Ongoing thread of Jaq'O's progress:

[Guest ilovemygrey]

As you may or may not know I posted my first thread about our African Grey Jaq'O. I thought that an ongoing thread about issues with him and his progress would be a good way to keep from flooding the forum with various questions and updates. So..I'm going to start posting them here.

 

After watching several videos on Youtube we have begun training him with positive reinforcement. The first thing my husband has tried just now was to put both his hands near the cage with a treat in one of them. Jaq'O's first response when your hands are at the cage without a treat is to try and lunge at you to bite you. My husband has begun to say "pet?" and allow his beak to come as far as it can through the cage so that he is unable to come closer to bite. At this point when he allows him to touch his beak with one pet, he receives the treat...and then we back off as we tell him he is a good boy.

 

Jaq'O is very apprehensive to this treatment but we have successfully touched his beak twice. He has gotten two treats for this. He has also quickly ran his beak through the cage in attempts to bite. Of course then he does not get the treat and we just back away.

 

Now..question: His top beak is razor sharp. At what point should we take him to have his beak dulled down some? Can we do that? Because at one point we would like to show him that him biting us does not affect us. As of right now...it draws blood...quickly! We are assuming that this may take some time because we cannot even get him out of the cage. We need advice on this...Thanks!

[Guest ilovemygrey]

OMG guys!!!

 

We have been extremely unsuccessful in all of our attempts to work with Jaq'O, but just begun holding a treat in one hand and attempting to touch his beak with the other finger in the other hand, telling him i want to "pet." So, this last time, after I tried a couple of times and he darted, I told him i meant it and that i loved him as he danced and mimiced my chh chhk chhk noise. I was so brave that after he trusted me enough to pet his nose I put my finger in his mouth, I know right?

 

And,...maybe he knew i felt no fear. All I knew was that I really wanted him to be loved more than anything and feel it. I stroked his tongue back and forth once, and then praised him with his usual "good boy" and a banana, his favorite!!!

 

I know I shouldn't get my hopes up and get overly excited, and maybe it was dangerous for my finger, but I wanted to... Any thoughts on how to further proceed? Should I try again? or what? Thanks soooo much!!!

[Acappella]

It might be even more effective if, when he does try to bite, you don't just back away. Make a sad face, shake your head, say no bite, and then turn your back on the cage for a minute. They're very attuned to our tone of voice and facial expressions. Also, because they're flock animals, they want to be 'with', even if their feeling about you are still unsure, so your presence and attention are a real currency with Jaq'o

[Guest ilovemygrey]

Thanks so much Acappella I am loving learning new things about my son all of the time! Jaq'O is getting the royal treatment now. I was so heartbroken in the beginning after seeing him like that, but I am going to do my best to be a smart and educated AGrey momma and show him the life that he truly deserves. <3

[Greywings]

Don't be in such a hurry to touch him, look at how many years or months he has been living in such deplorable conditions and not expecting any handeling. Give this boy more time to learn he is safe now with out pushing for him to interact before he is able to understand all the new people, behaviors, sounds, foods, cage, home and surroundings. A new child you just brought in from a horrid home life would also have a great deal of difficulty adjusting and learning it is now safe. So just let him acclimate offer some treats improve his diet and talk to him often -move slowly and most of all give him time and space to grow into his new family.

[Acappella]

Just looked at the pictures you posted in your photo album. Jaq'o is a very pretty TAG.

[katana600]

He looks so much like Gilbert! Of course he has a lot more feathers and looks like a smooth operator. Gilbert still lunges occasionally to bite me. What I do to help with the razor sharp beak is to give him an almond in the shell every night for bed time. It does more than keep the sharp tip blunted just a smidgen... he has gotten to so look forward to his almond he learned to ask "you got a treat?" and when he sees me head for the tin of almonds he runs as fast as he can to get from the cage top to his favored perch for his treat. We also have one of the pumice perches and that helps keep the tips of his nails smooth and I see him rubbing his beak on that too. Gilbert has "rules" about touching him. When he is approachable, he will hold the bars with a talon and tuck his head to show me he wants a scratch. It doesn't happen as often as I would like, and he always wants the bars between us, but some day I am sure we are going to be solid friends with touching rights. LOL. You might ask if he wants a scratch, he may have heard it before and when he is ready, he may bow his head for you.