Socializing and adapting Greys to change

[LunaBaby]

Hi all!

 

Luna is almost 8 months old and although she is comfortable with the people who live with her in her home, shes already becoming "nervous" around outsiders. She's still social in the respect that she wants to be around everyone (out of her cage) but she wont allow anyone besides her "flock" to approach her without fliying to one of us. =/ I tried socailizing her the best i could by inviting friends over as much as possible and having them handle her but it's not always that easy to find new people or to even get the old ones back over =).

 

So I was wondering what other people here do to socialize, maybe there's something I could be doing differently. I think she's doing well considering she has not adapted to one person, but instead her whole "flock".

 

Also, she is nervous of new toys so i try to switch the toys in her cage often. If she's scared of one. I leave it near or sometimes attached to the outside of the cage until she is comfortable with it. Anything else I should be doing?

 

Thanks guys and gals!

 

-Taylor

[Hannah_Rae]

Hey Taylor. I am early childhood development professional, and I think I have some tips for you. Greys follow very similar development patterns as human toddlers, and one thing that happens around 8-10 months for human babies is something called separation awareness. Basically, because they now know that mom and dad exist, even when they are out of sight, they know that they are gone when they are out of sight. This is the stage that even the most socialized babies might have a little trouble trusting other people than their parents.

You are doing the right thing by wanting to socialize her. Do you belong to any groups that might not mind if every once in a while your bird tags along? How about the mall? Depending on regulations of coarse, and not going at a super busy time of day. The more experiences they get while young the better.

Anywho, just a few suggestions. I have a really cool article on object permanence (the whole parent thing) and Greys if you are interested. I found it absolutely amazing.

Hope I helped.

 

-Hannah

[LunaBaby]

awesome!! Thank you that makes me feel better. She definitely knows when I leave her view. She is trained to fly to my shoulder on command but lately Ive noticed that if I leave the room she comes looking for me. I would be interested in your article. i appreciate the feedback.

 

Does anyone else bring thier grey out? I would love that but I know they can becomes stressed so I wasnt sure it was a good idea.

[fourtrap]

Hello Taylor and congratulations on your baby grey. Bounding and socializing are very important to a young grey, as everything is new to them at this time you are their security blanket. I take my birds out as much as posiable to elementry schools, senior homes, bird clubs and even to the pet store or a park, beaches are great place to introduce new people, just be sure you have a misting bottle to help them cool off if in the sun for awhile. Your bird will enjoy this interaction and so will you. Enjoy P.S. my birds wings are clip.

 

Benny

[loviechick]

I live alone, and to be honest when friends come over I let my Greys out and about but they're both pretty scared of new people. They were both rehomes so I don't get bent out of shape to get them socialized as they're stuck in their ways, and really none of my friends want to hold such a large scary bird LOL:laugh: I just let them sit on their tree stand or boing near us in the living room and let them watch interact. In fact Red learned my best friends name (Amanda) and says it when she comes over it's so cute!

[LunaBaby]

Yea see I'm still torn on the wing clipping thing so I'm not sure about taking her out yet. I suppose maybe i should try getting her a harness and see if she likes it. She's pretty good about letting me touch her anywhere.. Ive made sure that I kept her used to that from a young baby so she may be ok about me putting it on her.. I have a feeling though that she'll try desperately to chew it off lol

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

And Loviechick.. its so awesome that you have rehomed Greys.. One day I'd like to do that. =)

[Hannah_Rae]

Glad I could be of help. I am finding a lot of useful info. in my child development background. It's sweet!!!

 

Make sure you don't clip your baby's wings for at least a year or two, or at least till she can fly and land proficiently, because it has MAJOR cognitive affects. Kind of like babies needing to crawl and explore.

 

I'm not sure how I can get you the article, because it is a pdf that is to big to post on this site apparently. PM me if you want me to send it e-mail or something.

 

-Hannah

[LunaBaby]

Yea I read about that.. she has become an awesome flier! She hovers and makes crazy quick turns. It's been quite the process but I've for the most part trained her only to fly on command and to where I tell her to (Which is amazing!). And in doing that Ive been able to potty train her FINALLY! Before it was tough because she wanted to fly as soon as I took her out, she would fly to my computer chair and poop. =( She just LOVED to poop there! But anyway, with controlling her flying, I was able to train her to "Go potty" on command.

 

In the beginning I thought maybe I should clip her wings because she was harder to manage and i didnt want her to learn bad habits, but now that she's under control and really seems to enjoy her "flying time" I dont see the need. She is safe, knows the house very well and hasnt crashed =).

 

Thanks for all the input! have a great weekend!

[Hannah_Rae]

I am so excited for the flying phase. It sounds like your girl has a great time.

 

What method did you use for potty training? That's one thing I really want to do well.

 

-Hannah

[LunaBaby]

The potty training was the hardest. I started watching the time between her natural potty times.. then when I had her out I would walk her over to her cage and stand there saying "Go potty!" until she did it. At first she had no idea what I was talking about obviously so i would keep saying it until she went naturally and rewarded her with a treat or head scratches and taking her off the cage again. the hardest part was keeping her there while we waited for it to happen she would fly off alot in the beginning, and I would go after her as fast as i could before she would "go" and bring her back. This took a few months.

 

If I have her out now and go too long without bringing her to the cage for potty, she'll go whereever we are but Ive got her schedule down pretty well and she seems to hold it a little longer so I'm guessing she knows to wait for "potty time".

[Hannah_Rae]

Thanks for the tips. I know it will take patience, but I know my husband (and my carpet) will appreciate the effort.

 

-Hannah

[LunaBaby]

Oh yea and in the mean time.. I suggest you pick up a bottle of Simple Solutions bird droppings remover.. Its awesome!! It has a little brush on the end of it, you squirt and rub and it comes right off!