How do I socialize my baby properly?

[Jadiradi]

What are some good ways to start socializing my new baby I am bringing home?

[neoow]

When you bring him home sit near/next to his cage and talk to him. Get him used to your voice- and let others who live with you do the same. Get him used to people moving around the room and near his cage.

 

As for handling, there's a lot of information already on the forums about this. Check out the "stickied" threads (the ones at the top) as they usually have loads of information.

[Acappella]

You can also try using a travel cage or a harness and taking him outside the home to get used to being around other people.

[Jadiradi]

Ok thank you so much. I'm bring him home next weekend and I'm so excited. I've had other birds but never a CAG! I'm so excited. After years of research and waiting for the right time, I finally decided to get one! I'm kind of nervous and excited. I have done YEARS of researching and waiting but still don't feel like I have enough info. I have a macaw and green cheek, but CAG are just so much more and different!

[Dave007]

What are some good ways to start socializing my new baby I am bringing home?

 

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[TD=width: 100%]1--A grey should be acclimated into the whole family. Allow the least amount of opportunities that will let a grey become a one-person bird. The whole family has to be involved with the bird in all areas--feeding, treat giving, cage cleaning, adding toys and handfeeding certain types of food.

2--Your grey should be in an area where your average daily constant habits, conversations, household chores, relaxation and guests are nearby. Putting a grey or any other species of parrot in another room with no human contact or visuals accomplishes nothing. The bird has to learn to accept all different things and the owner needs to help that parrot do all of these things by putting the bird into the mix of things.

3--Your grey needs a decent sized cage and eventually he/she will have to be let out of the cage every day for as much time as you can afford. Putting a playstand nearby helps alot. The cage needs the type of toys that can handled roughly. A lot of scrap pieces of wood are necessary for chewing and destroying. It's either the wood or your furniture.

4--When you bring your grey home, it's not a good idea to be handling him a lot until he/she feels good about that new cage and it's contents. Everything else ahead of the bird is also going to be new and learning about them in a relaxed state is best accomplished from the security of it's own cage and no time limits should be placed on the grey re when anything should be accomplished. All greys are different from each other.

5--It's a bad idea to allow your grey on your shoulders because they have a bad habit of biting necks, ear lobes, nape and head hair, breaking jewelry and sometimes biting the face. Not all do but it's a habit that should be avoided. You never can tell what's going to happen to you when you can't see the bird up there.

6--Greys are very quiet birds that have the ability to mimic anything it hears and at the same decibal level be it other animals or phones or dogs barking or being scolded or the kids being yelled at by the parents etc. In other words--Greys need to be classified as the ultimate sponge in the parrot world.

7--You need to supervise any out of the cage time when you have other animals around. Never under estimate another species of animal and it's possible daily attitude be it dog or cat. many times, even other species of parrots need to be watched when put together. It's impossible to tell who will like or dislike each other.

8--Greys are very leery of new things and especially leery of kids that are running around erractically nearby. In general, most greys aren't fond of children. The younger the child the more nervous it gets. Either the child has to be taught how to be calm around a grey or stay away from the bird. Greys are able to sense when a person or people is afraid of them and that in itself will cause a parrot to bite that person who has a fear of him. That also applies to adults. The older children have a better chance of being taught to understand the general personality of a parrot be it a grey or other species of parrot.

9--Introducing different animals to each other simply involves letting them constantly check each other out from the safety of the grey's cage. There are no special tricks to doing that and whether they will take to each other is not something you can predict.

10--Most houses are 'hectic' and that causes the grey no problems as long as he gets used to the 'hectic' atmosphere all around. The exception to that are kids darting in and around the cage, possibly bumping it and keeping the bird on edge.

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[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Excellent post by Dave. Sophie came to us at age two, with no issues. Exposed to entire family, and more than a decade later.... LOVES all of us. Everyone needs to be committed, everyone needs to be on the same page. Its a commitment as a family, but if you are consistent.. you will have a bird that is AMAZING! Nancy

[Echo's Mom]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE follow the info / suggestions you have been given regarding socializing your grey!

 

I lived alone for years with Echo, and 4 years ago my dad and I bought a house together. We have separate living spaces - share the kitchen and dining room. Echo is NOT a fan of strangers, or ANYONE else BUT me (and my two parrot sitters).

 

If my dad needs to help me on something on my computer, I have to put Echo in her cage as she will go after him.

 

Granted, he's never tried to be "friends" with her ... but she is not a happy birdie when anyone comes in to her bird room.

 

Personally, I have no issue with this, and it hasn't caused me any problems - I'm not married, have no kids (I'm old LOL so that's a non-issue now LOL).

 

My parrot sitters have zero issues with her (mainly because they understand greys!)

 

BUT if you don't want a "one-person bird" don't isolate your grey from people!

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Excellent post by echos's mom. I have spent my life, since getting Sophie, for her to be socialized, love our family.

A new change will be happening for us... I took a new job taking care of children only. My hours will be better... Sophie will see me sooner. Nancy

[Jadiradi]

So far he is doing amazing. I do not think there is a single thing that has scared him. He lets anyone hold him, we went to my nieces birthday party today and I took him with me, he let every one of the kids hold him, my handicapped sister and even got close to the doggies. I plan to keep the socializing going at the most I can do. I want him to be well rounded and not too phobic. He is an awesome grey so far. I know he is still a baby and things will change soon as he gets older. But I just want to keep the aggressiveness, fearful, stressful behavior to a minimum.

[Echo's Mom]

Sounds awesome!!!

 

Just a word of advice - watch those dogs!!! Echo and my first dog were awesome buddies ... she would call Abby over and would toss food at her, she'd fly and land on Abby's head and preen her ears / neck, etc. They had a beautiful relationship ... SO ... Echo was NOT afraid of dogs.

 

My current dog, Kyleigh, sees Echo as lunch in a box.

 

Kyleigh is superbly trained, and will not leave a down command - that I have no issues with it at all ... BUT if Echo (because she has no fear of dogs) decides to land ON Kyleigh, I fear that all bets would be off!

 

Have fun