New member in need of help!

[Timmysmom]

Hello everyone. I am new here and my name is Dina. I live in N, Ky. I have parrots of my own which include a pair of SI Eclectus, a TAG, a Severe Macaw, and a GCC. I also have been given a CAG who is 5 years old.

 

My problem is Ozzie the CAG. I was told he doesn't like women. I would like to know what I can do to get him to get over his hatred or possibly fear of women.

I had a very painful episode with him. I know have 6 stitches from a very large and deep bite.

 

I let him out of his cage to play. He was always the type to play on his cage and go in when it was time to go to bed. Well, on Friday evening something scared him and he flew down then started climbing up Timmy my Timneh's cage and everything went crazy from there.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I had no intention of even picking him up until he got more familiar with me.

 

Dina

[judygram]

Hello Dina and welcome to the family, so glad you decided to join us and we look forward to hearing more about you and Ozzie.

 

How long have you had Ozzie now, if only for a few weeks or even a couple of months its not long enough, it takes lots of time for him to settle in and bond with you especially if he is known for hating women.

 

Do you know anything about his past, his former owner, was it a woman, these are things you need to know and it may explain why he is the way he is today. Its possible he was mistreated by a woman and that is why he hates them. But in any case it can be ovecome but not without lots of time and patience on your part.

 

Please read thru the many threads for lots of useful information and do not hesitate to ask questions you may have and we will do our best to find you some answers and help you in any way we can.

 

If you have some pictures of Ozzie you would like to share with us we would love to see him.

[Timmysmom]

I just got Ozzie last week. My friend had a heart attack and is not able to care for all her birds, so I took in Ozzie for her. I had no intention of even picking him up or even making contact until he got to know me and my husband better. Ozzie has always been homed by couples and was never abused in any way.

 

My friend took him in from one of her friends because he was always biting the wife, so basically I am Ozzie's third owner now...poor bird.

 

No one has any clue as to why he dislikes women, he is always sweet and gentle with guys but will bite women in a heartbeat. He will take almonds through the cage bars from me and let me pet his head but that's as far as it goes. I only had to pick him up Friday, because I did not want Timmy or Ozzie to get hurt.

 

If I knew how to post pictures to the group I would glad send some in. This forum is all new to me.

Dina

[judygram]

Dina you have a rough road to travel in getting Ozzie to trust you and/or at least tolerate you, some greys do favor one sex over the other and Ozzie has chosen males and there is not much you can do about it.

 

Continue to talk to him, go sit by his cage and read the newspaper or a book to him, offer him treats but this will be a slow process so be prepared to spend a lot of time and be very patient for this will not happen overnight.

 

We have a FAQ section that has the instructions on posting pics on the site and in the threads, read thru it and if you need any more help just ask:)

[Timmysmom]

Thanks Judygram. I know I have a long rode ahead of me in building up the trust. I'm hoping with him sitting right across the room from Timmy it will help some, since I'm always practing flight recall with him.

 

Here's a picture of Ozzie taken Friday evening before the major bite took place. He hung upside down from the underside of my index finger and wouldn't let go, only kept digging deeper. Ouch!

 

Dina

[judygram]

Ozzie is a good looking chap, hard to believe he can inflict such pain but that is how it goes sometimes.

 

Yes it will be a long road but one day it will be worth it for the rewards you reap and probably him seing how you have so much fun with Timmy will only help it along, heres wishing you the best of luck in your endeavor to win the heart of Ozzie.

 

Thanks for sharing that pic with us, I assume the FAQ section helped you with that.

[Guest]

Dina and Ozzie, welcome here

[danmcq]

Welcome Dina!!

 

OUCH what a horrific bite, six stitches, your lucky a tendon was not severed. From the sounds of hanging on to your index finger, it seems he may have been more fearful of falling than wanting to bite, perhaps?

 

The hating women is odd, but not uncommon for a Grey or any other Parrot for that matter in preferring one sex over another. But Ozzie does take it to the extreme in actually biting only them.

 

The photo shows a wonderful looking Grey and hopefully he will learn from your interactions with your TAG that interacting with a woman can be fun. :-)

 

Looking forward to hearing and seeing more from you.

[lovemyGreys]

Hi Dina & Welcome to the forum.Judy & Dan have offered some great advice, time is the biggest factor for Ozzy to gain your trust,we look forward to future updates

[Lyric]

Welcome Dina- Ozzy is a beautiful bird. Hopefully with time he will discover that you are not to be feared and he will come around.

[Timmysmom]

Thank You all for the very nice welcome. I am certainly going to take it slow and not even let him out of his cage until he is more used to me...not after this past accident. Last night I just sat by his cage and talked softly while reading to him, hoping he will get used to the sound of my voice.

 

I feel bad about it since all my other birds are allowed out to play but I don't think this is something I can help right now.

 

Dina

[bettyboop]

Hi Dina, welcome to the forum . Ozzy is a great looking bird . My first Grey took 8 months to come around , so reading and visiting is very important and helps so much .I also fed ours oatmeal every morning with a spoon . I think it helped to nurture him , he loved it and he did get a lot more gentle after the spoon feeding.How very kind of you to take him in .Good job !!!!

Keep us posted ,

Mary