Hello from the Hill Country area of Texas

[LotusBloom]

I stumbled across this site looking for information on greys. We already have a cape parrot, who is my baby, and my husband has a CAG who adores him and merely tolerates me, but 6 months ago we took in a 15 year old CAG. She had been raised since she was a baby by her previous owner. Her previous owner had a very strong bond with her and had taken her in while she was still hand feeding. Within the first week that we got her, she would let me pet her, she would step up for me, she would cuddle in my lap, and she even regurgitated for me if I pet her too much. I thought things were going well but as time wore on, she started shutting down on me. She will no longer step up nor leave her cage. She will let me pet her in her cage but I can't get her out of the cage. Even if I leave the cage door open, she won't leave it.

 

I feel very bad for her and not sure what to do. I'm not sure why she regressed. The only thing that I can think of is that her previous owner traveled a lot so she would go to a sitter's house, so maybe she was friendly when she thought she was only here temporarily but now that the months have dragged on, she realizes that her owner isn't coming back.

 

I do talk to her every day. I will pet her on the days that her body language says that it's ok. Sometimes she will let me pet her for 15 minutes or longer until my arm is too tired to be reaching in the cage and petting her, and other days I can only pet her for 30 seconds before she attempts to bite me. She is very talkative and has even learned new words here. It just breaks my heart because all the other birds are out of their cages every single day and she won't leave hers. I've tried different scenarios, i.e. when other parrots are locked up or when other parrots are out. I can't use a favorite treat to tempt her because she is an extremely picky eater and will only eat a certain pellet. She is not very food motivated.

 

Does anyone have any advice? At least she is not plucking or screaming but she can't be happy being in a cage 24/7. I will even sit in a chair next to her cage and talk to her. She will come very close to me and will be hanging on the bars in her cage as near to me as she can, but she won't leave the cage. Other times when I am near her cage, she is lunging towards me. With her previous owner, she stepped up on command and spent a lot of time out of her cage.

 

I didn't think that 6 months later, there would be problems like this...especially since in the first month, she would sit in my lap and totally snuggle with me as long as I would let her. Starting in month 2 is when her trips out of the cage became few and further in-between (her choice) and now it's been probably 2 months since she's been out of her cage at all.

 

If I should post this in another category on the forum, please let me know.

 

Any advice to help this 15 year old girl adjust and be happy would be appreciated.

[Dave007]

Just what treats are you actually trying with?

[birdhouse]

Hi & Welcome LotusBloom. Good intro! Lots of info in such a relatively short post! lol So, ok initially, you were in what we call the honeymoon phase. Unless a bird is traumatized or inherently bad tempered, high strung etc, they tend to put on their company manners during that time. Your baby's got a nice disposition & was probably treated pretty well. That's great to know & helpful to work with.

 

Now reality has set in. She's not going home to the parront(s) who she'd been bonded to for so many years. Grey bonds can be very strong. I'd say she's missing her human(s). And she's intelligent & sensitive enough to be withdrawn & upset enough to be isolating herself for the moment.

 

Also, if she's been an only fid, she may be even more out of her element w/this blended flock. Even if you do let her out by herself, she'd still be aware that the others are there & has no reason to think they couldn't be lose at any moment.

 

Apparently, my theme for the day is "patience". It sounds like you're doing everything right. You're allowing her the space she needs by not pushing yourself on her. But you're giving her the opportunities to join the flock. I'd say just keep doing what you've been doing & give her time. Grey time, as we call it is basically slow motion. But they do eventually get there, in their own sweet time.

 

And if you have any specific thoughts or questions from now on, don't hesitate to post them. Maybe we can speed things up a little(!) by addressing specifics.

 

Also, hoping you'll be posting some more about you're whole flock. Not just your greys. We also have an "Other Birds" forum. I for one would like to hear everything you want to share about your Cape Parrot. :cool:

[LotusBloom]

Her previous owner told me that she was very picky about foods and did not have any favorites. She eats pellet food. I provide my flock with a fresh bean mash that includes chopped up veggies and fruits and different nuts and seeds (in addition to pellet food). I've tried giving her different foods, both as a mash and also as separate pieces of food. I had hoped that she would try new foods and I keep providing her with new foods but she just ignores them. The only other food that she ate besides pellets was popsicles, but I've not had luck using popsicles with her. She won't even eat the popsicles in her cage for me. I haven't been able to find anything that she will eat besides her pellets. Even with the pellets, she is so picky that she will only eat certain colors of the zupreem pellet fruit blend that she's eaten her entire life. I've tried other pellets with her as well. There are multiple bowls in her cage so I'm able to offer a variety. I've been half tempted to remove her pellet food and hope that she gets hungry enough to try the other stuff.

[Dave007]

I think you should try out pur nuts---almonds(shelled or unshelled or both. walnuts, pecans, unsalted pistachios etc. You should get much better results. Mash is not a treat. Parrots like nuts.Greys are extremely tempermental. They're very territorial and at diffent times ct differently about their home (cage)Their temporary atitudes can change very quickly. Sometimes they'll like the male in the house for a while and then the female and then both. During a natural hormonal, seasonal time, they can get very bitchy, nasty or extremely aloof, especially females. On the other hand, they may not act differently at all. Their habits change in new living quarters. She came from one house, dealth with a certain way/ had certain habits then came to a new environment and acts a different way. It may take quite a while for that new change to be noticable, many times, more than 6 mts.15 yrs in one place? 6 mts in a new place. That's a huge change and patience is a virtue here. Right now, I would bet that everything that was done in the old house is not happening in the new house, not that you're doing anything bad. The bird is adjusting and it takes quite a while. There's few people who get a 15, 20, 25 yr old bird as a rehome. That's a bird that's pretty settled in her ways. People also have problems with rehomes when they're only 3, 4, 5, 6 yrs old. Go with the flow, relax and let her develop her own reactions to a new place, new environment, new house habits, new people etc.There relly doesn't sound like there's any major thing wrong. Biting?? All parrots bite at different times for many reasons. Some bite in different ways then others. Cape parrots are extremely predictable. Greys aren't because greys are more aloof and like being alone at different times. You'll soon see what the personality is really like. There's people on this board that have young birs and those birds take to certain people in a house so nothing you're saying is unusual. The only thing you have to worry about is when a bird actually goes out of his/her way to inflict serious dmage like flying off a cge and intentionally trying to find a particular person to bite. To a grey and other parrots,putting a hand in a cage, sometimes not tolerated. You're having a problem there? Don't put your hand in the bird's personal space. It takes a long time to learn about a bird with super intelligence such as a grey.

[Dave007]

PS---my edit feature doesn't work here anymore so I'll just say that add hazelnuts to that and also have a decent parrot seed mixture available. Seed is not as bad as some have said.

[Dave007]

Also try some flavored warm oatmeal as treat.

[LotusBloom]

Thanks for the advice to keep doing what I'm doing. I knew that greys can be stuck in their ways and take a long time to adjust to new situations, but I thought we would be fine at the 6 month mark. I just feel so bad for her.

 

Currently, all the cages are in what I call my husband's man cave. We have a large house and when he is home, we spend our time in his man cave so we keep the flock in there. I have several stands so during the day, I can bring them into various rooms with me, but also during the day I'm in the main area of the house. I'll try to move her into the main area to see if that helps her. During the day I'm in the living room but in the evening I'm in the man cave so she will still have several hours with me and no other bird if I bring her cage in the living room. It could be the other birds that make her nervous, because all of her lovingness was going on when she was in a different room because I had her in quarantine. She hadn't lived with any other birds previously.

 

It was just so weird because during the first month, she liked to be with me constantly. She does fine in her cage and will play with the toys in there but she was extremely cuddly at first. She would melt in my lap, and by melt, her body would be totally relaxed, legs tucked under her so not even standing/perched in my lap, but her belly resting on my lap as I would just love on her. She would snuggle there as long as I would let her, sometimes 30-60 minutes at a time. And now, she will only let me pet her through her cage a handful of times a week and she even lunges at me sometimes.

 

Thank you again for the information. I will definitely check out the other forum because my cape is a hoot. She has the personality of a amazon, conure, caique, grey, and cockatoo all rolled into one bird. She definitely has a huge personality and is very entertaining. She also talks in context like greys. In fact, her and the adopted grey have taught each other songs and phrases and will even chat with each other.

[LotusBloom]

What do you mean by flavored warm oatmeal? What do you flavor it with? I make my personal oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar. Do you have a recipe to recommend or can you let me know what I should add to the oatmeal for the flavor?

 

 

Also try some flavored warm oatmeal as treat.

[Ray P]

First I would like to say welcome to the grey forum and thanks for taking in an older grey.

Dave007 and Birdhouse have given you some good advice and ideas on making the transition into your home.

Just hang there and things will change for the better

[LotusBloom]

Your statement about capes vs greys is very accurate. My cape gets temperamental but it only lasts 1-3 minutes at most, whereas our CAG can be temperamental for a day at a time. I do provide seeds and nuts but I feed those in various foraging toys so they have to work for them, besides adding some to their bean mash.

 

This girl has bitten me a couple times but it's never been hard. So she's not aggressive or anything. When she's in the mood, she loves when I have my hand in the cage and petting her. She has never shown aggression in the cage which is good but again, I feel so bad for her. It's like she wants the attention and closeness but she's upset so she refuses to leave her cage. Until I figured out her body language, I would put my hand in the cage and see how she would react before I would attempt to pet her, but I've learned that if she wants to be loved on, she will actually come towards me and be as close to me as she can without leaving the cage.

 

I will say something funny about her, which I've figured out her ruse. If she puts her head down to be petted, but sways back and forth while her head is down, that's her way of trying to trick someone into coming close enough so she can bite them. Especially since she looks absolutely adorable when she sways back and forth with her head down. If she puts her head down and ruffles up her neck feathers a little, that's how I know that she wants to be loved on and won't bite. She makes me laugh when she does that. She fooled me in the beginning and I'm sure she will find another way to fool me someday again.

 

I think you should try out pur nuts---almonds(shelled or unshelled or both. walnuts, pecans, unsalted pistachios etc. You should get much better results. Mash is not a treat. Parrots like nuts.Greys are extremely tempermental. They're very territorial and at diffent times ct differently about their home (cage)Their temporary atitudes can change very quickly. Sometimes they'll like the male in the house for a while and then the female and then both. During a natural hormonal, seasonal time, they can get very bitchy, nasty or extremely aloof, especially females. On the other hand, they may not act differently at all. Their habits change in new living quarters. She came from one house, dealth with a certain way/ had certain habits then came to a new environment and acts a different way. It may take quite a while for that new change to be noticable, many times, more than 6 mts.15 yrs in one place? 6 mts in a new place. That's a huge change and patience is a virtue here. Right now, I would bet that everything that was done in the old house is not happening in the new house, not that you're doing anything bad. The bird is adjusting and it takes quite a while. There's few people who get a 15, 20, 25 yr old bird as a rehome. That's a bird that's pretty settled in her ways. People also have problems with rehomes when they're only 3, 4, 5, 6 yrs old. Go with the flow, relax and let her develop her own reactions to a new place, new environment, new house habits, new people etc.There relly doesn't sound like there's any major thing wrong. Biting?? All parrots bite at different times for many reasons. Some bite in different ways then others. Cape parrots are extremely predictable. Greys aren't because greys are more aloof and like being alone at different times. You'll soon see what the personality is really like. There's people on this board that have young birs and those birds take to certain people in a house so nothing you're saying is unusual. The only thing you have to worry about is when a bird actually goes out of his/her way to inflict serious dmage like flying off a cge and intentionally trying to find a particular person to bite. To a grey and other parrots,putting a hand in a cage, sometimes not tolerated. You're having a problem there? Don't put your hand in the bird's personal space. It takes a long time to learn about a bird with super intelligence such as a grey.

[Dave007]

What do you mean by flavored warm oatmeal? What do you flavor it with? I make my personal oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar. Do you have a recipe to recommend or can you let me know what I should add to the oatmeal for the flavor?

 

OATMEAL---go to the supermarket and buy some Quaker Oats oatmeal. The have boxes that have individual packets ( 10 to a box) that have different flavors all mixed into one box. Make sure the oatmeal is warm and very lumpy, not smooth. Also try some yogurt which has good bacteria in it.

[Dave007]

Your statement about capes vs greys is very accurate. My cape gets temperamental but it only lasts 1-3 minutes at most, whereas our CAG can be temperamental for a day at a time. I do provide seeds and nuts but I feed those in various foraging toys so they have to work for them, besides adding some to their bean mash.

 

This girl has bitten me a couple times but it's never been hard. So she's not aggressive or anything. When she's in the mood, she loves when I have my hand in the cage and petting her. She has never shown aggression in the cage which is good but again, I feel so bad for her. It's like she wants the attention and closeness but she's upset so she refuses to leave her cage. Until I figured out her body language, I would put my hand in the cage and see how she would react before I would attempt to pet her, but I've learned that if she wants to be loved on, she will actually come towards me and be as close to me as she can without leaving the cage.

 

I will say something funny about her, which I've figured out her ruse. If she puts her head down to be petted, but sways back and forth while her head is down, that's her way of trying to trick someone into coming close enough so she can bite them. Especially since she looks absolutely adorable when she sways back and forth with her head down. If she puts her head down and ruffles up her neck feathers a little, that's how I know that she wants to be loved on and won't bite. She makes me laugh when she does that. She fooled me in the beginning and I'm sure she will find another way to fool me someday again.

 

So, you really have no problems, right? She's just a grey who's acting like a grey.

 

Read this

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109373-Body-language-most-frequently-seen

[LotusBloom]

Thanks Ray. I knew that getting an older grey would not be an easy task but I also knew that I have lots of patience and love for birds. I wasn't looking for a another grey at the time but when I heard about her predicament, I stepped forward. The area where I live is filled with animal flippers and I didn't want to see this girl go into a bad situation, especially since she is 15 and very set in her ways.

 

First I would like to say welcome to the grey forum and thanks for taking in an older grey.

Dave007 and Birdhouse have given you some good advice and ideas on making the transition into your home.

Just hang there and things will change for the better

[SRSeedBurners]

Here's how we make oatmeal - Greycie gets excited when she knows I'm making some for her - it's her favorite treat:

 

Quaker old fashioned oats

Tiny bit of almond butter

Small amount flax seed, quinoa, and chia seed

Unflavored almond milk

Cinnamon

Banana

water

 

I've used Fage yogurt in place of the almond milk.

 

Microwaved and consistency as Dave said - warm and lumpy. She goes nuts!. She will pace back and forth while I make this and gives me the baby squeaks over and over with her wings slightly out and quivering. It's the only thing she gulps down.

Edited May 15, 2014 by SterlingSL
Added Cinnamon & Banana - I knew I forgot something

[LotusBloom]

Ha...That's funny. Yes I know a lot of it is her grey personality. Even with her previous owners, she chose not to come out of her cage every day but would at least come out a few days every week and had days that she wanted to be left alone. I just feel bad that she hasn't been out in over 2 months. My other grey may get moody but she still enjoys coming out of her cage just about every day...even if she's not thrilled that she has to come through me to get to her play stand perch.

 

So, you really have no problems, right? She's just a grey who's acting like a grey.

 

Read this

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109373-Body-language-most-frequently-seen

[LotusBloom]

Thank you Sterling and Dave for the info on the oatmeal. I will definitely add that to my shopping list. If she doesn't go near it, should I try to feed her some so she gets a flavor of it? She is friendly towards me so I could easily get a little in her beak but I also don't want to freak her out by doing it either. She won't go near the food bowls when the stuff in there doesn't look familiar.

[birdhouse]

Here it's Quaker oats w/some combo of cinnamon, raisins, bananas, applesauce, red palm oil, flax seeds or chamomile buds (for hormonal sprees).

 

It's also a good way to help transition a fid's diet. Several times a week make breakfast warm cinnamon oatmeal & applesauce (usually a universal fav). A few weeks later, start sneaking a very small portion of broccoli buds or some other yucky healthy type thing into it . You might also try smothering a bit of mash w/it.

 

I won't say it works all the time. But I've had pretty good luck. It generally seems to taste best when eaten off a spoon. And of course, whatever anyone else eats may just be extra incentive to try as well.

[Brat Birds]

Welcome. Can't add much to what has already been said. Mine like their oatmeal with almond milk and cinnamon. Sometimes I add a little fruit too.

[Timbersmom]

Hello and welcome! I don't really have anything to add to what the others have said so well. Timber will try anything warm on a spoon. I may have it all over me if he doesn't like it, but he will at least stick his beak in! He is a picky eater as well. Also, try pine nuts if you haven't. That is probably Timber's favorite nut. Good luck and God bless

[Acappella]

Thank you for taking in this older grey. I agree with others, you initially went through the "honeymoon" phase of a re-home, even if it was a little bit longer than the usual 2 weeks. Now you've got a grey that is probably mourning the loss of her first home. I'm glad to hear she's playing with toys and not being a total perch potato. Have you tried attaching an outside perch with her favourite type of toy attached to the end of it? My Dorian was totally cage bound for the first few months of his life with me and he still spends the majority of his time inside with the door open like your girl, but I did figure out he loves shredding box board, so there's always one attached to an outside perch somewhere. It's always easier for the bird and the human to step up from outside the cage. Dorian choose a particular outside perch as his "step up" perch. When he went to that perch it was a signal to me that he was ready to come with me. But this little bit of progress literally took years because he was not only cage bound, he was terrified of hands. It sounds like in her heart your girl is very well socialized so it probably won't take as long for you. An animal behaviourist came to see me and Dorian once when I was frustrated at his slow progress. She told me to approach him every day as if he was already the bird I wanted him to be. For me that meant dropping the expectations, the anxiety and stress, and to go to him with joy. They are so sensitive to our moods, I swear it made a difference. Good luck and love to you and your new fid.