Shadow ! My New Grey.

[pastorofhamsters]

Hey all , I've newly hatched on this forum but Shadow hasn't. My family adopted him/her (not sexed yet) 3 days ago from a local. He/she seemed pretty scared and unfriendly. The previous owner said that this congo african grey was about 9 months old. He didn't really seem to take good care of it.

 

We brought it home and got a cage. The parrot doesn't stop "growling" whenever we come close. til' date. On the second day with the use of gloves i slowly was able to touch him/her and scratch it's back and head gently. And when I took my hand away it continues growling. We let the cage door open and he /she found it's way to the top perch by itself.

 

What methods should I use to train the parrot / get him acquainted with all of us and friendly,possibly get it to talk. Do african greys have any other sounds or do they imitate ? We have an indian ringneck as well that sits freely on his perch. But due to the new comer we put him back in his big cage ; will they eventually get along ? The grey doesn't seem to give the ringneck any attention.

 

We put walnuts , pears , sunflower seeds , apples in it's feeding bowl but it'll only eat the sunflower seeds. We try handfeeding it but it gnarls and takes the seed from my finger but throws it on the floor.

 

Please guide me as to how we can make shadow a loving part of our family , like we did to Kiwi (our ringneck)

 

I'd love it if someone could tell me the age / sex of our grey too

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2013 by pastorofhamsters

[aw64]

Hi and welcome to the world of Greys, You will get some good advice from the guys on here, all i can say is it takes time to gain their trust, sit next to his cage and talk to him, maybe having a look on here at the posts about feeding and diet, most birds have pellets daily, and veg there are some good tips on the diet forum, and yes they do make some wonderful sounds of their own but it will take time as he needs to get used to new surroundings, I would also avoid a glove it is reported they do not normaly like these, they are sensitive birds and a greys pace with trust is a very slow one, but with time he will calm down. If he was not cared for very well be last owners he will be very nervous until he understands you will not hurt him, some of the more experienced guys on here will be along with loads of good advice. keep us updated on your progress.

[aerial.2000]

hey there and welcome to the forums plenty of others with way more experience then I, Ive only had my baby for lil over a yr but I can tell you this much. The growling is definately your birds defenses and a definate warning, you need to heed that warning and watch that body language. I would also caution on using a glove to pic your fid up. If you feel the need and have the ability to, try using another perch or a stick of some sort to pic them up. Opening the door and letting them come out on their own specially if they are giving you a warning growl might be the best way but you always gotta get them back in at nite. The only SURE way to sex your bird, is to have a DNA done, it might be possible for your vet to do that for you. I had marco sexed before bringing her home, they told me for sure they felt SHE was a boy ... but sure enough ... she isnt! But its not biggie love her anyways.

Youve only had your new addition home for a few short days so .. let them take to their new surroundings, sights, and sounds before maybe tryin to handle or train. Greys take time to earn that trust and you should really start there. I like to sing to marco LOL not sure if she appreciates it as much as I do LOL she usually falls sleep when I do, but talking to them and giving them a variety of toys including foreging toys are real important too since your baby looks like perhaps a few feathers are missing in the front dont want a picker! Diet is always important too, as well as sunlight

seems like you are eager to learn and give your baby a happy home so I wish you lots of luck. great peeps here to help you in that process. my biggest advice is to TAKE IT SLOW you will have LOTS of time w/your baby so let them lead the way! your pics are great too!

[Jayd]

Hi, this is a beautiful baby, the advice you've been given is correct, no way to age as Aerial said, and aw64 is correct about gloves. This baby is over 16 mo's old, the color of the eyes give it away. After the age of 6 months, their eyes steadily lighten, becoming light gray around the age of 1 year. By 18 months to 2 years, the eye color becomes a very pale yellow brown, and by the age of 3 to 4, African Greys have light yellow eyes. Once the eyes have turned yellow, it's harder to identify the bird's age.

If I may, no offense meant, I feel the cage should be a little wider, unless it's used as a sleeper cage only. I like to see them to be able to spread there wings. The IRN and your Cag are fine, they may never become closer than that...Thanks Jayd

 

[aerial.2000]

oh oh yes I totally agree on the eyes, I didnt even look at that until I opened every pic bigger they are a beautiful yellowy color ... definate much older then 9 mo. Marco was born dec 23 2011 and her eyes are just barely a pretty light grey right now with a slight yellow outter ring

[Timbersmom]

Hello and welcome! The others have already given you good advice. Just remember, lots of time and patience is necessary with a grey. Good luck and God bless

[Jayd]

Another give away on a Grey under a year old is the red tail has a dirty black color to it.........

Edited February 25, 2013 by Jayd

[Dave007]

I don't know whether it was your camera that took a distorted view of the cage but this is what a grey cage should look like as far as dimension goes.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/DSC_06311.jpg

 

Concerning age, your bird is much older than 9 mts old and it's hard to tell the age after a certain point so give the bird an age that's liveable like 18 mts old.

 

Sexing can only be done thru DNA test. That's done by a vet or there's companies that do it by sending the company a feather or drop of blood. They're cheaper than a vet and guaranteed and results come back with an official certificate. You've gotten some good info---gloves are out of the question.

Many of the other things you wanna know about only come with time---talking. Imitating is second nature to them. Don't compare the IRN nature to a grey. Your bird needs veggies and not too much fruit which has little value. The nuts you give are fine but limit the sunflower seed. Add almonds to the diet. Leave hm alone so he'll get used to the many new things that surround him. That may take days or a couple of weeks. Eventually, his natural curiosity will show itself. Stop the hand feeding if he growls. That means he's afraid, nervous and will be defensive and the closer you get the quicker he'll bite. He may even screech or squawk. He's got alot to absorb right now.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/DaveVP/b.jpg

Edited February 25, 2013 by Dave007

[judygram]

Hello Pastoro and welcome to our family.

I must agree with the others on the gloves, cage and age. A grey needs a cage wide enough for them to flap their wings and not touch the sides and that cage in your picture is much too slender.

One thing I must stress is not to rush Shadow, let him decide when he is ready to interact with you, he and your IRN may never be friends but hopefully they will learn to tolerate one another, that is what my 3 birds do.

[Ray P]

Hi pastorofhamsters and shadow, welcome to the grey forum.

You have been given some good advice by our members

They need time to settle in after all you are new, new home, they don`t know what is going to happen to them. NO GLOVES and I would cut out the sunflower seeds.

Good luck with your new companion.

[pastorofhamsters]

Thank you all for the useful insight!

He wont eat anything other than sunflower seeds. We've tried everything from almonds to peanuts , plums , cucumber , bananas , brocolli but no luck. Not sure whether this is just due to shear fear or something to do with the previous owner.

The cage is merely a sleeping one as I let the door open and he makes his way to the perch and stretches out there.. Using a stick he fearfully steps up and we guide him back into his cage at night.

When he spread out his wings we were horrified to see his wings were clipped horribly wrong .. his left wing was considerably shorter than the other ( due to his longest primary feather cut for the left but not for the right). How long will it take for these feathers to grow back ?

After reading your advice I'll have to keep it down on the interaction because everyday i try to touch him and scratch his head / back .. he growls but eventually lets me do it due to the fact that he has no choice and he doesn't seem to enjoy it very much.. He even climbed onto my arm , still pretty scared though. So I'm going to start from scratch .. no interactions other than gentle talking.

What kind of toys does he require ? Is a rope inside his cage suitable ? so he climbs and flips around on it. If so , what kind of rope , synthetic or natural?

When i hold up a mirror to him he clicks and puffs up , is this a sign of fear or hostility ?

Thank you again for your advice

[Luvparrots]

My 2 year old CAG, when he sees someone new, he puffs up real big and growls. It is funny because he is 505 grams and to me huge, but I know it is because he is trying to protect himself by looking "real big". Once he gets to know someone all is golden.

[Timbersmom]

Bells, you must have bells... that is what Timber would say. Other than that, his favorite "toys" are the forage boxes I put in the bottom of the cage. I just stuff cardboard boxes with shredded paper, nuts wrapped in pieces of coffee filter, wooden beads (bird safe) etc. He is also fond of the roll of adding machine paper that hangs in his cage. He isn't big on chewing hard things (like the shred-able wood items you can buy), but that is an individual preference. They are as unique in their toy preferences as in other ways. You will just have to "figure out" what he likes. I am not sure about rope, someone with more experience can address that. Timber has a boing in his cage that he hangs on and eventually chews up (fun on several levels).

 

Sorry to hear about the bad clip! I just read on the forums recently that it can take up to two years for all the feathers to grow back, so don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen quickly.

 

As to the food, a lot of our greys are picky, picky, picky. You might try hanging a skewer of fresh veggies in his cage so he can examine them and test when no one is around and he is feeling more secure. That's the only way Timber will eat raw veggies. I put cooked sweet potato, grain mix stuff and other fresh food in a separate bowl in Timber's cage. He never eats it all, but there is evidence that he has at least picked at it. When I first got him, I didn't think he was eating hardly anything. Someone here pointed out that he is a bird, and doesn't wolf down the quantities of food I'm used to with dogs and cats. The point being that if you leave something for him in the cage, it doesn't have to be all gone for him to have "sampled" it. Keep trying with the food. When he gets comfortable, he will probably start trying the new stuff. If you haven't tried it, try feeding him something like mashed sweet potato (like body temperature) on a spoon. Timber will try anything I give him on a spoon. He may spit it out and look disgusted, but he will dip his beak in it The forage things might work with him too. Hide the almond (if you are using them in the shell, crack the end off with a nutcracker to get him started) in a box with other bird safe stuff. They have a natural instinct to forage, and will sometimes eat the prize they have found even if it isn't a favorite. Hope this makes sense!

 

Don't give up! Patience and continuing to offer him things wins the day.

[pjbmom]

Hi,

I adopted my Chico, who is now almost 2 yrs old, last Thanksgiving. OMG the growling he did everytime my husband walked by was unbelievable. Not to me only to him. I talked and let him out every evening and all weekend with me. My husband continued to uncover him feed him first thing and talk to him. Chico prefers me but will go to my husband on his hand from me handing to him. He rarely growls at him anymore. It is all about you talking,socializing with him every opportunity you can always, offer treats to him, find out what foods hes likes and feed it to him. Chico loved pizza -most birds do lol. He needs to trust you. If you do this I don't see why he won't come around. It took Chico just a few weeks to be comfortable around me but my husband -still work in progress.

 

As far as your cage, My amazon's cage is alittle on the thin side so I always put Chico and Fig on playstands whenever I can - usually as soon as I walk in the door till I go to bed and all day when I am home on the weekends. Plus, easier to cleanup the mess! So just a suggestion to see if you can get a playstand. If he doesnt come on your hand to put back in cage, roll playstand over to the cage.

 

Hope this helps and hope you have a great experience with your grey.

[aerial.2000]

Veges on a skewer is a great Idea!!! and dont stop trying he might just try them when you arent watching. I find I can hide alot of the veges in home made birdie bread for Marco which i make a big pan full and then cut up and freeze taking out what I need to last me for the week. I put everything from the cornbread mix to pellets and fresh veges and nuts she LOVES love love it! Marco is also a big jalapeno eater :eek: amazing!

 

As far as toys, theres lotta cool bird toys out there. From online to petsmart. My thought is you dont want a bored bird, that could lead to plucking. Marcos cage is decked out with various perches of different sizes and colors and textures, and lots of toys. Toys also hang on the top of her cage cuz its a playgym up there I also have what I call her "toy baskets" and yes more then 1 of lots of various FOOT toys. Marco also has a thing for bells! She tries to kill the bell and usually throws it across the room !!!!! :D

 

Im not saying go out and spend 100's on toys ALOT of these toys you can make from home. Do some research on making parrot safe toys on youtube and such. Heck I take my friend to the bird store and he checks out the toys there and then goes home and makes me the same thing LOLOL! From chewing toys to foreging toys to foot toys, should have a mix of them all in there!