Alex, my rescued 18 years old African Grey

[SRSeedBurners]

Oh my gosh...that Alex is a horny dog. I'd be super careful touching him anywhere besides the head area.

 

Me and GreycieMae sit at the computer and jam to her favorite tunes. She currently has triggered on Nazareth - Hair of the Dog. Go figure, I got a little rocker on my shoulder.

[Inara]

Apparently Alex loves you as much as you love him! Wonderful video of the two of you!

[Timbersmom]

That's great! Timber just likes to be where I am. He rides my forearm (he's afraid of hands) through the house and when I sit, he sits with me. Any playing we do isn't when he's on my arm. That's cuddle time for Timber. When I sit, he'll tuck his head into my chest or stomach and that's my cue to give him a good head scratching.

[neoow]

So so happy for you! Great video!

[samansad]

Thank you all for being so supportive

[neoow]

hope things are still going well?

[samansad]

Things are really going well. Thanks for asking. Alex loves to come on my hand and when he comes to me I try to walk him around but he is still scared. So I just walk few steps and then I go back and sit beside his cage. He loves hanging out on my arm and the only game we play is I sing for him and he tries to copy me hahaha

He is still scared of everything. So I cannot hand him a toy if he is away from his cage.

[neoow]

Things are really going well. Thanks for asking. Alex loves to come on my hand and when he comes to me I try to walk him around but he is still scared. So I just walk few steps and then I go back and sit beside his cage. He loves hanging out on my arm and the only game we play is I sing for him and he tries to copy me hahaha

He is still scared of everything. So I cannot hand him a toy if he is away from his cage.

 

Great stuff! So glad you managed to work things out.

You've made fantastic progress with Alex. It may seem like you're only making very small steps forward... but you're still going forward. It took a lot for Alex to learn to trust you and the stepping up is a BIG hurdle to have got over. Please do keep us updated with how you're both getting on!

[Greywings]

Very good building trust is the giant first step, things will work out well from here.

[samansad]

Thank you guys for being encouraging. Alex is so happy now and we are spending time together with so much fun. He is still scared when I place him on the ground and he walk slowly with so much conscious but we are working together so he can overcome his fear.

 

Just to make you guys laugh. Alex likes to make the sounds of the birds. Few days ago there was this bird came and sat close to Alex then they started making noises. It was like they were talking. After few minutes, I think Alex got tired and started making cat sound and poor bird got scared and ran away hahaha

[neoow]

Alfie is 13 years old and doesn't like being on the floor. Never has. He may have a quick look round but he'll fly to higher ground within minutes. He prefers higher up.

[katana600]

You are making great progress with Alex. What you are doing with him now is what has taken me five years to accomplish with Miss Gilbert. One of the things she likes really well right now is a floor stand with a perch. It has wheels and a stainless steel basin to catch messes. I can roll it to the kitchen or next to my chair in the living room etc. She can sit next to me and watch as I wrap things with paper. She will unwrap almonds, foot toys, small pieces of leather, plastic straws with pine nuts etc. It keeps her busy while she keeps an eye on me.

[samansad]

This is a brilliant idea. I hope Alex will like that too. For now I am trying to build trust with Alex to trust perch too. It takes a long time for Alex to step on any perch. If the perch is not super stable then he freaks out.

 

Thank you for all your encouragements

[katana600]

When Gilbert was still afraid of hands, I put the perch close to the big cage and used plastic zip ties to make it stable and firm. It has food cups so I was able to put enticing almonds, pine nuts and nutriberries just out of reach so it was encouragement to step out onto the perches. Alex will slowly get less fearful as he learns to trust you. Take tiny little steps forward until he signals for you to stop. It is so difficult for us to wait when we know how many wonderful things we have in store for our rehomed greys. But long ago, the sage advice from this forum shined the light and led me down the path. We are starting to see that elusive trust being built and its an amazing transformation to watch a scared, plucked wild-eyed "bird with issues" become a trusted friend. It will happen for you and Alex as well. We don't get to choose the time frame but we can choose to love them every day as we wait for them to show our love returned.