snakeye Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Hello Everyone! Just got my first parrot ever (Maximus), he is about 5 months old and am trying to do as much research i can on African Greys to create a perfect home for him. I do have a few questions though, I got him about 4 days ago, had the cage set up for him with a few toys and some good quality parrot food. Now the problem is, the previous owner didnt know what he was doing and was only feeding him sunflower seeds and cooked corn. So now all he eats from his pellet mixture are the sunflower seeds and ignors the rest. I have tried giving him some fruits or veges but no luck . I would appreciate if someone can guide me through this. The other question is, he is very tame and lets me pet him and scratch him, but he does not step up on my hand, and has a hard time getting on the perch where the food and water is located, so when i try to get him up there he will start running away, but he does come to me and lets me scratch him and pet him. I hate trying to grab him to lift him outside the cage and try to put him back, cause he does not step up and am afraid I will loose his trust. Sorry but one more question, i noticed that he shakes his head a lot, like he is trying to get something off his face and he rubs his beak on the bars of the cage as well. I had him checked at the vet before bringing him home and the vet said he is fine. Sorry for the long post but am trying to get as much knowledge as possible to help Maxi out. Thank you all for this great forum Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 first of all if he is haveing troble gettin to his food why don't you lower his perches and food Greys tend to be quite clumsy as babys and it would help if he could get to his food easily. as for fruts and veggies don't stop offeriing them to him baby's are very curious and will aventualy try them. you can also try eating them yourself in front of him and he may want what you eating. It is an absolute must to teach you little guy to step up so you must take him out of his cage and practice with him three or 4 times a day for about 10 minutes at a time. It won't take him very long to catch on justget him to step from one hand to the other over and over until it become second nature when he hears you say step up don't forget lots of praise and excitment when he does it. Good luck and enjoy your new baby when you get a chance could you post some pics I would love to see him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 Thanks for the quick reply, i will try to lower the perch but cannot lower his food and water bowl as its fixed in the cage. Will get another bowl and leave it in the bottom of the cage. Any tips on how to start the step up training or a link to any good website with instructions cause this is my first parrot and really need to learn a lot before i start training him. Again thanks for all the help and support and will be posting picks of Maximus soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Hiya Snakeye and welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your new baby I cant wait to see him. Firstly, is your baby still clumsy? If so as Pat said, lower all the perches and place a towel on the bottom of the cage, this will just soften any falls he may have. Put additional bowls on the bottom to start off with so he has access to food and water. The perches can gradually be moved up when he gets more stable and learns how to perch better. Let him settle in with his new surroundings before doing anything too drastic with his diet. The pellets you have can be moistened, just soak in warm water for about 10 minutes, make sure they dont go too mushy. I mixed these in with my youngest greys seed as he was only on a seed diet. Keep offering the different fruits and veggies, serve them in different ways, warm, mashed etc. My babies liked to be spoon fed sometimes, you could give something like some warm mashed sweet pototoes, keep trying he will eventually accept these it can sometimes take a while. I am going to find some useful links for you which will help you teach your baby to step up. I will also find some on bringing home your new baby. Any questions you have at all, please ask, there is always someone who can help! Read through the threads in the Nursery room, there is lots of useful information there to help you. But most of all, enjoy your new baby! Caroline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 3, 2008 Author Share Posted December 3, 2008 You guys are awesome, thank you Caroline! I will try soaking the pellets and mixing it with the sun flower seeds. How long should i wait before trying to change his diet? How long do the greys usually take to settle in and really need to know how to gain his trust. Can't wait to get home and take some pics for you all thanks! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 http://www.greyforums.net/forums/bird-food/53831-tips-for-getting-your-grey-to-eattry-new-foods.html http://www.greyforums.net/forums/training/92640-teach-the-step-up-command.html http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-nursery/72855-bringing-home-your-baby-grey.html Just a quick word abot the step up training, find a treat your grey loves, with mine its pine nuts. Use these as I feel the bird should be rewarded, gradually over time your bird will learn to step up on command without a treat. They are quite easy to teach when they are babies. Keep the training sessions short, maybe 10-15 minutes each time. As he gets confident with your hands you can ladder him and get him to step from one hand to the other. Just yell if you need anything else! Good luck. Caroline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 He will take a good few weeks to settle in, everything and everyone is new, babies tend to be quite fearless though and if socialized properly in the beginning they adapt really well. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-nursery/73094-socializing-your-baby-grey.html I let my youngest grey settle in for a couple of weeks before I completely changed his diet. I wanted to make sure he was eating properly as it can be too much to change everything all at once. Do it gradually, you might find he really likes the new foods. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/bird-food/59809-complete-veggiefruit-list.html Above is a list of safe foods for you to try. Cant wait to see some pictures of this new baby;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Hi Snakeye, congratulation on your new baby. Maximus is an awesome name. Can't wait to see some pictures, the first chance you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 Thank you all! Sorry didnt have a chance to take some pics yesterday will try to do it today. One quick question, I noticed yesterday this strange behaviour from him, as he is in the bottom of the cage, he will hold on to the corner of the cage with his beak and than start rubbing his claws on the rails, similar to a bull when he is about to charge, and he will stay at it for a good 2-3 mins. Anyone have any idea on what this means. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Its quite normal, most babies will do this I call it chicken scratching but like you say it does look like a bull ready to charge:P Cant wait to see some pictures, when you get round to it would you post some in the Nursery room, there is a baby album in there. Glad to hear everything is ok. Caroline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Yes that is normal behaviour. Your grey sounds fantastic. I cant wait to see the photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Welcome Snakeeye!! The others have given you GreYt ideas and thoughts to digest. You'll find other strange behaviour besides the chicken scratching as time progresses. It's nice having you here and looking forward to hearing more and seeing photos. :-) Caroline - Karma to you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 4, 2008 Author Share Posted December 4, 2008 I really appreciate the welcomes and all the help and support. This is going to be my homepage for a long time :laugh: You all are awesome. Thank You Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 Welcome Joe and Maximus. Sounds like you are going to be a greyt parront! Really try Pat's suggestion about eating new foods in front of him, it works. He'll want what his flock has. With Dorian, I wanted to get him to eat Nutriberries, hoping he'd love them enough I could use them for training, but he wouldn't have anything to do with them. So for a couple of nights I popped some popcorn for myself and put it in a opaque popcorn container from the dollar store. Then I hid a couple of the treats in my hands and let him watch while my hand went container to mouth over and over again (helps if you make a bit of a production about how much you are enjoying the food) The first time I offered him one of the palmed Nutriberries he came over to inspect it, but didn't take it. This was already an improvement over his "there's something in my dish trying to kill me" first response, so I pretended to eat it! Now he's right up to the bars of the cage watching my hand, container-mouth, container-mouth, and I let him watch for awhile. The second time I offered it to him, he grabbed it greedily like he hadn't eaten in weeks! Technique also works with veggies and other new foods. Just make sure if you put salt or other seasoning on your food, you have a parrot safe bit on your plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Alright finally got the pics of Maximus and uploaded it on the photo album, please let me know if your able to view it. He is a bit wet in the pics since he just had his shower. btw, i think Maxi is getting the hang of the step ups and he accepted the pellets when i faked eating it myself So it really does work hehe. Thank you all! Joe & Maximus<br><br>Post edited by: snakeye, at: 2008/12/04 20:50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 The photos are fantastic! If you want to show them off to everyone the easiest way is to open a photobucket account, you may have one already, if not here is a link, show that baby off to everyone! http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-photography-room/89533-how-to-post-picturesphoto-tuturial.html Caroline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Alright lets try this. It works, thanks Caroline :cheer:<br><br>Post edited by: snakeye, at: 2008/12/05 09:18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Guys, by looking at the pics, how old do you think he looks, cause the person i got Maxi from, didnt seem like he was sure about his age and also the sex. So I need to get him DNA sexed to make sure. But is it possible to visually sex them? thanks Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Skuffy Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Look on his ring on his leg,,It has the Breeders ID,,day he / she was born,,month,,year..size of the ring....1e,,,mine is 1 BC/DC1/08 V 1/1/08 V is the ring size.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Cool, Thanks Skuffy! Why are there different ring sizes? The ring doesnt mention the sex, does it? and is it possible to visually tell the sex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Hiya Snakeye, The only sure way to determine the sex is to DNA test. Some people say then can tell by feather colour, shape of eyes and head etc but this is just a guess. You can buy a kit yourself and do this if you are brave enough. My vet did this by plucking a few feathers from the chest area, the kits are avaliable from avianbiotech. http://www.avianbiotech.com/ I am based in the UK and I think the test cost about £14.00. I got the vet to pluck the feathers so I wasnt the bad guy. It can also be done with a drop of blood as well but I preferred the feather method. Love the photos! Karma to you for sharing:) Caroline.<br><br>Post edited by: casper, at: 2008/12/05 11:29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 5, 2008 Author Share Posted December 5, 2008 Thanks Caroline, i will ask my vet if he is able to do it and than get it done there. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 He's definatly a baby with those dark baby eyes that just melt your heart. I just love baby's they are so curious and want to know what everything is. He such a cutie and it sounds like your doing an awesome job of helping him settle in. Thanks for the pics<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2008/12/05 11:59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakeye Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Hello Everyone, I am still haveing difficulties getting Maxi to step-up When he wants, he will step up without me even saying the word, but once he is outside his cage, i have a tough time getting him to step-up to put him back. Also i have never seen him play with his toys, and seems like he is nervous around em. Dunno if he still needs more time to settle in, but i see a few feathers off his belley and chest area loosly hanging, dunno if he is molting or feather picking. I dont see him picking on his feathers though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Hi Joe, A little more time for him to settle in and learn to consistently step up will solve most of the issue. Obviously, when he is out and free, he will show his will of not wanting to be moved or interact at times, when he is doing something else or maybe just happy sitting where he is. It is definitely molt time for those most Parrots. If you don't see him sipping off feathers and just normal preening taking place, it is fine. Do expect a TON of downy feathers to start coming out. You'll find piles in the bottom of the cage when they really start coming out strongly. I is good to see you paying such close attention to his every aspect in health and interacting with you. :-) Keep up the good work!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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