help!? (im a beginner)

[prettybirdie]

Hi! can anyone help me?!

 

i have a new 1yr old african grey called 'cas'. i have owned her for about a month or so now. She is new to having a proper 'home' because she has been bought and then sold alot, moving to many different families and possible LIVING in a carrier cage and eating nothing but sesamie seeds... so i want to give her the longest and best life possible.

I am new to keeping large parrots, but have owned 2 budgies in the past.

 

i have some questions and if anyone can answer 1 or more of them i would be VERRRYYY HAPPY!!!

 

i know that it's kinda long, and may seem paranoid but i'm only 13 and i don't want to get anything wrong!:unsure:

 

:blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink:

 

1. I know i have to take her out of the cage ALOT, but she doesn't seem to want to go into her small carrier cage so i can take her upstairs with me (I have tried putting food in the cage). hopefully, I will be getting a harness soon, but I'm not sure how i'm going to put it on her without stressing her out or ruining her trust... any suggestions? And even if i do, will it help me get her out of the cage?!

 

2. At the moment, i am feeding her fruit+veg in the morning - before school(like watermelon, apple, pepper or cucumber) and sesamie seeds and nuts in the afternoon - after school (i refill her water bowl normally 2ce a day). Veriety is the spice of life - and i feel that i am limiting her options. Any suggestions on what to feed her/give her to drink? or is this a normal diet?

 

3. She is being very vocal at the moment but doesn't talk yet... just sort of whistles/tweets and occasionally clicks a bit. Is it normal for her not to speak any words yet?

 

4. Whenever i change her food bowl, she gets overly protective and tries to pull it back, sometimes even when it's completely empty. Is this also normal?

 

5. Cas is still very teritorial and isn't TOO happy about you putting your fingers in her cage... sometimes, she will lash out to try and bite you, and if you get close she makes a growling sound. Does this also happen with other new parrots? Is there anything i can do to stop her?

 

6. Occasionally she will make a load screeching sound. does this mean she is angry/scared/stressed/hungry??

 

7. She has quite a large cage with 4 wooden branch perches in it and a few toys and bits of sting. I think she is happy and plays with them alot, but she does this thing where she climbs around the cage for periods of time. does this mean she is bored/frustrated or maybe even feels trapped?? or is she just excersizing?

 

8. Lately, cas's posture is vey upright, and she pushes the shoulder-y part of her wings further back and further away from her body. at the same time, she normally has her mouth open and looks like she's panting. does this possible mean that she is ill or maybe even mad or something? maybe just tired or stressed??

 

9. As i said before, taking her upstairs or even out of her cage is a problem. This also has other problems that go with it, like HOW AM I SUPOSSED TO BATH HER?!?! this is one of my MAJOR questions, because i live in Egypt at the moment, and it's so dry. i heard that you shoud bath them once a week, but i simply CAN'T!!! I've gotten a spray bottle once and tried to shower her with that... but she just screamed and tried to get away... OBVIOUSLY not enjoying it! the LAST thing i want to do is ruin her trust, so Would it be better just NOT to bath her?? or is there a way for her to enjoy it??!?

 

10. Also, if you could giv me any other deetz, like

- how often to take her to vets (bare in mind i live in Egypt, so english speaking bird specialists are kinda hard to find... we know one, but we aren't sure how profesional he is)

- how often to clean out her cage

- is there REALLY such thing as a 1 person bird?

- what are some good sources of info (like i've heard ALOT about Chet Wohmack, but if any of you have bought his products, do they work? are they as good as implied?)

- info on signals (like what african greys do when they are hungry/happy/bored/depressed/ect)... like how to tell what they want or when they love you!? :blush:

 

xxxxxxxxx

 

Again guys, sorry it's so long and thanks

SSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MMMMUUUUUUUCCCCCCCHHHHHH for giving me some advice... i REALLY apreciate it!!!!!!!!!!

 

xxxxxxxxx

[Tycos_mom]

first of all if your bird has been passed around from home to home its going to take a while before he trusts anyone. right now he's prubuly waiting to go to another home because thats whats been happening. Its going to take allot of patient on your part you have todo things at his speed not yours. Open his cage and let him come out on his own. are his wins clipped. if not because you are only 13 it might be a good idea to find some one who knows how to clip birds properly to clip his wings for you. at firt you could just sit and talk with him or read to him out loud. when he come out and you want to try and take him upstairs try to get him to step up onto a perch place the perch sideways under his belly just above his feet give it a little push and say step up at the same time. don't force him todo this if he wants to he will. Practice with him on a daily basis two or three times a day for ten minutes at a time don't practice to long or the bird may lose intrest or get stressed out. once you get him to step up onto the perch take him somewhere small like the bath room or a small room where he can't get to far away from you but out of the site of his cage. this is called neutual ground. if you use the bath room make sure you close the toilet and the shower curtain. put the bird down and start practicing stepups. onto your hand make a fist so he can't get a good bite and don't ever pull away from a bite if you half to close your eyes and just take the bite with out saying anyhing excet no bite in a firm voice. when he does something right lavish praise on him give him treats get excited. if he bite to often turn you back and don't pay any attention to him for a minute or two and then resume your lesson. Its going to take allot of work love and patients from you. he's still very young though so you have that in your favor. as for diet your bird needs to have diet very simalar to your diet without the dairy products and meat. there diet should include cooked and raw vegetables cooked egg a little fish or chicken one in awhile alittle cheese oncein a while no avacado it toxic to birds no cafeine or carbonated drinks. they can have fruit juice. anything that is healthy that you eat is healthy for your bird dark leafy vegatables such as beet greans cabbage romaine lettce carrot tops broccoli and the leaves are all great foods yams or sweetpotatos cooked and mashed are great carrots turnips raw or cooked all these thing will help insure that your parrot will stay healthy. I don't know if you can get bird pelleted food in Egypt but if you can that is a great source of nutrition for your bird. Like I said before don't push her todo anything she really doesn't want todo don't pull away from a bite and love him and talk to him as much as you can. and one more thing don't approch his cage straight on come in from an angle or zigzag. also try to look at your parrot with just one eye or put your head down. Preditors have eyes on the front of their face like we do and to him you could look like a scary preditor so looking at him with one eye or with your head down show him you don't want to hurt him he should turn his head and look at you with one eye to show you that he undderstands. I hope this helps the biggest thing todo right now is to spend time with him and letting him know that this is his last home and he is not going anywhere. oh yeah make sure you tell your parrot everything you are going to do before you do it like if your going to pt your hands in his cage to feed him tell im that say I'm going to take your dish and put some yummy stuff in there for you or I'm going to give you fresh water. or I'm going to touch you or what ever it is tell your parrot first it helps them to learn to assosiate your word with what your doing so they learn not to be so afraid.

[BMustee]

1) If she was forced into them before then she isn't going to asociate the carrier with something good. Is there anyway to take her upstairs without the carrier? It will take time for her to enjoy the carrier again.

 

2) The best foods are dark green veggies...like Broccoli and spinich. Yellow Squash is a good one too. Be sure when you feed fruit like apples and cherries to remove the seeds...they are toxic. Water it the only thing that should be in the cage for her to drink, but you can offer juices when your dinking them. You mention feeding sesamie seeds...do you mean Sunflower seeds? If that is what you are feeding you need to wean her off of them once she has settled in. I feed my CAG a base diet of Sawflower Gold seed mix (no sunflowers) and pellets.

 

3) Greys normally start to talk around a year old give or take but she will probably not talk till she is comfortable in the new home. That is if she will talk at all...not all greys talk and some will only talk when they are alone in the room.

 

4) If she is being aggressive about the food bowl then it's probably due to being a bit cage bound and possesive of "Her" things.

 

5) She is doing this because she does not trust you. You need to work on building a relationship with her and let her know you mean no harm. The eye game...although it seems dumb to people...works wonders with parrots. Give that a try and when she blinks back and acts comfortable then try taking her out of the cage,

 

6) Greys screech for a number of reasons...they screech when they are scared or playing. What the screech means is all about what they are doing at the time.

 

7) Many cage bound birds do this "round n' round" thing in their cages...it's kind of a frustration thing.

 

8) it sounds like she is too hot. Birds do not sweat so they pant like dogs do and hold their wings out. This could also be a scared posture but it sounds more like being too hot to me.

 

9) At this point I would not try to bath her...it sounds like she isn't your biggest fan right now and you don't want to damage that right from the start. Once she is more comfortable with you I would say once or twice a week is good.

 

10) Normally you want to take a grey to the vet once a year for a well bird check

 

Once a week the cage should be cleaned and the paper at the bottom should be changed every day.

 

I got one of Chet's DVDs and I really liked it. It's mostly trick training, but that does help to build a relationship. The first video of his also goes into taming parrots which I have used some of the advise on the DVD with good results as well.

 

there are a number of posts on body language, so you should search the forums and read through them.

[BaxtersMom]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You came to the right place if you have questions about your grey. There are lots of members here with lots of experience and always willing to help.

 

You got some good advice from the others above. I don't have anything to add to it but wanted welcome you here.

 

I am thrilled that you decided to take in a bird that needed a new home with someone who really cares! Please keep us updated. <br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/10/09 02:43