Lupa Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Hi all. Had abit of a scare this afternoon... We brought home the new family member this weekend. A female African Grey. We named her Shani and she is 4 months old. Today i decided to open the cage and let her roam around the bedroom. *Thanks for all the posts on parrot proofing a room* She came out of the cage by herself looking pretty confident and climbed straight to the top of her cage. She sat there for awhile and had a look around. Then after about 10 minutes started totally freaking out trying to get back in. She started flying into things and trying to guide her back into the cage was a nightmare. I think she is upset with me she keeps giving me this look :unsure: . I don't want to traumatize her more by taking her out again too soon but i dont want her to have a bad feeling about being out of her cage. Am i being neurotic or is this totally normal? Help please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 It's early days she needs to feel comfortable with her new surroundings,she will flap & panic when she flys as she will be looking for a safe landing spot !i know you purchased her from a pet shop,has she been taught to step up ? this is the one command she really needs to be taught, here is a link for you.. http://birds.about.com/od/behaviorandtraining/ss/TeachingStepUp.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 She is still adjusting to her new surroundings and something startled her, it could have been anything, but give her a little time to settle in and she will be ok. They are gonna be nervous and jumpy for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share Posted March 19, 2008 Thanks guys! She wont step up onto my hand, only a wooden rod in front of her seems to work. But then when i move the rod, even really slowly, she jumps off. I think i need to give her time to trust me before i get too excited and let her out the cage again, she is still very new. Thanks for the link on Step up training, doing all the reading up i can squeeze into the nite :-) Shani is very friendly tonight tho... I was worried she would hold a grudge. She is the most intuitive loving creature, I have always heard about the greys intelligence but witnessing it first hand is quite and experience. Im falling in Love here! :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 YAY! Second time out the cage was much better! She ran around everywhere exploring! No luck on teaching her to Step Up yet... but still working on it :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Continue to work on the stepping up, she needs to learn that, just do it in short sessions, say 10 to 15 minutes tops at a time so she does not get bored of it. You are making progress tho it seems to you to be so slow but it takes time and lots of patience when working with greys. Oh boy you are falling fast aren't you, witnessing it firsthand will do that to ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 It's day two and she's already showing progress in getting familiar to her new environment and flock. Slow and easy is the only way to take this. If she steps up on to a stick, that is "Step Up", it just getting her to trust your hand and that probably won't take long from the progress she is already showing. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 she will grow in confidence every day Lupa As Judy said keep training sessions short & sweet but plenty of praise for good behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 Here are some pics of Shani and her flock... http://shani.homedns.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 They are very nice pictures of Shani, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Thanks for sharing those great photos of Shani. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Thanks Lupa for sharing those pictures of Shani, what a beautiful grey baby, I just love those dark eyes they have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raposa Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 She's gorgeous, Lupa!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Hi All Shani's daddy here. This is such a great place to share and learn. Firstly, it's been almost 2 weeks (tomorrow) that Shani's been with us and she's coming on great. My folks adopted my grandparents grey when I was little and have since got another so I grew up with them, but this ones really special. She's a quick learner and is already vocalising and has a few whistles (yes "the wolf" from the petshop) down pat. We'be been fumbling a bit with getting her in and out of her cage, but thanx to your help have learnt a few tricks and things are going great. She now has a really cool perch that she sits on when we're around and seems to be enjoying it. I just have a concern about her flying off and hurting herself. She does this a bit too often for my liking. I presume a baby falling now and then is how they learn, but I'm concerned she really hurts herself. Her wings are clipped, but she still seems to get some speed up when bailing off the perch. We have tile floors in areas and I have heard about how painful it can be if they fall on their breast bone. She also tends to fly after me or Lupa when we leave the room. Sometimes into a door or wall or some furniture. She always seems to shrug it off, but she does sit and preen for a bit after a 'dive'. I'm worried that she could get hurt bad, but she really enjoys being out of the cage. Please help! Should we leave her in the cage for longer or am I just being paranoid?? Great work and thanx for all the help! Stephan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Stephen, s long as she glides down to the floor and not drop like a rock I think she will be fine, you don't want to keep her penned up in her cage all the time. Thanks for the vote of confidence, we love it here too and it is a great place to learn all about the grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hi Stephan,no please dont leave her in her cage Depending on the severity of the clip will depend oh her skills at landing, a correct clip should allow her to glide down to land.Is it possible you can create a crash mat for her ? by that i mean can you put down a soft blanket/cushions etc in the place she tends to fall to.she should perfect her landing skills so try not to worry to much.As for following you out of the room that is very common,you have to be strong pick her up & return her to her stand/perch & just tell her "stay " firmly it will be continuous until she understands,dont reward her, but if she manages to remain put for a short period of time lavish her with praise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 Thanx for the response, but you have me a bit worried now. From what I could tell she only has her one wing clipped. Most of the long tail feathers bar 2 are clipped on the one wing and the other has all the long feathers. She has very little control when she bails. It's a general direction thing and she can fly up to 3 or 4 metres untill she hits into something. I was playing with her on the floor earlier today and she actually took off from the ground and made a few feet. Is this one wing clip normal or should we get it looked at? Thanx again Stephan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 No wonder she is having a problem, both wings need to be clipped equally for her to be able to glide. I cannot understand how people only clip one wing, it throws the balance all off, yes you need to have that looked at if you cannot do the clipping of the other wing yourself.:ohmy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desmond Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 <br><br>Post edited by: desmond, at: 2008/03/29 20:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 They do need to learn to fly and land properly before a trim is considered. I wondered about the tail feathers myself but didn't say anything, but it did sound like they were clipped also.<br><br>Post edited by: judygram, at: 2008/03/29 20:49 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Sometimes there's people out there that will do incorrect clips and even worse, clip too early in a baby bird's development period. Many people here disagree and say that the wings should be clipped immediately. I feel that a bird needs to learn coordination and build up the upper the strength that occurs in the chest area and the covert wing area. It's more of a headache to the owner as opposed to the parrot. After the bird develops coordination and directioal skills, clipping can be considered. If a bird is never allowed to fly properly, the bird becomes too dependent on the owner for many things. Their personality many times, doesn't develop to it's full potential. I'm not a fan of clipping but I'd like you to explain something..what you mean when you say that the tail feathers were clipped?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Hi Lupa, Heres a few links on wing clipping and how they should look and just good general information to know. You should get the other wing clipped to match the other. http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww25ev.htm http://www.parrottalk.com/wing-clipping.htm http://birdmart.com/reference/wings.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterDavE Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Why do people have there parrots wings clipped? our bird doesn't really fly that much and when she does it's to go for a poop, bed or food My favourite is when she comes searching for us does it have advantages?? i only see down sides personally:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Thanks for the responses. It makes more sense now. Unfortunately i don't think she ever learnt to fly properly and her wing was already clipped when we got her. However she has her first appointment with the avian vet today so we can ask her to do a proper job while she is doing the wellness check. Lupa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupa Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Oh sorry and Dave007... its not her tail feathers that where clipped its the feathers of her wing that cross over her tail, they are only clipped on the one side. *sorry didn't explain that too well After reading all these posts I'm almost certain that her wing has been clipped incorrectly and if the one hadn't already have been clipped i don't think i would have clipped her at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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