Anxiety

[jojo1]

Has anyone used drops, Medication, Suppliments for your grey who has extreme anxiety?  My Grey has been vet checked and no problems. But she freaks out everytime someone walks in the room. If I try to hold her she freaks all over the cage and will hurt herself. She needs to calm down. She is 20 years old when I got her and she must have never been messed with.

[Greytness]

If her cage is located near a popular doorway, I'd first move it to a less trafficked area of your house. Perhaps partially drape the back of the cage to give her a comfort area.

If you open her cage to pick  her up and she freaks, then take a few steps back. Actually you  might need to return to square one. Baby steps towards approaching her. Read her queues. If she becomes anxious, then step back to where she shows signs of comfort. With greys, it's all about doing exactly what they're asking of their people. It's not about what we want. If we follow what we'd like to have happen vs what the grey is trying to convey, then valuable progress will be lost.

I have a severely neglected rescue CAG who lived in an outside shack for 8 years. No handling whatsoever. It took me 2 months of working with him slowly. Now he does the mating dance and will step up. Unfortunately he was cage bound for such a long time that if I take a few steps away from his cage I can detect an increase in anxiety in him. So I stand or sit near his cage and everything's going great! Now I'm moving my chair or myself a step back to increase his tolerance of being away from his domain, monitoring his queues in real time, if you will.

If your grey has experience mistreatment in the past, you must first earn her trust. Patience is absolutely everything when it comes to greys!

[jojo1]

Thank You, I moved her in my office room. Where I set and watch tv also. She never comes out of her cage even if I just leave the door open and place her food on top to see if she will go get it. Nope she will not come out.  If I try and reach for her he shakes and falls off her perch. I back off. Just afraid she will hurt herself. Never seen one freak this bad. She is a rescue, so don't know much about her. Was wondering about AviTech Relaxation and calming herbal.  Know the person who owned Avi Tech passed away and hard to get it but I don't know of any other natural calming to get her. Heard Lavender oil in a steamer would help but wasn't sure it was safe.

[Greytness]

Here is a link to a site that could give you a few more ideas. https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/  

The second link is to avian teas, one of which is blended for calming effects https://greywoodmanor.com/products/serene-tea  

The key will be providing her with as calming of an environment that you possibly can. She sounds similar to my Sydney, who is also cage bound. I've had him since July. My  post above shows  just how slowly things could potentially go for your girl, if not even longer. I've heard other grey owners say it's taken as long as a year before their grey truly settled in.

 

[Jayd]

Please remember that most medications are designed for humans.....try chamomile tea, new toys, or soft singing to start....Our Joe took years before he was comfortable enough to take over the household. Remember, Rome was not built in a day...😄

[Acappella]

Look up something called Rescue Remedy.  At least a couple people here have had good results with it.  My Dorian was cage bound when I got him and it took more than a year of sitting by his cage with the door open before he even poked his head out.