How to Socialize my CAG?

[Ajax4289]

My Ajax lives with me...and only me.(well and my 2 dogs and a cat) When strangers enter the house he goes quiet(which is normal) but when family comes by he will step-up but he does NOT want me kissing or petting him. He makes his "squawk" that usually means he's upset. Any fast movement by my guest and he squawks. He may let them pet his head but I can tell he's uncomfortable and not enjoying it. He seems to tolerate my niece more(maybe because she's 4 and small?)

 

So the question is how do I socialize him with family and strangers? I don't want him to bite out of fear or be afraid. My family doesn't like birds in the first,all except for my niece! I'd really like him to be social and like "talking" to strangers...what's a good way? Should I get him to a bird "play date"?

[Talon]

He is a grey, and very few like to be in social situations when family or visitors arrive. My greys will come on my shoulder for security, but will be very quiet, not want cuddles and sometimes no food. Greys can be very protectives of their flock members (you) and usually are not welcoming of other family members or visitors unless they live in the house as part of the flock.

[Dave007]

What Talon just said is totally correct. Greys are usually put in areas where they don't have to interact with strangers or casual friends or family when they come around. Greys are extremely watchful when those people are around. I had an incident quite a few years ago with one of my greys when people came over. The grey was on my wrist. The people were about 10 ft away in the living room. The bird became immediately tense and watchful. He pushed himself closer to my chest and he kept watching. I thought about petting him to ease his tension so I did. Immediately, he bit me and I realized that the reason he did that was because my hand was blocking his vision of those people. Understand that he was only 1 yr old. That's the last time I blocked his vision when he was looking at something that made him nervous. He had no desire to get friendly with these people who just happened to be my relatives.

 

***So the question is how do I socialize him with family and strangers? I don't want him to bite out of fear or be afraid. My family doesn't like birds in the first,all except for my niece! I'd really like him to be social and like "talking" to strangers...what's a good way? Should I get him to a bird "play date"? ***

 

Well, when there's people around that don't particularly like or care for the birds, Those people are also leery of the birds even though they don't know it. It's human nature especially when the bird/birds are close by.

The bird will definitely know it though. They have that special talent just like other animals have it. Example, dogs.

The last thing a biird wants to do is get involved with people who don't care for them and when those people do, it's possible that a bite will follow. The most important type of socializing is done with the immediate family or others that live there all the time. Other people, friends or casual family, are considered to be outsiders. Your niece isn't an outsider because she involves herself with the bird on a constant basis. She likes him and he likes her.

As far as talking, the same thing applies as far as strangers or casual visitors. Normally, a grey will shut up when they're around. So forget *play dates*. It means nothing to a grey or any other species of parrot.

[Luvparrots]

Very true what Dave and Talon have posted. I am not a big fan of socializing my parrots with anyone other than family and very close friends. I do not bring out the parrots when casual visitors are over. I do not "present" my parrots to anyone. If they are interested in a family member my parrots do the initiation, not my family. I do not encourage interaction. My parrots usually sit on their perches in the room or go to their room, it is up to them who gets to "play" with them. Parrots are intuitive, they know who is parrot friendly and who is not, I let them do the socializing not the other way around.

[Talon]

What Dave posted happened to me as well. My grey will be more apt to bite me if I asm not careful. They become on edge when an outsider comes over, and the least unexpected effort by me to pet or comfort is sometimes perceived as a threat. there guard is up and they dont want you interfering with that.....

 

You want an entertaining show off....get an amazon! Mine becomes so obnoxious and will NEVER leave our visitors shoulders, I have to cage her before anyone comes over. If she is out, she will bite me everytime I tell her to step up off of their shoulder, or will fly off when she realizes I am taking her AWAY from HER new friend!

[Talon]

Luvparrots is very correct! Encouraging interaction usually ends up with someone getting a serious bite, from a parrot that never bites.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I disagree. ( sorry guys!) It all depends on the family dynamics. When I got Sophie, at age two, my kids were young enough, that we had wrestling sleepovers, ski team sleepovers, etc. Kids were warned... they might find themselves with a bird, on their sleeping bag. ( they really were all excited!) Sophie DID pick her wrestler and skiier. Someone, woke up with Sophie sleeping with them. Our home was very busy, when Sophie was growing up. She had to adapt, and it was expected of her. After many years, of behavior modification, Sophie learned to trust the entire family, as well, she learned quickly, of trusting anyone we trusted.

We have never let her down. She has NEVER had, a negative experience. If anything.... sometimes my family is scared, when they came to visit. If they want to visit, I warn them, Sophie may choose to sleep with them in the morning. Don't be surprised. Sophie really liked my sister. It took several days for my sister not to be scared. Sophie was kind, and took her time. Nancy

[Dave007]

I really don't know what you're disagreeing about. The OP simply wants to know how to make his grey like and accept other people who don't really care for him and that bird is aware of that.. The person lives alone. He has no wrestlling or sking sleepovers with anyone. He has no kids. So, people here have responded by telling him about past experiences of their bird/birds with people and also the basic personality traits of an CAG.

What the OP asked about has been asked hundreds of times and after people find out about those simple basic traits, they deal with the basic situations differently.If there's no large family around then there can't be family dynamics. How a bird will accept a certain home environment( such as yours) doesn't mean that every bird put into that same home environment will react or accept it as well as Sophie does or did.. So we find it best to give out generalizations concerning the grey species as a whole. There's too many specifics to get involved in. Environment, age, past ownership, ingrained habits developed from the past,, likes and dislikes of the certain sex of adults, aggressiveness, lack of aggression, reclusiveness, attitude towards children. Etc etc.

[judygram]

As always Dave is spot on with his advice, Nancy your Sophie is probably one of the few who interacted with new people easily so count yourself lucky but generally greys are not very social with new people who come into your home and that goes for my grey, she gets quiet and watches them with interest, if they are afraid of her then I tell them to stay back but I can usually tell from her body language whether she is receptive of them or not.

[Ajax4289]

I see African Greys perform for strangers in zoos and on youtube. WHY are those greys social and not mine? How did those people train him differently to accept and enjoy new situations and new people?

[danmcq]

I see African Greys perform for strangers in zoos and on youtube. WHY are those greys social and not mine? How did those people train him differently to accept and enjoy new situations and new people?

 

A lot (not all) of professional trainers like you see in zoo's and shows actually deprive them of enough food that they will do anything for it. They learn very quickly that show time = their favorite food and as much of it as they perform each sequence of the performance. Some greys and other birds for that matter actually enjoy pleasing people by viewing their reactions as a reward, but that is the exception, not the rule.

[Talon]

I see African Greys perform for strangers in zoos and on youtube. WHY are those greys social and not mine? How did those people train him differently to accept and enjoy new situations and new people?

 

 

In MY opinion, if you want a social bird and performer, get a ZON...

 

You can't force a bird to be social, as the others have said, it depends on the birds personality, they are all different.