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New African Grey Owner seeking advice and tips


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Hey Everyone! My names Ozzie and just recently bought my CAG from "Omar's Exotic Birds." I just brought her home yesterday evening and everything went smoothly. Her names Lucy, hatched 10/28 and she's really calm but still very curious of her surrounding which I read is very normal. I was hoping to get some advice/tips from the community members here regarding a few questions on various topics such as:

 

Should I leave her in the cage for the first couple days, week until she gets more familiar with my family and I?

Is it best to be around her cage the majority of the time or should I give her space?

How long should I wait until I actually try and take her out of her cage and have her stand on her perch?

She's doesn't seem to be eating much, is that pretty normal behavior the first few days or any advice on how I can encourage her to eat more?

How long should I wait until I give her a bath?

 

I know I'll have more questions but that's all I can think of right now. Thanks for reading this post and any advice or tips would greatly be appreciated. Thank everyone!

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We brought our grey, Buckeye, home in November and he was 12 weeks old and totally weaned. He had been very socialized while he was at the store and we had no problem with him settling in.

It did take him a few days to get used to the size of the cage but all went well. I took him out right away and he goes in a sleep cage at night. He is not allowed out to have run of the house as I have other

pets and don't want to take the chance of him getting hurt...he does have his own room I let him out in but not unattended....he is now seven months old and talking up a storm....

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Welcome to the forumOzzie! :) Congrats on bringing Lucy home! I would say that it's best to follow Lucy's lead. If she seems comfortable then bring her out and let her be with everyone. If she starts to seem overwhelmed then you can put her back in her cage for a while. I wouldn't recommend just leaving her in the cage because that doesn't help her get used to her new home. Also, greys are flock animals, so you want her to get used to her new flock and not feel left out of it. She may just be eating less because of the new environment, but definitely keep an eye on it as she should pick back up eating normally. Bathing her really depends on what she's already used to...ask the breeder if they bathed her and if so how did they do it? If they didn't then you can gradually start introducing it in whatever form works for you. Some use spray bottles, some the sink, and some the shower. She probably won't like it, since most greys don't like baths, but find a way that works for you guys and try to be vigilant about it. My breeder told me that I could bathe my Chickie as much as I want, but you always want to do it in the morning so they have enough time to dry before bedtime. I started out bathing her in the sink with the sprayer and now she showers with us when we shower. Questions are always welcome and there's lots of people here with answers and help :)

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They are very much like children and each one is different. Opening the cage door and letting her decide if she wants to come out is a good idea. It's good to be around her. I think she will let you know if you are invading her space. Bathing is a tough one. My little boy let me know that he wanted to bathe when he tried to climb into his little water bowl on his playstand. I got the spray bottle and sprayed him while he got his belly wet. He LOVED it! But he isn't the norm. Many seem to hate being sprayed.

 

I think that is all I have for now.

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Hello Ozzie and welcome to our family, so glad you could join us.

The others have given you some good advice, allow your baby to adjust to her new home, let her come out when she is ready so as not to push her to do anything she is not comfortable with. Time and patience will serve you well when working with greys.

We love pictures here so if you have some of Lucy you would share with us that would be great.

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