Taming new 5 months Timenh African grey

[Shadymazen123]

Hello i am shady mazen i have timneh african grey parrot, he is 5 months old. I own him since 2 weeks, he is cute but he is really scared, when i get closer to his cage he starts screaming, and growling. I handle with Zazu using hard gloves, when i put my hands in his cage he bites the gloves fiercely but ironically he steps on the gloves.
I tried when he screams i put my hand over his head and this made him stop screaming but for a while is this a good or bad method, i give him the rubs by putting on a glove and setting his head on a pillow and i give him the rubs, he likes it though. But when he remembers that i am human he starts screaming again xD. Sadly my parents gave me 3 weeks to tame Zazu. because my dad wants to give it away because he bit me and i got 1 stitch. Tbh i didn’t get mad with Zazu or be scared from him, i liked him more. He is intelligent boy.
I adore him and i cant leave my parents take him away from me.
P.s I put his cage in my room in front of my bed, he sees me everyday and i say good morning and goodnight when i see him

[liz]

I am so sorry to hear that there is a time limit on Zazu. You gave him a good name. I will fling some info at you and others will help you with the rest.

1 Put his cage up so that he is at face level. Birds are afraid of hands but not faces. This way you will be able to get close and talk to him. You are preditor and he is prey. He may even think that you want to eat him.
2 He claims his cage as his only safe place. Keep your hands out of it and ditch the gloves. This is the time for you to teach him and also for him to teach you. You will learn his body language to know when he is in a situation that he thinks he has to defend himself. He cannot tell you what scares him. Biting is his only defence.
3 Spend every minute you can in the room. He needs time to see and hear you when you are not paying attention to him. Do your homework in the room and talk to yourself while doing it. If you have a TV in your room tell him what you see on TV. Like "look behind you" or "you know better than to open that door" and so on. Read to him, sing and talk to yourself.
4 Open his cage door. You know you are making progress when he comes out and goes to the top of his cage.
5 He will learn to depend on you long before he trusts you. Never put your hands above his head. If he comes out and explores the room you will probably have to touch him to put him back in. Use both hands and scoop under him.
6 You want him to learn about you. Limit others in your room and don't let them near him.

I don't know what your parents expect you to do in the amount of time you have. I think you will be able to teach him he can come out and still be with his cage. I think from the top of his cage he will start to communicate with you while face to face.

My birds are calling me for their breakfast so I have to stop here. Others with more knowledge will post to you.

[Wolf]

I answered this in the parrot species section, but like Liz, I had to stop to feed my birds. Parrots do better when they have a routine and do not respond to changes in it very well. They like to know what is supposed to happen next and when it should happen it helps to give them a sense of security.
Just in case I was not clear enough with the information that I requested I will try to be more precise here.
What time does he get up in the morning? When does he get his breakfast? What do you give him for breakfast? What does he have to eat during the day time? Does he have toys in his cage? Does he use these toys? What kind of toys does he have? How much time do you spend with him each day? How much time does he have out of his cage each day to exercise and to explore his new home? What do you do with him while you are spending time with him? When does he get his dinner? What does he get for dinner? What time does he go to bed? Is he covered at night? How big is his cage? These are just the most basic of questions.
Pictures tell a lot about his living conditions as well as about his physical condition and we also love to see pictures of your friend and his cage. They help us to be even more specific with out suggestions that will help you to learn about him as well as to improve your relationship with him.
You should really talk to your parents and tell them that you are talking to us on this forum and that we will help you with all that you need to know and learn about your bird so that you can develop a great relationship with him. Ask them to recind their time requirements on your interaction with Zazu. Birds are not like dogs and cats and the training methods that work with dogs and cats do not work with them. When it comes to time schedules and parrots, you will find that they are pretty much useless as the bird will only progress at its own pace and trying to force the bird will only result in an unmanageable bird that will only resent you and therefor only bite you. Everthing that you do with this bird will come about by you earning the birds trust, there is simply no other way to have a good relationship with them.
Unlike dogs and cats, parrots do not live in a social order where there is a leader or another bird telling them what to do or when to do it. They live in a social order where each bird willingly cooperates for the benefit of the entire flock. Discipline and punishment has no meaning to a parrot, the parrot will learn to work with you because it chooses to to not because you demand it. They are not domesticated and each parrot is essentially a wild bird with all of its normal wild drives and instincts intact. Every thing that you experience with your new friend is a two way street, give the bird love and kindness and respect and it will respond in the same way.
Start of by spending lots of time just sitting in the room with him talking and singing to him, look at him with sideways glances until he learns that you are not looking at him as dinner. He needs to become accustomed to your presence and to the sound of your voice. You need to bring treats with you to the room he is in and share them with him off and on while you are there with him. When you offer him a treat such as an unsalted almond and if he does not take it just put it in his food dish. He needs to know that you always bring him good things and that once you offer it to him that you will not take it back. This will get you started while we are waiting to hear from you again with the requested information.

[Shadymazen123]

Thank you Mister and thank you ma'am for your help, and i talked to my parents and they told me keep him, I will do everything you told me precisely, I will post some pictures of Zazuz

[Shadymazen123]

Zazu

[liz]

Thank you Mister and thank you ma'am for your help, and i talked to my parents and they told me keep him, I will do everything you told me precisely, I will post some pictures of Zazuz

YAY

[Wolf]

It seems that the cage is a nice size, but I don't think that it is a parrot cage. This means that the powder coating om the metal may be too thin and will wear out quicker, so keep an eye on that. I have never seen square metal perches for a parrot and the best perches are wooden with the bark on them, of course they must be made from a bird safe tree or bush and not have been sprayed with any chemicals.
I would get him one of these perches, maybe even two of them
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=15079
I like to use them at their food and water dishes.
You can use wooden dowel rods cut to fit the cage, but you need to carve them up a bit so that they are not all smooth as he needs to have different sizes and shapes on the perch so that it doesn't cause him foot problems. and I like to use one rope perch although you do have to trim the threads off of them regularly so that he doesn't eat them.
I would not keep those metal perches any longer than it takes to replace them. They are not good for a bird and can make him sick, it is called heavy metal poisoning.
Also get him something to play with, even just roll up some newspaper and stuff it through the bars for him to tear up as they love to shred thing of that nature. That will get you started on making his cage better for him.
You have to make the changes slowly as you don't want to scare him with the new things, but he will be much better off when these changes are made and he gets used to them.
Now we need the rest of the information that we asked for as the first thing is too make sure that he will remain healthy, vets are very expensive and you want him to stay healthy.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the fact that your parents said you could keep him. But I am confused... you have owned him for two weeks or have you owned him since he was two weeks old? If you have owned him for only two weeks, who owned him before? Is he parent-raised or hand-fed? And why are you using gloves with him?

[Shadymazen123]

i have owned him since 2 weeks, he was 5 months when i bought him

[Shadymazen123]

What time does he get up in the morning?
5:30 Am when i go to school

When does he get his breakfast?
6:00 Am

What do you give him for breakfast?
sunflower seeds
whole peanuts
sometimes dates


What does he have to eat during the day time?

same diet but i add rice or some food from my lunch

Does he have toys in his cage?

Yes i bought him a toy yesterday

Does he use these toys?

he bites the toy and holds tight with his lovely beck

What kind of toys does he have?

i dont know what its called but i will send a picture

How much time do you spend with him each day?

15-45 minuts per day, i made and achievement, i showed my mother Zazu’s sweetness and she started loving him, so me and my mother spent time with him. But i am on grade 11, so i am preparing for the SAT and my GPA. But i take care of my feathery family

How much time does he have out of his cage each day to exercise and to explore his new home?
Not every day, i can’t take him out from his cage. But he explored my room very well and moves around, but he goes out upon his mood, i open his cage every day when i come back from school, till i go to sleep at 10:30 Pm .

What do you do with him while you are spending time with him?

i talk to him in sweet voice, i sing to him, i include him in everything i do

P.s when i bought him his ex-owner told me to use gloves to handle with Zazu. So i did what he told me, and i used to put soft gloves over his head and giving him the rubs, he would stop screaming, but i found out it was submission and he was terrified when i did this to him. Now he HATES ME. When he sees me he starts screaming, when my mother enter the room and stand inferno of his cage he stops screaming when i do the same he starts screaming, i think i lost his trust his is simply devastating i started feeling depressed and guilty

When does he get his dinner?

8:00 pm

What does he get for dinner?

fruits and vegetables and his seeds

What time does he go to bed?
9:30 pm
Is he covered at night? How big is his cage
no

Thank you Mister , I am glad that you are trying to help me