Can Stewie tell dad is sick?

[fourty03]

Hello all.. Long time lurker here and first time posting..

 

We have a Congo African Grey - his name is Stewie; or Stu for short...

 

He's actually my father's bird.. My parents had got him back in 1995, as a baby.. My mom passed away in 1999, and my father has had him ever since... My father moved a couple times and always had his bird everywhere with him...

 

So recently, I had my father move in with me this past March. He has stage 3 lung cancer and going through Chemo and everything else..

 

When he moved in with me, he had to bring Stewie along (I didn't mind it at all), and when visiting my father in the past, Stewie has always allowed me to handle him.

 

So, when my father was diagnosed back in June for cancer, that is when we noticed Stewie's behavior starting to change..

 

He use to stay on his cage most of the time when let out, and recently, he picked up this insane, loud, high frequency chirp that pierces your ear drums..

 

This chirp; Stewie only does it to me - when I walk pass his cage, and absolutely every time I am in sight, he will do this chirp. I ignore the chirp most times, and sometimes he will constantly do it.

His cage is in my dining room and the dining room is open, and from his cage, he can see the whole apartment - so he's never isolated and I am never out of sight. He does not chirp this way to anyone else, just me! When he comes down, I give him positive attention.. when he chirps, I most of the times, do my best to ignore..

 

He does not do this chirp to anyone else, and he's started to squawk like a Macaw now - super loud squawk - he does this macaw noise when I am laying down on the couch.. The Macaw scream / squawk is from when my parents use to have a Macaw, and goodness, that bird was huge and LOUD!!

 

"AWWWWK AWWWWWWWWWWWKK AWWWWWWKK!!!!"

 

Stewie is also starting to fly around the house, and into the kitchen and starts to pull the carpet fibers off the mat and tries to build a nest it looks like.. He will also try to sneak down off his cage onto the floor all the time.. and he's very sneaky about it. When he flies into the kitchen, and I don't get him in time, he will chew the base board trim.

 

I remember letting him out of his cage one day, I went into the bathroom, and when I came out, he already had a pile of broken wood all neatly piled in the corner of the kitchen.. it only took him about 3 or 4 minutes .. that was back in March, and he still tries to do it..

 

I have to shake a spray bottle or say "get up there!" and he will race back onto the cage... He constantly tries to get on the floor all the time through this method of sneaking down his cage..

 

I let him out one morning and I left my bathroom door open; the bathroom isnt far from his cage. He quietly snaked and "sneaked" down - went into the bathroom while I was sitting on the couch, and destroyed the wooden trim in the bathroom and again, piled the wood up in the corner...

 

He never use to act like this. He also tries to make me pet him near his ears and on the sides of his head. If I put my hand out; if I try to get him to step up onto my hand (when he's on top his cage), sometimes he will step up, but most of the times he will put his head down, turn his head sideways and wants to be constantly pet near his ears..

 

This behavior seemed to come overnight - and I do not know if he senses my father is sick or what have you... My father was his main caretaker and companion, now I am since my father cannot empty his cage. He lets my father pet him, but my father is too scared to pet him much because he cannot move his hand fast enough like he use to.. - just in case Stewie tries to take a nip at his hand..

 

He's starting to nip me more now - and tries to nip me - he will let me pet him, then he will turn his head and tries to get my finger inside his beak - most of the time he will take his beak and it seems he tries to get my finger in his beak so he can "pull" my hand in closer - the nips don't hurt, yet.. and he's only bitten me twice sine he came here to my house.

 

 

I know this is a lot to read, and if anyone has any advice, I would be very appreciative. God forbid if something bad happened to my father, I would be Stewie's new companion.

Thanks everyone!

[MarcusCAG]

Hello there. Welcome to the Grey forums!

 

I will admit, I'm kind of in the middle of things here, and your post has a lot in it that might take some time to digest and process for me. But to briefly comment on your subject line: Greys are very sensitive creatures. If Stewie and your father have any significant bond, Stewie can probably sense that he's not quite "himself" and that things are not 100%. But even if they don't, there are subtle things that Stewie would pick up on, attitudes and changes in habits, things like that, which would probably alert him to your father not being as well as he was before. Viewing things on a more human level, even a co-worker who's only a casual acquaintance can give off signals that alert others to the fact that they're having a bad day...

 

Our Marcus will start make sniffling sounds if he sees me rubbing my eyes, like if I was working and sweat dripped into them. He's seen me cry before, and he's so attuned to my body language and moods now that he is very quick to 'comment' if things don't seem quite right to him, he worries and wants me happy/all right again. So I'm sure that Stewie has been noting your father's personal mannerisms all these years, his good times and not-so-good times, and so if your father is acting different now--why wouldn't Stewie realize something is not as it should be?

[Pi_1]

First of all I'd advise keeping closer supervision of a flighted bird. They should not be allowed to fly off and destroy household items. Not only is it potentially dangerous for them but it also creates very bad habits. No offense - I'm sure you're great at caring for him, but I'd advise keeping an eye on him at all times when he is out and about. There are many things around a house that could injure or kill a Grey.

 

As far as the noises - our Grey does specific noises for certain people too. She does a popping noise to call for my fiance. This is the only time she does it, and I have no idea how she learned it or associated it with my fiance, but she does it all the time. My fiance answers her with it now, LoL. If she does it and my fiance doesn't answer back (sleeping or away) she knows the fiance is not around. She also does it when my fiance is at a distance to make sure it is her, LoL.

 

With me, she makes a "hoo" noise to show affection. With my fiance, she does a very different "goo" noise, LoL. Not sure where these come from either.

 

Anyway, my point is that they associate noises with people and that may just be her "call" for you.

 

In addition, they have certain noises they do for certain occasions. Our Betsy makes a shrill "chir-chirp" sound when she wants something. The noise you described sounds a bit like that - he might be asking you for something.

 

As far as the screeching goes, that may be caused by a number of things. Is your father giving him as much attention as he used to? Your Grey may be screeching because he feels left out or neglected. Our Grey screeches in the AM when we get up because she is excited, which I allow - but other than that she only screeches when she wants our attention. She knows what "hush your beak" and "be quiet" mean, though, and usually listens when we ask her to stop. We also used a substitution sound for screeching. Whe she would screech we would tell her to be quiet, then would tell her to do another sound. In our case we taught her to "cheep cheep". If she screeched we would tell her to be quiet and "cheep cheep" if you want something. We would then ignore any further screeches and reward her with attention when she did the desired sound. She quickly caught on that louder was not better at getting our attention. You might try something like this......

 

Anyway, hope this helps. As far as knowing your father is ill, I'm sure he does. They're amazingly smart creatures (one of the smartest on Earth). I'm sure he notices that something is wrong at least. Again, has your father been spending less time with him? If so this is probably the root of many of the issues you're talking about.......

[Pi_1]

As far as the nips go........our Grey does this thing quite often where she grabs one of my fingers and gets it in the back of her beak, then "chews" on it. Not hard - she never bites, but she will do this for a couple minutes in between making affectionate "hoo" noises. It IS kind of like she's pulling on my finger. I let her do it. She does it when she is really happy. If trained well your Grey should know very well the difference between play bites and biting too hard. I play with our Grey often and she is very gentle even when "nipping". I wouldn't discourage it unless it hurts. It's probably just an affectionate thing. They do need to be taught what is too hard, however, so if he hasn't already be sure to let him know he is naughty (in a firm voice - not yelling) if he bites hard. We used to tell Betsy she was naughty, not to bite, and put her back in her cage immediately if she did. She didn't want to go back, of course, so she learned very quick not to bite. She also knows the word "careful", so if she's getting a little rough I tell her to be careful and she immediately eases up. Some people will say that Greys can't be taught certain things and just let them get away with murder. I couldn't disagree more. They are VERY smart and will understand anything you teach them as long as you're consistent. Use rewards of treats or affection when they're good, and let them know it when they're not. Obviously don't hit or yell at them, but putting them in their cage or ceasing to interact with them if they do something unacceptable will teach them boundaries.

 

Many of these problems may be due to the change in home and/or the condition of your father, so I wouldn't worry too much. Be understanding and loving but also let your Grey know what he can get away with and what you won't tolerate - especially where biting is concerned. After reading your post again I see that you said your father is AFRAID of the Grey? If he has had him a long time I find this curious. He should have been taught long ago that biting would not be tolerated. This is no doubt a big reason the bird is doing these things - trying to get attention. I understand he is sick but perhaps he can put his fear aside and at least spend more time with your Grey lounging around? I'm sure some of the problems would improve if he (and you perhaps) gave your Grey the level of attention he had previously been used to......

[danmcq]

The others have given very good comments.

 

First, I wish your father well and hope he recovers from that terrible cancer. The chemo and radiation is a true misery to go through.

 

There is no doubt Stewie knows your father is not well. Greys are very empathic and act according to the mood or health level a person is in.

 

Since you have taken on not only caring for your father, but also taking care of Stewie's cage, food and attention needs, you have become the "Go To" flock member. Those high pitched dinks and loud macaw type calls for you mean he wants your up close and personal attention. I would suggest, perhaps leave him in his cage until you actually have the time to spend one on one time with him. That will stop the destructive wood chewing behavior you are describing due to you not allowing him to do it. They love to chew wood and shred things. The "Forbidden Fruit" that you protect from him is the first place he will go when your out of sight.

 

Greys are notorious for the fake out head scratch and nip. They get big fun out of that and really there is nothing you can do to stop a bird from biting. Some will respond to timeouts in their cage, others will gladly take the cage time for the sheer enjoyment they receive from that bite they delivered. Also, they will bite if you try and get a step-up for example and they have no desire to. You will learn his body language very rapidly and know when to avoid a bite by simply not completely the hand move you were about to do.

 

I look forward to hearing a lot more of your questions as time goes on. It actually sounds like Stewie is thriving under this new living situation.

Edited August 8, 2011 by danmcq

[Zoom]

There's a lot of change going on in all your lives right now...a lot of change and a lot of stress. I agree with Dan - considering the circumstances, Stewie's adjusting and coping very well.

 

I wish the best for all three of you - your dad with his health, you with your new caretaking responsibilities, and Stewie with adjusting to change. It's got to be a big adjustment for you, too, suddenly having your dad and Stewie moving into your apartment. I think it's great that you made the time to seek us out for help in understanding and communicating with Stewie.

[katana600]

I can guarantee Stu knows your dad is sick. Gilbert and I are staying with a close friend while she is dealing with end stage cancer and is in a hospice program. At first, I was staying with the daughter, my friend, and going back and forth. As I was spending more time at Martha's apartment, Gil started pulling feathers. I moved in and brought Gilbert along to provide full time 24 hour care and Gilbert has been amazing. When we are up in the night for meds and checking on things, I come back to my air mattress next to Gil's cage and he greets me with a low "honking" sound. I tell him everything is okay and we go back to sleep. While we are up with him, he regales us with his laughter and quips but when we sleep at all hours, he is a silent sentry watching over us. He hasn't plucked since he came to the apartment and he is making himself welcome and keeping all her visitors entertained as well. I know he knows.

[Morana]

Welcome:-)

I wish your father well and hope he recovers very soon.

 

I'm sure Stewie knows because my Zak is acting very differently when I'm sick. He is kinda looking over me. At times when I'm sick he just wanna sit on my bed, shoulder, wherever just as long as it is close to me so he can keep an eye on me and he doesn't have a need to move from that spot (like he does the rest of the time when everything is ok). He is quiet, doesn't even care wether we are in the dark or not. He is a sweetheart. So, your bird is coping in his own way with new circumstances. And, since Stewie showed an increased interest in chewing wood, you should go and buy him some wooden toys to chew on and to preoccupy himself while in the cage. You really shouldn't let him wonder around. He could get in serious trouble.

 

Pictures please:-)

[chezron]

I hope your father recovers. First, do not react to the loud calls. If anything, leave the room when he makes irritating noises. If he gets attention at these times, even scolding kind of attention, it is still attention, and highly desirable. The goal is to remove yourself and your attention while he is squawking. As far as the destruction goes, we deal with damage control periodically. We just took a lamp in because he gnawed off parts of it. Maybe try to keep doors closed to rooms you do not want him to visit? It is imperative that he never out of view, for his safety, as well as, yours and your belongings. Does he have lots of toys, does he get regular trips outside into the sunshine? I find these two things keep my grey calmer, more occupied, and less destructive.