How to prepare for new 2 year old Congo African Grey

[Guest]

Hello,

 

 

I have recently been given the opportunity to receive a free 2 year old congo african grey parrot and cage from a large family that has been self describingly "neglecting" their bird. I met the Parrot and its family yesterday. The parrot is male and looks very healthy, however he was extremely skiddish when i I was introduced to him. The woman that he seems to have bonded with (the mother of the family) told me he only lets her pick him up(versus the husband and young children) and also told me that the parrot had been kept in his cage for a week straight prior to our introduction. I spoke very softly and was gentle with the parrot but he would not let me pet/ pick him up I attempted to give him half of a slice of a grape and he would not take it from me, so he seems to be very shy. I did allow the parrot to bite me (semi hard) and I did not display any sort of grimace or fear(submission). I have been thoroughly cleaning my apartment and rearranging furniture to better accommodate the parrot and his cage that will be arriving Wednesday the 7th of this week. The purpose of this post is to humbly ask your opinion as to how I should best proceed working with and establishing trust with my "brand new" 2 year old African Grey. is there anything critical or very important that I should make sure to do for the parrots first few hours, days, and weeks in it's new home?

 

 

Thank you very much for reading my post.

[Sheldon89]

Hi Garrett! Welcome to the forums. Unfortunately, I'm new here as well, but would like to give you a thumbs up for taking and rehoming your first CAG! I also did this, about three weeks ago, and through all the biting and odd behavior, I don't regret it for a second. The people here are very knowledgable and can help you with your new CAG.

 

Do you know his name?

[Luvparrots]

Hi garrett, welcome to the Grey family. Is garrett your name or your new parrot's? I highly recommend learning all you can from the prior owners about your new grey. What his schedule is and what his and the family's routine has been. What his favorite foods are and what his diet has been. Knowing what phrases he knows and things he likes and is use to, is very helpful in aiding with bonding between you and your grey. As for his cage, set it up where and how you want it before putting him in it. Better to make changes before your grey gets use to the arrangement in his new home. Talk gently and quietly to your grey and let him know what is going on. Once he is in his cage, let him settle in so that he can get use to his new situation. Greys are very attentive and watch our every move. Normally a grey so wants to be part of the human flock but on his/her terms not yours. Now you should let your new friend take the lead and let him settle in without any pressure. If the prior family is able to let you know how your new grey asked (body language) to come out of his cage that will certainly help in letting you know when the time is right to first open his cage door so he can come out and start to join in your family activities. The more you can learn about your new grey the easier it will be to know how to make him most comfortable in his new home. He is still quite young so if you are patient and you are willing to take things slow, once he settles in you will certainly have a very entertaining new friend. Looking forward to watching your friendship grow.

Edited November 6, 2012 by luvparrots

[Dave007]

Hello,

 

 

I have recently been given the opportunity to receive a free 2 year old congo african grey parrot and cage from a large family that has been self describingly "neglecting" their bird. I met the Parrot and its family yesterday. The parrot is male and looks very healthy, however he was extremely skiddish when i I was introduced to him. The woman that he seems to have bonded with (the mother of the family) told me he only lets her pick him up(versus the husband and young children) and also told me that the parrot had been kept in his cage for a week straight prior to our introduction. I spoke very softly and was gentle with the parrot but he would not let me pet/ pick him up I attempted to give him half of a slice of a grape and he would not take it from me, so he seems to be very shy. I did allow the parrot to bite me (semi hard) and I did not display any sort of grimace or fear(submission). I have been thoroughly cleaning my apartment and rearranging furniture to better accommodate the parrot and his cage that will be arriving Wednesday the 7th of this week. The purpose of this post is to humbly ask your opinion as to how I should best proceed working with and establishing trust with my "brand new" 2 year old African Grey. is there anything critical or very important that I should make sure to do for the parrots first few hours, days, and weeks in it's new home?

 

 

Thank you very much for reading my post.

 

 

1--A grey should be acclimated into the whole family. Allow the least amount of opportunities that will let a grey become a one-person bird. The whole family has to be involved with the bird in all areas--feeding, treat giving, cage cleaning, adding toys and handfeeding certain types of food.

2--Your grey should be in an area where your average daily constant habits, conversations, household chores, relaxation and guests are nearby. Putting a grey or any other species of parrot in another room with no human contact or visuals accomplishes nothing. The bird has to learn to accept all different things and the owner needs to help that parrot do all of these things by putting the bird into the mix of things.

3--Your grey needs a decent sized cage and eventually he/she will have to be let out of the cage every day for as much time as you can afford. Putting a playstand nearby helps alot. The cage needs the type of toys that can handled roughly. A lot of scrap pieces of wood are necessary for chewing and destroying. It's either the wood or your furniture.

4--When you bring your grey home, it's not a good idea to be handling him a lot until he/she feels good about that new cage and it's contents. Everything else ahead of the bird is also going to be new and learning about them in a relaxed state is best accomplished from the security of it's own cage and no time limits should be placed on the grey re when anything should be accomplished. All greys are different from each other.

5--It's a bad idea to allow your grey on your shoulders because they have a bad habit of biting necks, ear lobes, nape and head hair, breaking jewelry and sometimes biting the face. Not all do but it's a habit that should be avoided. You never can tell what's going to happen to you when you can't see the bird up there.

6--Greys are very quiet birds that have the ability to mimic anything it hears and at the same decibal level be it other animals or phones or dogs barking or being scolded or the kids being yelled at by the parents etc. In other words--Greys need to be classified as the ultimate sponge in the parrot world.

7--You need to supervise any out of the cage time when you have other animals around. Never under estimate another species of animal and it's possible daily attitude be it dog or cat. many times, even other species of parrots need to be watched when put together. It's impossible to tell who will like or dislike each other.

8--Greys are very leery of new things and especially leery of kids that are running around erractically nearby. In general, most greys aren't fond of children. The younger the child the more nervous it gets. Either the child has to be taught how to be calm around a grey or stay away from the bird. Greys are able to sense when a person or people is afraid of them and that in itself will cause a parrot to bite that person who has a fear of him. That also applies to adults. The older children have a better chance of being taught to understand the general personality of a parrot be it a grey or other species of parrot.

9--Introducing different animals to each other simply involves letting them constantly check each other out from the safety of the grey's cage. There are no special tricks to doing that and whether they will take to each other is not something you can predict.

10--Most houses are 'hectic' and that causes the grey no problems as long as he gets used to the 'hectic' atmosphere all around. The exception to that are kids darting in and around the cage, possibly bumping it and keeping the bird on edge.

[Guest]

Thank you very much for the advice, the African Grey's name is Kahzi and my name is Garrett : )

[Guest]

Thank you very much Dave I really appreciate your insight and hope that my little guys acclimation goes smoothly

[thenabrd]

our grey kallie is a rehome. we got her cage as well. i took pictures of the cage from different angles so that we could put her things back in as close as possible to what they were once we got the cage to our house. i thought that doing this would help make the transition a little less stressful since she'd have all her stuff in the places she knew and was comfortable with.

[judygram]

Hello Garrett and welcome to our family.

Congrats on giving Kahzi a new forever home and the others have given you some excellent advice but above all just take it slow and easy, allow plenty of time for him to settle into his new home, give him all the time he needs to feel comfortable and do not push him if he is not ready, time and patience are your best friends right now to gain his trust.

Would love to see some pictures when you get him home and settled in.

[Ray P]

Hi Garrett and welcome to the grey forum.

As everyone said give him a chance to settle in to his new home and family.

Your new grey is still young and should come around and accept his new family with out too much fan fair.

OH we love pictures.

[katana600]

Hi Garrett, Welcome to you and Kahzi, thank you for joining our forum family. Dave has good advice for getting Kahzi acclimated. One thing I learned that took me a little time to accept is not to take his attitude personally, especially in the beginning. Kahzi's whole life is being changed and he may take his own sweet time to get comfortable. They are such individuals, that it is hard to predict. If you offer him something that he rejects outright, try again another time when he may be more receptive. Things I tried in the beginning that didn't work, were easily accepted on another day. They are such incredible and exquisite creatures it is so exciting and joyful to meet them and I had a tendency to want things faster than Gilbert could accept, but it is working out now so following his lead and learning his body language and tolerances will seem natural to you in just a short time.