Suddenly quiet grey...

[Sidhe]

Lucy is a rehome, we bought her from the pet store because her previous owner didn't want her/couldn't keep her due to marital issues or something. She stayed in that pet store for about a month before we could pay her off, during that whole month she was super cheery, making all sorts of sounds and even uttering a few words whenever we went to visit.

 

We finally brought Lucy home a little over 2 weeks ago. She has showed INCREDIBLE progress ever since. For the whole first week, she continued being extremely vocal (especially in the morning, she would chirp so loud she would make our ears ring!). With every day training, we got her to finally trust us enough to step up without hesitation, perch on our shoulders, and as of a few days ago, pet her! Whenever we have her cage door open, she climbs down and explores the house. We have other pets in the house and she's not afraid of them in the least. She blows kisses at us and the other pets, it's absolutely adorable... We also switched her to organic pellets, and although at first she only nibbled on them and dropped the rest to the bottom of her cage, we started mashing it and adding steamed carrots, broccoli, a few pomegranates etc. and now she scarfs it all down.

 

Ok so, everything is perfect up until this point. What has been concerning me lately is that for the past week, she has been extremely quiet. She continues to show great progress, is the same level of active, curious and likes to explore, and is otherwise herself. The only difference is the cheery chirping has stopped completely. She used to make 20+ different sounds as well as speak a few words, now she only blows kisses every now and then. That's the only sound she has been making for the past week - which incidentally was right around the time we switched to pellets. I'm not sure if the two is connected... She used to eat only seeds before we brought her home, so she should be healthier now if anything. A lot of the time she will produce a clear liquid (urine?) probably because she drinks a lot of water but her poop is solid and normal consistency.

 

I have tried cheering her up by playing music, which used to work EVERY TIME but now doesn't at all. I'm just wondering where did my ray of sunshine go? Why is she so quiet? Should I be concerned?

 

We have a vet appointment in 10 days for a general check-up. Should we get blood tests done as well? This is our first grey. Thanks in advance.

[neoow]

There are far more experienced people on here who will be along very soon to offer much better advice than I ever could however I have a couple of thoughts.

 

Normally a change of behaviour in any animal would ring alarm bells for me and I'd look to pull that vet visit closer if possible. Or if not, I'd be watching the animal like a hawk because I'm a worry guts haha. However as you've only had her for two weeks (and that's practically nothing in 'Grey Time') then it may be that she's taking some time to soak all the recent changes in. Have you made any other changes in those two weeks? Changed something in her cage? Changed something in her surroundings? She may be checking everything out. Grey's are very observant. I know when I change something in Alfie's cage he will go very silent and will sit and watch it for a while before finally perking back up again.

If she's still active, curious, playing and eating then I wouldn't dash her off to the vets right this instant. If the change in behaviour was greater- e.g she was much more reserved, reluctant to move, hunkered up in a corner and not eating/drinking/responding etc etc then I'd take her to the vet ASAP.

 

I'm also wondering that as she was in a pet store previously- were there other birds/animals making noises? It may be that she had lots of noise to contend with, so was more vocal herself to make sure she got attention. Now she's in a quieter environment without so many other distracting animals/noises/people etc- maybe she might not feel the need to make so many noises?

 

Also, Grey's like to 'contact call'. This is where they call out to flock members to find out their location and check in on them. If you're in the room with her a lot of the time, then you might not get so many noises out of her. Alfie is usually silent for the majority of the time I'm sitting next to his cage other than the odd squeak, whistle or hello. He makes most noises when I move away from his cage into another room. Then we have a little game of making various contact calls to each other so he knows I'm still around and listening in.

It may be that the noises she may in the store were contact calls to the other people/animals in the store. She may have been making them when she first came home with you because she was contact calling to the other animals/people from the store?

 

Honestly, I'm just speculating and throwing some ideas into the pot. I'm certainly no expert whatsoever and some other members will probably come along with some better advice than I can offer.

Edited April 6, 2015 by neoow

[Sidhe]

Thank you for your quick response neoow. Luckily she has a healthy appetite, climbs around her cage all the time, climbs down and explores the house multiple times a day and is generally very active. The only thing to have changed is the chirping... Maybe she has begun to accept us as her new flock (as she now lets us scritch her) and kisses us by touching her beak to our lips (very cute!) so she no longer feels the need to contact call, if that's what she was doing before... But it's still very strange to me. It just doesn't seem natural for her to be this quiet. Birds are supposed to chirp, right? At least make some noise a little bit? As I've said, the ONLY sound she makes is the kissing sound. She went from a talking bird (who would literally say sentences) to a mute bird. Her eerie silence is making me think she's not happy anymore. I play her Irish music (her favorite) which used to cheer her right up and she'd be singing along with it. Now she seems... apathetic to stimuli. If she wasn't eating or moving I'd take her to the vet right away of course. I'm still keeping a close eye on her... So far there is nothing alarming other than her quietness.

[Talon]

neoow said it best. 2 weeks is nothing in grey time. And some days they are very talkative, and then the next they barely do anything or make a peep. They have moods just like we do, happy moods one day and quiet grumpy the next. It will take months for your grey to settle in especially since it has a history and baggage in it's past..good or bad. My grey took 2 1/2 years to really settle in and understand that my home was it's final and forever home.

 

As long as he is eating, drinking, playing, and looking curious. I wouldn't worry too much. If any of those things change, I would take it in for a check-up.

[Sidhe]

Thank you very much talon. Her previous owners thought she was male and named her Jacob, so for the first week when I called her Lucy she would correct me by saying "Jacob" LOL. Poor thing is going through an identity crisis... Anyway, she stopped talking altogether now Hopefully she will cheer up eventually.

[Acappella]

Don't relate it to her mood. My Dorian talks a lot when he's ticked at me. Yesterday I was sitting with a friend in another room and I declined to bring him with me. He went through his whole repertoire to get my attention. Maybe she's just moved into an observation mode. Two weeks is around the usual 'honeymoon' period for bringing a re home into a new home. Just continue to talk to her as normal and if she does make a sound make it a big deal.

[Talon]

She will mourn her past, like we mourn a loss, to her it is a loss of it's entire life and everything it ever knew. ...my son recently adopted a grey that was in 1 home for it's entire life of 11 years....it talked a lot at first, then was pretty quiet for a couple of months...but it's talking more and more now.

[Talon]

She's also going to do a lot of watching..to see what you do, how you respond, and watch to see the going ons in the house and everything that is new.

[Sidhe]

Yeah, it's quite sad that she got used to her owners and then got abandoned. It will probably take a while to gain full trust and for her to realize this is her permanent home. I understand that and will give all the time she needs.

 

Acappella, "if she does make a sound make it a big deal." I cannot thank you enough for saying this because when you did, something clicked. When she made the faintest little chirpy sound I immediately rewarded her and praised her. Then I taught her the "chirp" command in like 2 minutes, she's so smart. She now chirps on command. You saved the day lol.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Sidhe.... I have another suggestion..(.she is doing FANTASTIC with settling in), BUT... I suspect the name change is being a stress. I think Lucy, should remain being called Jacob. Its like telling a two year old, this is your new name. Who cares if you have a girl bird called Jacob.... thats her name! She is adapting to so many changes, and doing well. DON'T change her name. She identifies with her name, and changing it, I think creates an identity crisis. ( they freak out over simple changes!) Nancy