lonely grey

[Atlas]

Hi, I am a new member of the grey forum. I have a male african grey parrot who is 16 years old. When I got Atlas he was 2weeks old and my husband and I handfed him. We also fed a baby yellow nape and nanday. The other 2 birds are gone and he is lonely.They had a bedroom all to themselves and were not caged. What do you think will happen if I buy another baby grey for company? I won't put them together,(of course) until the baby is grown.

[Tari]

This may or may not work. Birds have been known to rip of each others beaks, feet, toes, wings...Are you prepared to keep them in seperate cages or rooms in this case?

I recommend only getting a second bird if you want a second bird. It is never a good idea to get a pet for your pet.

Get yourself a bird and if they become friends count that a plus. (but I never recomnd letting them play together to many things can happen however some members here do that they don't mind taking the risk)

Or instead of a second bird how about one of those bird Cd's for you bird to watch. Or just turn on the TV or Radio. Or place a bird feeder outside the window and have the blinds open so he can watch them.

Just wondering what does he do that makes you think he is lonely? How long has the other birds been gone?

At his age as long as he has lots of toys and a TV or radio and lots of one on one time with you then he should be just fine.

Many people keep single birds with no problems for years.

[danmcq]

Hi Atlas and welcome!! :-)

 

It's too bad he has lost his play buddies. How long has it been since they have been gone?

 

Has he seemed to wanted to spend more time with you know?

 

You have many years of experience with your Grey and are the only that would know if his personalty would be conducive in receiving a baby grey newcomer.

 

Tari gave great advice, as always. :-)

[Guest Monique]

Oh ... the poor baby. I am sure he is lonely!! If you have them in a big aviary like that I think you have a better chance of having them get along with another bird. Definitely a risk that they won't get along and definitely would need to be careful. We don't have a lot of people with breeding experience on here but I think what I would do is find a couple of real good established aviaries that have been in the business for a while and talk to them. They will have a lot of experience with adult birds interacting and can offer you really good first hand advice.

 

Something else to consider may be to get a rescue bird or an older bird. Maybe then (if you live in a populated enough area you can find one without it being flown to you) you could try it on a trial basis to see how it worked out for you.

 

Just a thought.

[Atlas]

I know that you won't agree with me regarding the freedom that I give my birds, but the 3 birds were raised together as babies and would occasionally sleep in each others cage on the same perch. They were also free flying birds and loved to fly outside together. So, when my nape and nanday died about 1 1/2 years ago my grey would fly to the bathroom mirror and sit for hours looking at his image. Atlas Lovesssssss my husband and is totally bonded to him but still seems to be lonely. I guess it would make me feel better if he had another bird friend. I wouldn't put them in the same cage or leave them alone without supervision. But if I felt like he would get better over time I could have just one bird. I do love my animals and having another bird would not just be for Atlas. My husband and would love it. But the bottom line is I would get another bird to keep Atlas company.

[danmcq]

Atlas,

 

Having the many years of experience you do with multiple Parrots of different varieties, gives you an expert level of knowledge on this Topic.

 

The way you housed all of them with such freedom and I'm sure joyful interaction is envious.

 

You could be teaching us quite a bit. :-)

 

It is sad to hear of how he sits staring in the Bathroom Mirror for fellow Parrot company, even though he has you two, which he dearly loves.

 

You have all the right ideas and knowledge. Only you can select and bring home a new Parrot that you feel would fit the culture and personalty of your Home and your Grey.

 

We would all love to hear all the stories you have to share and also Photos. :-)

 

I would bet you have MANY fascinating stories to tell and knowledge to share.

[Tari]

There is no way to know if any bird would be friends with Atlas.

 

So you might have to get a few before one works with Atlas and that might not be the best route either.

 

Can you do some fostering? That would be rescuing some birds and keeping them separate for 45 days to make sure the rescue birds are germ free.

 

And then if it don't work looking for a forever home for the foster bird? Not sure if it works like that or if you have rescue near you. I know its not good for birds to bounce from home to home but in the case of a rescue maybe..... Just thinking aloud here. lol

 

Sounds like he is adjusting just fine with out any "friends" with feathers.

How about a mirror in his room?

 

Did I read this right and you said you let them fly outside? Is this in a pen of some sort? Or free flying? A very few people do that and I would love to see something like that but no way would I risk it with mine. But it must be a pretty sight to see your bird fly.

Last time my Grey's wings grew out and she took flight she ran into everything (small house) and hurt his cere so no more flying for her.

[Guest]

Atlas, just jumping in to say welcome to the community and that I hope you will like it here

 

Also, I would ask the same question if i were you. To see your bird feeling lonely must make you sad as well..

[lovemyGreys]

Atlas as Tari has said there is never any guarantees that introducing another bird that they will get along.

My own experience is i have 3 greys who live in their own room, the two boys are brothers & share a special bond.My other grey is a rescue who has been with me 8 weeks, she lives in the room with the boys, i an fortunate that my boys have accepted her as part of the flock,i know at any point this can change, but for now they live happily together.I wish you well in whatever you decide.

[Atlas]

It took a few times out on thier own before they learned to fly to us. You see, birds can fly from tree to tree, but they have to learn how to manuever and land. My yellow nape hit the ground the first time she tried to come to me. She didn't know how to land on the ground or my shoulder. My nanday was an instant learner. My grey is the most fun to watch. He does arial manuevers and makes noises when he comes down from the sky. And he will make a sound like a bomb dropping. If we walked aroung the neighborhood they would fly from tree to tree with us and most of the time land on our shoulders when they were tired. Our neighbors loved our birds. They would visit our neighbors and sit on thier roof and talk to them. They would usually stay together in the same tree or roof when they were out. So, now my grey doesn't enjoy going out unless we are out in the yard. It is unuasual, to say the least, but it is so neet to just throw them out and watch them interact with everyone. They would never leave our neighborhood. They would fly within 2 or 3 blocks and always come home. We could leave our door open and they would fly in the house.

[Tari]

I saw a falcon last week on the powerline over looking out bird feeder. That is what would happen to my parrots if I let them outside.

[BMustee]

Welcome Atlas!

 

God...I don't think I would have the "man parts" to just let my birds free fly like that. I do take my Grey outside with me but he can't fly more than 10 feet with his wings clipped. My sun was fully flighted and I would take him outside but he has Velcro syndrome and would never leave my shoulder. That would be amazing to be able to do though.

 

I would be very careful with a new bird...I'm betting yours would probably take to it, but I would be more nervous about the new one trying something.

[Talon]

Atlas, What an unbelievable story you shared about your birds flying free like that outside. That scares the

you-know-what out of me! :ohmy:

 

That is something I WOULD NEVER do with any bird. Way too many risks involved for my piece of mind.

{Feel-bad-0002009F}

[danmcq]

Atlas,

 

What a wonderful story of your life and times with your Parrots and free flying. Those beautiful and happy memories will always be with you.

 

No wonder your remaining Grey is so devastated. :-(

 

I hope you are successful in your endeavor to find another buddy and family member to bring the joy back you once had.

 

That sounds like a very tall order to fill though.

 

How long did you work with them in-house, training them to fly to you on command etc?

 

You have a wealth of experience and knowledge. I appreciate your sharing it.

 

Please keep doing so and if you have any photos of your Parrots, especially outside in free-flight, I would love to see them. :-)

[Guest Monique]

I love your stories, Atlas You should look up Shanlung on our member list. He has had an amazing bond with his birds that it sounds like you share with yours as well. I as well as the others would not be comfortable allowing my birds to do this with the dangers around. Perhaps I do not give them enough credit after all they have existed for thousands of years without me keeping them in a cage to keep them safe!!

 

I've always wanted to get a corn crib I could get set up that would allow my birds safe flight in an outdoors location.

 

As you can already see free flight in the outdoors is a controversial subject for many reasons.

[Atlas]

Listen, I know I made it sound like it was easy training the birds to free fly outside, but my husband and I did climb several trees and climb on top of a couple of roofs before they finally became totally trained. My nape learned the first time she flew out on her own. She was outside for 3-4 days flying from tree to tree. I knew she wanted to come to me desperatly but didn't know how to fly downward. So, I came home during my lunch hour and climbed on top of our roof and tried to get her to come out of our tree. Well. she flew right past me and missed me within an inch. While I tried to get off the roof, I kicked the ladder onto the ground accidently. Mind you, I am terrified of heights...So there I am trying to fiqure out how to get off my 3 story roof in the middle of the day and there sits Olive(nape)in the tree watching me. I eventually flagged someone driving down the street, they helped me down, and Olive did come home the next day. I was outside looking for her and she was determined to come to me so she flew to me and missed again but slammed into the grass. After that, she flew in our house and learned to manuever. That is what I should have done all along. Teach them how to fly inside the house. But, I kept my birds clipped for the first 3 years and they didn't fly until my husband insisted that I let them do what is natural for them...fly. Although, my nanday was a natural. He flew in the house from the beginning. He would fly to the school several blocks away and would come home within minutes once we called and whistled for him to come home. I was very hesitant to let my birds fly outside. My husband was the one that insisted. And they loved to be outside together and with us. It's a hard thing to do because their are hawks and other predators. But they would say "Wanna go outside" whenever they wanted to be outdoors.

[danmcq]

Wow, now that's learning from true experience!

 

I laughed out loud when I read " While I tried to get off the roof, I kicked the ladder onto the ground accidentally." :woohoo:

 

I know it wasn't funny at the time, but I'll bet you have really had some crowds laughing over the years telling that one. :-)

 

Thanks for sharing that. I hope you continue to share your experiences here. They are informative, helpful and show the great lengths you went to, to provide a wonderful home full of adventures for you, your Parrots and even your Neighborhood.

 

Karma to you for this wonderful post!! :-)

[kiwibarb12]

I have read that if you get another bird, and they don't actually get along well enough to play together or hang out, they still appreciate the company, that they would miss each other if one or the other left the flock.

I have a TAG and a budgie - and they don't physically interact, but I know that the TAG enjoys watching the budgie make an undignified clown of herself. She also growls at the budgie if she is too noisey. I was very surprised the first time she did this. My point is is that another bird would be a flock member.

[judygram]

Good point Barara, and it is the same in my house, my grey and sun conure are in their own cages but they are company for each other because they are part of the flock.

[danmcq]

I know since bringing Dayo Home (CAG), my Peach Front Conure is becoming a different bird all together.

 

The Conure is keenly interested in Dayo and now flies over to the top of Dayo's Cage and peers down on him to see whats up. He also climbs down the sides and all around.

 

When I open the Top of Dayo's Cage, Jake (Conure) will sit up there and wait for Dayo to climb out. Once Dayo climbs out, he chases Jake off his Cage :-) which I of course monitor this interaction VERY closely. Jake seems to know when it's time to fly before Dayo gets within possible striking distance. Not that Dayo has so far gotten bezerk on him, he does take a seemingly get off my cage slight feather fluff and determined path towards him.

 

When Dayo is out and either flying around, walking on the floor or riding on one of our shoulders, Jake follows flying along from landing point to landing point and watches intently.

 

Jake wants to get on our shoulder and be a part of this flock so bad you can feel it. His fear of humans is slowly diminishing as his NEED to feel a part of the flock becomes greater each day as he watches the Parrot to Human interaction taking place between Dayo and Us.

 

Though Dayo wants no part of Jake being right next to him and preening each other, it seems they do consider each other a part of the family flock and if nothing else keep each other company when we are at work.

 

Maybe one day this will progress to where they will actually sit next to each other on a perch of play-top, maybe not. But, just each others presence in the same room and house seem to add "something" to being in a larger "blended" flock of humans, birds and dogs that makes it feel more comfy. :-)

[Atlas]

I am definetly going to get another grey. I would prefer a nape or amazon because I don't want the birds to mate if they are the same breed and opposie sex. I am afraid Atlas will become aggressive if he likes the new grey and it happens to be female. I suppose you are right about a new bird being good company. He is definetly lonely. He loved our nandey conure. We left all the cage doors open at all times and would find my grey next to my conure at night. Sometimes I would find my conure with my Nape at night. However, My nape would always sleep in her own cage and didn't wander in the other cages at night. But my grey loved and always demanded the other birds to preen him.They were great companions.

 

I am looking for a baby grey to handfeed out. Haven't had any luck yet.

[judygram]

Very well put Dan, I couldn't have said it better, you are the best at explaining.

Thanks for a great post.:kiss:

[danmcq]

HI Atlas,

 

It's goof to hear you are on the hunt. :-)

 

I may be wrong, but this time of year, it may be much more difficult to find a baby grey. Also, since your looking for one to hand feed yourself, that limits it to a local breeder, I would imagine.

 

I look forward to hearing how your search goes and of course, would love to hear when you find your new baby and see some photos when you get a chance. :-)

 

Best wishes and good luck in your search!!

[Atlas]

ou are right. I waited to late to start looking for babies, although I might have some luck in Nov.

[judygram]

Well look anyway, you never know you could luck out and find something, seek and ye shall find. Good luck.