now lol hahahaha .... thanks for all the great encouragement everyone and I will keep you posted next time i get online