Hello!

[ScoutsMom]

Hi, everyone! I've been a lurker here for quite a while. My husband and I just adopted our first greys so I wanted to say hello because I'm sure we'll have lots of questions for y'all . We have wanted a grey for years, and researched and read for months before we took the plunge. We're home all the time so we have plenty of time/attention to devote to our critters.

 

We only intended to adopt one grey. We chose a female TAG (4yo.) We have had her for a few weeks. She had a rough start in life (several different homes, health issues, etc.) but she came to us super tame, speaking a few words, and has settled in fairly well here. We've had her vet checked and she's just a sweet and happy bird. She's definitely my husband's baby and her favorite thing to do is sit with him and demand head scratches. She likes me okay but not for petting- I'm the food lady, lol. She has added to her vocabulary a bit and is learning new sounds, etc., since she's been with us.

 

We went to a nearby larger town last week to get some things for her at a pet shop (perches, toys, etc.) and ended up coming home with a 7yo CAG. It was not our intention to buy a bird that day, but I just could not leave him/her at that pet store. He's 7 and not DNA sexed (so he could be a she.) They were calling him Pete but we've changed that to Scout. He belonged to an elderly lady who ended up going into an assisted living facility. The lady's family cared for him until she passed and then they sold him to a pet shop where he'd been for several months.

 

Scout did not like the pet store people at all, but came to me when I started talking to him. He may talk but they had only heard him whistle. I wasn't considering buying him but he whistled for me to come back to him every time I tried to walk away from him .

 

So anyway. He is very distrustful of people right now, but we think that his first owner loved and spoiled him, because he loves to be close to us and hear us talk to him. He got excited about his fresh veggies and cooked food (whereas our TAG is clearly unimpressed with her chop, grain bakes, and sprouts so far. She looks at fresh veggies like they're scary but he knows what they are.) He does not pluck, but he is a nail chewer and has chewed one toenail all the way down. He whistles to me when I leave the room and we whistle back and forth at bedtime. He will accept food from my hand and likes me to give him a shower with a spray bottle. But I have not tried to touch him or anything like that, and don't want to upset him while he's learning that he's home to stay, and that we are good people who aren't going to hurt him. After his time at the pet store he is very leery of people's hands.

 

I would like to get him in to see our vet, though, and I was hoping for opinions on that. Is building trust more important than getting him seen at this point? I feel like if we towel him into the carrier and take him in that it will set him back, but I would like to make sure he's in good shape. His beak needs trimmed and his nails need some attention as well, and I'd like to have him DNA sexed. Your opinions and thoughts would be so appreciated.

 

Thanks!! And I look forward to learning more from you all!

[Acappella]

Sounds like Scout was in a very similar position to the one I found my Dorian in. He was also terrified of hands because of people putting their hands in his cage and poking things into his cage. So, on behalf of all bird store birdies who just aren't meant to be there, thank you!

 

I'm torn. My heart says build trust, but my head says the faster you get a vet check done and over with the better. If his nails and beak need attention then I think you should get it done. Just talk calmly and sweetly through the whole ordeal. It may very well set you back a bit but he/she will forgive you.

[Luvparrots]

I'm all for taking your grey to an avian veterinarian to ease your mind about any health issue. Looking forward to hearing more about your new friend.

[birdhouse]

Would it help any if I said trust is very important, health is literally life or death? It's actually pretty amazing how they go thru everything they do at the vet & almost always manage to shake it right off. I think it honestly takes me longer to get over their vet visits!

 

If you're worried about toweling, you might ask the vet for a lesson. There are some helpful hints. Once your fid is all buffed & fluffed w/a clean bill of health, you could maybe make the travel cage part of the new surroundings too. That way (s)he knows it's normally about good adventures & not just scary vet trips.

 

Congratulations for adopting Scout & belatedly on your TAG, too. Sounds like your house is a greyt place to be & they're both lucky they found you. Scout may not realize that for a while. Once a Grey has bonded to a person like it sounds like he may have bonded to his first owner, that person is irreplaceable. He may grow to love you in his way. But that will just be a slightly different bond than if either of you were what you might think of as THEperson. This does not mean you can't live happily ever after, though.

[alex2014]

You might also try getting him to step-up onto a hand held perch, something he is familiar with, the longer the better, then put him in the carrier. At first i had to put the carrier on the edge of the counter and place a piece of cardboard hanging over it. Then try bringing the perch up to the carrier from below it and he should step into the carrier.

[ScoutsMom]

Thanks, everyone- we will be making Scout an appointment with the vet this week and will get him into his carrier as best we can . He won't step up onto a handheld perch yet, but we'll keep trying. If we have to towel him into the carrier we will.

 

On a happy note, Scout *talked* this weekend. He was not supposed to be a talker at all (and we didn't mind- that's not why we brought him home .) My husband sits with our TAG (her name is Abby) every night- this is her time with him and she's pretty demanding about it. If he gets distracted from her she'll "bite" his fingers to remind him that he's supposed to be paying attention to her. So she nipped his finger and he told her, "Hey, no biting!" and Scout piped up and said "Ow!" from the other side of the room . (By the way, Abby is a stinker herself and is learning new words and sounds almost every day. This morning my husband didn't uncover her cage quickly enough and she called him by name as he walked by her cage, lol.)

 

Scout hasn't bitten his nails in a few days although he does occasionally get nervous. We have gone through a ton of toys with him already as he works out his nervous energy. I think he's realizing that he's home, though, and he's relaxing more and more.

 

Thanks again- I will try to post pictures of our guys when I get a chance .

[Timbersmom]

After almost four years and untold hours of trying, I still have to towel Timber to get him in the carrier. You do what you have to do, and he gets over it quickly.

 

Great about your "nonverbal" bird turning out to be a talker! He will continue to surprise you I'm sure

[Greywings]

Congratulations on your new flock and it is always wonderful when a "used bird" gets a new home as understanding as yours. It shall be interesting watching Scouts personality emerge and his trust grow.

[Luvparrots]

I find that if I darken a room a nervous bird will calm down because it believes it is nighttime. Just darken the room and see if that helps get your bird into a carrier/cage. Talk calmly and being self-assured will also be an asset.

[ScoutsMom]

I think I'm doing this right- pics of Abby and Scout .

 

Scout's cage is small- we didn't plan on buying him so we weren't totally prepared for him- but we ordered a new, large cage as soon as we got him home. It's here and assembled and has been slowly moved next to the one he's in now, and he's not too happy about it. We leave his cage door open all day so he's free to come and go and hopefully he will check it out soon.

 

I will let you all know how his vet visit goes .

[Timbersmom]

A pair of sweethearts! It took Timber a long time to move to his new digs. After we got to the side by side point (took several months), it was probably 2 or 3 days before he was willing to check out the new cage.

[Greywings]

Maybe because we have several Greys there is rarely hesitation about moving into another cage. Perhaps competit5ion is the reason or maybe it is due to having a variety of cages so nothing is strange, they love evicting another bird as someone else's cage is always better. The only exceptions would be Sparrow who needs a shallow cage due to a history of sizures and balance issues. Or Smarty Pants (TAG) as he is a bully and is not usually loose when the others are for safety's sake..