Mdrumpza Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I had inquired here about greys, and was hoping to get a baby eventually . But through the horse grapevine I heard about a sweet girl CAG who's owner was sad to be having to re home her but knows its best for her. He has muscular dystrophy and has deteriorated to where he can't do much for her at all, or even talk to her .hes lost his speech. So i am adopting her. Not sure when I will meet her and go get her, but figured I need to get prepared. She's four years old and he's had her since she was 9 months. Any and all input on how to help this girl adjust would be greatly appreciated. I want to be the best mom I can be for her. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Attitude is everything, sounds like you already have what she needs. These birds don't chose to be captive but when faced with it, they just want to be included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Kwok Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hi, I would suggest that you see the bird first. Get used to her and see if she loves you or not. You can tell by her re-action. make her used to you so that when you bring her home, she will not feel strange at you at least in the new home. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aerial.2000 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 meeting her might be good, however, you should take your time once you do get your bird and be easy on them so they can accept the new surroundings and changes that are going to be thrust upon them. Will take your bird more then 1 day to love you but should only take you a few minutes *winks* good luck to you and ty for taking in and rehoming a bird 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I hope this works out for you and the grey. Get all the information you can from the owner like diet, likes, dislikes, favorite toys and any schedule and interactions she has come to know and enjoy. The more information you have, the easier transition will be for her and you. I look forward to hearing an update on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Great to hear about your choice of a bird who is in need of new digs. Do give her all the time she needs to adjust to her new home, new people, new schedule and new sounds. These guys are prey animals in the wild and they retain those defense and alert for danger instincts. She will let you know when she is ready to interact, each Grey has their own time line to make those adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Open your heart and your home. Jump in with little expectations or thoughts of time frames for getting her acclimated and follow her lead. She will learn to trust you and she has probably been aching to hear her beloved companion's voice and have some attention. Take your time getting to know her and getting her settled in your home. I have a rehomed Timneh and her circumstances were similar except she had already been rehomed a couple of times so it took just a little longer. Now we are getting to the best part. It is well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdrumpza Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 She comes with her cage and everything (I don't know the size yet, and need to ask) I do have to bring her home right away because the owner is being rehomed himself. He has to relocated to a small apartment because of his health and circumstance. Thanks for the input. I've read on here about people just sitting near the cage not necessarily interacting for awhile. Is that a good route? Or do I just talk to her while she's in the cage... or leave the door open and let her choose to come out if she wants? She's flighted, but we don't have alot of traffic coming through the house so if she chose to get out, I'm not concerned that she will fly out the door. Not sure what her current house looks like but we have lots of windows... will she know not to try to fly through them? (they are gridded, so not big open looking pieces of glass.) Thanks again for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Unfortunately our little Miss Gilbert is unable to fly so we could let her out from the onset without any concerns and she wanted to stay cagebound for the first couple of years. She has a different history and had some issues but we are coming along fine now. Our other smaller parrot came with her wings brutally cut and when she grew them in she was a flighted demon for a little while getting adjusted. What I would recommend is to sit quietly near her and see how much closeness she will accept before opening her cage. It might break your trust if you have to chase her and towel her to get her back in. After a short time you will be able to know how much she can tolerate. What we have done in the past is to prepare for time out of the cage by doing it in the evening and turning off lights in all the house except the room we are in. That way if she gets panicked, you can turn the lights down dim or even off to get her back to safety if she isn't willing to step up to you and go back in on her own. If she is willing to come out, she may just stay on top of her cage and then go back in on her own if you approach her. If you are getting her original cage, if you could keep it set up the way she is used to seeing it, I think that would go a long way to helping her acclimate to new surroundings. Just take one day at a time and be open minded with her as well as gentle, quiet and calm. You will soon be able to read her signals and she will have you trained in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinD Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I'm glad you took one in that needs you, patience the key...... Ive been at it since April and think the progress we made is probably on the speedy side, but it does take trust and time. Good luck to you and your new family member! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdrumpza Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 Thanks, Katana... I will try just sitting nearby before we do the open cage thing. I would hate to have to towel her right away to get her back to her cage..... Yes, I will keep the cage set up the way it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hello and welcome Good advice from all the posts here. Yes, sit close to the cage and speak softly or read. She will either some close (my rehomed TAG did that even when he was new to our home and was scared of all of us) or move farther away. Just continue to sit. With time, she will get curious/adjusted and come closer. Also, the point about getting all the info you can from the previous owner about her likes and dislikes is extremely helpful. Good luck and God bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Perfect age to adopt a grey. Past terrible two's is always a good thing. How far would it be to meet baby's original owner? I think it would be great if new baby could visit his original owner. Involve him in educating you. None of us can teach you more than his daddy. If you can't meet with him, see if his dad can text with you. Let them skype etc. Sophie's dad did play an important role in her life, even after I adopted her. Age two. I encouraged it. Her adjustment was a piece of cake, since we were all on the same page and her daddy could visit anytime. The visits did get less and less as he was a professional racecar driver, but she never felt the " pain" of losing her daddy. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdrumpza Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 The original owner is very disabled, which is why he is rehoming. He can't speak, so skyping would just be staring at eachother... great idea though. Also he is about 3.5 hours away. I did find out some more information that concerns me and I would love some input. Echo has been caged for the pas several months due to the owner's failing health. We have to transfer her to a travel cage and the owner said we will probably have to towel her to get it done. He won't be able to help at all... he's lost all function, it sounds like (I can't imagine how hard it is for him to type every email to me! Poor guy) What is the best way to get this done the least traumatically? She is still fully flighted also, so we don't want her to get away from us. Poor girl... I'm stressed for her and the sooner we can get her settled the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 If you are saying that this grey will not step up for a stranger, then I would darken the room (birds are usually more mellow in the evening/dark) and gentle towel her and place her in the travel cage. This is a hard one without seeing and knowing the grey. Of course the best way would be for you to visit and get to know this sweet grey. If the present owner could talk and reassure this grey, that would have been a bonus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 The " toweling", will be necessary unfortunately.ECHO will forgive you... I promise! Necessary steps to get ECHO into his new home and start the next chapter in his life.Being caged full time I'm sure has taken a serious toll on his life. ( thru no fault from his previous owner).He has been loved, and has not lost that feeling nor the ability to trust again. Definitely read books in front of his cage. Sophie LOVES poems. Anything that rymes. Dr. Seuss is her favorite. Introduce books meant for a two year old. Sophie's favorite cloth book is " Thomas the Tank Engine". I read it every night. When Sophie at age two, came home with us, we didn't know a thing about a grey. While driving home, she opened her cage and climbed on my shoulder. Kids were screamimg, she was wagging her tail! LOL! Sophie taught us everything we needed to learn how to be her adopted family! I originally thought we adopted Sophie, but soon learned, she " adopted us!" Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 How's it going, we need an update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Depending on the cage setup and the travel cage, there might be a way to open the travel cage and coax her in there. Alternatively, with our Miss Gilbert, I couldn't get her to "come" to me, but I could get her to run away from a towel. Sometimes if she is out of her cage on her floor stand and absolutely refused to return to her cage, all I have to do is put a wash cloth on a chair a few feet from her stand and she gets so annoyed to see it there she scurries right to her cage. Since Echo has been cage bound for so long, its hard to say if she is eager to get out and if you opened her cage, she might come right out on her own and then it would be easier to turn off the lights in the room so she didn't see the dreaded towel approach her and it might be quick and easy to get her into the travel cage. This is a new situation for you and I know it made me uneasy and I worried a lot more than I needed to. When the time came to transfer Miss Gilbert, she had already been traumatized by being chased from her cage with a broom and put in a travel cage and she had snatched out her feathers in a panicked meltdown. When I arrived, she was shaking and frightened and when I talked to her softly and explained what I was going to do, she calmed down and was cooperative. Don't spend time worrying about it. Instead look at the set up and what you have to work with. Visualize how you will get her to her travel cage and do your best. If you have time, check with your horse friends to see if they know someone with parrot experience. It may be a pet shop owner or vet tech in the group could come help you get Echo home and settled as you learn her ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdrumpza Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Timbersmom, no update because we are not due to get her till the 28th. That was the first date we were all available to go (my daughter , husband and I) . I will update you for sure when we get this accomplished. I'm still reading alot onine and learning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 The 28th is just around the corner. Wish I had done more reading and more preparation before I picked Timber up. I was clueless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdrumpza Posted September 18, 2013 Author Share Posted September 18, 2013 Welll.... I'm sad to say that I had to send this email to Greg today: I have some bad news. We have had an extremely unexpected family situation come up and I will be unable to take Echo at this point. Our grandson, who has been with his mom in TN, has been removed from her home due to abuse. My son, who is in Colorado, is in the process of trying to get his baby ( 2 years old), but he is in the army and would need us to be caretakers for him for the duration. I'm afraid it would be unfair to Echo and Judah to try and split my attention between the two. I did let him know that there is a lady near me who has contacts with parrot sanctuary and rescue and I can put him in contact with her. I'm sad all the way around... broken hearted for my grandson whom I have not yet met, and broken hearted for Echo... Deb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Sorry to hear that things did not work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 So sorry! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Sorry to hear you can't take Echo! I hope and pray that things work out with your grandson. Good luck and God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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