deedee Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 hi i bought an CAG on friday and i understand that pepsi will bite me many many times and it takes time but would like a little advice on how to deal with it as she took to my mother straight away and she can stroke her all over and pick her up after only a couple of visits and today the neihbours popped in for a cuppa and she got straight on her hand with no bites with me she walks all the way round her cage climbs on the couch and sinks her beak into me and she means it feathers ruffled and everything but i tried to leave the room last night and she had a fly over and landed on my shoulder she seems to enjoy biting me cause she laughs afterwards lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caspersmum Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Hi Deedee, Welcome to the forum. I'm going to answer your question with a load more questions I'm afraid! Firstly, how old is Pepsi? Who did you buy her from, and did they give you any information? And most importantly of all, how do you react when you get bitten? Let us know, and we'll be able to offer you some more specific advice, Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 pepsi is about 5yr got her from pet shop they had her 4 weeks told me her owners only fed her on sunflower seed she wont try fruit altho im putting it in every day by fruit i mean wont eat dried or fresh or veg. as for being bitten at first i just took it and said no naughty and i have littleholes all over my hands and arm she lets me stroke her and acts all nice so i lift her out of cage once out she bites me with real aggession and they are getting harder and holding on and abit much to take yet nothing like that with me mother who has only went to her twice and i cant find a treat that she will except cause mny of the web pages i have been on say find a fav treat and use it as reward any help would be great i dont want to become scared of her but she does scare me not 10 min ago she ran up me arm andtried to bite my face with her wings open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest briansmum Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 firstly you need to sort the diet out, sunflowers and junk food for greys and will not be doing her good. i would see an avian vet and ask him to give you advice on the best diet possible for her. if she likes sunflower seeds so much you could begin removing those from her regular food and use those as treats and rewards when she is good. but be careful about rewarding whn it comes to biting as it could easily back fire. the best thing to do when she is vicious towards you is say no (i hold up my hand in a "stop" kind of fashion also) put her back on her perch and walk away quietly for a while. then approach her calmly again and slowly offer your hand. if she bites again continue to walk away. when she lets you stroke or touch her without biting then you could maybe offer a reward, although then she make come to expect the treat or she will bite you again, it's tricky. this is what i do with my grey, he doesn't actually bite me he just gets carried away on a morning, by doing this he is learning he does not get to come out and play until he has stopped pecking at my fingers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caspersmum Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Wow, that's really hard. It sounds like you're doing the right things. As for reward treats, have you tried banana chips? They have the advantage that if you get big ones pepsi's beak wont be able to reach your fingers. It's certainly strange that she seems to have taken so badly to you, but not to other people. I think you need to go back to the pet shop and ask for some more information about the previous owners - was pepsi actually abused by them? If so perhaps there's something about you - looks, smell, mannerisms - that remind pepsi of her previous life. Whatever the case, you're going to have to let Pepsi build up her trust in you, and it'll take alot of time and patience. Afew more questions for you - what's her cage like, where is the cage - which room in the house, and where abouts in the room? It can all make a huge difference to parrot behaviour (but then it sounds like you've been doing a lot of reading anyway). One more thing - keep at it - it sounds like you've let yourself in for a difficult job, but from experience, it can be very rewarding - you just need to keep on staying calm and patient. Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 i did alot of reading b4 i got her but did not expect to get one that doesnt like fruit or veg but thought well in time she will eat it. her cage is quite big she has plenty of toys 1 water bowl 1 feed bowl and 1 treatbowl and the cage is in the living room beside my couch she climbs down and speaks to me for a bit cause she can talk loads everytime i leave room u hear "you who where u gone" but then after a chat she just strikes at me and if she gets a good grip holds on. most of the time theres just me there i have 2 kids who are either out or upstairs on the playstation but when they do come in the room straight away he starts chatting with them, and the owner who had her b4 the pet shop from what i can make out was an older man who has died i think and the bird got passed around family abit then the pet shop and she took him home and worked wth him abit cause he picked a few feathers which are growing back in but she said she had never bitten her, but i will keep trying cause even though she likes a pound of my flesh each time im near her i still love her shes got a very funny personality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Monique Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Hi DeeDee. Some Greys can be one-person birds. Is she intended to be your mother's bird or your bird? If yours then I would right away have you start doing all the interacting with her until you've got that straightened out (then you can start to add Mom back in the picture). If she's Moms bird but you want to interact with her simply keep trying. Talk quietly, gently, read books, give treats. If you know she's going to bite by all means don't pick her up. Watch her body language. Try to build trust with her. You will see improvement over time. She may very well always favor one person over another. I would not change her diet right away. Change for Greys is very stressful. She's been eating that diet for how many years it is better for her to adapt to her new home and people and then you can start to wean her onto new healthy foods. I would start giving her more fresh veggies, fruit, seed variety, pellets ... just some different things with her food. You might offer it to her every day for a month and she won't touch it and then Whamo! she will start. There are ways to convert your birds diet but right now I would take it easy on her and just offer her extra new things, but not deprive her of the old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I agree with Monique. Very good advice. You really need to work up enough trust so she feels totally at ease with her new home and surroundings. Then work on the food issue. One thing at a time if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 This is real frustrating for you I know but patience is your best friend right now and lots of time. Keep us informed of your progress and good luck to you. You will be rewarded for your perseverance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 she has ony had 2 interaction with my mother and both times all friendly and nice and have asked my mam when she visits my house to ignore her, but last night she was making this little chattering sound and let me stroke her head and back and she was turning round in circles and rubbing her head on my hand for about 3/4 minutes then she sunk her beak into my hand so i said no pepsi thats naughy and put her back in her cage turned away and left the room for 10 minutes and she bit me this morning but i think thats cause i didnt let her out of her cage cause repair man is comin being as she like to fly across room and sometimes bite didnt think it was wise incase she bit him. i dont understand her she has these little moments where u think she is make progress then wham here comes the bite. you have all gave great advice and im grateful and will keep trying and educating myself and if u think of anything else to help that would be welcomed. thankyou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Just keep up the patience. You both have to learn to trust each other. Sounds like you are making some progress. Just little moments of time which will gradually turn into minutes, hours etc. is a great beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted May 25, 2007 Author Share Posted May 25, 2007 today i took pepsi upstairs while i was on the computer ad let her sit with me, she sat there quite happy chewing bits of paper up but when i went to take her back down she stepped on my arm with no problem is removing her from the room where her cage is a good thing or will it make more problems also i am buyng a parrot stand will that be better for her through the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 25, 2007 Share Posted May 25, 2007 That's great news! Sounds like she is quite happy working with you. Definitely a change of scenery can bring on a change in attitude. I think she'd like a play stand as well. Talon has one in my office, but tends to prefer walking around and getting into things on my desk! :pinch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest briansmum Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 if shes happy letting you take her about with you when you're doing things i'd say that was a good sign and you should do if as often as possible it could be the ticket to strenghtening the bond between you. a portable play stand is a good idea, i got one for Brian, though like Talon he'd rather be on me or the floor getting into stuff he knows he shouldn't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted May 26, 2007 Author Share Posted May 26, 2007 she steps onto my arm no problem but once she is on thats when she decides that i need 4 or 5 really hard bites and sometimes a run up my arm and a bite out of my neck, the book i got says that they dont hold on when they bite but ohhh my god they do she is abit like a pit bull most of the time but then now and again not a problem, i think is has helped gettin my mother to ignore her when she visits and telling her NO NAUGHTY and putting her back in her cage and leaving room for 10 mins, she does not like being ignored. U are all vey helpful and friendly on this forum and id like to thank u all for yr help and am sure i will have many many more question in the future :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caspersmum Posted May 26, 2007 Share Posted May 26, 2007 Hi deedee, I just wondered what sort of play stand you're thinking of getting - I've kind of lost the tread of what everyone's been saying (the study's getting to me I'm afraid!)- I'm sure you've read all about height, and how important it is to keep a bird's eye-level below yours - if it helps, there are some great table-top play stand, and in your case, I'd be tempted to get one of these, as you can put it on various height surfaces so you can get the optimum for you and pepsi. Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted May 27, 2007 Author Share Posted May 27, 2007 i have just spent the last half hour petting pepsi all over her head, legs, feet and wings dont know why she suddenly let me but i kinda hope she dont change her mind tomorrow and decide i need my fingers removing from my hand and was not so kean on her spitting bits of food on me but from other posts i have read thats a good thing. it may seem like a small breakthrough but for me its amazing and a huge step forward and i dont think it would of happened if i had not got advice from u lot so thankyou sooooooo much sorry for going on just soo excited about it i think she starting to like me yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh:cheer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Monique Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Deedee that is great news! I think what you are doing with her is great. You've got great advice. Having her out and about is great. Since she is a little naughty I would stop her any time she tries to go up your arm. Greys can be little terrors sometime and they will act like they love you and then take a chomp out of you. They are just that smart (and sometimes temperamental)!! There a lot of great articles on the Internet about how to help with biting behaviors, and also "For the love of Greys" by Bobbi Brinker is a WONDERFUL book in general which deals with many things. Here is one article that I think is very good that talks about biting: http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/biting.html Best of luck and I look forward to hearing how things continue for you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caspersmum Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Hey Deedee, I'm so pleased you're making such great progress. Just another handy hint in addition to what Monique said - about how they can seem really sweet and loving, then suddenly take a chunk out of you. I've had this problem with Casper when I first got him - he hadn't been abused as badly as Pepsi - it was more the case that his previous owners didn't understand about birds. He'd be sitting on my knee having a head scratch, then suddenly go for my fingers. I'm sure you've already noticed, but greys have VERY subtle body language, which you can only learn through time (and a fair few bites!). I dealt with this by very carefully observing Casper's body language - paying particular attention to his eyes. As soon as he gets 'that look' I withdraw my hand until he's calmed down. Keep at it - as you seem to have found out, it's sooo rewarding - I think even more so than when you get a baby, because you know that you've made a real difference in this small bird's life! Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deedee Posted June 3, 2007 Author Share Posted June 3, 2007 as i said earlier she wont eat fruit or veg well think i have sort of solved that just wanted to check that it is ok for her, now i soak the veg or fruit in hot water drain it then blend it so its like lumpy baby food then mix it with her seed and she cant seem to pick it out so she just eats the food but am still putting some fruit and veg in her other bowl in the hope that she starts eating it but just wanted to check that that would be ok for her, was working on the fact that some is better than none.thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Well good for you Deedee if mixing it with the seeds and she eats it to get the seeds thats good. Keep offering her the fresh and she may surprise you one day and eat that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teresasbirds Posted June 3, 2007 Share Posted June 3, 2007 Hi: I personally do not own a Grey but I use to help an elderly lady that bred them. They loved cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt. I know my Macaw LOVES cottage cheese more then nuts if given a choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 My grey loves cheese also, just get the package it comes in out of the fridge and she goes nuts for it.:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now