Dolly is Home...I'm scared.

[JanMarie]

Thank you Katana, I appreciate your experience so much! I am so green at this and from the bottom of my heart want her to be happy and healthy. I'm glad I am not alone! Jan

[Brat Birds]

You are doing wonderfully!!! Just remember that a year to you doesn't seem like much more than a week to a grey. So patience is the thing you will need to work on for a while. I think, in a few days, I might try to mist her. My grey like warm water - but that is a personal thing - not all greys do. I would do a soft mist high above her and let it float down - similar to rain and see how she reacts. You can always stop immediately if she shows any thing other than an interest in it.

[JanMarie]

Oh boy...Dolly growls at me when I come near her. She likes my hubby. She crouches down, slightly flaps her wings like she is going to launch herself at him. When I come near her she fluffs every feather and glares at me. Also, when I walk out of the room she will talk whistle beep etc. The previous owner said that Dolly hated her and liked her husband. They worked with her for years then she ended up in a bedroom attic by herself for months. I can't even wipe her cage down without her growling. BUT she will let me give her a favorite treat (healthy) nicely, but that is it. It's not going to change anything around here. The love will flow, I just want to know if this is how it's going to be so I can just deal with it. My husband let her come out of the cage last night on her own but she about took my arm off trying to get her back in. I really wanted to take her out first before letting her do that on her own...does it make a difference? She was quite happy to come out BUT not to go back in.

I did the soft rain (she is so dusty and never had a bath) She sounded possessed! The growling and screaming from just the first soft mist that came down. As soon as I stopped and left the room she was whistling.

Edited November 6, 2013 by JanMarie

[murfchck]

Just keep on letting her make the first move. With our Gabby, it took over a year for her to tolerate me. Now i can carry her around on my shoulder. I am still not her favorite person but we have mutual respect for each other. Cotay has been with us i think just a few months and just hates me more than anything. I can not go near her cage without her fluffing up and chasing me down. She has climbed many cages to get to me when i am cleaning the other cages, and will bite the snot out of me if i would let her, lol. ( she got my knee once and put a hole through my jeans ) She is okay with me only when she is on the floor away from her cage and her stand. She is more afaid of the floor than of me so at that point i am okay to pick her up. ( she only lands on the floor after a wild flight through the house mind you. She flys great, it is that landing she stinks at! ) All this being said, just keep showing the love and respect and one day she will open up and you will know trust or mutual respect has been made! You are doing great letting her make her own choices, just watch how quickly she trains you!! LOL Congrats to you both!

[JanMarie]

I have another issue. Dolly was never taught the step up command. She wants out of her cage now in the worst way since we let her come out on her own a couple of days ago. (my hubby) . We can't use our arm we will pull back a stump so I got a perch which she attacks with a vengeance. Even when she is out of the cage we can't get her to step up. We have been trying for three days and she just growls and bites. As soon as we stop she as happy as a clam and talking taking treats and acting like she wants us. So getting her back in her cage is not pleasant. I have to finally towel her. What should I have done or should do?

[katana600]

Our sad advantage with Gilda is that she is flightless due to damaged wings. It was clear in the beginning she has been trained to step up, but was too scared of our hands. What I tried in the beginning and seemed to work well is to feed her treats only inside her cage and I put a treat cup in there that only held treats. When she wanted a treat she had to go inside. Next, I have three lamps in the living room. I would let her out of her cage only at night in early weeks together. When time was winding down about a half hour before bed, I turned off the first light and said nothing. I turned off the second lamp about fifteen minute later and told her it was time for night night and put a whole almond in the shell into her treat cup and moved away. By the time I got to the third light she could predict it was bedtime. Having predictability in these early days is helpful for her to figure out the rhythm of your home. I wouldn't keep approaching her if she growls because that may be establishing predictability that you will keep coming after she warns you off. She will have to relax more before she evenutally trusts you enough to come to you. By allowing her out only at night, you have the advantage of turning off the lights and hoping she will retreat to the safety of her cage. Only a very few times when I had to leave I would show Gil a small piece of fleece she has hated since the beginning. All I need to do is ask her to go in and when she fights me over it and it is a showdown, I put that fleece on the stair banister about three feet from her cage and ask if she wants to go in the easy way or if I need to help her. Then I rattle the almond in her treat dish and walk away giving her the grace to think she went in because she wanted a treat.

Edited November 8, 2013 by katana600

[Greywings]

She is still unsure of her new place and people, please give her more time and space before even asking for her to step up. You would feel good about her if she was willing but she is not ready yet. Patience in a larger dose is reccomended-just let her get used to all her surroundings and wait for her to make the first move. As Katana advised think of new ways to help her understand the flow of your day. Guide with with treats and some insightful ideas, the turning off lights maneuver should be helpful..

[Acappella]

I echo the tip about turning the lights down. It's a big part of the evening routine around here. Right now, offer food and drink only in the cage, and a special treat dish is a great idea. Try putting a perch on the inside of the door, one short enough that the door can swing shut with her on it (this may have to wait until you get her in a bigger cage) That way you can place her on the perch and swing the door closed. When she is back inside the cage, even if it wasn't her idea, give her praise and a treat. Another thing that worked with Dorian. He had big time emotional baggage attached to the phrase "step up". If I even said it he started to tremble. So around here it's "You wanna come with Mom?" If he does, he now steps up nicely. Mind you, that literally took years. I'm not exagerating. More than two. He was so hand shy. It took months for him to even get brave enough to venture outside of his cage, so Coco is already ahead of him.

 

Do you have to open the cage door to change her food and water dishes? If you don't, I'd leave the cage door closed first thing in the morning and let Coco wake up and observe the household. Make sure to speak gently with lots of praise and happy body language when you do approach her cage. Sit beside her and eat, talk, read, watch tv. Just let her get used to your presence. If she is trembling at all move your chair away until she stops. You'll gradually be able to move closer and closer. Watch out for what we call the "Honeymoon Period" Often a re-homed bird will be on good behaviour for the first couple of weeks, and then regress. Don't take it personally. Many here have been through it here and we'll be here to help and encourage you on hard days and celebrate on good ones. Welcome home Coco!

[Sheldon89]

I'd just like to chime in, haven't been on in a while, but something that helped my Corvo become more interested in my presence: whenever you enter the room, enter the house, approach the cage, make the interaction a happy one. The growling may be territorial, so conditioning your African Grey with treats upon interaction, they'll associate your presence as happy -- allowing room for trust. I've had Corvo, a re-homed CAG, for a little over a year. This forum helped me cope with the changes my fid was experiencing and how to read those changes.

 

For a while, actually, Corvo was stepping up onto my hand with no problem. In fact, it was happening for a few months, and everything was going quite well. Since the beginning of around June though, my partner moved into the apartment and Corvo was not used to another person being in the same household. It was a change for him, so now whenever I ask him to step up, he's resistant and bites. Now I'm back at square one, but that's okay, because I know it's possible. It could take years for that trust to be earned, again, but remember the life span of an CAG is nearly 50 years. My Corvo's only 11. Practically the same age as me in Human Years. We've got time.