Greys and problems

[Echo's Mom]

I've read all kinds of stories / bad things about Greys (before I got mine, and during that time of course), and yet, I've never had anything like that happen with Echo.

 

This has got me wondering about a couple of things:

 

1 - how many people have had their greys since they were little (i.e. you are the only "owner")

 

2 - of you people, how many of you have zero problems with your grey? By this I mean - no plucking, no never ending screaming (not the normal loud parrot noises, but the kind you hear that make you wish you'd never got a parrot in the first place b/c it's been three hours and it just won't stop!)

 

3 - of these "healthy" greys - how much interaction / training, etc. is done with them?

 

I'm simply curious about how we all do things with our greys (or other parrots of course, but I only have a grey to chat about!)

 

For me ... I'm Echo's only owner, I got her when she about between 4-5 months old. She's almost 7 years old. I'd never been around birds before, but I did do lots of reading, and chatting with people, and meeting their parrots.

 

I've moved 6 times since I had her, and once was in an emergency and she was literally put in a travel cage and dropped off at a complete strangers house for a month (I knew the person very well - she has parrots, but Echo had never met her).

 

She's never plucked (knock on wood), she's nailed me a couple of times, but of course, they were my fault LOL ... I actually thought I could be faster at grabbing something that she could be WRONG!

 

The only thing I have really "taught" her is to step up onto my hand (and if she won't do that and I NEED her to step) I also have a t-perch that she LOVES to step up on because she ALWAYS gets a pistachio when she does (no, I'm not above bribing Echo to get what I want!)

 

She's fully flighted and I've never had any problems with her flying around the house (granted she doesn't have FULL access to the house or she'd be eaten by the cat and / or dog!)

 

She's not caged at all except to sleep and she doesn't destroy stuff (OK, her toys don't count, and neither do the keyboards that I forgot to put away!)

 

I'm pretty laid back and don't freak out about a lot of stuff. I put a lot of thought into setting up her area ... keeping in mind that since she can fly, she will be able to get anywhere she wants.

 

My routine is pretty much the same:

 

Up at 5 am - out for an hour run with the dog

Back at 6 - dog is crated, cat locked in bedroom - Echo is out with me while I shower and get ready for work

Leave at 6:30 - I leave some music on low for her to listen to while I'm at work all day

Home by 3:30 - spend 1/2 hour on computer (my computer is in the same room as Echo) - music is cranked and we sing and yell REALLY loud while I check my emails and play with her for a bit

4-6 I'm out with the dog

6-8:30 eat supper with Echo - and I spend 2 hours in the room with her doing stuff (I quilt / crafts, etc.) and she gets to help as much as I let her (she is NOT allowed to sit on my sewing machine. She cost me $1500 to get it cleaned because she pooped on it! (It's a computerized embroider / sewing machine - I had to get a bunch of electrical / computer components replaced LOL)

 

8:30 or so she's off to bed ...

 

Does this seem like a pretty average day? Or am I a really boring parrot owner?

 

She has lots of perches / boings / toys, etc. to play with and she does destroy them all at one time or another ....

 

I'm simply curious ... and I just really that lucky?

 

Thanks,

 

Marion

[SRSeedBurners]

Similar. Greycie came here at 4mos (she's 3.5 yrs now). We consider her 'healthy' with no neurotic behaviors. Her only 'issue', which is really my issue, is she won't talk. Very limited vocab but I really think that's due to she has me well trained to respond without using our language. She also hates our Caique but it's a power struggle thing I believe.

 

No extended cage times (feeding/sleeping/timeouts) - birdy room - fully flighted - outdoor aviary - two companions (even though she hates one of them she still calls for him).

 

Our schedule looks something like:

 

- 7:00am wake them up - feeding cages in the living room while we drink coffee and watch news etc - then sit on Dad's shoulder and ride around while I do stuff before going to work.

- 8:00 they get antsy for their bird room (they like it in there). If good weather they go out in the aviary. We all move outside and do stuff.

 

- during the day wife takes care of them, little interaction. They have each other and their toys to entertain themselves and mostly get along well.

 

- 6:00pm - Dad's home, Greycie goes wild with calls (makes me feel good). Tue/Thurs I get on my bike trainer, and Greycie rides my shoulder while I do an 1.5 hr workout with LOUD music (she loves this part of the day)

- Ride around on Dad's shoulder and do what he does, eat what he eats, get into what he gets into. She's my little shadow.

- 9:00pm birdy bed time.

[Dave007]

I really can't answer all of your questions but here's my imput.

 

1----how many people have had their greys since they were little (i.e. you are the only "owner")

I have that one since before it was hatched (Now 15 yrs old.) No plucking. No loud unusual sounds. The parents were one of my breeding pairs. I'm the only owner. I have 2 other adopted adult greys CAG and TAG with past problems. TAG is 17 yrs old. The other CAG is 10 yrs old. One (TAG) was an extremely aggressive grey that went after all the previous family members--It took approx. 1 1/2 yrs to change attitude into a loving parrot. I/m the 3rd owner The other grey( CAG ) was a badly plucked bird introverted personality. It took approx. 4 yrs to stop that habit. I/m the 2nd owner.

 

I give normal attention to all three equally so that one doesn't feel like it's a second or third bird. That's part of training. My wife also interacts.

 

2---of you people, how many of you have zero problems with your grey? By this I mean - no plucking, no never ending screaming (not the normal loud parrot noises, but the kind you hear that make you wish you'd never got a parrot in the first place b/c it's been three hours and it just won't stop!)

3---Training? what do you mean by training? fly, step up. If so, that was done to 2 adopted birds. Other than that, no training. One couldn't fly because it was completely bald. The other was taught how not to be aggressive with me, wife, dog and the other birds. No unusual sounds from any of them.

4--She has lots of perches / boings / toys, etc. to play with and she does destroy them all at one time or another ....

They have an average amount of toys, perches. Lots to chew and destroy. I think that's a question that can't be applied to all greys. Some like toys, some don't. It's their choice.

 

5--Flying

They're all free flying in a bird room. They go to sleep when they feel like it. That includes day or night. They each know their own cage.

My wife and I are at the age when we're both home

 

6---Vocabulary

I'm not a big fan of teaching a bird how to mimic human language since it's only mimicking. Through the years, I've learned what they're saying and doing through their sounds. In other words, learning parrotese. Any human word mimicking is what they've voluntarily picked up. One says many human words. I never taught him. The other 2 don't speak any human mimicking at all, but they all communicate with me through their own language.

[BaileysPapa]

My responses would be pretty much the same as others above. If you're happy, and your bird's happy, it's all good. If it's not broke, let's not fix it!

[Echo's Mom]

Thanks Dave and SterlingSl for your responses ...

 

For training I meant like tricks and stuff ... I see all kinds of videos of "trained" birds and often wonder if I'm preventing Echo from having "more" fun ... things like putting a ball in a basket, mini putt, etc. I admit I tried a couple of them, but it was either Echo wasn't interested, or I wasn't doing it right LOL ... I had a little ball for her to put in the hoop and she destroyed three of them in about 15 seconds flat (I'm pretty sure she had more fun destroying the ball than me trying to figure out how to get her to put in the net LOL)

 

I guess on a parrot forum, you see more threads on people needing help for problems, rather than, hey I have a great bird and pretty much no problems LOL

 

Echo talks but not HUGE ... she knows the cat and dog by name and does call them, but they can't come into her room, so they never get very far ... it is funny to see them react to hearing "my" voice call them!

 

She has more loud noises / calls / whistles than vocabulary ... some of them can be a tad annoying (you know the one whistle that is repeated about 30 times in a row) ... but I've discovered if I holler out ... new sound please, she'll change it up a bit!

 

I'll be interested to read other's responses!

 

Thanks again,

[Luvparrots]

My greys I have had since weaned. They are flighted and do not pluck. They fly in my living room, birdroom, their aviary and kitchen. I do not let them fly in my office, bathrooms or bedroom. I do not have a schedule for when they are out of their cages. My TAG is the "boss" the other, the brute in the follower. Their choice. Both can talk, my CAG is the big talker, he sings and repeats just about anything I say. My TAG, only asks for nuts. She lets the CAG do all the talking. They come when I call, if they want to and both step up and if I ask if they want a scratch bow their heads for one. My TAG, shakes hands/feet if I ask. Both give me kisses if I ask. I do not let other people touch my greys although the TAG will land on other people's shoulders if she wants. The CAG, is a fraidy cat and screams like a banshee if anyone but me talks to him or goes near him. He thinks nothing of dive bombing a "predator" who dares come too near. He only comes to me. I live alone so my greys are very comfortable here and own the place.

 

My greys are not screamers, except the CAG, if he is nervous around a "stranger."

[SRSeedBurners]

Not a big fan of trick training. However I am trying to get Greycie to blow kisses since she kind of picked it up on her own. I find the picking a correct color, and other such tricks mind-numbingly boring myself so I don't expect my Grey to like it either.

 

I do however like to 'train' other things like riding my bike with me. Or like another member here does: harnessed recall training. Seems fun and useful.

[Timbersmom]

I've had Timber (TAG) for almost 3 years. I am his third "companion" (that we know of). I was told he was 5 or 6 when we got him but who knows? Definitely not a baby is all I know for sure. I'm also not positive about gender. I was told he is male, but have not checked. Unlike you, I was totally unprepared for a grey. I was thinking of getting a bird, the opportunity arose to rehome Timber, and I took it. I was clueless. This forum probably saved his life (and possibly mine

 

My husband and I are both retired now, so Timber has a lot of out of cage time. The only time he is caged is when we get out and about. We are up about 7 AM, his cage doors are open, and he is out until about 8 in the evening. I have 4 cats in the house, so if I am not in the same room with him and he doesn't want to go wherever I'm going, his doors are closed.

 

Timber doesn't scream or pluck. He can be noisy, but just whistling and calls which are music to my ears since it means he is active and engaged. He says several words and phrases, but not often when I am in the room with him. He will become vocal with language if he is caged (like when we don't get up early enough in the morning for him) or when we are traveling to the vet. He will whistle back at me when we are in the same room, and he says his name when I'm getting the cats a treat. I assume that is because he doesn't want to be forgotten but who knows? Our problems have been more on the order that most rehomers experience. It took him months to deem me trustworthy, but now he will sit on my arm and I can scratch around his head and beak for as long as I am willing to keep it up.

 

He is still training me, and he would tell you my progress is slow. Seriously, I've never tried to teach him tricks. He will step up, but only if I say "Want to go?" and give him my forearm. He will not respond positively to "step up" and will not step on my hand. That is the problem with rehoming, you don't know their previous experiences and it takes awhile to iron out why they react the way they do sometimes. When I brought Timber home, "step up" would get me a bite every time, as would presenting my fingers. I have no idea what bad experience he had with that command and with hands, but that must have been what it was.

[Dave007]

******For training I meant like tricks and stuff ... I see all kinds of videos of "trained" birds and often wonder if I'm preventing Echo from having "more" fun ... things like putting a ball in a basket, mini putt, etc. I admit I tried a couple of them, but it was either Echo wasn't interested, or I wasn't doing it right LOL ... I had a little ball for her to put in the hoop and she destroyed three of them in about 15 seconds flat (I'm pretty sure she had more fun destroying the ball than me trying to figure out how to get her to put in the net LOL******

******I guess on a parrot forum, you see more threads on people needing help for problems, rather than, hey I have a great bird and pretty much no problems LOL.*********

 

 

Well, yes there'a many tricks that are taught to birds and they can be seen on YouTube but for approx. every 30 videos you see, theres approx. only one grey. That's because greys aren't the type that take to tricks very well. It doesn't surprise me at all that your grey is ripping that ball up. In his eyes, you're giving the ball and he procedes to destroy it. That's his idea of you playing with him. He'll enjoy that much more than putting it in the basket. Greys are well known chewers. It's always advised to give greys wood pieces so that they can destroy. That releases frustration. It's also a good idea to hang a cowbell in the cage so that your bird can have visious mock fights with it. They'll smash them around, they'll let the bell hit them back and the fight continues. Many times at night when it's bedtime, you'll find your bird snuggled up to that bell. The bell is his playmate who he do anything with. Sometimes a grey will swing a bell a bit and let the bell come back on the top of the head. What he's getting is tickles/rubs.

 

As far as what you said, you'll find a room here that covers just about ever subject---problems, fun, habits, comparisons, tips and clues---------not just needing help. Your experience here should be a satisfying, enjoyable experience. At least we try to keep it that way.

[Echo's Mom]

These responses are great! And yes, she does love to destroy things!!!! She probably has more toys / stuff than she needs, but at least I know she's never bored LOL

 

She actually is not a fan of the cow bells. She does love the cat balls with the bells in them tho! She kills those pretty quick and then chases the bell all over the place ... now that's a heck of a lot of fun to watch!

[katana600]

You have already helped me think things through for our future. I also sew and quilt and my goal has been to get my grey to be brave enough to join me in the basement sewing room. Now... maybe not so much near my sewing machine. Our grey is a Timneh named Gilbert, Miss Gilbert after a DNA result. She is at least ten, has had several homes and came to us four years ago as a rehomed parrot with "issues". Mostly I am home all day and she is out of her cage. She was a plucker and has yet to regain flight ability and our vet doubts it will be possible but I am always optimistic her day will come. Like you I worried if she would be bored and have also wondered if maybe she just doesn't like me personally, but it is just a matter of time before I win her over... grey time, that is. Four years is a blink of a little straw colored eye in grey time. This forum is filled with dedicated, caring grey companions and we learned everything that has brought Miss Gilbert to a comfort zone in which she continues to amaze and delight with her newfound courage and curiosity. I look forward to reading more about the life you have with Echo, it sounds loving and far from boring from this vantage perch.

[neoow]

I have had Alfie since he was 11 weeks old (he's 12 this week!). I was 17 at the time. He has grown up living with my family, a german shepherd and a cat then when I moved out he lived with two housemates. They moved out and I got a different housemate followed by two cats. That housemate moved out and then we moved again when I bought my house. The third housemate I had moved back in again. So Alfie has put up with a fair few changes. He's gone through as many cages as he has houses too. He's had to get used to different personalities (both from humans and animals), different schedules, different houses, different cages, a multitude of different toys (I cycle them round and buy new ones regularly). Overall, I've been pretty damn lucky. I haven't been the best owner I could have been (if you read my intro thread you'll find that I did have a spell of debating about whether it would be better for me to rehome him because I felt I couldn't provide enough for him but decided I couldn't do that to him). I've been doing my best to change that.

Alfie is a non-shoulder bird (he likes to seek out ears and give them a nibble so he's banned from shoulders as he can't be trusted up there for too long) but is happy to sit on my knee or my chair with me. He sometimes likes scratches on his head- but all on his terms, naturally. He doesn't pluck and is actually pretty tolerant to change. Even new toys don't worry him too much- though sometimes he likes to observe them for a while before they actually are allowed in his cage.

He doesn't have any particularly bad habits or behaviours. He used to scream at my sister and mum but only because they reacted. He doesn't do that to anyone any more as I stressed how important it is to ignore the behaviour so it doesn't get reinforced. He also used to make one of my housemates jump by launching himself across the cage at him as he walked past. Again, that soon stopped when the behaviour was no longer reinforced (by my housemate wailing out!). The only thing he does now is grab his food bowls or the bars near his food bowls because he discovered he can make a very loud and very annoying clicking/clonking noise with them.... usually when we dare to watch TV instead of him..! But that's probably the worst he does.

He's such a good boy and I'm really lucky to have him.

[Echo's Mom]

Katana - for me it was pretty easy since Echo is obviously as laid back as I am LOL

 

In the winter time I sew a lot - pretty much from 7-10 most evenings, so Echo is up later in the wintertime!

 

While we are in the basement, it's not your typical basement! All of the lights in the basement are full spectrum, so Echo is getting lots of sunlight. (It helps me too!)

 

Echo is NOT allowed to land on my sewing machine (she pooped on it ONCE and cost me $1500 to have it fixed - I was pretty ticked to say the least!)

 

Picture a really big rectangle. At one end of the "short" wall (15 feet long) is Echo's set up ... the tables with her perches on them, and her sleeping cage.

 

To the left, running along the wall (about 25-30 feet long) is my sewing area (I stop about 5 feet away from her tables!). My sewing machine is in the middle on a sewing cabinet, and then I have some storage containers.

 

To the right, running along the opposite wall is my office area - my computer, printer, etc.

 

The other end of the rectangle has a massive wall unit that I built (yup, me!) that goes from the floor to the ceiling and is about 15 feet long. This is my "storage" area for Echo's toys and my sewing supplies and yes ... ALL MY EVER LOVING FABRIC and other crafts (there's WAY more fabric that ANYTHING else in there!)

 

And the entrance is beside the wall unit. I built the "door" - it's a real door, but the hinges attach to the wall unit, and it doesn't close like a real door, but rather with two eye hooks - one on the top, one on the bottom (the kind with the sliding thing - sort of child proof). I figure Echo might get one open, but not likely both - and she hasn't yet LOL

 

And in the middle is LOTS of floor space (have to have somewhere to lay those quilts down to baste!) and that's where we also dance and make lots and lots of noise!

 

So that's my set up and it works really well. Echo is allowed to sit on my shoulder, my head or the back of my chair when I am sewing or on my computer.

 

Sometimes she walks down my arm to get to the sewing machine or the mouse, and all I do is lift up my arm and say go fly away and shake my arm a bit, and off she goes. (She has come back and dive-bombed me because she didn't want to go back LOL), but all I do is duck and then pop my head back up when it's safe and laugh ...

 

Now that spring is here, I spend TONS of time outside working on my garden (I live in Ottawa, ON, Canada - so when the weather's nice I'm outside LOL). Echo spends most of her evenings outside with me in her cage soaking up the rays. I don't really have to worry about predators coming near her cage because my dog is always outside with me too! And not many wild animals / birds come near a german shepherd LOL (I don't like in the country, but in suburbia, so there aren't really many wild animals!)

 

I hope this helps!

[Greywings]

Great questions-At our house none of the birds came to us a s babies. Some arrived plucked, some arrived full feathered, some are nervous, some are laid back, some are aggressive. All are good eaters the ones who are most aggressive get the least out of cage time. All have toys and stuff to destroy-favorites are cardboard boxes. The ones who are safe out of cage together get the most time outside of the cage. The ones with the least out time are Smokey Joe and Nikki, Joe only does very little feather picking once in a while around his neck-very selective about who he trusts, nervous bird can be aggressive. Nikki is very aggressive both with humans and most other birds. He and Princess share a Macaw size cage, she is easy to handle and both are rather well plucked. Pookie who I adopted she is my first Grey came with bare legs belly & chest. Now she has many more feathers on her abdomen and legs many of which came in Red but still does a little nervous picking around her neck. She was 21 years old when I adopted her and she came from a several bird home where they were loved and cared for very well. The people involved had some health issues and surrendered a few of their nicer birds to a rescue friend of mine where I met her and we bonded right away. Smartee Pants TAG was found next to a backyard swimming pool dehydrated and has an old smokers cough and a bent leg, not able to locate his people after 3 years well feathered and bonded to our youngest son Pants is very fearless. They all share the house with 2 dogs, some cats, a E2 some keets and Tiels. All seem to entertain each other and share the space as well as it can be expected. Our schedule varies often I work half days but my arrival time back home is not a constant. We are a family of 4 humans right now and every one has a different schedule, in and out all the time. The birds are in front of the backyard facing windows where the wild bird feeders are so always something to watch. We have rescued and rehomed other Greys some of who had plucking issues and some not.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Greywings

[Scooty]

******For training I meant like tricks and stuff ... I see all kinds of videos of "trained" birds and often wonder if I'm preventing Echo from having "more" fun ... things like putting a ball in a basket, mini putt, etc. I admit I tried a couple of them, but it was either Echo wasn't interested, or I wasn't doing it right LOL ... I had a little ball for her to put in the hoop and she destroyed three of them in about 15 seconds flat (I'm pretty sure she had more fun destroying the ball than me trying to figure out how to get her to put in the net LOL******

******I guess on a parrot forum, you see more threads on people needing help for problems, rather than, hey I have a great bird and pretty much no problems LOL.*********

 

 

Well, yes there'a many tricks that are taught to birds and they can be seen on YouTube but for approx. every 30 videos you see, theres approx. only one grey. That's because greys aren't the type that take to tricks very well. It doesn't surprise me at all that your grey is ripping that ball up. In his eyes, you're giving the ball and he procedes to destroy it. That's his idea of you playing with him. He'll enjoy that much more than putting it in the basket. Greys are well known chewers. It's always advised to give greys wood pieces so that they can destroy. That releases frustration. It's also a good idea to hang a cowbell in the cage so that your bird can have visious mock fights with it. They'll smash them around, they'll let the bell hit them back and the fight continues. Many times at night when it's bedtime, you'll find your bird snuggled up to that bell. The bell is his playmate who he do anything with. Sometimes a grey will swing a bell a bit and let the bell come back on the top of the head. What he's getting is tickles/rubs.

 

As far as what you said, you'll find a room here that covers just about ever subject---problems, fun, habits, comparisons, tips and clues---------not just needing help. Your experience here should be a satisfying, enjoyable experience. At least we try to keep it that way.

 

LOL! Scooty is that way with his cowbell too! I call it his Nemesis. He loves to hate that fricken thing. He's kicking its butt for a solid hour, whacking at it with his beak, grabbing it with his foot and slamming it against the cage, hanging from it...the whole works. And just like clockwork, at bed time hes snoozing with it mashed up against his wing

 

Oh, and in my opinion Scooty is great. I've never had any issues with him either physically or mentally. He seems just about as sane as I am....which isn't saying much lol. He talks a TON. None of which I taught him with the exception of a few whistles. He just listens and learns and puts it together himself. Its the craziest thing and I love it. Sometimes the stuff that flies out of his beak makes me stop in my tracks and ask myself if he just said that lol. I haven't done any "formal" training, just the basics like step up. No tricks (though it would be cool to see him do something like that). He just likes to destroy his toys and shred his shredder toys, sits around and watches tv with me with the occasional head scratches (he basically headbutts me when he's ready for more) and I read to him (when no one else is around lol).

 

Now that I'm thinking about it, he does HATE baths but I don't find that as any sort of issue or defect, it just is what it is and I roll with it trying to find new ways to make it happen. And not that it's unusual for greys but I do have to start any new toys or additions to his room from the far side of the room and move it closer and closer every day so he gets a good feel for it before I try to put it in his cage. Even then it hangs on the seed guard for at least a week and then hangs on the outside of the cage for another week. Its a long process but if I rush it, he flips out and throws himself around the cage. I don't find this as abnormal or problem behavior as its just something that comes with the territory with the majority of these guys.

 

I can honestly say its been a very easy very pleasant life with Scooty

Edited April 19, 2015 by Scooty