Concerned new owner

[Markab]

Hi,

My wife and I yesterday brought home a 14 week old African Grey Timneh. She has been quite affectionate and is already starting to settle in. My only concern is her lack of coordination and clumsiness when navigating around her cage. I realize that she is still quite young but I'm concerned she may injure herself. My cage dimensions are approx. 3'W x 3'H x 2/12'D. She has slipped 3 or 4 times already from the sides of the cage to the bottom and has knocked over her food/water dishes several times. I'm worried that she is going to injure herself. Should I be concerned or am I being overly protective? Thanks for your help

 

Mark

 

PS: I've read else where that some people shorten the height of their cage with young birds by wire tying the bottom grate half way up the cage to limit the height of any fall. The design of my cage won't accomidate this.

[KimKim]

I do not have experience with young greys, as I adopted mine at 2yr, but I have read on this forum about people lining the cage bottom with a pillow then blanket or towels to soften the fall. I'm sure someone with baby experience will post soon.

[Jayd]

Hi,

My wife and I yesterday brought home a 14 week old African Grey Timneh. She has been quite affectionate and is already starting to settle in. My only concern is her lack of coordination and clumsiness when navigating around her cage. I realize that she is still quite young but I'm concerned she may injure herself. My cage dimensions are approx. 3'W x 3'H x 2/12'D. She has slipped 3 or 4 times already from the sides of the cage to the bottom and has knocked over her food/water dishes several times. I'm worried that she is going to injure herself. Should I be concerned or am I being overly protective? Thanks for your help

Mark

PS: I've read else where that some people shorten the height of their cage with young birds by wire tying the bottom grate half way up the cage to limit the height of any fall. The design of my cage won't accomidate this.

If I may, take all out of the cage except the food/water dishes, at night or if he's in the cage alone, put a towel on the bottom, put layers of paper towel on top of that, place one perch 2" high and another 1 " high. have nothing he can fall on.. wrap towels and put them at the sides of the cage, as he climbs better, move the perches higher, has he flown, doe's he fly, if he hasn't the can stay clumsy till they learn to fly, getting there footing is part of the learning to fly process... Thanks Jayd

[Markab]

Thanks for the advice KimKim and Jayd. Today she seemed to navigate around her cage a little bit better. Perhaps she is feeling a little bit more relaxed and confident.

 

Mark

[judygram]

Young grey babies are known for being a little clumsy and Jay is right to lower the perches in the cage so she won't be so far off the bottom of the cage should she fall, you can also pad the bottom with some blankets or towels and cover them with some newspaper until she gets more agile and sure footed.

[Markab]

Young grey babies are known for being a little clumsy and Jay is right to lower the perches in the cage so she won't be so far off the bottom of the cage should she fall, you can also pad the bottom with some blankets or towels and cover them with some newspaper until she gets more agile and sure footed.

 

Thanks for the info. Judygram. I'm sure all Greys mature at different rates but do you know typically how long it takes them to become fully coordinated and confident? Thanks.

 

Mark

[judygram]

It can vary but you will be able to tell when she is more confident and when she learns to fly that will help her to be more agile.

[Xtreme575]

Mark, is she clipped or flighted? My parrot was clipped when I got him at 16 weeks and he stayed quite clumsy until he molted and regained some flight feathers. The suggestion to move the perches down and add a towel to the bottom of the cage is a good idea. As you parrot gets more confident it will want to be on the outside, I surrounded my cage with cheapy plastic air mattresses in case of falls or jumps from the cage.

 

If your parrot is still flighted, then as soon as she is flying, and most importantly, landing then you will notice a difference in walking agility. Greys aren't the most graceful parrots out there, pretty hefty, chunky bodies... but you need to make sure that tail feathers don't get broken, and to protect the keel, or breast (wish) bone.

[venom]

its amazing in the difference of peoples birds, mine was clambering everywhere at 10 weeks never fell much at all , i had the perches on the bottom bars of the cage but she spent more time at the top, sure she was a monkey in a former life