Introduction

[Bendinglass]

Hello. I'm from Gulfport, MS. I have a 1 year old, and 40 year old CAGs. I just adopted the 40 year old bird yesterday. She has never been handled!! Will it be possible to be tamed? She was imported as a 2 year old. If she can't, it's ok. At least she has a great home with a fabulous friend, and great wingless family. Any and all help will be appreciated!

[Timbersmom]

I'm a newbie so can't offer much advice, but I'd think if you had the time and patience you could work with her and handle her to at least some extent. More experienced people will chime in. Meanwhile, welcome and good luck

[Mistyparrot]

Welcome to the group Bendinglass. I am not able to give meaningful advice on your question as I have no experience of 40 year old Greys that not been handled as you say but there are members here who could but I am sure they would need to know as much history as possible such as was it an ex breeder and what do you know of her previous keepers and have you had it checked by an avian vet?

That said all of us here love to hear of older and possibly difficult Greys being given a loving and understanding home. At 40 she may be one of the oldest here. Please tell us her name and if you can please post pictures.

 

We also have an introduction room for new members

 

Steve n Misty

[JeffNOK]

Bless you for providing a home for your new bird. Welcome to the forum. Every bird is an individual, so predicting how your CAG will progress is difficult. What I can say is that love, time, patience and a great deal of flexibility are always a recipe for success. Clearly a settling in time is called for. Just let your girl get used to her new home and environment. Always speak softly and approach the bird with gentleness and care. In time you may want to sit by the cage and sing or whistle or talk with your new bird. After that see if she will accept treats from your hand. These are very early days, but it seems you have the right attitude and heart for the situation. There are many here in this forum who have adopted rescue greys. I'm sure they will be able to offer much information from their personal experiences. Read through as many threads here as possible--particularly those regarding birds similar to yours. We are all here to support you!

[Luvparrots]

Kudos to you Bendinglass for taking in an older grey. I love the phrase, "Never say never" as I have an almost 5 year old BF Amazon that I have had for two years that I can't get to step up or really handle. No tickles or touching. But I will keep trying and maybe some day. I can get Louie to go in and out of his cage and he follows me around and takes treats from me. What more can I really ask of him as he has a wonderful personality, is bilingual, and makes me laugh everyday with his playing like mad with his wooden toys. Louie does sit on my shoulder or knee when he wants. All interaction is on Louie's terms but that's alright; he is very intelligent and does his best to do what I ask of him. Would I trade him for a "tame" amazon? Not on your life, he is a total joy to have around and very entertaining.

 

What I am saying is that I like your attitude about your 40-year Grey and with patience and love perhaps she can be handled in a way that is acceptable to her and will make you smile with great accomplishment for the wonderful relationship you have developed between her and yourself.

 

Please introduce yourself and your two greys in our Welcome Room so everyone can say Hi and get to know you!

[katana600]

Thanks so much for joining us and welcome to the forum. You are in the position to observe the extremes of what works with a hand raised baby coming into your home and what you have to do differently to accomodate a forty year old who may not have known the human bonding experience during her most impressionable months. In the years in between coming to you, she may have come to view humans from a very intelligent perspective and her experience may not have fostered trust and goodwill. With that said, I will chime right in to say amen to luvparrots "never say never". With an older, (but still much junior to your girl) ten year old Timneh with a "history" and "issues", I am nineteen months in and just getting started with him. As I see a trending toward acceptance, it is still on his terms and I have learned to define success in different terms than I would have with any other area of my life experience.