Step Up question (very young baby)

[makinmagic]

So we got our boy Tsapa, a CAG, a week ago. We dreamed of having a grey for a long time, prepared the best we could and read everything out there on the internets. However, as it came down to practice, I am LOST.

First confusion is the age of out boy. Breeder said hatch date was May 24th... bird store owner looked at the pic and said that there's no way this baby is less than 2.5 months old because they are not even weaned at this point. Tsapa was weaned a week before we took him (according to the breeder). How old do you think he is?

 

 

 

Second concern... he eats A LOT. First few days he ate not that much and I, having no idea how much they are supposed to eat, thought it was the norm. In the past couple of days he eats about half of his awake time. He eats pellets very slowly, chewing for a long time and leaving most of the pellets in crumbles. Doesn't touch the crumbles. I am thinking of saving them and making birdie bread or something. Today he ate: about 2-3 tablespoons of pellets (hard to estimate). 1/4 of sweet potato, 3 grapes, a dozen sunflower seeds or so (for training), quite a bit of oatmeal (LOVES it) and 1/4 of a pear. He just eats all the time. Is this normal? He poops A LOT too, huge droppings, the morning one was the size my cats make. He poops every 15 minutes or so.

 

Third concern: Step Up. He is a very very smart boy apparently, it took him just a couple times to realize that when he steps up he gets a treat (sunflower seed). So now he ONLY steps up if I show him the seed first. If he doesn't see the seed, he won't step up, unless he is anxious to get somewhere, like the sofa. Is this normal? Should I keep trading seeds for step ups?

 

I think that's it that worries me... otherwise we're good. He is a curious baby and very smart. He nipped badly first couple of days, but stopped nearly completely. He sometimes asks for head scratch by extending his neck and looking down. He doesn't mind being touched and petted, but tries to step away unless he demands head scratch himself. He likes to sit of the sofa with us at night, falls asleep on my lap and even slept on his back on the sofa yesterday.

We have an appointment with avian certified vet on the 14th to do a complete health check up with all the tests. Will have to drive 2 hours, but I think it's worth it.

 

Thank you in advance. Any advice you could give to a new parrot owner is greatly, greatly appreciated.

[SRSeedBurners]

That's definitely a baby. 2.5 months is too young to wean though so I'd guess he's older than that. I see you got the oatmeal. Try putting some banana, cinnamon and a little flax if you have it. Mine love that stuff! I wouldn't worry about the amount he's eating as long as it's enough. Start worrying if they're NOT eating.

 

Just keep working with him. They change a LOT as time goes on and their personality will come out. Things never happen overnight with a Grey unless it's their idea. And make sure you get lots of that baby time. They grow up before you know it and then all you have are the pictures/videos of when they were babies.

[Acappella]

What a beautiful baby. I'll defer your age question to those with baby experience. As for eating, maybe he was force weened, not abundance weened. Maybe go back to formula for awhile, and try the oatmeal mixture Sterling suggested. Don't overdue it with the fruit. They love it, but it's mostly water they're getting. Yes, he's gonna poop every 15-20 minutes, unless he decides otherwise, like my Dorian decided all on his own that he doesn't poop when he's on my desk. Don't know why, but it sure makes life easier lol.

 

As for only stepping up for a treat, he sure is getting you trained quickly! Add something to your routine, like he doesn't eat the treat until he steps up and turns around. Are you going to let your baby fly, or is he going to be dependant on you to taxi him around the house? Dorian doesn't fly (I don' think he was ever allowed to fledge), so if he wants to go to another room he's dependant on me, so he eventually steps up. All I can suggest is that you make what's going on outside the cage look so interesting that his curiosity gets the better of him and he comes with you. Enjoy these baby days.

[makinmagic]

What a beautiful baby. I'll defer your age question to those with baby experience. As for eating, maybe he was force weened, not abundance weened. Maybe go back to formula for awhile, and try the oatmeal mixture Sterling suggested. Don't overdue it with the fruit. They love it, but it's mostly water they're getting. Yes, he's gonna poop every 15-20 minutes, unless he decides otherwise, like my Dorian decided all on his own that he doesn't poop when he's on my desk. Don't know why, but it sure makes life easier lol.

 

As for only stepping up for a treat, he sure is getting you trained quickly! Add something to your routine, like he doesn't eat the treat until he steps up and turns around. Are you going to let your baby fly, or is he going to be dependant on you to taxi him around the house? Dorian doesn't fly (I don' think he was ever allowed to fledge), so if he wants to go to another room he's dependant on me, so he eventually steps up. All I can suggest is that you make what's going on outside the cage look so interesting that his curiosity gets the better of him and he comes with you. Enjoy these baby days.

 

Oh no, he wasn't force weaned. It's a very good small breeder who legitimately loves his birds. I think he has something mixed up with his bookkeeping.

We are not decided yet on wind clipping. We would like to take him outside after we train him to wear harness and I don't want to take chances, so he probably will remain clipped as now. He does step up by himself when he's anxious to get somewhere, he actually demands me by his side by screaming and extending his leg up front, like "hey, come here!"

[Greywings]

Many clipped birds have flown off, a sudden fright a loud sound or a gust of wind can carry that clipped bird quite a distance. do use caution and the harness don'[t put all your trust in a wing clip. There are many sad stories out there if you delve into the subject.

[Ray P]

Greys are not known for over eating. They will eat what they need and go on with their business.

Amazons will eat them self into obesity, but a Grey, not so much.

Enjoy your time with your Grey and in time it will prefer a head scratch to a treat.

Time spent with your Grey will become more important to them than food.

They become a life long companion. And that's good.

 

P.S.

When they step up always reward them with praise as in time they will look for that over food.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Ray P

[makinmagic]

We are doing great

Went to the vet, blood and stool samples are perfect, still waiting on couple more tests, but I think we have nothing to worry about.

In 3 weeks Tsapa went from 426 grams to 480 grams. I feed him oatmeal with banana from the spoon every night and he now knows and expects this ritual now. As soon as he hears me pouring water into the kettly to prepare his oatmeal he starts screaming in excitement I am amazed every day how smart he is.

He still only steps up after seeing a seed (unless he is anxious to get somewhere or just take a ride on my hand, which is quite often).

Few days ago he started soliciting a head and cheek scratches, he bows his head in a funny way and expects to be scratched as soon as he sees me approach. It's adorable. I know I must teach him independence, but it's so hard to resist his charms. He LOVES spending time with us, he hangs out on the sofa with us at nights and falls asleep on my hand.

We also managed to give him a nice shower, I am not sure how much he enjoyed it, but he certainly didn't hate it.

He won't try a new food until he sees us eating it. And some many more little funny and curious things about him. We are truly happy to have a privileged of raising this wonderful bird.