Questions about my new african grey, Marvin

[imranp128]

Hello everyone,

 

My bird Marvin is almost 7 months old, and I brought him home exactly 2 weeks ago. So far, everything seems to be going well and as far as i can tell, he seems to be adjusting.

 

A couple of days ago I took him out of his cage, and he was making all kinds of cool noises, clicks, whistles, and what sounded like some words. I got really happy and excited when hearing him. After a while he became quiet again, and since then he really has made much noise.

 

He's still eating normally. He loves to play with his toys and play around in his cage, but he is super quiet. I'm a little worried, because everything I read says that African greys are always making noises, and its almost impossible to quiet them down.

 

I just wanted to get input from you guys to know if this is normal behavior. Does he need more time to get adjusted to his new home? I really want him to be happy and I really want to hear the beautiful sounds he makes. Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

PS, if any of you have any advice on showering my bird, it would be greatly appreciated. From the short time ive had him i can see that hes terrified of taking a shower or bath.

[Dave007]

******but he is super quiet. I'm a little worried, because everything I read says that African greys are always making noises, and its almost impossible to quiet them down.********

 

Don't know where you heard that. If you're talking about yelling and screeching, well amongst parrots, african greys are known as one of the quietest in the parrot world. Almost all people are thrilled about that.

 

Are you sure that the conversation was about greys?

Edited December 20, 2010 by Dave007

[Luvparrots]

Yep, my Ana Grey talks a couple times a day and the rest she is exploring or causing mischief. She wakes me in early AM with her repertoire of words and then goes quiet, with an occasional word, asking for apples or nuts or asking what I'm doing, and then talks up a storm again in the late afternoon.

[Buffy]

Both of my greys are very quiet also. Echo, my oldest does exactly like Ana Grey. When she does her late morning, early evening talking, it is nearly impossible to quieten her down. I love those times of day! My youngest is just 7 months old as well. He does exactly what you just described. He will chatter and practice his speech, and then I don't hear a peep out of him for a while. Mine also hate bathing. I tried every method I read about. What they seem to hate the least is for me to run a bath with the water level being a little below chest level, and then just cupping water in my hands and rubbing over their bodies. They still growl through the whole bath, but with every other method I tried, Echo screamed like I was trying to kill her. I'd recommend trying several methods and finding out what works best for your baby. Good luck and welcome to the exciting world of being owned by a Grey!

[judygram]

Greys do tend to be quiet and Josey fits that mold most of the time but like most all birds they have their times they are vocal and go thru most of their vocabulary then they are quiet again. If Marvin is making all sorts of sounds and such then he is adjusting to his new home for most will not chatter unless they are somewhat comfortable in their surroundings so you are doing fine so far.

As far as bathing, why not read thru the stickies in the health room on bathing our greys, Dave has written up several that may help you with that problem.

[danmcq]

Welcome to the forum.

 

They are chatty at times. Once he becomes attached to you, you will hear him call for you in many different vocalizations when out of sight. They cannot stand to be out of sight of the flock. Other than that, they have their chatty times once or twice a day and the rest they are quite as a mouse.

 

In regards showers or baths or misting, you will need to see which Marvin seems to put up with the best.

[imranp128]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. They were very informative and helpful. I hope he becomes comfortable in his new home soon. I am having so much fun with him. Ill keep trying different things when it comes to bathing, and hopefully ill find a method he can tolerate.

 

Thanks again to all!!

[chezron]

The amount of talking really seems to vary with the day. There are some days when he seems to talk almost all day long, and others, when he only talks in the morning, afternoon, and right before bed.