New bird(s) owner who needs help!

[Grey2Day]

My husband and I recently re-homed two mature Timnehs when their owner suffered a second stroke and his recovery became uncertain. While he was getting therapy after his first stroke (staying with an out-of-state relative) his ex-wife had been coming in to feed the birds (for about a month). When he took a turn for the worse his ex-wife (a friend of my sister's) was going to get rid of them, so I offered to keep them in case he recovers and is able to go back to his home. I know how awful it would be for me if I lost my animals because of illness. I also realize that may not happen, and we might have these beauties for a long time. My only bird experience is with a budgie we currently have.

 

Keto is a male, about ten years old, and I was told that he is a good talker, likes boys, and is a little mean and bites, although he seems to get along with my husband just fine. Gracie is 15 and I am told that she mostly whistles and has a preference for girls. We went and got them about five days ago and until today had not let them out of their cages. We wanted to let them get comfortable and learn to trust us. They are quite friendly, seem attention starved, and have stepped up on both of us on command (while still in the cage). They have also let us both scratch them on the neck regularly.

 

So today we let them both out. Keto stepped up on my husband, who put him on top of the cage. So far, so good. Then Gracie wanted out, so I brought her out, too. She climbed from her cage onto Keto's, and then they started "beaking" each other. At first it looked like they were kissing or greeting each other, but after a minute or two it didn't stop. Keto started to look like he didn't like it and flew off down to the floor. We got them both back into their cages without incident (or any bites!), but now I don't know if I should let them out together or not. Does anybody know the type of behavior I was seeing? I searched the internet for this type of parrot behavior, but all I can find is information on how they are with people, not each other. I just want to know if they are safe being out together. They have apparently lived together for Keto's entire 10 years.

 

Thank you for this forum. It was very helpful in helping us decide that we could take on these wonderful birds.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Grey2Day

[katana600]

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining us. If you have contact with the ex-wife, ask if they have been out of the cage at the same time. Even if they have been, they are going through a rough time and no doubt miss the man they loved. I don't know what they are doing, I have only one grey and its a tough call without seeing them together. They are still new to your home, you might allow them out one at a time for a little while and get to know them a little better. Then let them out again together and take them away from the cage area. In a neutral area such as your kitchen where they are intriqued by new visual stimulation, they would be less likely to focus on each other. Our Miss Gilbert is very territorial about her cage, so maybe this is location dependent. Greys are such intelligent and emotional beings that it might be helpful to tell them that their owner is sick and you are going to take care of them. It is astonishing how much they understand. Its going to be a fabulous journey to get to know Keto and Gracie with you.

[Luvparrots]

Please do not hang swinging toys in the travel cage. Swinging toys can swing against your new grey that might not be pleasant and a llittle scarey for your new companion.

[Grey2Day]

Thanks for your suggestions. I think that I will only try one out at a time for a while, and see how things go. Unfortunately I do not have the contact number for the ex, and my sister says that she has been neglecting her calls (the split was recent and the ex wife knows my sister is critical with her over the circumstances). The man who owned them has been in a coma, so I have been unable to get more information from him. Today my sister heard that he is doing better, but not yet speaking. Any way you look at it, I will keep the birds safe as long as needed, and I hope to find out more about them in the future.

 

Gracie likes blueberries, Keto is partial to apples, and neither one accepts pellets (although we are fixing that). My sister took an Amazon in this distressed time for the birds, and I have to say that I am certain I have the better arrangement! No screeching, and no bites yet, either. LOL I will very happily return them to their home if and when he is able to take them, but until then (which might be never) I will be savoring every moment of this adventure.

[Timbersmom]

Hello and welcome! I have only one bird so have no advice for you about their interaction. However, there are several members with multiple greys. I'm sure one of them will chime in! Good luck and God bless

[Brat Birds]

Welcome My suggestion would be to make a play station for them away from either cage. This could be something as simple as a few foot toys and treats on a table top to an actual playarea made for parrots. Have both you and your husband there and take them both, at the same time, to the play area. If they behave there you will know it was cage problems before. If they start to 'fight' there, then I would suggest separate out of cage time for them - at least for a while.

Thank you so much for taking in an older pair of Greys.

[Inara]

You've received some great advice and input, which is one of the reasons that this forum is just the best I'm just chiming in to add my welcome to you and your new wards. If and when their human comes out of his coma and is ready to have them back, he will be forever grateful to you for having taken such wonderful care of them. If time does not allow healing enough, and the two of them become your long term companions, they could not have fallen into better hands. Keep us all posted on how they are doing and pictures would be great too!

[Steve 2]

Wish I had something more constructive to give you. I have a single timneh and love bird. I do not allow physical contact between the two. Both are very fun in their own unique ways. You are a very good soul and they are two lucky birds. Hang in there, best wishes. Steve

[Greywings]

So many changes for them in a relatively short span of time. It is also a hormonal time of year for many parrots and they may add one more stress to their mixed up world right now. As has been mentioned by Brat birds having some neutral space for them may prevent the territorial dispute and give you a better idea of how they interact. I would suggest having a few theing for them to do, paper to shred or some foot toys or even a couple of Almonds or treats available for them to investigate in that neutral zone.

[Grey2Day]

Thanks for all you suggestions. I will try them one at a time a few more times before I go to the neutral zone. This is just so new for all of us!

 

But about that behavior....Does anyone know if that was an aggression display, or maybe something else (request for regurgitation?) I know that Gracie was making these little chirping sounds while she was doing it. She didn't do the thing with the wings that baby birds do when they are chasing Mom for another handout, but the chirp sounded sort of like the one baby sparrows make in the yard when they are being weaned. Again, I have been having trouble finding information about parrot behavior with each other and am hoping that a multiple-bird owner here can help.

[murfchck]

We have 3 greys and they like to be away from each other. 2 share a stand but it is large enough that they are not near each other. There is beaking and sometimes it is just them playing by grabbing the others beak and pulling, as our macaws do often, but then there is fighting with the beak and that is usually actual hitting the other bird with it in a striking action. To add to any confusion you already have, our cockatoos were beaking and in a blink of an eye they were rolling on the floor in an all out fight where one ended up with a hole in his head. I guess what i am trying to say is that in time after you learn your birds body language you will know what they are doing and why, it is really hard to know not knowing them. If your one bird flew away, he was done with it. It is good when they can leave the situation on their own. I know from our guys that they do not like their out of cage time to be on their cage, they are smart lil buggers and want to be in the main part of the house where we are and to see new things. By now you should have heard a contact whistle, that is them checking on you and where you are at and if you are safe, if you can, do that whistle back to them. :-) Best wishes on your new journey! Congrats and welcome!

[judygram]

Hello Grey2day and welcome to our family.

Thanks so much for taking in these two greys while their owner is incapable of doing so, he will be so grateful they were cared for so lovingly but if worse comes to worse and he never recovers enough to take them back then you might end up with them for the rest of their lives, you have a kind heart.

I have only one grey so I am of no help to you as to their behavior but hopefully the owner will recover enough to speak about them soon and be able to shed some light as to why they reacted that way.

Please consider sharing some pictures of them if you have some.

[katana600]

I was thinking about the changes your two have gone through. Somewhere I may have gotten the idea there was a third bird in their original home, an amazon, maybe? You just never know what the dynamics were, they are busy watching and learning the new "flock" rules at your house. Gracie may be just showing you how happy she is to be getting attention after a very scary time for her. When we first got Miss Gilbert she did the passion dance, love song and regurg head pumping. I thought it was falling in love, but it was just in passing, maybe from being nervous at yet another rehome for her. Your two have been together a long time, they will adjust in your home in time. I am interested in watching and learning from your experience. Thanks for joining us.

[Grey2Day]

murfchck, they weren't striking at each other. It was more like the beak pulling that you describe. As for the flock call, Gracie makes all sorts of beeps and whistles, so I always whistle to her when I am in other parts of the house. I already had a particular whistle that I used for the budgie (Birdy), and Gracie picked that one up right away. She uses it when she wants to see me.

 

katana, there was indeed a yellow headed amazon in the house as well. After the gentleman's wife left, he was downsizing his flock (his health already was unwell) and had given my sister the amazon (who had liked her when she visited). He had intended to keep his two greys.

 

I am not quite sure how well these birds had been cared for the past few years (or ever, really. I don't like their perch situation!) They had been on a seed diet and some of their feathers are curled on the tips (malnutrition, i think?) Pellets have now been added, and Keto has taken to them fairly well (he is at about a 50% mix and eats all of the pellets now). Gracie is being more resistant, but I am increasing the ratio every day or two, and I believe that she is eating some of them now. I am learning which vegetables they will eat, although they aren't really gung-ho yet like they are with fruits and nuts. Also, the perches. They had a wooden branch perch that ran the width of the cage, and a therapy perch higher up that that they seemed to spend most of their time on. The diameter is too big (although they have room to flap they can't really hang on) and I believe that therapy perches in general are bad?? Maybe you can help me with that one. I have added a smaller rope perch, which they love, and spend so much time there that I feel comfortable moving (or removing) their former favorite perch (the therapy one). I have read several different things about perches, so I don't know yet which way to go with that.

 

I should add that I never had birds until the budgie we got two months before this happened, and my husband's last bird was a budgie he had as a child. How strange that we got the itch to get a bird so shortly before we found ourselves with a whole flock! Anyway, our ignorance is profound and I am most thankful for any help we receive along the way.

 

P.S. Gracie came out today without incident and explored the whole "aviary" (our former living room, lol). She enjoyed going back in her cage, though!

[Timbersmom]

Sounds like things are going great! Not sure what you mean be a therapy perch. My vet said not to use the sandpaper type perches because they are too hard on their feet. There are probably varying opinions on that though. Timber has a variety of sizes and materials of perches. He does have a concrete one, which the vet said was fine and might help with nail grooming.

[murfchck]

Variety of sizes is good for them, helps them exercise. Ours have the concrete ones also. Try some birdie bread most birds eat that up.

[Grey2Day]

Sounds like things are going great! Not sure what you mean be a therapy perch. My vet said not to use the sandpaper type perches because they are too hard on their feet. There are probably varying opinions on that though. Timber has a variety of sizes and materials of perches. He does have a concrete one, which the vet said was fine and might help with nail grooming.

 

No, I don't think that it is a sandpaper perch, I know those are bad. I checked and I think that it is a calcium perch. Again, I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing.

[Grey2Day]

Hi all, just an update on Keto and Gracie. They have bitten us several times (lol) but they have also stepped up and accepted scratches at times. They also don't want to be off their cages at all. They come out and climb on top, but if we try to carry them away from the cage, they hop right back on. We were able to find out from the ex-wife about that beaking behavior. She says she was told that is a mating thing they do, but that Gracie sometimes gets carried away and all of a sudden starts fighting. Anyway you look at it, we will always have to supervise these two when they are out together (moving the cages a little further apart helped). And keep a spray bottle handy, just in case, I guess.

 

Settling in is slow, with a lot of steps back for every advancement we make. No bites have broken the skin, though, so I guess they haven't been THAT mad at us! Gracie seems to eat just about everything I give her (she loves warm oatmeal!) but Keto turns his nose up at everything. At least he seems to be taking some pellets (something I was tole he would never do). Really, he just wants me to hand him nuts all day!

 

[Brat Birds]

They may be a little cage territorial - meaning they don't want to share. Try using a large stick to put in between them when they fight. A spray bottle should not be used as a punishment. If they have bitten when they step up it may just be their way of making certain your hand/arm will stay put when they step on it. If they haven't broken the skin it means they are not THAT scared. Yes, it will go very slow especially for you. A month to us seems a long time, but to them it is just a blink of the eye. Plan on a year to work with them. When you get to a year and look back you will see how much you have improved their lives. You are doing great.

[Timbersmom]

Having had the skin broken on a bite many times, I can see that you are blessed indeed if they aren't biting hard! As bratbirds pointed out, they often check for stability and "perchability" with their beaks before stepping on anything.

[Grey2Day]

Brat Birds, I wasn't thinking about punishing them, just to make them stop fighting for a second so we can split them up. It works to throw a pan of water on two fighting dogs or cats, so I thought the "shock" diversion might work here. So far since we moved their cages further apart we haven't seen this happen again.

 

Timbersmom, are you telling me they CAN break the skin? LOL. My sister took an Amazon from this man a few months before I took the greys, and my introduction to Juanita included enough blood to run down my arm! That experience did make me a little gun-shy around Keto and Gracie. but now that they have each bitten me several times I was beginning to think that their smaller size rendered them less able to do damage. Their bites are quick (Gracie once got me while I was scratching her neck at her invitation) but really don't usually sting much. And you are saying that they are holding back? Maybe they DO like us after all!

[Timbersmom]

LOL They are definitely holding back. When I first rehomed Timber, he left a hole in my arm that I can still find, and that was two years ago!

[murfchck]

LOL, i gave up on any idea of being a hand model when these guys moved in. I have more dents and scars than i care to point out! It is funny though that they are like a point of passage to fellow bird owners, you will find us comparing scars and stories!

[Grey2Day]

Hello! Just coming back to this page for an update on Keto and Gracie. I was finishing my masters when we added all these birds, and so had no time for message boards! But I see that we are coming up on 5 years with them, so I will let you know how things are going. It was so funny to read the above when we had first gotten them, because very little of their respective personalities has changed.

It took them about a year before we could count on them not biting us (actually 5 years for Keto and I, since it was only recently that I could carry him from cage to perch without the Gauntlet of Good (a thick dish towel wrapped to protect my hand and arm)). He adores my husband, and Gracie adores me, so I guess we are all good there. Gracie has turned into a shameless snuggler but only in the evening (head-rubbing time). There is always a risk of being nipped in the morning! It has been FOREVER since anyone broke skin.

Keto is the talker, and says the most amazing things. He has always had his "with us" vocabulary, and you can hear him muttering other things when we are out of the room, but could never quite make out the words. About a year ago he really stepped up his game. He says things that appropriate to the situation, sometimes things we have never heard him say before. He plays the "come here" game where he makes the request and I pop into the room and go out again, rinse, repeat a few times. One day I was running late and told him I didn't have time today and he said a long drawn-out "Oh no...." with perfectly sad inflection. He went through a short period where he said "F*ck you" several times, and when i called over to him "Not that one, Keto, that isn't very nice" he replied "Oh yeah?" and said it one more time, after which he was ignored for the rest of the day and never said it again. It is clear that he understands everything we say, sometimes knows the right response, and has a large enough (hidden) vocabulary to keep surprising us. He has said "Oh no" with different inflections, always appropriate to the situation.

Gracie continues to be the whistler. We have shared with her Westminster and Bach, among others. She had repeated parts of the chimes, but is more often her own composer, sometime stringing together a good number of notes, which she can then repeat. Great fun!

The "beaking" happens whenever we let it, always with either cage bars between them, or a thumb securely hanging on to feet. The outcome is always identical to when the first came. They both get involved, Gracie gets too aggressive, Keto hates it, and we pull them apart quick. It is clear that they love each other, and they each get a little nervous when the other one is out of the room.

All in all, things have gone well. They are an endless source of entertainment, despite their demands. And parakeet Birdy is still rounding out our flock.

[neoow]

I have just seen this thread for the first time. I'm glad you and your flock are still doing so well!