CoCo's Making Progress

[jencrane63]

It's been awhile since I have posted anything on here so I thought I would update everyone on CoCo's progress.

 

I have decided that it is true. You don't own your grey, they own you.

 

It's has been 8 months since I "rescued" CoCo. When I went to pick him up he was a very haggard looking fella. He had no tail feathers to speak of and absolutely no tolerance of humans other than to allow me to feed and water him. Any attempt to go near him with my hands usually ended in me resulting injury. So basically we just have coexisted for the most of the past 8 months.

 

I have read many posts about the birdtricks.com training program and have seen that many members do not endorse it. But, being the newbie that I was I bought the program. When I first got it I scanned through the materials and briefly tried a few things and then put it aside. Then a couple of weeks ago I decided that I had spent the money and I really needed to give it a deligent try. I have been using the clicker as instructed with the aid of treats trying to get CoCo to at least become more comfortable in his invironment. I honestly have to say that we are coming along better than I thought we would.

 

In the beginning if I put my hand to the cage he would growl and very reluctantly touch my finger with his beak. I would use the clicker and immediately give him a treat. After an evening of just doing that he would no longer growl and would readily touch my finger. I woul click and he got a treat. We worked on this for a week with me moving my finger to different parts of the cage so that he would come to the finger to click and get a treat.

 

Then I opened the cage door and starting the process all over from there. At first he was very hesitant but eventually got the hang of that. During this time he has been more receptive to head scratches and rubbing his beak on my fingers. I can now put my hand into the cage without him going crazy.

 

I started pulling the cage right next to my recliner every night after I am ready to sit and relax and have time to spend with him. Last night I think we made a real breakthrough. For the past few days I have been placing my hand on the bottom of the open cage while I sit and watch tv. Last night he climbed down and started nibbling on my hand,rubbing all over my hand and even starting using his feet to grab my finger to pull himself up some. He did this constantly for about 15 minutes. I was very careful not to make any sudden moves and talke to him constantly. I think he is starting to trust me and I am so proud of him. We will continue with this until he decides to go to the next step.

 

One thing that I have learned through these tapes and video is that it is pretty much up to the parrot as to when and how he will take the training. Training takes a lot of patience and a lot of time.

 

So... my opinion on the birdtricks.com material is this...When you are a newbie as I was and still am on raising, training, and just general knowledge of an african grey you need help. So the visual and audio material does help. I did tons of reasearh before finding CoCo but nothing prepared me for the actual state he was in.

 

He has improved immensely. He has all his tail feathers now and although he overpreens at times he seems to be adjusting slowly to his new life. A lot of that is probably due to his improved diet though. He went from all seed diet to now he gets a variety of Zupreem, PrettyBird Species Select, Harrisons, fresh vegtables and fruits, Veggies Crisps, and Red Palm Oil. I use shelled raw peanuts for training purposes only.

 

I love this forum. It is informative and someone is always ready to give advice if needed.

 

I will do another update as more improvemnts take place.

 

Thanks everyone.

[danmcq]

It's GreYt to hear an update on Coco.

 

Thanks for posting it and showing Coco how a real loving and caring home welcomes and loves him.

 

He needed that and your patience is finally starting to pay off.

 

Good Job!!

 

I would love to hear more updates and see some photos. :-)

[judygram]

Jen you have made great progress and I am so glad you took the time to tell us about it. It does require lots of time and much patience but it is beginning to pay off and will continue to improve every day.

 

Although I personally wouldn't recommend the birdtricks dvd or his site you did find some useful material in it but for the most part it is useless and not worth the money.

 

Just keep doing what you are doing and please update us again any time as we love to hear from you about Coco.

[Lyric]

It's great to hear the progress you've made with your grey and the step by step process of what you've done so far. Sounds like Coco has come a long way! I hope you continue to move forward with him and keep us informed on how it's going.

[Luvparrots]

Congratulations on your progress with Coco. It's always great to hear about rescued greys finding loving and caring owners to give them their much deserved forever homes. We would love to see some pictures of Coco if you have any to share. Karma to you for not giving up on Coco and providing he with a loving home. Please continue to give us updates on your wonderful grey.