Bringing home an adopted grey tomorrow, help with transition please (long sorry)

[Shades Of Grey]

I made an introduction post explaining that I will be bringing a three year old male grey home tomorrow. He is my first grey and he has already been rehomed twice, poor baby. The current owner says he is quite social and will often take to a new person after one or two visits. Tomorrow will be the first time meeting him and I will be taking him home. This is not ideal but I have to work with the owner's schedule..sigh.

Anyway, I would love some direction so I can make his transition as stress free as possible. He is located in another town that is about a 20 minute drive. We will be in my father's truck so we can take his cage home as well. I am glad that he will be coming with his familiar cage and toys, it is a fairly nice cage as well. I have a travel cage already arranged for pick up. It is a large cockatiel cage with a large door that is almost the whole front of the cage. I have placed one perch inside the cage and I coated it with a bit of vet wrap so he can grip it well. The only other thing in the cage is a toy (orange nut hatch) filled with human grade peanuts which are his favorite treat. He owns the same toy already so it is familiar to him. Does this set up sound adequate?

 

Now, my concern is if he is not willing to go into the cage at all. Should we place him in the cage or allow him to ride outside of it. He is only partially clipped and I worry about him traveling from the vehicle to the door uncaged. Would it be horrible for him to make him ride in a cage if he doesn't feel comfortable? Should I cover the cage as well? He is covered at home at night. The cage is going to have to ride on the front seat between my father and I, again not ideal but I have to work with what I have to get him home LOL. I imagine I should ask the current owner to place him in the cage. This will be hard as well because she is really attached to him and is only finding him a home because of severe allergies for her and her daughter. Its a sad situation. I don't think the grey will allow me to handle him right away.

 

When we arrive at home, I plan to have the children (ages 9 and 10) upstairs playing, the dog in another room (hes a chihuahuamix) and our GC conure in his cage. My husband will rush in and set up the grey cage then we will see if he steps up to me to go to his cage or I will just leave the travel cage door open on top of his cage so he can come out. I will allow the children to come down quietly and talk softly to him after awhile but not too close. I imagine he will just want to observe us for a couple days or more before he is ready for any real interaction. How long should I give him before I try to step him up? I won't rush him. Does that sound like a good plan? I just want it all to go smoothly.

 

Any tips for a smooth transition are so very appreciated. I love this bird already and want nothing but the best for him. I have wanted a grey for so long. It all seems a little overwhelming at the moment, but in a good way LOL. I feel like I did when I brought my first born child home

 

One more thing, his name is Tui (two-ie) but I would like to change it to Tiki. I am not sure if that would be really confusing for him. I am going to wait for a bit until he is settled though then see how he reacts. Have you ever changed an adult grey's name?

 

Thanks again

Amanda

Edited July 29, 2010 by Shades Of Grey
more details

[Jayd]

If you would like to read #26, #33, #37. There about bring home some of our rescue birds.Thank you...Jayd http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190309-A-note-on-Punishment-and-your-Parrot/page3

[Jayd]

Question? Who is your main bird right now? You need to introduce your new Grey to that bird first, then each bird down the line. Your new Grey will be lowest on the totem pole, you'll need to give treat's, new toy's, food, first hello/good morning etc to the number 1 bird. The psychology is so much different than any other bird, until a person has had on for a while, they never know. Here's a couple mor pages of good reading: http://www.alexfoundation.org/ http://www.africangreys.com/

[Dave007]

The transition should as simple an as uncomplicated as can be. It sounds like you wanna do too many things in a very short amount of time and that's not gonna work because the bird's focus will be on it's new surroundings. The bird isn't worried about his new cage. As far as actually taking him home, the ideal way is to have the bird in a small covered enclosure such as an animal carrier big enough to hold a small cat or rabbit. If you don't have one, the cage should be completely covered until you get him home. What you're doing with that tiel cage is fine and it's a good thing that it's small.

""The only other thing in the cage is a toy (orange nut hatch) filled with human grade peanuts which are his favorite treat.""

Take that stuff out. He's not gonna play with the toy or eat the peanuts.

""Now, my concern is if he is not willing to go into the cage at all. Should we place him in the cage or allow him to ride outside of it. He is only partially clipped and I worry about him traveling from the vehicle to the door uncaged.""

Any moving of the bird into any cage ( even his own) should be done inside the person's house and releasing the bird should only be done in your house. That allows you to simply carry the cage and bird into the truck quickly. Make sure that you make theres enough room in the truck before you get to the person's house.

Forget about the stepping up stuff. That'll happen in a few days. Your most important thing is getting the bird into the cage at your house and leaving him alone until he settles down. It's good that you're keeping the other animals and kids away. You can leave the bird with him but at a distance.

Don't start poking him and trying to pet him until he's settled in which may take a few days. More than likely he'll bite you.

Your husband will set up the old cage so keep the bird in another room while this is going on. When he's finished, bring the bird to the cage and let him go in and again, leave him alone. You can softly talk to him but that's it.

"""I will just leave the travel cage door open on top of his cage so he can come out. ""

That's a bad idea. He didn't have a travel cage around him in the past so putting one around him now is only gonna frighten him. Small travel cages are used by people to take their birds to the vet or from one place to another. It can serve no other purpose.

"""I will just leave the travel cage door open on top of his cage so he can come out."""

Simply take the bird out of the cage and put him in the other one. He may come out but may not go into the other cage. He may go up and you may not be able to retrieve him.

"""How long should I give him before I try to step him up?"""

When he starts to relax and starts to show interest in other things besides staying in a corner. That may take a few days. He'll be alert and on guard.

""The cage is going to have to ride on the front seat between my father and I, again not ideal""

Again, keep the bird covered. It's only you that thinks it's not ideal. The bird isn't gonna stop and say to itself ** Gee, damn it, I wanted my own limo with cushioned seats**

There's other things you'll need to do in the near future as far as dealing with the bird but right now, you'll need the bird to show some of it's personality.

PS--have your husband set up the cage but also put foof and water in before you put him in. Your hands may frighten him.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Dave007

[Shades Of Grey]

Question? Who is your main bird right now? You need to introduce your new Grey to that bird first, then each bird down the line. Your new Grey will be lowest on the totem pole, you'll need to give treat's, new toy's, food, first hello/good morning etc to the number 1 bird. The psychology is so much different than any other bird, until a person has had on for a while, they never know. Here's a couple mor pages of good reading: http://www.alexfoundation.org/ http://www.africangreys.com/

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I only have one bird here right now, my green cheek Ziggy. He is mommy's baby and I will be sure to address him first. I read the rehome stories you linked to as well. Very touching and sad but with happy endings. Very inspirational

[Shades Of Grey]

The transition should as simple an as uncomplicated as can be. It sounds like you wanna do too many things in a very short amount of time and that's not gonna work because the bird's focus will be on it's new surroundings. The bird isn't worried about his new cage. As far as actually taking him home, the ideal way is to have the bird in a small covered enclosure such as an animal carrier big enough to hold a small cat or rabbit. If you don't have one, the cage should be completely covered until you get him home. What you're doing with that tiel cage is fine and it's a good thing that it's small.

""The only other thing in the cage is a toy (orange nut hatch) filled with human grade peanuts which are his favorite treat.""

Take that stuff out. He's not gonna play with the toy or eat the peanuts.

""Now, my concern is if he is not willing to go into the cage at all. Should we place him in the cage or allow him to ride outside of it. He is only partially clipped and I worry about him traveling from the vehicle to the door uncaged.""

Any moving of the bird into any cage ( even his own) should be done inside the person's house and releasing the bird should only be done in your house. That allows you to simply carry the cage and bird into the truck quickly. Make sure that you make theres enough room in the truck before you get to the person's house.

Forget about the stepping up stuff. That'll happen in a few days. Your most important thing is getting the bird into the cage at your house and leaving him alone until he settles down. It's good that you're keeping the other animals and kids away. You can leave the bird with him but at a distance.

Don't start poking him and trying to pet him until he's settled in which may take a few days. More than likely he'll bite you.

Your husband will set up the old cage so keep the bird in another room while this is going on. When he's finished, bring the bird to the cage and let him go in and again, leave him alone. You can softly talk to him but that's it.

"""I will just leave the travel cage door open on top of his cage so he can come out. ""

That's a bad idea. He didn't have a travel cage around him in the past so putting one around him now is only gonna frighten him. Small travel cages are used by people to take their birds to the vet or from one place to another. It can serve no other purpose.

"""I will just leave the travel cage door open on top of his cage so he can come out."""

Simply take the bird out of the cage and put him in the other one. He may come out but may not go into the other cage. He may go up and you may not be able to retrieve him.

"""How long should I give him before I try to step him up?"""

When he starts to relax and starts to show interest in other things besides staying in a corner. That may take a few days. He'll be alert and on guard.

""The cage is going to have to ride on the front seat between my father and I, again not ideal""

Again, keep the bird covered. It's only you that thinks it's not ideal. The bird isn't gonna stop and say to itself ** Gee, damn it, I wanted my own limo with cushioned seats**

There's other things you'll need to do in the near future as far as dealing with the bird but right now, you'll need the bird to show some of it's personality.

PS--have your husband set up the cage but also put foof and water in before you put him in. Your hands may frighten him.

 

 

Thanks, that was very helpful. Having him covered should eliminate some concerns. What I meant about having him in the truck is that both my father and myself would be very close to him and that would make him nervous. Having the cage covered will help with the process I am going to ask the current owner to include the blanket she usually covers him with at night if possible.

[Xtreme575]

Good idea with the blanket, even if you have to throw another $20 at her. Jayd and Dave have given you excellent advice on the rehoming. I can't stress enough how right Dave's point of just leaving the bird alone is. It nearly drove me insane to just leave my parrot alone when I first brought him home, but the one time I tried to rush him resulted in him getting scared of me and causing a setback in our relationship which I had to work much harder to fix than it would have been if I just left him alone in the first place.

[Aly~]

I don't think I would plan to put him in the same room as your other bird(s). I put Rebel in a seperate part of the house for about 3 weeks just to be sure no one was going to get sick.

[Shades Of Grey]

I understand Aly. I would love to quarantine the bird but unfortunately, our place is so small that it would be pointless. I will watch him closely and take him to the vet at the fist sign of problems. I know in my heart that things are going to be fine though.