Some advoce would be very apreachiated xx

[NatJ]

Need help with my new African Grey plz =)?

 

Hello,

 

i got my baby african grey 5 days ago.

he is 15wks now, ive named him Coco....

 

ok so heres wot i need some help with.....

 

Ive built up trust with him by sittin by his cage every free min or sec or hour i get chatting to him like his a baby and touching him thru the bars of his cage, or when he is out on top of his cage......

 

He lets me touch him most of the time, & really enjoys his strokes & scratches that i give him.

Even nudging my hand & bowing his head to me for more....

 

but every time i touch his feet to say step up, or actually go to pick him up he skwarks & lunges to bite me hard

 

Im aware i need to just pick him up or he will never get used to actually being handled... but how do i go about picking my coco up without gettin biten???

 

Also he is very quiet, he doesnt make much noise at all... i dont mean talking as i know he is too young for that yet... i mean as in any chirps & squawks and stuff... he does sometimes if i walk out the room, or if im talking to him from my sofa he will chirp back, but only once or twice..

 

Please help xxxxx

[Luvparrots]

NatJ congratulations on your new grey. You should post your questions in our Nursery Room, as your grey is still quite young. Dave007 who is the Moderator of that room has oodles of experience with baby greys and can offer you the best advice in this situation.

[Dave007]

You're lucky that your bird is even letting you do that much after only 5 days. You're gonna need much more time for your bird to settle in. 5 days is nothing and what you're doing with him doesn't mean that he's ready for all sorts of commands or training.

****but every time i touch his feet to say step up, or actually go to pick him up he skwarks & lunges to bite me hard ****

 

He doesn't want his feet to be touched. he's making that very obvious and you can't push him into changing his mind. If you keep scaring him into flying away and constantly have to pick him up, eventually he's not gonna like that either.

 

****Im aware i need to just pick him up or he will never get used to actually being handled... but how do i go about picking my coco up without gettin biten???*****

Well, you're wrong about that and what I said above applies to this too.

 

****Also he is very quiet, he doesnt make much noise at all... i dont mean talking as i know he is too young for that yet... i mean as in any chirps & squawks and stuff... he does sometimes if i walk out the room, or if im talking to him from my sofa he will chirp back, but only once or twice..*****

 

Greys are very quiet parrots throughout their whole lives. As they get older they make more sounds, whistles, chirps, human language etc etc. So, you should be extremely happy that your bird is very quiet.

Also, after only 5 days any baby parrot will be very quiet.

 

You're expecting too much from a creature who's only lived with you for 5 days. All parrots need much more time to get used to things and before you ask how much more time, I'll say that all birds are different so there is no set time.

[Cupid]

Dave is right on. . . Give it time, your lucky to have a baby grey in your life- no need to rush . . . Now get us a picture please. =)

[Barbara2]

I would just add that some "biting" by babies is no different than human babies. They explore with their mouths. Lunging and biting is different but it is still something that needs to be redirected. My baby uses his mouth to make sure that the "branch" (my finger) is safe. He also sometimes "nibbles". We're working on it.