QWERTY_ Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Hello I have an African grey Rio he is now almost a year old. We have been given a chance to get another african grey who is almost 2 year years old and is a female. We have got a chance to bring her to our house and to see how they both get along before we buy her. As the owners cannot keep her because of the dog they have and the parrot with her sounds makes the dog go crazy and he feels unwell. We have got them in separate cages... Now We have to make a decision to either leave her with us or return the poor parrot and leave it as it is. The problem we have got iss... Rio tries to play with her, scratch her nicely and even feed her, but she would reject any type of attention from him by biting him or flying away from him. She is allways shaking and looks afraid. ( I do understand her as she just moved from one owner and now we would be the third owner.) but as cruel as it sounds we need to decide what is best for us and our Rio as he started behaving differently around her. He is slowing down on talking to us and by that I mean in human language as before he was saying hello, give a kiss, come here etc. Now he would only talk like a parrot. ( I suspect he is interested in a girl and that is OK if we would see if they get allong we would keep them and even possibly breed them later on) But for now all we see is him going backwards and not having fun out of life. The girl does have some problems like she would not interact qith us or with any of the toys or with Rio. The last two previous owners did say that she would spend 95% of her time on or in the cage :-( Can anyone help and suggest what to do??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I have a male CAG (4) and a female TAG (6), I have had them since they were 5 months and 4 months old respectively. They do not interact or talk to each other. They just tolerate each other. I got them for me and only me. So if your second grey is not with you because you wanted a second grey for your companionship then I would rehome this sweet grey for the grey's own happiness. Pets should be for the owner's delight not another animal. Just my opinion. I rehomed a couple of zons and an ekkie over the years because they were in terrible situations. I found the right homes for them and everyone is happy and content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) HelloI have an African grey Rio he is now almost a year old. We have been given a chance to get another african grey who is almost 2 year years old and is a female. We have got a chance to bring her to our house and to see how they both get along before we buy her. As the owners cannot keep her because of the dog they have and the parrot with her sounds makes the dog go crazy and he feels unwell. We have got them in separate cages... Now We have to make a decision to either leave her with us or return the poor parrot and leave it as it is. The problem we have got iss... Rio tries to play with her, scratch her nicely and even feed her, but she would reject any type of attention from him by biting him or flying away from him. She is allways shaking and looks afraid. ( I do understand her as she just moved from one owner and now we would be the third owner.) but as cruel as it sounds we need to decide what is best for us and our Rio as he started behaving differently around her. He is slowing down on talking to us and by that I mean in human language as before he was saying hello, give a kiss, come here etc. Now he would only talk like a parrot. ( I suspect he is interested in a girl and that is OK if we would see if they get allong we would keep them and even possibly breed them later on) But for now all we see is him going backwards and not having fun out of life. The girl does have some problems like she would not interact qith us or with any of the toys or with Rio. The last two previous owners did say that she would spend 95% of her time on or in the cage :-( Can anyone help and suggest what to do??? The rule of thumb is that greys each need their own cage whether they are friendly with each other or not. The next thing to realize is that the new bird has lived in different places which has created a certain kind of personality. No 2 greys have the same personality. As far as your established bird, any new situation that develops in a house such as a new bird will cause different reactions in Rio. Those reactions can be very different within the grey world. My grey may react one way when a new bird comes in but my other grey will react differently. My other grey will react by biting me at times. All of these things subside as time goes on and each bird reastablishes his/her own personality. Right now, things are different. The fact that your bird talks less means nothing. Now is the time for all the birds to study each other from the safety of their cages. Let only one out at a time until you see a calmness starting with the birds. Rio is reacting because jealousy surrounds him. Greys are very jealous type birds. Human talking / parrot talking----------- a bird who is talking in human language is mimicking . A bird who is talking in parrot language is natural because the bird is a parrot. One thing my three birds have in common---ALL speak parrotese and the one that mimics human language speaks in parrotese much more than human language and he has about 300 human words he says. Any human mimicking will eventually come back. There are greys that exist that don't ever mimic human language throughout their whole lives. Any ideas about breeding later on should be be squelched. The main reason is that pet greys are never used for breeding. Only breeder birds are used and breeder birds aren't pets and obviously, you know nothing about the major difficulties that go into grey breeding. That's why greys are separated so that sexual bonds don't develop. If that happens, any bonding with people will be lost. My advice---figure out if you're willing to take in another bird and learn about it's unique personality, understand that each bird will be eventually treated differently, each bird will have it's own home. These 2 birds are very young. Understand that the time will come when they will relax with each other but it will take time. People make a big mistake when adopting parrots ( any species of parrots), the people think that loads of changes will happen quickly and that's just not true. I've adopted greys who were between 8 to 16 yrs old. Only one of my greys has ben in my home since it was a chick. Also understand what environment you'll be sending the bird into again. I don't know you but I can tell you what it's like to begin to start a relationhip with 2 birds that don't know each other and who also don't you yet. PS--the personalities of my 3 greys was 1000% more serious than yours when each was gradually put together. They were all adults. One was extremely aggressive with my family, my dog and with the other birds. Edited February 25, 2015 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWERTY_ Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Thank ypu for ypur replies. Is there a possibility that both greys eventualy be playfull and happy at least with us?? Rio at the moment have not bonded with either of us he likes us both equaly and flyes over to us If we call him. Will Rio keep learning mimicing us or will the additional parrot couse him to make sounds more like a parrot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) Thank ypu for ypur replies. Is there a possibility that both greys eventualy be playfull and happy at least with us?? Rio at the moment have not bonded with either of us he likes us both equaly and flyes over to us If we call him. <br>Will Rio keep learning mimicing us or will the additional parrot couse him to make sounds more like a parrot? More than likely, both birds will eventually become more friendly with the people in the house but in different ways. A person has to accept that there's 2 birds around that have different personalities. A dangerous thing to do is to hope for either bird to bond with only one person. The ideal situation is that both birds will accept all the members in a house but many times that doesn't happen. So, each person deals with each bird in ways that the bird seems to be comfortable. One of my birds has to come out of the cage when food is given. Another one has to be in the cage. One of my birds won't step up on my left hand but will do so with my right hand. One of my birds likes to fly to my shoulder and immediately go to sleep. Another will fly to my shoulder and bite my skin, jewelry, earlobes, hair. Another will only sit on my lap. When all are out, the smallest bird(TAG) tries to intimidate the other 2. SO, do they love me?? Yes. Will they speak in mimic human language--the one that does will do so but the other 2 don't mimic human language and they never have. Will they speak to each other in parrotese? Well, let me put it this way---they are parrots, right? A person who studys parrots can eventually know what the bird is saying when hearing parrotese. I know I do and have so throughout many years. I really don't get excited about birds mimicking human language. It's never stopped me from adopting them. I didn't expect them to mimic and so far, they haven',t but I know everything they're saying to me and to the other parrots so I feel that I succeeded in having those birds having relationships with me. See what I heighted in black?? Be grateful that the bird is dealing with all the people in the house. See what I heightited? Be very happy that it's that way. This is a piocture of 3 birds that hated each other Edited February 25, 2015 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Dave said it best. LOVED the picture, and can imagine the work Dave put into them!!! I also agree with luvparrots as well! I am very selfish, and can only do " one grey". If you have two... you have to put in 200%. If you can do that FANTASTIC!!!!! You WILL be subtracting quality time with baby Rio and possibly stressing him in the future and only you can decide if its worth the risk Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWERTY_ Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ouch... Another question since we brought other parrot to the house... Rio is driving us (and I suspect our neighbours) CRAZY... as all he does all day long in his cage or out is screams and shouts in high pitched noises. (instead of the usual blabing about in our human language) Is this directly affected by the new parrot and if we keep the other parrot will he eventually calm down? God my ears are bleeding Here is a video of them both sitting on my knees calmly watching each other... Rio is the one who is Stretching. The other parrots name is Lue but just recently We made a DNA test and its actually a girl so we thought of changing Lue to Luisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 IMO - you have the perfect situation going on there. Two Greys and they don't look to be aggressive at all in each other's presence although that's a very short video. Grey's DO NOT DO WELL alone!!!! From your description of the shrieking, it sounds like you are describing their stress call. Did it start when you brought the other Grey home? Our Grey started doing it when we brought our Caique home and now the damn Caique does it all the time. Our Grey has persisted with it too since it's being reinforced through the Caique. My sense is it will diminish as they start to settle in with each other. I don't think you can go wrong with two Greys that get along. They will still include you in their flock if you participate. Nothing worse than a lone bird all day long while you're at work. Post a video of the shrieking if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWERTY_ Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Here is the video of rio shrieking And yes he did started doing that after we got the other parrot and he also learner to mimic her. And rhis is not the loudest he can go Rio screeching: http://youtu.be/l0hJlNdT4So Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Well, that looks and sounds like African Grey 'parottese' to me. Get Dave to translate that for you - haa haa. That's not the stress shriek I was referring to and you would hate it - it drives us bonkers. It makes perfect sense you started hearing that when you brought another of his own kind into his proximity. Just from your two short videos there you look to have two fine friends in the making. Edited February 26, 2015 by SterlingSL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Here is the video of rio shrieking And yes he did started doing that after we got the other parrot and he also learner to mimic her. And rhis is not the loudest he can go Rio screeching: http://youtu.be/l0hJlNdT4So Well, I'm really surprised at the classification you put those sounds into. Even if the sounds were louder, you should know that there's a parrot there that's giving attention, getting attention, making itself well known and showing how new he/she is affecting her. I guess you've never heard a parrot really screech. What you're hearing there will subside. THAT'S A FACT. This a grey who's screeching. Learn to study the sounds of greys. They're normally quiet birds but they do have their moments. One of my greys does this sound when he's hungry and continues until he's fed. In your case, it's just the sounds of a bird in a new place, a new environment, new surroundings, new people, new visual movements, new toys, new reactions to all of these things. One major thing I forgot to ask you in the beginning of thread----just how long have you had that new bird in your house??? This is a screeching African grey Edited February 26, 2015 by Dave007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I agree with the others. What I heard on your video are the types of sounds Timber makes all the time. His "alert" or screech is more like what Dave posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I couldnt hear it for some reason, but I could " read the parrots beak." LOL NOT a screaming grey but vocalizing. Being partially deaf does has its benefits. If you want to hear ear splitting screaming, get an Amazon! OUCH! Even Kiki could hurt my ears. Luckily she only screamed from 300-315 on a daily basis.(pm thank goodness!) I could hear her four doors down when I walked Ollie in the summer with windows opened.I just pretended I didn't live at that house. Sophie CAN get really loud.... I just say " shhhh" and she quiets right down.I suppose I did train her to do that, but dont think of it as training. Just a normal human response to a very loud bird! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 QWERTY... I noticed you said " ouch." I hope I didn't offend you in anyway. I didn't mean to offend! We all have different opinions and never mean to say " my way is the right way!" I have complete respect for anyone that has more than one grey.I just can't imagine having twin two year olds! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWERTY_ Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 QWERTY... I noticed you said " ouch." I hope I didn't offend you in anyway. I didn't mean to offend! We all have different opinions and never mean to say " my way is the right way!" I have complete respect for anyone that has more than one grey.I just can't imagine having twin two year olds! Nancy Oh no no no no no I don't get offended I meant "ouch" (my ears are in pain) And regarding to this screeching well previous to the new parrot Rio used to call us and use his FULL vocabulary of mimicking sounds to get our attention. Especially in the mornings when he would be hungry. Now I suppose because of the new parrot he has got a reason to his his own language Well I did hear a lot of good advice , now the decisions time we will think about it and most likely keep the second parrot LUCY with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 QWERTY... I am soooo excited for you and your gang! I felt like I was a " DEBBIE DOWNER".... but wanted you to know the facts. You are committed and CAN do it! Of course, we are all here for you anytime you need us! Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 So, we have 4 greys, they are each their own personality. None can really be on the same stand, perch, shoulder etc. They tolerate each other from afar. They all talk in their language to each other, finish songs and even talk human language with each other. Every morning when we leave for work Ixta will say "I'm going" Cotay follows with "I'll be back" then Gabby will say "hello". (Gabby has it backwards so Cotay will correct her by saying "bye") Gabby has laid claim to the kitchen counter and to the table, Bongo has just started to explore things and has found out all on his own where he is not welcome. They beak it out until Bongo flies away. From your video, that was just normal jabber from a grey, lol. Just wait until they pick up the truck backing up beep, that will pierce your ears. They growl also so expect to hear that sometimes as well. The squeaky door, the microwave, the dog barking the cat meowing lol, the garbage trucks loud brakes, all the outside birds too, all of that times 2 in your case, times 4 here. Cotay and Ixta have this high pitched whistle that they will do when I walk past them. Cotay does it to the hubs when she is on his shoulder right by the ear. If you think that was loud and hurt your ears I would advise you never to own a cockatoo! heehee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 All I heard was a grey being a grey, vocalizations they make during the course of a day, greys are fairly quiet when you compare them to toos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 My your grey is rather quiet compared to some. Wait until he settles in and the two greys get use to each other. You cannot teach a grey only what you want. They are intelligent prey animals with a mind of their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 AMEN to that luvparrots! But I do appreciate that Sophie will get quiet for around five minutes when I say shhhh! LOL Five minutes, is five minutes! LOL Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QWERTY_ Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 The decision has been made... well sort of... we have told the owners to try and sell Lucy and find her a right home... as we cannot afford her at the moment and the 200% of attention, well if we ever have children it will be very difficult on the parrots ... but we are leaving it up to fate as if they will not sell her we will buy her within a few months when we can afford her. (at the mean time she is staying with us by the way ) and here is the video of RIO Don't judge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Glad you have reached a decision. I know it is difficult. I've considered getting another bird too (probably an Amazon) but just can't bring myself to do it. Timber wants my attention during my every waking hour. Hubby calls him a "high maintenance bird." I can't imagine his reaction to an additional bird in the house. If I had children at home, I couldn't imagine having enough time to devote to them and a grey. People manage that all the time, and birds do adapt so I know it's possible! Cute video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Yes.... I am judging! How dare you have a bird that can open a beer!!!!!! My rockstar every morning I get NOOOOO help! LOL What a smarty! ( watch the metal....they can cut themself), and that is not judging! Fate will intervene. If it was meant to be, than it was Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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