Morana Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 One thing is a warning bite, or just a slight bite to express his quarks but it is not normal if your bird makes you bleed. It is not her/his individuality. It is their indiscipline
judygram Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 My goodness...my baby has just been sitting on my shoulder....being the most loving thing on the planet. I have been laughing at how sweet. He is just rubbing his head all over my cheek and chin. Putting his head up for kisses. I am just in awe and heaven right now. They take you both ways for sure. I feel totally blessed at the moment. See Issac is the same loving sweet bird he has always been but he is entering into the maturing process and he is asserting more of his independence but there is no denying the love you both share, yes you are truly blessed.
Morana Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 My goodness...my baby has just been sitting on my shoulder....being the most loving thing on the planet. I have been laughing at how sweet. He is just rubbing his head all over my cheek and chin. Putting his head up for kisses. I am just in awe and heaven right now. They take you both ways for sure. I feel totally blessed at the moment. You sure have a cuddly fellow:-) I adore this special moments with our feathered friends...:-)
Acappella Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 I have two magic words that will cure the whole problem of ear attacks while you're trying to do house work. Are you ready? The magic words are . . . EAR MUFFS!!!!!
Ray P Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 If you live up north like me and many others do you have them at hand. But if you live in the south you have to order them.
judygram Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 The only thing about using ear muffs is most greys will be afraid of them at first and maybe for a long time, it could solve the problem of them being on the shoulder period.
birdhouse Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 Phenix forgets how strong his beak is & doesn't really make allowances when it's freshly sharpened on a toy. I know he's drawn blood when he hasn't meant to because of his reaction. Honestly? I think Issac was just messin with you. My guess is Issac got more of a reaction than he expected & that played into the Evil Grey sense of humor. We don't admit it much but they've all got it. Even the most perfect fid has demon days. Once he starts laughing "correctly", you may discover a surprisingly dark & twisty side to Issac. But that's not his basic nature & he's very bonded to you. So, he got it out of his system & went back to his sweet lovable self ...for now }; >
danmcq Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 My goodness...my baby has just been sitting on my shoulder....being the most loving thing on the planet. I have been laughing at how sweet. He is just rubbing his head all over my cheek and chin. Putting his head up for kisses. I am just in awe and heaven right now. They take you both ways for sure. I feel totally blessed at the moment. Congratulations, you have a normal Grey!!! They hold no grudges as you see, if none were justified, which I know with you, no way. Issac is growing up and you will have more episodes like this. They get some type of either pleasure, amusement or perhaps just their message across since their request is being ignored. He got your attention. Dayo is very sneaky, quick and then BAM got ya. Many times milliseconds afterwards he wil say WOOooooooooo, Hahahahahahaha. I honestly believe he is playing some type of game or perhaps just gets satisfaction out of being faster than Daddy sometimes. He never does this to his cuddle muffin... my wife. I am more like the guy friend that he loves to play and rough house with. I will say, placing him in the cage for this and firm no's never stopped it. Perhaps because this particular type of "Play" is not considered by him to be a "Bad Bite". He knows when he has bitten and did so because he did not want to move or I took an off limits item away from him. he goes in the cage and then many times once in it, he will say "No bite Daddy". He will will say that if he was doing one of his "Play" bites. Your baby is growing up and he will continue to mature and change, as you know.
Janfromboone Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 I would love to get inside their brains. I think they just have to push the limits to find out how much you'll put up with. I'm sure all is well.
JJsHoney Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 Rene was having a nippy day yesterday, and luckily those are far and few in between now, he would wait until I left the room, start calling for me and just as I was turning the corner he would fly up and land on my head and give me a good hard bite on the shoulder, ear or whatever he could get his beak to before he got tossed back away, he did it a few times until I stopped coming into the room, but then my room was the target needless to say I have to go out and buy a new curtain today He was also very nippy when I was handling things inside his cage (very unlike him) It was just a bad day because last night and this morning he is full of raspberries and kisses for me.
Elvenking Posted January 4, 2011 Author Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) Congratulations, you have a normal Grey!!! They hold no grudges as you see, if none were justified, which I know with you, no way. Issac is growing up and you will have more episodes like this. They get some type of either pleasure, amusement or perhaps just their message across since their request is being ignored. He got your attention. Dayo is very sneaky, quick and then BAM got ya. Many times milliseconds afterwards he wil say WOOooooooooo, Hahahahahahaha. I honestly believe he is playing some type of game or perhaps just gets satisfaction out of being faster than Daddy sometimes. He never does this to his cuddle muffin... my wife. I am more like the guy friend that he loves to play and rough house with. I will say, placing him in the cage for this and firm no's never stopped it. Perhaps because this particular type of "Play" is not considered by him to be a "Bad Bite". He knows when he has bitten and did so because he did not want to move or I took an off limits item away from him. he goes in the cage and then many times once in it, he will say "No bite Daddy". He will will say that if he was doing one of his "Play" bites. Your baby is growing up and he will continue to mature and change, as you know. When I sit by the computer sometimes. He loves to get this game started. Then it's a game of me covering my ear while he spins on his ropes upsidedown and wildly squawks. Which is cute until he brings that energy to my ear...lol. He can be very good at a fly-by nip. The way he looks at me afterwards is with full attention and an obvious expectation of a reaction, I can tell he is enjoying it. Obviously no aggitation or an intentional attack. I imagine that if he really wanted to hurt me...he could do much worse. So, it has to be a game. I usually cringe up just in time to dodge the nip and he carries on again with his spinning untill he is ready to dive in for another shot. He is a rascal. Edited January 4, 2011 by Elvenking
Jingles Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 i didn't read all of everything, but did he laugh after he did it?!? mine will do something and then sit there and laugh. it's so cute but at the same time, it's like, ok, the laugh is cute, but what you just did isn't CUTE!!! lol
Elvenking Posted January 4, 2011 Author Posted January 4, 2011 Issac is still working on his vocalizations. In the last 4 days or so, he has had a massive explosion of different new sounds he is making along with valient attempts at saying 'Hello' and 'Boyee'. As well as a spaceship laser noise like the one Einstein does in the ever popular Animal Planet video. Super cute. I am sure that if he could laugh, he would. The gleam in his eye when he does a fly-by nipping seems to suggest so. As if he is saying, "Yeah...it's like that...let's go!" Or maybe it's, "Get off that computer and watch me, get me a nut....me....me....me".
Jingles Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 lol... the me, me, me...oh dear! Well, then I'm sure he'll start laughing after doing these one day!!! lol
JJsHoney Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 One day Isaac will be laughing.. Rene is a comedian and I dont know many greys that aren't.. Right now Rene is laughing his little red butt off tossing pellets all over the floor yelling at the dogs
Elvenking Posted January 4, 2011 Author Posted January 4, 2011 I am sure he will pick up my laugh. He is always making me laugh with his antics. Most of the time, he is either doing something cute, or something funny.
judygram Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 Josey has picked up my laugh and it is so funny to hear it come from her beak, I am surprised that he hasn't already mimiced it before now, little Issac is growing up.
tanyab Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 same here..between the srceeming and now he is beaking me all the time also.i cant say its a bite.his not hurting me but i rub his head or touch him here comes the beak..beak my face,ears,nose,whatever....is this a normal grey thing???or is it a bad habit thing he is starten. his 9months old and it seems like he is growing up with some bad habits.....and plus im still handfeeding at night .would like to stop that. can someone help with that..he dont eat but a bite but its time to break that habit..thanks
domyoburk Posted January 7, 2011 Posted January 7, 2011 When someone is thinking of adopting a grey they should have to read this thread first! And then they should have to babysit a grey for a month. Elvenking, thanks for being honest about your frustrations. It helps to talk about this aspect of grey ownership. Ursula can make me SO angry. Like people have said, there's always something I've done when she bites me - I've moved too quickly, or stopped giving her full attention - but it hurts my feelings! One minute sweet, the next painful. And when I'm cleaning the house she dive-bombs my head! Flies over at high speed, hits my head hard with her talons, and then flies off. It's best if I just resign myself to the "game" and remember that this is because she wants my attention (when I hear her coming, I duck). When I read I have to hold a spray bottle in my hand - she can't stand being ignored, so she lands repeatedly in places she knows she isn't supposed to be and watches me carefully or even says, "Get off of there!" I aim the spray bottle at her and she flies away, satisfied. For a moment. They are harmless games if I play "correctly" and don't get frustrated!
Elvenking Posted January 7, 2011 Author Posted January 7, 2011 I laughed out loud reading your description. They are such attention getters. Yes, I was in the heat of frustration when I posted this. Here I was, trying to duck and dodge the bird, while I am working on cleaning up things...caused by the bird, all so I can live sanely with a bird who at the moment, was driving me quite insane. Then, he rubs his head on my cheek. They are the upper level of pets that require a ton of socialization and interaction and it is definitely not to be taken lightly. It's one of the cons of leaving them flighted. But then flying has its wonderful moments. They really do want to come to you and be where you are, and it's a personal reward every time it happens....well...almost every time. They are exactly like children!
judygram Posted January 7, 2011 Posted January 7, 2011 They are exactly like children! Yes and fortunately or unfortunately, depends on how you look at it, they never grow up!
domyoburk Posted January 7, 2011 Posted January 7, 2011 People ask me how Ursula is. I say, great, but imagine living permanently with a FLYING two-year-old.
Elvenking Posted January 7, 2011 Author Posted January 7, 2011 People ask me how Ursula is. I say, great, but imagine living permanently with a FLYING two-year-old. So true. Okay...I will throw this in there for Issac. I always cup my hands around his body when he is walking on the counter and do little kisses on his back. Now he does the kissy noise when I do that too. I adore him.
chezron Posted January 7, 2011 Posted January 7, 2011 I think maybe it is a matter of keeping track of the circumstances when he does bite and learning his body language. Like at our house, we know that for some reason, in the evening, Brutus wants to bite my husband, so Larry avoids trying to handle him at that time. Now for me, if I pick up Brutus around noon when he is full energy, he will give me a pretty good squeeze when I try to put him down because he doesn't want to leave me. So I do not pick him up when he is boisterous unless I have a Plan B, like giving him a toy or walnut to keep him busy. This is one of the reasons I like birds, they are moody like people and not so predictable. It seems that their actions and emotions are more genuine, then say, an endlessly adoring dog.
Elvenking Posted January 7, 2011 Author Posted January 7, 2011 I think maybe it is a matter of keeping track of the circumstances when he does bite and learning his body language. Like at our house, we know that for some reason, in the evening, Brutus wants to bite my husband, so Larry avoids trying to handle him at that time. Now for me, if I pick up Brutus around noon when he is full energy, he will give me a pretty good squeeze when I try to put him down because he doesn't want to leave me. So I do not pick him up when he is boisterous unless I have a Plan B, like giving him a toy or walnut to keep him busy. This is one of the reasons I like birds, they are moody like people and not so predictable. It seems that their actions and emotions are more genuine, then say, an endlessly adoring dog. With Issac the terms are these: So long as I do what I want to when he says it's okay....I will be alright.
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