Hello all, looking for support

[Oliver]

Just got my first african grey. I have wanted one for many years. I currently have 3 other birds so I an not new to being a bird owner. They grey I got is named oliver, Olly for short. He is 8 years old and belonged to a couple that had many other birds and are now in poor health. I am not sure how thye treated him as I bought him through a third party. Is it typical for greys to not talk right away, at least until they are comfortable?

[danmcq]

Welcome Oliver!

 

It's good to hear that you are wanting to provide Oliver a good caring home.

 

Yes, Greys or any other Parrot for that matter will need some time to adjust to it's new environment and owners.

 

Once He feels comfortable and safe, you will start to see his real personality start to blossom. :-)

 

Again, welcome to the Forum. Post some photo's of Oliver when you get a chance. We love them here. :woohoo:

[dblhelix]

Greetings Oliver and welcome! As Dan indicated, they will take some time to adjust to new home, owner etc. With young birds this usually takes about 4 weeks for them to feel reasonably comfortable. With an older more established bird this could even take longer. Again, its just a guideline of time could be shorter or longer. Realize that they are in a totally new place, new sounds, smells, sights, people etc. That can be scary at first.

 

I am sure you will do great and get Oliver to show his personality through patience and love. They are great animals! Also wonderful that you are rehoming a bird in need. Please search through this site for information and ask any questions you have. We have a good group of members that like to help. B)<br><br>Post edited by: dblhelix, at: 2007/08/28 16:31

[Tari]

That really depends. Was he a talker before you got him? Some birds even greys don't talk. Mine does not talk often and hardly ever when I'm in the room.

[Talon]

Hi Oliver & Welcome to our family. The others have given you great advice. It will take time for him to adjust, as greys don't like change. So once he is completely comfortable, and comfortable with you, he should come around. Encourage him as much as you can, by talking to him, and use the same phrases all the time. He will bond with you, and then resume talking, I'm sure!

 

Looking foeward to hearing more and seeing photos!

[Oliver]

thanks all, I feel very fortunate to be olivers new owner. He has began to get more comfortable after only 4 days. He likes to be held and spend time with the family in the livingroom. All of my birds get alot of attention and are out of their cages whenever I am home. I really hope he talks, he does make some great sounds though.

[Talon]

That's great news! Sounds like he's getting comfy and cozy!! Did he talk before? If you work with him, I believe you will get him to talk. It's worth a try, they love to repeat words that have a lot of enthusiasm in them, so use that when you speak to him. Good luck!

[Oliver]

I do not know if he talked before. The individual that I got him from rescued him, but only had him 2 weeks. He said that he had not heard him talk. I know he has been through alot. Two different environments in a three week span. It will take time I know. I talk to him alot, he acts like he is interested and even nudges my mouth with his head when I stop talking to him. I am actually surprised that he is not fussier due to the huge changes in his life

[lovemyGreys]

As you say Oliver it will take time,he has been through alot & he will need to gain your trust, Im sure you will do a fine job

 

AND

[Dave007]

Adopting a pre-owned parrot is a different thing and with it comes some difficulties and situations although the new, previously informed owner is able to understand what they're actually seeing in that parrot. Usually, those people already own or have owned other parrots and are able to ease the pressure that the pre-owned parrot is going through.

These parrots have usually lived in either one or a few homes in the past. With each home, the parrot develops habits that pertain to what's going on there. Parrots don't forget things very easily and when that parrot moves on to that next home he/she takes those habits with him/her. It's frequently referred to as 'baggage' which involves many aspects of the parrot's personality and habits and ways of thinking. The ideal adoption of a pre-owned parrot is getting one that has no 'baggage', but that's impossible. First of all, the parrot is older and very sure of itself. The 'baggage can't be gotten rid of. Usually, a person that adopts a pre-owned parrot forfeits the experience of that parrot living and acting like a baby. Many people, be they experienced or inexperienced don't have a problem with that phase of ownership. The people who do have a problem are the ones that don't expect that experience. They don't get that experience. What they do see is an obvious amount of previous 'baggage' and they sometimes become disillusioned and many times, the parrot will soon be off to it's next home. The amount of 'baggage' that the parrot stores away when living in that other home depends on how long the parrot has lived there. Part of that newly obtained 'baggage' are the personalities of all the different owners and the methods used to make the parrot conform at each home. Again I say, parrots don't forget and they have the natural ability to store away more and more situations. Some of these owners should have never taken on the adoption of a pre-owned parrot and some of these same people should have never taken on the task of owning any parrot because they didn't do their homework but I'm not referring to you, only some people in the general population. Talking is something that might not happen in a new home even though the bird was known to talk before. Any new owner of a pre-owned bird should be prepared for a few surprises, some disappointments, some great moments etc. Good luck with your new family member.

[judygram]

Excellent post, Dave, you explain it very nicely.

 

Welcome to the family, Oliver, and thanks for taking in this grey. As an experienced bird owner I am sure you are doing everything necessary to make this bird a part of your flock and he will settle in and the bonding will take place.

 

If the bird talked before, chances are it will talk again but not until it is comfortable in its surroundings. Just continue with what you are doing now and in time I am sure you will be rewarded with his speech.

 

Post us a picture of Olly if you have one, we would love to see him.

[Talon]

Mr. Spock, Good advice and reminders to all grey owners that have adopted a grey. Thank you for your post. Karma coming your way!

[Guest Monique]

You all have great advice. Welcome to the group Oliver! I look forward to hearing how Olly settles in as the two of you get to know one another!

[Guest]

Oliver, welcome here I am looking forward to hear about how Olly is settling in

[Oliver]

just a quick update as I start my work day, I really appriciate the advice. One thing that Olly has going for him is that I do not have any pre-concieved expectations of him. I will let him do his own thing, I will let him teach me. He seems to be settling in very well, I have to be carful not to push too hard. He lets me know if he wants to be held by lifting his leg up and then he lets me know if he does not want to be held by putting his head down and blocking my hand. If I push too hard he will bite. OUCH!! I sing to him when he is getting fussy and it seems to calm him down. He is very different than my other birds. I rehomed a Alexandrine and I had to push myself on him in order for him to get used to being held, I can already see that with Olly, this will not work. Everything has to be his idea. I was cooking last night and I got out some tomatos, he got really excited and got off his perch and went for the tomatos. I went over to help him and he acted like he did not want the tomatos anymore. Once I walked away he began trying to get them again. He just wanted to do it himself. Anyway. Thanks again for the great advice. I will update on his progress. I expect some set backs along the way. Oh he is starting to make some workd like sounds, not sure what they are but he is at least trying.

[judygram]

You are correct, you don't want to push but you don't want him ruling the roost either, so let him settle in and then you can gain his trust and maybe he will allow more hands on action.

 

Don't pull away from his bites, or he will find that you go away when he does that and he will continue to do it for the reaction it gets him.

 

A mature grey is very independent and it may take some time for him to learn to trust you since he has already had several homes, but patience is the key.

 

I am glad that it is going well for now and hope it keeps up in the future. Thanks for updating this for us and keep us informed as to how he progresses in his relationship with you.

 

We would love to see a photo of him if you can manage that, we love pictures of greys.

[Guest Monique]

Greys are SO smart it is hard sometimes to "outsmart" them or think ahead of them. This was my biggest surprise with Greys. Not that they were smart (I knew that) but HOW smart. Noone could have made me believe it. And they use their smarts in social interactions to manipulate the situation. You can inadvertently reward them and teach bad behavior if you are not careful and they learn from a single interaction. The other things about Greys is that you cannot always trust their body language. They may be mad at you but they are not demonstrative and because of this they will not tell you. What I recommend you do is ask him if he wants to get out. Then it should be his choice. But if you tell him to step up then he should always be required to step up. This way you can allow him to make some decisions but if you need him out of his cage (vs. taking him out for just play-time or what-have-you) then you are the one making the decisions. That has worked out really well at our house. It allows you to have mutual respect but you to still be the "boss" if you will (as much of a boss as you can be over a bird ) and get them out when its a must.

[Oliver]

Thanks Judygram and Monique, great advice I will keep that in mind. I never really knew just how smart greys are. I can already see that he thinks he is the boss. He has been biting quite a bit but not hard at all, kinda a warning. We never pull away. He is saying one word, every time I am holding him and he gets off balance, I will say Whao!! He is now saying it alot. I was singing to him the other day and he looked me up and down and just said Whoa. Kinda put me in my place:blush: