My name is marwan, and my parrot is handicap, i need help

[Marwan]

hi

 

My name is marwan, and my parrot is handicap, i need help

 

please help

when i go close he screams,

when i touch he bites,

when i feed he becomes a monster,

i tried to move him from the cage but he just defend it by biting my fringer, ( almost blood )

please help me turn my beloved bird into a pet just like everyone, :'(

 

thank you

[MKparrot]

Hi,

welcome to the forum.

Can you give more details please. For example: How old is your parrot? For how long he/she lives with you? Are you his first owner? Are there any other family members? Any other birds or animals? What is surrounding? Is he hand feed bird? Isn't he maybe wild caught bird?

It is African Grey, wright?

[Timbersmom]

Hello welcome! As MK said, post more information as indicated and you will get more responses.

[Talon]

He is wild caught.....how sad, he needs to be free....IMO

[Brat Birds]

Welcome. You say he is handicapped - HOW ?? Blind - foot missing - wing broke - there are so many types of handicapped. My baby has malformed mucous membranes and doesn't breath right and has shortest of breath when flying. So if you can tell us more about your baby some of us will surely have some advice for you.

[danmcq]

Welcome to the forum Marwan. What you describe in terms of bringing a new grey home with probably no past history of what he has been though. It is best to just give him time to settle in and get used to the new home and people. He is telling you he does not trust you or the new home he is in. You need to stop trying to get any up close interaction and just sit in the room perhaps a few feet from the cage and read, watch tv and time you him calmly. His cage is his safe place and he is cage aggressive. This is normal most the time for many greys. Just get his food and water bowls replenished as quickly as possible and leave him alone to enjoy them. It could take a long time before any type of trust is established. They are not "Pets" like a dog or cat. Even hand raised greys are still very wild at heart and instinct. They are not a domesticated creature like a dog or cat. They do not naturally gravitate to a human for attention. Trust and relationships are built solely through time and patience. They level of the relationship is dictated by the grey, not the human/ The more you try to force an up close and personal relationship on them. The more they will try to distance themselves from you. You must let them come to you when they decide if and when they do.

[murfchck]

Welcome! First off you need to slow down with your new companion. These guys are nothing like a dog or cat and require so much more of you than you would expect. They are more like a 2 year child than a "pet". I have had Bongo for going on three years and he is just starting to really open up. My husband and i have 2 more greys that i still can not handle due to their fear, i will not push them just because I want to handle them, it has to be their choice or i could ruin what little trust we have built.

Please explain what you mean by handicapped. There are many of us on here that have birds with handicaps. Gabby has a twisted leg that is turned in and her toes on that foot are limited to the use of only one toe. This does not slow her down at all, most disabled birds have no issues living a full life.

It scared me some when you said something about getting rid of your birds because it screams when you or anyone else is around it and it had only been with you a day or two. When anyone is ever thinking about getting a bird, the first thing they should know is that this is a commitment, and should not be done on a whim. This is why there are so many rescue facilities for birds. They are not throw aways if they need a little extra effort from us to care for them, there is no "one size fits all" bird. They have real feelings and with each new home the baggage they carry gets more and more. Bongo doesn't talk in words like we do, he chooses not to, but if i tossed him to side when he wouldn't use human words, i would never have know how exceptional he is to communicate without them.

Edited December 22, 2013 by murfchck

[judygram]

Hello Marwan and welcome to our family.

I echo the other's sentiments about slowing things down for it takes time and lots of patience to win over a grey's trust because it has to be earned. We do need more information from you about this grey if we are to attempt to help you more with him, why not tell us how long you have had him, his name, his age if known, what kind of handicap does he have and so on and so forth.

[Muse]

Marwan,

Glad you finally made it to the forums!

 

When we first got Megan, she had all kinds of attitude with me. She bit me on a daily basis. I have many scars on my hands that I can attribute to her sharp little beak. It was hard to anticipate what would bring the next bite. She bit for lots of reasons that made no sense to me. For changing her food bowls. For taking her out of her cage. For looking at her the wrong way. If she could get near my flesh, she would sink her beak in. I strongly suspect she was jealous of me as a rival for my husband.

 

We went through months of me spending an incredible amount of time working with her. We found her weakness. Food. She is very greedy and will do anything for food. So we found her very favorite treat. It happened to be pine nuts. So it was decided my husband could NOT give her pine nuts. For those, she was forced to come to me. It took a LOT of patience, but the other day, when she flew OFF my husband, landed on MY shoulder and gave me an unsolicited kiss, it made me so happy! She has finally accepted me and only bites when she is mad about something, which I can usually predict and avoid.

 

As for wild-caught birds: put yourself in the bird's place. Imagine someone came to your home tonight, captured you by throwing a net over you while you were eating dinner, and dragged you forcefully from your home. Then they shove you in a small crate and take you to a place you don't know. Unaware of what they were going to do, you would be very scared. And then imagine what it would be like if they took you somewhere to a land of giant beings that put you in a small cage and kept you from fleeing, while all the while you were scared and only wanted to get away. Several times a day, a giant would come and look at you and scare you even more. That is what the bird is going through.

 

It is a traumatic experience, and it will need time to learn to trust and become somewhat tame. That is not to say it cannot happen. I have had relationships with many wild creatures, and I can tell you it just takes time and patience to win trust. Once they trust you, then you must take great care not to break or misuse that trust.

 

Right now, the bird sounds as if it is terrified, and not ready to build a relationship. Keep the stimulation to a bare minimum. Keep the area quiet, and the light filtered much of the day (not dark, just not really bright). Get as close as you can without the bird screaming. Maybe put a chair clear across the room and sit quietly and read or listen to quiet music. Let the bird come to see that your presence is not a threat. Each day, move the chair a little bit closer. If the bird reacts badly, move back a little and give it more time. Find something the bird really likes. Be the only person who gives the bird this treat - even if it means dropping it in the food dish to avoid a bite (this is how I started with Megan). When the bird finally allows you to come close, offer the treat from finger tips only, and at a distance where the bird is leaning out to you, off balance. Make it extend as far as it can, so it has no room to lunge and strike.

 

It may take a lot of time and treats, but in the bird's mind you will gradually become associated with a pleasure. A good treat. This will eventually cause the bird to anticipate, then enjoy your coming to its cage.

 

But this requires time and patience. LOTS of patience.

 

We had a feral cat that we had to trap and bring inside because neighbors were trying to shoot her. It took YEARS to win her trust but when I did, she became a wonderful companion as long as I respected her boundaries. She was never like our other domestic cats. But she was special and left a very big hole in my heart when we lost her to thyroid cancer. Patience and love can reap fantastic rewards when working with animals.

 

Good luck to you. I hope your bird will come around and become a wonderful friend.