Not sure what to do...

[tarah22]

Well I have had my 8 year old CAG for 2-3 weeks now and in the beginning things went well. He was regurgitating and would step up. My husband started interacting with him and now he wants nothing to do with me. He regurgitates for my husband but not for me. A few days ago he attacked my hand when he was perched on my hand. Not sure why. But he is also starting to bite my husbands hand too. He was fine the first week and now he has changed. When i get near his cage he puffs out his feathers like he is pissed. Also when we try to put him back in his cage he starts biting really hard. I am at the point where i don't even want to stick my hand anywhere near him. I don't like taking him out of his cage any more because he will take off flying and I am scared to have him step up. One day he wouldn't let go of my hand and it hurt so bad! I just don't know what to do...

Here is a picture of him.<br><br>Post edited by: tarah22, at: 2009/05/12 09:40

[she]

He is now trying to see how much he can get away with.This often happens when greys are in a new home for a few weeks.Be firm but kind to him and insist on step up,try asking him to step on to a perch if you are worried about being bitten.If he goes to bite wobble your hand very gentley,just enough to unbalance him a bit so he is distracted from biting and say no bites .He may be deciding who is his prefered human, that is natural behaviour in greys.

[danmcq]

As Sheila said, this is sometimes a normal attitude and testing time once the initial "Honeymoon" is over.

 

If you don't want to get bit or have him fly out when you open the cage to get him out, then don't open the door enough for him to fly and only offer your hand for step-up, but watch his body language VERY carefully.

 

If he tries to bite or does get you, Close the door and walk away. Do this everytime he does not get with the step-up program with out behaving properly.

 

Most importantly is to be consistent in your words and actions when doing this. Turn and walk away preferrably into another room or if he can see you with your back to him and ignore him. After a given time, like maybe 10 minutes try again, if he doesn't comply, close the door and walk away.

 

Believe me, it won't take long for him to figure out that bad behaviour in your house is not acceptable. :-)

[Luvparrots]

Hi tarah, I have a grey too but I have been working with a new Eclectus (3 days) who is about 10 years old. Sully is a very nervous bird and is a terrible plucker (I hope to be able to turn this around) anyway, he has a huge beak and has bitten me a couple of times. Now I watch him very closely and if he pins his eyes at me when I want him to step up I just move away. This morning he pinned his eyes when I asked him to step up so I moved away and just keep talking to him. He finally came out to the top of his cage and I knew he was ready to step up. Which he did beautifully and now is sitting on the back of my typing chair. I have learned to wait until Sully is ready at least for now while he is adjusting to his new forever home. I wish I could get into his head. :unsure: He calls to me when I leave the room so I know he wants to be my friend. He is just afraid. Be patient with your grey and you will find that happy medium.

[casper]

Tarah,

 

2-3 weeks isnt very long for your new grey to settle in.

Please give it longer, it may take a while.

 

The other members have given great advice, especially about the body language, it helps when you know what to look for and you can move yourself away from the situation.

 

Keep us all updated with your greys progress. I look forward to hearing more about him and seeing some photos.

[SamsDad]

Tarah,

 

First off, I'd like to offer you some comforting information. MANY of us here have experienced this behavior to some extent or another. Please don't be discouraged because this dosen't mean you've purchased a bad bird and that there's no hope in having a nice relationship with him. Greys are intellegent birds that like to see what makes things "tick" and this sometimes leads to them testing thier owners - especially new ones. Think of them as manipulative toddlers. They'll manipulate you by being cute and needy, and they will manipulate you with temper tantrums. The relationships with our birds is a delicate balance of "who-owns-who" or better yet who's in charge. It's not a simple as maintaining dominance over the bird because that can lead to a bad relationship where the bird doesn't trust you. It a give and take relationship where your bird tries to tip the scales one way, and you gently tip it back into balance. With time and patience you'll learn how to do this so don't worry.

 

There's no black and white way to to handle your situation, it will take some creativity and CALM determination but you gan get through this. Other people have offered some good advice and I'll toss out a couple other ideas.

 

You bird is still new to you house and he might have been a little extra passive until he felt more at home, now he testing you guys. You may have to stop and back-up to the beginning, like you just brought him home and you need to get aquainted. Give him some space, don't try to pick him up, just sit and talk to him, bring him treats and let him watch you guys go about your dialy household life. The trick is, you'll want to use his instinctive need for social interaction to seduce him into wanting you. Go slow, and watch for signs he's interested. If you let him out of his cage you may need to use a perch or perch-sized stick instead of your hand to have him step up on to put him back in his cage. If you are afraid he'll fly, close the doors to the room to limit where he can go. Roll his cage into a small room and sit with him with the room's door closed so if he flies you won't have to chase him. IMPORTANT NOTE! I've used the bathroom for this but you MUST be sure the lid is down on the toilet! You sure don't want him to fly in and drown. If you use the bathroom it can sometimes be helpful if you can get him out of the cage and then have your husband remove the cage from the room, then leave you too alone. This can reduce some of the cage/territorial reaction from him. Above all remain calm no matter whatever happens! Greys LOVE DRAMA and if he can get you yelping and jumping it will just make it a fun game for him.

 

One other thing to try when you want to reach into his cage to get him to step up. If he strikes at your hand slowly remove it and make a fist. Do this to make the skin on the back of your hand tight and reach in again with the back of your hand facing him. That way if he stikes there'll ne nothing to grab a hold of and you can let him make a couple strikes. If he changes directions just rotate your hand so he hitting the back of it. Most of the time it'll only take a couple strikes before he figures out he can't scare your hand away. Hold it there for a couple seconds, slowly open you hand then try a step-up. If he bites, pull back out of range make the fist and try again. The idea is to show him he can't manipulate you into withdrawing your hand. Greys are problem solvers and thier beak is thier tool, if it doesn't work, they'll learn and try something else. Do your absolute best to keep your energy level low, to be calm. Again its like a toddler throwing themselves on the floor screaming when they can't have thier way. If you step over them and go about your business, they'll learn it doesn't work. If you give in and they get thier way they'll do it again and again and again. If these ideas fail, don't give up, back up, and clamly try again even if its the next day.

 

I had to tame my first grey who was a wild caught imported bird. He screamed if you came close to the cage and would bite like his life depended on it so I know EXACTLY how frustrated you must feel. I went slow, used compassion, seduction, and patience. He turned into a great friend who loved to cuddle, cupped under my chin. Yes, he got bratty now and then and tested me, but we alway worked it out and I was able to rebalance the scale.

 

Keep in mind you may have this bird for 20, even 30 years or longer so a few weeks or months of work now will pay off in many years of good times.

 

Remember - they have the intellegence and emotions of a young child and they'll use BOTH of them on you. I'd sometimes laugh when my Timneh Nelson was being a brat. I'd say to him, "you may have control now, but I have the bigger brain, and I'll get it back!" I'm sure in his little birdie mind he was saying "oh, yeah??? We'll see about THAT!" :evil:

 

Hope this helps. Keep us posted.

 

Tom

[lovethatgrey]

luvparrots wrote:

Hi tarah, I have a grey too but I have been working with a new Eclectus (3 days) who is about 10 years old. Sully is a very nervous bird and is a terrible plucker (I hope to be able to turn this around) anyway, he has a huge beak and has bitten me a couple of times. Now I watch him very closely and if he pins his eyes at me when I want him to step up I just move away. This morning he pinned his eyes when I asked him to step up so I moved away and just keep talking to him. He finally came out to the top of his cage and I knew he was ready to step up. Which he did beautifully and now is sitting on the back of my typing chair. I have learned to wait until Sully is ready at least for now while he is adjusting to his new forever home. I wish I could get into his head. :unsure: He calls to me when I leave the room so I know he wants to be my friend. He is just afraid. Be patient with your grey and you will find that happy medium.

 

Congrats on adopting Sully! I love the name! To Tarah, All I can say is pretty much what everyone else has said and stick training!{Feel-good-00020114}

 

You might also want to "build" or purchase one of these!

 

http://www.birdsupplies.com/Finger-Saver-Bird-Training-Perch-p/ppp%2050808.htm<br><br>Post edited by: lovethatgrey, at: 2009/05/13 03:42

[Tycos_mom]

Good advice Tom I've tamed down many bird in the bathroom and used the Iron fist method many times also it works really well. I've been working with a Severe Macaw for a few months that was cage bound with no human interaction for a least 4or5 years his owner developed an alergy to him after developing cancer and instead of rehomeing him right away she locked him away by himself. its been difficult but things are progressing slowly he has pretty much stopped trying to bite me and will allow me to give him scritches and such he won't step up from inside his cage and he still not big on coming out of his cage but Ive found a way to get him to come out and once he's out he will step up and then its off to the bathroom for training. lots of work and lots of patients but very rewarding when thing progress.<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2009/05/13 04:11

[Dave007]

I just wanna say one other thing on the other side concerning making a fist and putting it in the cage to have him step up. Your bird is 8 yrs old and many habits are ingrained. Your bird can easily be one that doesn't like your hands in his cage. There's many greys like that and they can be quite younger than 8yrs old and still develop that attitude. You've had the bird for an extremely short amount of time. If he steps up when outside the cage, let it go at that until you have a much bigger picture of your bird and that's gnna take a while. If he's the type that doesn't want your interference in his cage he will bite hard and it doesn't matter whether it's a finger, a fist, a wrist or any other thing that's close and can be bitten.

[SamsDad]

Great point Dave and one aspect I missed in my suggestions. For better than 10 years I was able to reach into Nelsons cage to take him out, and to put him back without any problems what so ever. Sometime after that he decided the cage was HIS and that fiddling around inside it was something you did at your own risk. Even when I was cleaning the cage and he was on the outside, he'd love to climb down and nip at me. On the outside of the sage it was more of a game, although he could pinch pretty good. I'd put my head below him and he would bang his beak off the top of my head and pull my hair. Inside the cage it was more serious - he could, and would sometimes draw blood. If I was going to clean his cage or spend any time with my hand inside I had to open the door and let him come out first. He'd bite if I tried to get him to step-up from his perch on the inside. I just learned to let him come out then get him to step up from the cage top. I respected his firm insistance that I NOT pick him up from the inside of the cage. I had my rules for what was acceptable and what was not, and so did he. I did use the fist trick for a while but it worked out better if I just let him come out before picking him up. We reached an understanding. This may be what Tarah may end up having to do.

 

It is a learning proccess for both her and her bird. I guess it really isn't much different that new relationships with another person. It takes time to get to know eachother. With time comes an deeper understanding and trust where you open up to eachother but you also learn the other person's likes and dislikes. There's things you like that they don't, and vice-versa. With Nelson I was able to cuddle and hold him but I was NOT allowed to touch his belly or scratch him under his wings and that was ok.

 

Now the biting when she tries to put him back in his cage can be a tough one. Nelson started doing this too and he bit HARD. He just plain didn't want to be put to bed - it was his betime temper tantrum. For a while it was ok because he'd put himself to bed and I just closed the door behind him, but there were times where he just wanted to sleep in the top of his cage. Despite the great relationship he had with our cats this was something I couldn't allow because thier basic instincts as preditors remains. Fortunately I was able to put my other hand over his head and he'd lay down. This was something I learned to do when he was scared or upset. It calmed him down. I could put him in the cage, and with a single motion roll my hand to get him to put one foot down say "step down" then remove my other hand from his head. He'd still try to strike every now and then, but if I got the timing right, it worked quite well. After many months of doing this he became better about being put back in the cage, the cycle was broken and the problem faded. By removing the pain aspect for me I could remain calmer and so could he. He try biting now and then and I'd have to go back to covering his head for a few days and it would be ok again.

 

We have to be creative, aware, patient, compassionate and be willing to be trained by our birds as much as we train them. Its a relationship after all and it takes two to make it work!

 

Tom

[Raposa]

Excellent point, Tom!