EZFrag Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Hi There, When I first got my baby grey, she seemed very weak, helpless and scared. But now , 4 days later, she (6 weeks) is lively, playing with toys, sitting on a perch and climbing around in her cage. I had a near heart attack when I saw her do the latter, 1) because from what I have heard she shouldn't be climbing for at least another month or so, and 2) I feared for what would happen should she fall. Now here is what followed. I panicked, trying not to show it, and open the cage door slowly. At this point she was visibly struggling to hold on, but she kept going. I reached inside with my hands cupped right behind/below her and said "Oppies" (Step up). Still grabbing the cage with her beak, she let go off the cage with the one foot after the other, pile driving my hands into oblivion with the nice long, sharp nails, and finally let go of the cage with her beak. I got her down without any issues. Don't worry, I took care of the climbing issue(found a divider which I'll be installing in a bit). Now my question is: Can Greys really develop trust and synergy so fast? Apart from the fact that she is only 6 weeks, she only knew me for four days. Also, she seems to be learning at an extremely fast rate. Am I just being stupidly amazed by what is normal, or is there something going on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 EZFrag, hopefully Dave007 will be along soon. He is the one to ask about baby greys as most of us got our greys when they were weaned and appropriately 4 months old. Fully eating on their own and physically capable of getting around their cages on their own. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffNOK Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I am no expert. But when I first started visiting my CAG at the breeders before she was weaned, I interacted with baby birds. It seems that babies are actually quite trusting. With time, many greys become more reserved and wary of the unknown, but the babies appear to be open, docile, and trusting at a young age. I think your baby is a very normal little bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Hi There, When I first got my baby grey, she seemed very weak, helpless and scared. But now , 4 days later, she (6 weeks) is lively, playing with toys, sitting on a perch and climbing around in her cage. I had a near heart attack when I saw her do the latter, 1) because from what I have heard she shouldn't be climbing for at least another month or so, and 2) I feared for what would happen should she fall. Now here is what followed. I panicked, trying not to show it, and open the cage door slowly. At this point she was visibly struggling to hold on, but she kept going. I reached inside with my hands cupped right behind/below her and said "Oppies" (Step up). Still grabbing the cage with her beak, she let go off the cage with the one foot after the other, pile driving my hands into oblivion with the nice long, sharp nails, and finally let go of the cage with her beak. I got her down without any issues. Don't worry, I took care of the climbing issue(found a divider which I'll be installing in a bit). Now my question is: Can Greys really develop trust and synergy so fast? Apart from the fact that she is only 6 weeks, she only knew me for four days. Also, she seems to be learning at an extremely fast rate. Am I just being stupidly amazed by what is normal, or is there something going on here? Well, first and foremost, you need to realize that you're dealing with an unweaned bird. At 6 wks, a bird isn't trying to develop a trust with anything including you. At that age what kicks in is curiosisty for many things that surround it. It's called unknown adventure. Some birds are more curious and others no matter what their age. Some are bolder than others no matter what their age. A baby bird can put itself in an awkward situation not knowing that something more serious may occur by doing that. Any energy that any bird displays is natural. It's up to the owner to make sure that the bird doesn't get into bad situations. Concerning what just happened to you and your bird-----she chose to climb around the cage. All birds will do that. That didn't make you happy so you grabbed her. So, basically she did something of her own free will and was happy. If she wasn't happy, she wouldn't have done it. Then you came along and did something that made you happy. She grabbed you with her claws because you made her unstable. She is like that. You were the closest thing to her. She grabbed the bars and wouldn't let go because a bird's beak is a bird's hand. If the bird was older, she would have also used her beak to grab you. Everything a bird does starts with the bird grabbing or touching with the beak throughout her life. Just like you, you use the hand to learn but you don't bite it first because you have 2 hands. A beak is the hand that tells a bird many things. You need to let your bird learn about it's new home. That new home consists of her cage. It's an area where she'll create and design as time goes on. If she has falls, that's to be expected. An adjustment in perch height makes accidents easier to handle for you and the bird. You got an unweaned bird that for all intents and purposes should still be in an area that isn't a cage but the past is the past. A person who takes on such a young bird needs to be ready to modify things so that the bird will still feel that it's a safe environment. Knowing you for 4 days-------if I took your bird away, it wouldn't know that you were gone because right now, the only thing she knows about you is that you supply her with food. A bird who has energy is a good thing and as long as you make sure she vents that energy in a safe place, there wont be problems. That safe place is her cage. Edited February 21, 2015 by Dave007 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Why do you have this bird so early, as opposed to the normal sixteen weeks? I am not being critical.... just curious. Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 It was an uneducated decision. I only learned about the 16 week thing when I found this forum via google. But I don't regret the decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 I understand. Thanks for your insight Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 It was an uneducated decision. This is why we wish people would do their homework before plunging in and purchasing such a young bird but in your case that is moot now, be sure to find a good avian vet to turn to when needed and read as many of the threads in the nursery room so you will know what to expect, good luck to you and keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 This is why we wish people would do their homework before plunging in and purchasing such a young bird. But I did. I purchased her fully knowing that she will be young, how to feed her, what to feed her, I have her weaning pellets, a HUGE cage. All that stuff was before hand. We just don't have that specific age law down here (young baby parrots, not the other one). I only learned of that when I came here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Dorian was a rehome so the only knowledge I have about babies I picked up here. You should pad the bottom of the cage with towels so that if she falls she'll have a soft landing. Get used to doing lots of laundry lol. Also, look up information here on abundance weaning so that as she gets older and closer to being weaned you'll be setting her up to have a great relationship to food of all kinds. She is so precious. Sometimes I wish I'd had the baby experience with Dorian but I don't think I would have been brave enough to take on such a small soul. Bless you for making the time commitment to take care of this little one. Please keep posting pictures so that we can live vicariously through you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZFrag Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 You should pad the bottom of the cage with towels so that if she falls she'll have a soft landing. Yes, yes, I was thinking the exact same thing about 10 min ago. Washing towels seems way more appealing than having to figure out what to do with all the messy newspapers anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 EZFrag... Willing to help you if you need it Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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