4-month old grey biting behaviour

[Jacques]

Hello everyone, I have a quit annoying issue with our CONGO African grey. My wife and I have her (female) for more or less 4- months now, but the problem is, ONLY my wife is allowed to touch and cuddle her. When anyone else tries to touch her (at the cage or not), she will make a loud, sharp noise - a mixture of scared & aggressive. Inside- or on top of the cage she will make the noise and launch for me and if she can bite she will definitely do it!

 

We had the bird since baby (hand-reared) and my wife handled the bird most of the time, and the one day the bird was still ok, but the next day, out of the blue moon, when I touched her inside her cage, she bit me, and from that day on she was aggressive towards me and anyone else who want to touch her. For 2 or 3 days she had a great aggression towards me by 'blowing up her feathers' and striked at me, but it passed by quickly, but the touching/cuddle part still remains. Even if she sits on my lab she is so nervous and uncomfortable and looking where my wife is and just want to get away from me as quick as possible.

 

I am not happy with that kind of behavior and it's not a pleasure to have a bird like that, specially if the bird cost R2 000 ($300) and I want to get rid of her and get us a male because I want a "family type of grey", but she and my wife is so much in love with each other and my wife doesn't want to let her go. She also bites my wife by times (very hard) but it's more when the bird is either 'moody' or when she sits on my wife's hand and someone else wants to touch her. Then it's the same thing again - loud scream and the biting.

 

 

Can anybody please give me some quality advice?

 

Thanks

Jacques

[Shelly Yokum]

Some birds will pick their person, but she is still a baby, don't give up on her just yet. Work slowly with her. If you drew back the first time you were bitten, then that is why it continues. If all possible don't give a reaction, and in a firm voice tell her NO! Go to another room to do the ouchy dance. They love and strive on drama. I would try talking to her while in the cage. Share your food with her. Everytime you pass by her, give her a treat. She will then become to trust you. Try getting your wife to back off, and you be the one to provide for her. You start feeding, watering, cleaning her cage. Let her get use to you, and see that you are not going to hurt her. She is looking at your wife as her mommy, because she fed her and so on.

You also need to learn the body language it is posted in the forum by Dave. You can also google parrot body language and see a huge list of them.

Yes, on another note, please don't think of your bird as money spent. They are expensive, but to me they are well worth it. Just be patient with her, give her time. It takes some bird longer to warm up than others, and getting a male instead, is no sure way of thinking that it won't be the same way.

[judygram]

Michelle is right, greys do tend to pick their favorites but I see one mistake you made and that was trying to touch her inside her cage. A lot of greys look at their cage as their safety zone and they can get territorial about the cage and when you stuck your hand inside to touch her she took that as an invasion of her territory so she retaliated.

Another thing I think she may be picking up on is your reluctance towards her since the incident where you put your hand inside her cage, I think she senses you are not as fond of her as you were, they can be very aware of our feelings and emotions and if she senses it then she reacts to it, if you are going to keep her then you need to change your attitude towards her.

I also find fault with your statement that "I want to get rid of her" as that statement is so widely used when one person is unhappy with the bird and its behaviork, if you had fully researched greys then you would know that these behaviors are common to greys, they tend to be one person birds, they can be territorial about their cage and they display body language that if you learn to read them they will tell you a lot about when or if they may bite. It seems to me that you had a certain perception of what a grey should be and now that the bird doesn't live up to those expectations you are ready to get rid of it. I think you both would do well to read thru some of the threads here for they contain firsthand experience.

[Zoom]

I don't think getting rid of your bird and getting a male Grey is going to make any difference. I have a male Grey and he likes me a lot more than he likes my boyfriend.

[chezron]

Our grey loves me primarily, but he also loves my husband. It IS possible to have a grey that is able to be handled by more than one person. You just need to expose the bird to more people. Take him places and invite people over to your house. Our grey loves when people come over! Perhaps you need to spend more time with the bird by yourself. Just talk to him, read to him, and give him treats. You do not need to handle him until he is comfortable. I really think that when people say their grey is a "one person" bird they are doing themselves and their bird a major disservice and are limiting the bird's life and experience. These birds are so much more than we give them credit for!

[Luvparrots]

Greys are very intelligent and very sensitive parrots. Much smarter than some people give them credit for. They also react to what people say and do. They are very intuitive. When an owner acts angry or says things excitedly, they love it. And they will work hard at getting that reaction again or to get what they want. You need to take a deep breath and approach your grey with a calm and positive attitude. Let her come to you.