Scared of clothes?

[EgyDiver]

Hi all,

 

I have an 8 monthes old congo african grey ,that i hand fed since he was 45 days old,i'm feeling he's getting more and more scared of many things around him,lately he started scared of me personally to the extent that he tries to fly away and flap his wings around the cage and this happens when i wear something colored or with strips he acts as if he don't even know me,but when i'm wearing a white tshirt or no tshirt atall he's completely normal and cool, some other thing he sometimes bites very hard specially when he's playing with a toy he's very agrressive with toys and when i talk to my wife he bites me very hard and even flies at me attacking me ,anyone have a clue what could be wrong with him specailly the part of not knowing me when i wear certain clothes

[danmcq]

It's not that he doesn't know you when you wear certain clothes. He does not like the color or pattern. Some Greys even react as you describe to a woman changing her finger nail color. They look at minuscule details of everything and if 1 inch of a person, place or thing is alarming to them, they will react as you describe.

 

In regards biting when they are all fired up and excited playing with toys. When you are close and try to interact with them in that moment, you become an extension of the excitement and become a part of the play attack and have big fun they are enjoying. I've had that happen many times and just watch for it.

 

At 8 months old, your grey certainly has emotions and jealousy is one of them. Thus what you see as aggression, is him getting your attention focused back on him through the correction he is doling out to you in the form and fashion you describe.

 

Welcome to owning at young brat full of piss and vinegar.

[EgyDiver]

Thank you very much for your informative reply ,it's a relief to know that that's a normal behavior ,i though that the fact that i'm the one who hand-reared him ,he's now trying to disattach himself from me as his parent and trying to find a new mate ,it'll be really disappointing as i'm the only one who interacts with him and the only one he allows to get near him and handle him

another question does that mean that he'll get used to me wearing these colors and patterns by time or i just have to wear what he likes?

[danmcq]

Yes, over time he will become a little more used to change and new items. He will become used to clothes he sees you wearing of various colors and patterns over time as well. Wait until you walk in with a hat or ball cap on, that will bring a reaction as well. I must tell you though, it can take months for them to become desensitized to some things. So, at this point in time to ensure your relationship maintains his trust of you. I would strongly recommend when you are going in his cage and interacting at close proximity, that you wear only clothes you know are not going to induce fear. They will associate that fear of items to you and you do not want that to happen.

 

Introduce new things from a distance and over time, slowly closing the distance until you see he is becoming uncomfortable then back off.

[Mawnee]

Cosmo does not like Black or very dark colors. He is stand-offish with me if I wear black shirts. My favorite color to wear is actually grey so most days i probably just look like a big daddy grey to him

 

We have learned to be very careful carrying anything dark colored in or out of his room. He will scream in terror if we walk by him carrying a large dark object(paper shredder, laptop, box, magazine, ect.), especially if it suprises him.

[JDS5607]

We have a similar problem. Sully doesn't like when I wear nail Polish. He won't come to me or anything... BUT- he is getting used to it, and atleast allowing me to give him scratches when I have nail polish on Maybe just giving him some time to get used to those patterns and colors.

[judygram]

Just like you Jenn I cannot wear nail polish because I don't wear it regularly so if I do use it she will not go near me, I just don't wear it anymore, I do wear it on my toenails as she isn't usually around my feet, I have also noticed she doesn't much care for me to wear white, guess it reminds her of the vet who usually wears it, can't blame her for that.

[thenabrd]

my conure HATED my work uniforms!! she'd start doing her "big bad bird" moves and wouldn't let me touch her, even through the bars of her cage. she'd bite me then ignore me. she knew i was going to be leaving and she wouldn't be the center of the universe, lol!! we always leave the tv and/or radio on whenever we're not home so it's not total silence. now, if she sees me grab my purse, i get the same treatment, hahaha!! she's such a smart girl and quite the character. our grey, well she just calmly watches the goings on from her favorite perch in her cage. so far, she hasn't shown any interest in our clothes, hats, etc.

[HeatherStrella]

I usually wear jeans....one day when AnnaBella was very young, I put some PJs on...bright pink with lighter pink breast cancer symbols all over them. I walked into her room to get her out of her cage and she flipped out. I was afraid she'd hurt herself flapping her wings so I went and changed. Once she was out in the open, I put them back on. It just took a little while for her to get used to them...in the beginning I only wore them once she was out in the open...now I can wear whatever I want and she's cool with it.

[Pi_1]

Our grey isn't fond of red. Anything red she is VERY wary of - she won't go near my fiance when she wears red. She also hates the red laundry baskets - just the red ones, LoL. For some reason she is ok with me wearing red, but we're really close so I guess it doesn't bother her as much. It's funny since she never cares when I'm wearing something new like sunglasses, a hat, etc......

 

As far as the biting goes, we always put our Grey back immediately after a bite and told her she was naughty, to be careful, and that she was going back to her cage. She learned real quick since she wanted to stay out - now she NEVER bites me. If she gets upset with me, instead of biting, she hits my hand with her beak, LoL. I still scold her for this (if she doesn't scold herself first), and she often puts her head down for pets to say she is sorry. I wouldn't tolerate biting. Our Grey won't even bite me if I grab a toy she's going at - she stops immediately. They're very smart and if you teach them with positive reinforcement, a stern voice for scolding (not yelling), and reasonable punishment (like going back to the cage), they will pick up the rules quickly - at least ours did. She's a little angel. They are VERY jealous creatures, however - ours was VERY jealous of the fiance. We worked on this by having my fiance feed her and give her the daily treats, as well as by making sure I spent both alone time with our Grey every day so she didn't feel left out, and time together with the fiance, sitting together on the couch. She has gotten much more accepting of her, although she still won't come out of the cage to her.

[abbie21187]

I am currently reading "The Beak Book" by Sally Blanchard which I highly recommend to you. And I must tell you Dave is correct, you should never try to handle your grey while he's overly excited while playing with a toy, eating his favorite treat... etc. I also learned not to put the bird back in the cage after a bite, this is not understood as punishment. Just a short simple ouch and no, followed by a quick disapproving glare usually gets the point across. Lastly, if the bird bites you while your holding it and try to do something else, like talk to your wife, you might want to try to have some small foot toys on hand to keep him occupied while with you.

 

My BB never once bit me until I had my nails painted black for Halloween. He would not let me handle him and gave me several bloody bites.... ouch!

Eva, my TAG, has never bitten me or anyone but I've been reading as much as possible to make sure I understand my new parrot and deal with these types of situations correctly if they do arise.