yvette Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hello all...I am brand new to the site and love it already! Lots of good info here and everyone seems so nice. Here is my introduction. My name is Yvette, and I am 35 years old. I had a mexican red head about 8 years ago, but he hated my daughter and would constantly attack her( she was a toddler at the time). So I had no choice but to have him rehomed. Well, the kids are much older now and we were now ready for a new member to add to our family. We decided on an African Grey because they seem so amazing and intellegent. Anyhow, I really wanted one right away and no breeders had any available, so after looking all over town, I found one at a feed store. He is 4 years old and was chatting up a storm at the shop. well, I fell in love and brought him home. He hasnt said a word since! I know I have to give him time. He eats well and seems to do some crazy little dance. (he flaps his wings and bobs his head up and down quickly- looks like a mating dance or something). He is warming up though because we can ger really close to the cage and he has his face up to the bars, but once we raise our hand to touch him, he backs off. Once the hand comes down, he runs back. He does do LOTS of loud whisteling and chirps, but no words! I work with him daily...looks like best times are early and late afternoon. Any first time stories you can share with me would be great! I worry so much, but at this point with all the trauma of comming to a new home, last thing I want to do is traumatize him again with a visit to a vet, He does not like to be touched. I let him out of his cage today and he refused to get on my hand or get back in the cage. He was flying all over the house! I had to throw a baby blanket over him and carry him over to the cage. It will be a long time before I try that again! :woohoo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvette Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 OOps...forgot to add, we brought him home last Thursday on 2-14-08! 5 days ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adelt Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 hello.. i am not an expert but congratulations these birds company are amazing. i got my bird 1 day after yours on friday 15th. when i started asking around one word kept coming which is patience. my bird case is a bit different than yours and he is younger but in less than a week and i can see small changes every day. new words some times and some times new actions. i was shocked when i toke the food cup to clean it and fill it and he started calling come here..!! if he is whistling i would say he is ok give him some more time and he will talk. mine dont talk some times when i am next to him but i can hear every thing he know from the other room. they are shy. bribe him with treats. thats what i did starting the 10th minute he got home. when you approach him you said he comes towards you in the cage but escapes when your hand is over him. place your finger at his perch level and see if he will allow you to scratch his head that way. i am not an expert as i told you in the beginning but i am new to this as well but other members here are very helpful. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Yvette, patience is your best friend right now, you cannot rush a relationship with a grey, it takes time to build the trust necessary to form a lasting bond with him. I would still allow him to come out of the cage, he needs time out to socialize with the family, maybe you can offer him some kind of treat to get him back in when it is time. Don't worry about his not talking, if he was talking before he will more than likely talk again but when he feels more comfortable in his new home, you have only had him a short time. Talk to him a lot and include him in conversations to help him be more at ease with you and other family members, but remember it takes time and more so since he is older so be very, very patient. Others will chime in with additional advice but the two words that you will see the most are "time" and "patience":P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Hi yvette & welcome. You have had your new grey for just a few days,he needs time to adjust to his new home, environment & people around him.Sit near his cage & just chat to him,dont raise your hands at this point or try to touch him as he may feel threatened ..As long as he is whistling & chirping that's good, he will talk in his own time,dont make the talking an issue at this point.You need to gain his trust so he is confident around you.Throwing a blanket over him will freak him out,try offering him a perch to step on or leave the cage door open & only feed him in the cage at this point,he will return when hungry.If you have a search around the forums there are threads on towelling greys correctly & threads on teaching the step up command.As adelt rightly said, patience is the key factor here, take it a day at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvette Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 That is great! Mine also seems more and more open day by day. Every day is a new whistle. What I notice is that he does repeat chirps and whistles....is that bad? The owner of the shop said that I should never whistle at him because he will stop talking because whisteling is so much easyer. Anyone think that is true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Thats baloney, Yvette, my hubby taught my Josey to wolf whistle not long after I brought her home and she talks, of course that whistle is thrown in for good measure now and again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvette Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 oh good! He loves to repeat sounds and LOVES to watch a CAG named "Ruby" on youtube. He goes crazy, dancing and copying her chirps. Ruby talks, but he avoids that part! lol I have lots to learn but love my baby to death! His name is Bently, but I am thinking of changing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamelessmuse Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Patience, patience, patience! I just adopted a 18 month, well 19 month old Grey last month. It's been slow going but we keep making wonderful baby steps! I spent the first few weeks just talking to her in the cage. Everything I do I explain "want apple?", "want nanner?", "want pepper?" to discribe foods and ask her if she wants it as I give it to her. I just desribe everything I'm doing with her and just in general. Slowly we've been building trust, we aren't 100% yet...but, last weekend she started letting me step up when she was outside, but on the cage. I take her out and put her on her play gym, hold her, do step ups...it's slow, but you will get there. As far as talking, if she was doing it before, she probably will again. It may be tomorrow, next week or next year. It will all be her comfort level. As Judy said, don't make an issue of it. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvette Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 I promise I wont. Everything he has done so far fascinates me. He is such a smart bird, and I do talk to him alot. Everything from telling him what I am doing to where I am going when I leave. I do offer him certian foods, but often he takes them from me and flings them across the room! Then sometimes he takes it, so I never know what he is going to do. Do you guys have a seperate sleeping cage for yours? I try and get everyone out of the livingroom where he is at by 10pm sharp and I uncover his cage at about 7am. Is this enough time for sleeping?:unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I personally don't use a separate cage for sleeping but some of the members do, whatever works for you is best. That is about 9 hours sleep and is probably enough, he more than likely naps during the day especially if no one is home. Greys are very smart and understand more than we give them credit for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvette Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 thats good! Well, what about head shaking? My bird does this alot, almost everytime I talk to him. It almost seems like he is shaking his head like "no". I bought a book and it says that sometimes they get a seed lodged or a feather might be close to the ear hole. Sometimes i think its the pitch of my voice, so I use a different tone, but he still shakes his head. Can this be a sign of something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Don't worry needlessly, Josey shakes her head from time to time and sometimes it is right in a row of shakes, like your book said there is a feather tickling her ear hole or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvette Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 can you tell I am paranoid??? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 You are kidding me, right!!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 LOL Yvette - We are all paranoid over our Greys. We hover over them just as if they were our own Baby....now that I think about it, they are!! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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