Which sex talks more & Introducing my CAG to home.

[mpr86]

Picking up my CAG sometime next week and some people are guessing its a female. Obviously no way to tell until I get it sexed, but a few CAG owners have told me that the males are more vocal, or tend to have a better vocabulary. Is this generally true? Or do both male and females have similar abilities to talk?

 

Sorry if this topic has been already discussed, didn't seem to find it on the search.

Thanks!

 

Oh an in addition, CAG is about 4 months old when I bring it home. What is the best way to introduce it to the house? Should I not pet it or play with it at all for a few days as it gets used to the new surroundings? Leave it in its cage? Or play with it etc.

[Tari]

You need to take you bird for a new bird check up as soon as you can. I always tell people when they buy one of my birds to do it within 48 hours.

I would play with him a lot to reassure him/her that everything is ok. But not excessive cause you want you bird to know how to entertain him/herself also.

As far as males/females and talking I have been told there is no difference. But the only experince I have is my female TAG and she is a closet talking and does not say many words and can go weeks without saying a thing. But thats ok I love her anyway.

Your bird may NEVER talk the only way to insure your bird well talk is to buy one that is already talking.

Good Luck

[judygram]

I go along with everything Celery said, makes sense to me. A vet visit, playing with them and taking them on a tour of the house are all things to do with a new bird.

 

Most greys will talk, but you can get the occasional one that doesn't but odds are yours will talk.

 

Keep us informed as to how the homecoming goes and we will be here to answer any questions you may have.

[danmcq]

If you have visited an interacted with your new baby at the Breeders while waiting for weaning to occur. He/She is already comfortable with you and you could give it a tour of the house as soon as you get it home. Interact with it for a while to comfort it and then put it in the Cage for an hour or two to get familiarized with it.

 

If you have not visited your Grey at the breeders and it is not real friendly with you at first, I would place him in the Cage at first for a Day and let him get used to his new environment and family while they are in close proximity to the Cage.

 

I brought Dayo home last Saturday. I had been visiting him every week at the Breeders for 8 weeks and the last 2 weeks, the Breeder allowed us to bring him home for 4 to 6 hours on those Saturdays. So, when he came home for good, it was a comfortable environment for him already.

 

You will need to play it by ear based upon how he/she reacts to the move to the new home.

 

I know you must be excited and probably are thinking of nothing at this point of the day you can bring your Grey home....I know how I was :woohoo:

[birdgranna]

I have both a male and female CAG. My male does not have half the vocabulary my female does. My male also has a flatter head...but he has fallen on it a number of times;) My male is also smaller and darker and does not have as warm a personality as my female does. He will bite whereby the female never bites me. However, the only surefire way to know gender is DNA. Perhaps you could get it done on his checkup. the vet can take blood from a feather without plucking it so it is almost painless.

[judygram]

They usually take blood from a nail clip for a DNA test but I guess from the feather would work also.

[mpr86]

Thanks for all the responses.

In terms of pain do the birds generally prefer taking blood through the vein or nail? I intend to get a full checkup/blood panel on him the day I pick him up. I guess I will do the DNA sexing as well then.

 

he is about 3 1/2 months old and has been ready to go home for a a few weeks now. I have been waiting to pick the bird up until my brother get's back into town from vacation in a few days. In the meantime I have visited her in the pet shop about 3 times and played with him for about 20-30 minutes each time. He also has contact will all the customers that walk in etc as they are not in cages during the day.

 

Do you guys see a problem in this? In terms of him having contact with many customers at such a young age? I am picking him up soon though.

 

Finally, the few times I visited him, when I place my finger in front of him, he will grab it with his mouth, and gently close on it. Never biting, but just like grasping my finger, and sometimes moving it's tongue around. Is this behavior normal? Is this a sign of biting but is he too young to bite that hard yet? Or is he just exploring by doing this? He seems very friendly otherwise, eagerly coming onto my finger etc.

 

Thanks again!

 

Oh and I can't wait, counting down the days before I bring him home :woohoo:

 

Here's another picture of him

<br><br>Post edited by: mpr86, at: 2007/08/12 22:17

[judygram]

Nice pictures and a nice looking grey.

 

As far as taking blood for a full workup at the vet's office they take it out of a vein in the neck, they need more than they can get from a nail clip.

 

I don't see a problem with the contact at the pet store, besides it has probably helped to socialize it to have seen many people.

 

The kind of thing he is doing with his beak when grabbing you is beaking and no he is not biting you, he is just checking you out, especially if he is using his tongue. They use their beak like we would one of our hands, to check out things.

 

Sounds like you are very happy with this bird and are anxious to bring him home. Let us know when you do get to bring him home, we want an update then.

[Tari]

I did a feather test on mine. You can get the kits from several places on line. I did not get a certificate with mine so it only cost 5 bucks but that was like almost 8 years ago.

Great looking grey hope we get lots of pictures.

[mpr86]

I see Thanks. Yeah I didn't know how to properly scratch it and he would see the finger and go for the grab, where do they exactly like to be scratched? Neck/Head?

 

celery wrote:

In general, you don't want to just put your finger in front of them, as they can see this as a sign of aggression.

 

For step-up put it just beneath the abdomen / above the feet. For scratches you should move your hand around to the back at or below eye level. Putting your finger right at beak level? They will take it!

[birdgranna]

My amazon gets frequent blood work done as she is hypothyroid. they get plenty of blood from a wing feather and it is not as traumatic as from a vein in the neck.There would not be enough blood from a nail clip for a full blood panel.The blood supply in a blood feather is quite profuse and I highly recommend it for any blood work you may need. It is horrid to take it from a vein in the neck when it is not necessary.

The sooner you get him out of the pet shop the better. My grey from the pet shop came with Chlamydia and I had to treat all my birds. It was awful. Make sure your avain vet checks for this and also aspergillosis. Both are hard to get rid of.Both of these infections are common in pet shop birds I have found out.Don't mean to scare you but best get them checked and you will not have to go through what I went through.I did not know he had it until he got visable symptoms. When I went back to tell the pet shop, all their birds were gone...guess why.Of course they offered to replace my bird but you all know, you cannot replace after you grow to love them(and spend $2,000 getting them all better!)Take all precautions!

[Connie]

I also have 2 CAG's, and my male talks way more than the female. I do need to say though, that I've only had her for 3 months, she is 2, and she didn't say a word until 3 days after she got here. She talks a fair amount, but not like my boy. She is content to whistle or just play.

[Guest briansmum]

aswell as scratching behind the neck i would make an effort to touch him all over, he won't have a problem while he's young but as he gets older he will get a bit funny about it, but persevere. i do with mine, i touch all over his back and lift his wings and he's even starting to let me roll him on his back and get his tummy. the only place i am not allowed to touch is his tail. i will continue to do this as long as he lets me. I think CD does a similar thing with Ceasar and im sure others do. it's a good trust excersise and always handy if your grey will let you touch him.