Tiko the African grey

[ParrotsForLife]

So a little info about Tiko, She is 8 years old has been with us since she was 12 weeks old and we got her hand reared, We also have her cage since we got her and its an ok size and all but she likes to play so we want to go bigger and wider.Well im posting here because Tiko is not that tame anymore, my mam is the most bonded to her and my mam can give her kisses after covering her for bed and she steps up most of the time for my mam but can bite too.She will always step up for everybody if she is down on the floor or flys and lands somewhere but her cage, she never steps up when on her cage.I would like to be able to handle her and actually be a big part of her life but I dont know how to go about doing that.She is not afraid of my hands and does take treats and I give her fruit and veg all the time.She is now in my bedroom she was on the stand but the cockatiels flew and she got a fright and flew too and landed on my bed, She is scared when the little ones fly near her.I think the main reason why she lost trust in us is because she once bit my mams lip and of course my mam got a fright and was screaming.Advice and Suggestions will be very much appreciated,Tiko is a wonderful girl and we have been saying she is a Female for years but never got a DNA test and there is a Male African grey next door to us my Uncles house and Tiko makes kissing noises when she hears him and Tiko was kissing a Male African grey in the pet store his name is Coco and Tiko really liked him lol Tiko was also very small compared to him lol.

[ParrotsForLife]

Just in case you need to know Tiko is on a pelleted diet and she gets seed and fruit and veg and she likes lentils too and she sometimes gets a little pasta or rice but thats only if we are having some too and we fill her bowl.We also give her some dinner if we are having Potatoes,veg and chicken etc and she gets boiled egg sometimes maybe around once or twice a month.

[ParrotsForLife]

Tiko flew on my bed again and she stepped up then went to bite so I pushed my hand down so she went off balance and flew on the floor and then I picked her back up and put her on the stand

[Chantilly]

hi
I know Tiko has a much bigger beak, but once we had had Tilly for about 8montsh old, I had lost her 'baby bird trust' because I got to frustrated and made too big a deal over the bites. Tilly always went to my Mum or Dad, and so as I did more reasearch on getting them to want to be with you, I read that you should never make a big deal over the bite, over time I became more and more tollerant of the 'bad bites', still I let her know it hurt, started giving her much more out time, and things Improved much more... I very rarely get an aggressive Tilly, but when I do its only when i take her away from her precious passionfruit, or have just been giving Shrekie scratches, now though she will bite, slowly adding pressure untill I go 'Owe!' and she will let go. Its almost as if when she gets angyry she decides to punish me for upsetting her, but dosnt actually want to cause me pain.
Tilly stops at the point of breaking skin (not blood) though! Tiko would probably draw blood... If I were you I would just try to give her more time, and once she does decide that you are only being nice to her she will probably try not to cause you pain. I also think it is important to give them 100% of your attention while holding them. Tilly gets very frustrated if I am holding her, but not actually praising & interacting with her.

Just my advice

[liz]

They are so much like little kids. They will retaliate if you do something wrong and don't say you are sorry. It would be like a child being told know several times and hitting the mom. I have seen it in stores and restaurants. My kids never did this. They knew it would hurt them more than they did to me.
Both my Amazons will chomp without breaking skin. Myrtle will even throw things at me.
Choose your battles. Try to ignore the little things and something you know you can't win. I distract mine and give them something else to get into.

[ParrotsForLife]

I'll just do what I do with Mango and just spend time with her and talk to her and she will start to like me.I definitely wont let her bite me lol I heard greys do that a lot though pretend to step up and then bite.