Rehabilitating my grey

[TPeter4]

Greetings,

 

I'm hoping to get some advice from an experienced hand about a 9-month-old African Grey (I believe it's a Congo) that I recently purchased from a pet market in Amman, Jordan. While the grey was raised by a man who clearly cared about her, the standards for what constitutes a nice home for birds is a bit different over here. For example, her cage was probably meant for a love bird or other small parrot.

 

She was supposedly hand raised, but remains a very skittish bird. She'll allow me and my girlfriend to touch her and rarely bites. If she does chomp someone, it's gentle, and just a clear way of saying "please stop." She does not, however, enjoy being touched, she only tolerates it.

 

While I understand that training/taming a Grey can take a bit of time, what disturbs me most about mine, Lulu, is that she has no real sense of curiosity. I've put her in a large cage and though I can't find proper bird toys here, I've tried putting new things in her cage (a link of chain, paper towel rolls, an interesting Q-tip box, etc.). She doesn't even investigate them. Sometimes, she accidentally steps on them, which I originally thought might make her want to explore them a bit, but she just walks over them and moves on. She doesn't have any interest playing. She just sits in her cage and periodically moves from perch to perch or preens herself. If you leave the door open she doesn't even poke her head out. She just stays inside her cage.

 

Beyond that, when we take her out of the cage, while she will tolerate being held for a few minutes, her main interest is breaking way and climbing to the highest point in the room or preferably her cage. When she gets to where ever she's going, she doesn't do anything. She just sits there and looks around, and maybe preens herself. I understand that most greys consider their cage a secure place and that all birds prefer high places, but this seems a bit extreme.

 

It's also hard to train her because she doesn't care one way or another about food. For example, we've tried feeding her apples, kiwi, blood oranges, regular oranges, green beans, garbanzo beans, and a few others and she just not interested. So when you're training her the only real reward you can give her is leaving her alone or letting her go back in her cage. Again, I think this goes back to her original owner who only fed her sunflower seeds, which is now all she'll eat, even if I get her a nice seed mix (pallets are unavailable here).

 

I'd love to keep her as a pet, but I'm feeling like I've gotten a bit over my head. If I can't even find a nice food reward or a toy she enjoys playing with I'm not sure how to train her or help her regain her mental alacrity.

 

If anyone has some advice about where to start it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

[casper]

It sounds as though she needs to be taught how to play.

To some greys its a natural thing to others they need a little help along the way.

 

We have a room here for homemade toys, i understand you cant get hold of any, what about making some of your own for her? It sounds silly but play with the toys yourself in front of your grey, try and make it look really exciting, try and play games like peek a boo or if your grey feels comfortable on the floor a small ball might be fun.

 

Can you get hold of any pine nuts or pistachios? Im sorry I dont know exactly where you are and what is available, these are what I use with my greys.

I also use sugar snap peas and pomegranate seeds.

 

I have three greys and they are all so different, one plays more than the other, one talks more one is more lovable.

Each grey is different and it maybe that your grey may not be as curious and adventurous as some others will be. Take small steps and watch her personality develop.

 

You have not had her very long and it will take a while for her to gain your trust as well, this will come over time dont rush her.

 

Take a look around the many rooms we have here including the Nursery which may help with socialising your baby. Also the training and birdfood room will offer some good advice as well.

 

Good luck and welcome to the forum Tom.

[Luvparrots]

Hi Tom, congratulations on your new grey. If your grey has a red tail, then it is a Congo African Grey, if not it is a Timneh African Grey. Your new grey is just a month older than my baby grey. Casper is right, first you must gain your grey's trust. Please don't give up, she is just a baby looking for her new flock to guide her. That's you and your girlfriend. I like her name Lulu. If you have any pictures, we would love to see them, welcome to the family!!<br><br>Post edited by: luvparrots, at: 2009/04/17 18:43

[she]

Hi Tom. Casper has given ou some good pointers. Lulu is feeling very strange and insecure.She probabley does not know how to play with toys, show her. Leave the cage door open when you are around and she may just venture out on her own.Try giving her things to shread up like a phone book or old paper back.Drinking straws also make good toys.Will she take treats from your hand.It will take some time before she comes out of her shell but I am sure with time and patiance it will happen.She is still a baby ad needs lots of love and attention.

[TinyTimneh]

I would work on trust before anything because if she wants nothing to do with you it will be hard to get her to learn to play from you modelling it.

Getting her off of her sunflower seed diet and onto a better diet may help you as well. Once she can't get them in her bowl anymore it will give you an effective training tool because she'll have to get them from you.

An African Grey's complete trust is hard to gain and may take a while. But if she will eat from your hand it's a big milestone. Just let her do her own thing right now and don't bother with trying to pet her or handle her much, feeding her from your hand and getting her to whistle back and forth to you are good ways to build a bond with a parrot. Share some of your parrot-friendly food items with her or give her a bath.

Transforming the sunflowers into treats will also help you teach her to play. Often the first toys birds learn to play with are either shreddables or foraging toys. She might not play with anything now, but if you put her sunflower seeds in a cardboard tube I'm sure she'll chew them out and discover how much fun chewing is in the process. My two small birds don't play with many toys but if you hide food in their cages it keeps them busy.

I'm not suprised she doesn't do much if she lived in a small cage previously. Right now, just get her moving. Put her dishes on opposite sides of the cage so she has to climb around back and forth to get to them. Sprinkle some of her daily diet on the paper on the bottom of the cage (clean paper only of course) so she'll have to go down them and walk around.

Good luck and welcome to greyforums!

[TPeter4]

Greetings Everyone,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to write in with advice! You'll be pleased to hear that after several weeks in our home Lulu has settled in quite nicely. If I take the top of her cage she climbs right out. While she's still not eager to spend time with us, she's happy to ride around on our arm/shoulder and get delivered to one of her favorite hang outs.

 

I've also gotten her to occasionally eat some orange, but other than that she almost exclusively eats sun flower seeds. TinyTimneh, you recommended turning the sunflower seeds into a reward. If I were to take them out of her seed mix all together would she eventually given in and start eating the other seeds or would she go on a hunger strike? I want to make sure I'm not going to be abusive or possibly harm her if I try that.

 

I also tried putting the seeds into a tube which was pretty successful. She still has a ways to go before learning how to really play, I think, but she's doing much better.

 

Thanks again for all your help and advice!

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

[Luvparrots]

Hi Tom, so glad to hear that Lulu is becoming more relaxed with you. It all takes time and patience and it certainly sounds like you are doing a great job in becoming Lulu's trusted companion. Can't wait to hear more about your and Lulu's progress!

[she]

That sounds like very good news Tom.Lulu is coming round to you.Keep up the good work.Keep offering healthy food,let her see you eating some,and when you notice her taking an interest offer her some.