african grey that would not eat from hand

[sinaigem]

Hi all of you i this forum . I am a new member and really appriciate all the advices that i found in this forum. I have a problem with my african grey hen ( age unknown) She is still scared of me after 6 years . she is a rescue bird , nobody knows anything of her past . She is growling at anything and anybody . She is kind of comfortable with me now but far from able to touch her or come close to her . She lives in an outside aviary since she was anoying my family very much with her growling all the time . I have her step up on a stick reluctanty but well she does it . I read all this things about rewarding her for good behaviour . She would not take anything out of my hand . She waits until i leave the cage and then picks up the treats that i left for her . so training her is quite a challange i have to admit . I do not want to give up on her since i am a responsible person but i have to say i really would like to have a pet parrot that is a pet rather the a growling monster . She had a companion for 3 years and he escaped a year ago . She never changed before or after his appearance . It did not seem to matter to her . NOw i am thinking of getting her another friend . More for me then for her i have to admit . It is my first bird and i am sure i made mistakes . Also last 3 years i have to travel and everytime i move i have to catch her with gloves so i am sure this is not helping the matter of beeing scared of me . Do you think that i have a chance of letting her know that i am no harm to her ? Or is it better to let her go to someone else , maybe she will find someone that she trusts more then me ? Have i made too many mistakes with her ? Can she still learn to trust me ? I dont know what to do anymore ! please advise with your expirience ! I can really do with some good tips . Espacially how to get her to eat out of my hand so i can give her treats or start with the clicker taining . she is even scared from the clickersound . Thanks and i hope to hear from someone that has pitty on us and will send some help!

[JillyBeanz]

Hi sinaigem and welcome to our family. African grey parrots are flock birds, and therefore are best at the centre of any family environment. Unfortunately they are not birds that should be kept in an aviary. If she isn't with you and around you she will never get used to you. By keeping her in an aviary she isn't getting the attention that greys need and you are basically keeping her "semi wild".

 

There's no point in getting her a friend if you want her to be a companion parrot - and they won't necessarily be able to share the same area either, you can't just introduce another parrot into your grey's life like that.

 

You really, really need to bring her into your home and let her experience family life. She will never gain your trust otherwise. This is your first step into getting to know her. She needs reassurance that you are there to care for her and you want to look after her. After introduction into the family area you can then look to gaining her trust.

 

African greys aren't meant to live a life alone - they don't in the wild and shouldn't do in captivity either - bring her inside and furnish her with your love, you may then - and only then, begin to gain her trust.

[judygram]

Jill is right, a grey needs to be in the house in the middle of everything to allow her to become one of the flock, she will growl but it is the only way to get her used to having you around. Talk to her softly, read a book or the newspaper to her, play with some toys in front of her and make out like you are having a good time with them to encourage her to be interested in them and she will be interested if you are having fun.

 

This will be a long road to travel but it will be worth it, she needs lots of time and much patience on your part and your family's too for her to ever come to trust you, she may never fully trust you since you don't know anything about her past and how she was treated but you should be able to come to some kind of understanding with her and be able to coexist in the same room without her growling. I hope you have the patience to work with her to make her a pet for it will be a tough one but she has to be inside the home with interaction with the family for this to be achieved, good luck to you and keep us informed.

[sinaigem]

Thank you for your honest answers . She has not always been in the aviary . Only since i had to move to a big city is hse ouside because i feel i can give her there more attention then inside . She is quite content out there , she is practically right next to our livingroom and is involved in our live by watching us on the terrace . It is not that i locked her away in the backyard . you might have a point with not having her in the middle of the action but she was so unhappy i felt that removing her a bit to the side was also on her behalf . Will take your advise and will bring her inside again, but she is too panicked to let her out of the cage . She is fully flighted and fles around like a mad chicken if let out. What do you suggest ? She lived with me in the countryside before and there she was in the house for about 5 years . She was still very shy jsut sitting somewhere most of the time on top of her cage and observing what s going on . She was never trying to interact with us except vocaly which i do now as well since she is right next to my terrace . I dont know i really dont want to loose her but i feel maybe she would be better off with another family . Even though i live in egypt and i an tell you what the other places look like is not fun ! i will do my best to make it a better life for her in any case .

I dont fully understand what you are saying about the other parrot since i introduced the captian to her before and she seemed to b happy with him . IN no time the were bet friends and moved into 1 cage . We actually barely had any fighting going on . Even they started mating after the second year . So why do you think it is wrong to bring her another one . She might like it and i will not force thme to get along . If they cant be friends they can stay in different cages and beeing let out at different times . Dont you think it would be better to try and make another parrot her flock since she doesnot seem to be happy with us people , i dont know maybe she is a wild cought bird and she is never going to be fine with her life with us . Please would y explain the non second bird policy a bit more in detail ? Thanks again for your help

[sinaigem]

ah yes forgot to ask if you have any suggestions or tricks that i can bring her to eat the food out of my hand ? I am clickertraining her at the moment by giving her the seeds only if she eats them when i am with her in the aviary . And i have to sit on the floor otherwise she would not go to her food bowl . I think she would starve herself to death rather then eating while i am there. If i am sitting on the floor and nobody else is around ( no dogs , or kids or in fact anybody ) she would go on top of her cage and eat the seeds from there . she gets seeds only if she does eat them while i am there . I changed her over to a pellet diet and fruits and veggies only like maybe a month ago since i have to bring the food from abroad . It is not available in egypt and so all the greys here only live in seeds . She was like this when i got her and it took me a long time for her to accept fresh stuff . So if i look back i made progress but i am not sure it is good enough for her . She seems happy with herself she is only stressed if i come to close to her . She steps up on a stick under lots of protest but she does it . I cant carry her anywhere though . She just flies off then . My god it is good to be able to tell you all this since i have nobody around who really understand why i bother with her . Thanks a lot i really appreciate this

[Jayd]

Jill and Judy have given you the best advice, bring her into your home and into your heart.....24/7/365

Jayd

[danmcq]

If you've had this Grey 6 years, don't how old she is or what her previous background was. It is highly probable that she was a breeder and displayed that by hooking up with the Grey you brought in for her.

 

A second Grey may be accepted, maybe not, as you already indicated you are prepared for.

 

If she has been a breeder for years, a breeder is NOT a very human friendly bird at all and most times not care to interact with humans unless she was first someones cuddle muffin in the beginning years.

 

However, getting rid of her, would not change her dislike for humans. You already have a certain type of relationship established with her and I guarantee you, she would be better off with you, rather than another owner.

I suspect since you have had her 6 years, you already accept the level of relationship you've had with her.

 

Kudos to you for never giving up and continuing to try and get a little closer to her. :-)

[sinaigem]

Thanks again for your advises . I think in my heart i already decided that she is going to stay with me as long as she is alive . I have never given up on animals that i took in . Had always rescued dogs in egypt since there is a big need for that . She is my first parrot , had some cockatiels before which i placed in a good home later because of moving back and forth reasons. I think i do want another one so i can have a cuddly one too . I will not give up on my madame - she is a part of my life already and i hope i do the right thing for her . Anyway thanks for your support and answers . I will continue to get all the good ideas from this forum and if you want to keep you updated on my journey with my feathered friends. Going to have a look tomorrow for 2other ones and see if the chemicals fit to one of them .