Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

[mustafarangoon]

He goes up and down like anything and when I am in other too. He starts shouting... When I go to him he starts screaming Hahaha. Sometimes it sounds fun but I am confused. He behaves like he wants to go out. Can u people suggest me small toys for him. Yesterday I slept next to his cage. He was quite. Also I would appreciate if u suggest me things I can do in front of him or what type of talks he needs.




Thanks alot guys for helping me out.

[Wolf]

Over all it sounds as if he is calling for you and this can be a good sign as he is beginning to want to be with you. The other screaming when you go to him could be his way of greeting you, but it could also be something that you may not want to encourage. If you are in another room and he calls for you, I would answer him, every time he calls and then as he quietens down I would then go to see what it is that he wants.

Parrots are very smart and it is very easy for us to train then to do some behaviors that we do not intend to. Un wanted screaming is just one of these behaviors. You can cause your bird to be a screamer by not responding to them when they call for you and although I have not seen it myself, I am told that you can also teach your bird to be a screamer by running into the room it is in every time that it screams for you. In the wild, these birds never scream without a good reason for it as the noise, especially of a lone bird will attract predators. They are also very social and flock oriented and as such if the lose sight of their mate or their offspring/ parents then they will call for them and listen for them to answer them. They may not come running to find each other but they will answer.

My Grey is not really big on wood to chew up but she loves destroying cardboard boxes and shredding newspaper. So I ball some paper up for her to put in her cage and I find small cardboard boxes that are too small for a nest, have no tape or staples in or on them that I also give her. These will occupy her for hours. Greys also seem to enjoy taking things apart so puzzle toys might be a good choice. The thing about toys is that you will have to introduce them slowly to the bird as strange things scare them. Also once they are no longer afraid of a toy, you will then need to play with it yourself to teach them how to play with toys, it does not come naturally to them.

Your bird really does not care what it is that you talk to them about. If you want to talk to them about quantum physics, that is fine. You can talk to them about anything that happens in your life such as you might do with a very trusted best friend, or you can even read from books or newspapers to them. The only thing that I don't do is baby talk. I also tell my birds the names of everything that I give them and things such as tables, doors or anything else that I want them to know about. Just be sure to include their name in your talks as well as praise.

[Pajarita]

Hmmm, I don't know, Wolf. I've never had a gray that screamed for me as I approached it. As a matter of fact, except for Freddy (and he no longer does it) all the birds I've had would stop screaming when they saw me approaching them.

Please check the eyes to determine its age as it is VERY important.

[Wolf]

Can't really be certain of that either, but when she first came here not only did Kookooloo call for me when I left her line of sight, she would scream as soon as she saw me again. This only lasted a short while so I could never be sure of why she did it. So that is mostly just a guess based on what Kookooloo did. But then with no more information than we have about this one we are mostly guessing too.

[mustafarangoon]

Today I bought pamogranade and kept in front of him. He started looking like crazy and then started shouting and roaming around whole cage. I opened it and started eating......he didn't show any attention but when I added that into his food plate he was quietly looking and it was first time he didn't got afraid or started screaming. Carefully he started eating with fun. He obviously screamed 2 times out of 5 times I added pamogranade. I think he is little bit confused about trusting me.

I also want to give him almond but don't know about size. I tried searching on Google about food list and how to give but got different lists and no guide.

I have bought 1 book from Amazon Alex & me, I hope it helps me about it. I would request you people to help me regarding this if u have any experience.

Thanks again people to help me out.

[Wolf]

Basically whenever you put something new in their cage or near them, it scares them very badly. They do not know what it is or if it might try to attack them. Because of this it is always best to start of with them watching you play with it a few times and then placing it at a safe distance from them, but where they can still see it. A safe distance from them is determined by the distance from them that they are no longer afraid of seeing it. Then after a few days of watching you play with the item offer it to them when you are playing with it, if they are still afraid of it repeat this process until they are no longer afraid of it.

For foods such as pomegranate or apples and such, I always make it in a holdable size for the bird, which usually takes care of their fear of it and if it has seeds that they should not have such as apple seeds I remove the seeds and then I introduce them to it by eating some of it in front of them until they begin demanding that I share it with them and then I give them a small piece of it and put a few pieces in their food dish.

Almonds are great for Greys. Some of them enjoy shelling them by theirselves and some prefer that you give them the shelled nut. I usually give Kookooloo, my Grey up to three almonds a day at this time of the year Scattered throughout the day. I like almonds because they are a good source of calcium and Kookooloo just likes them.

[liz]

I give Rambo and Myrtle half an English walnut with their fresh food at breakfast. Rambo always goes for the nut first and if Myrtle does not move fast enough he will take hers. I give them an almond still in the shell with their supper. They like them still in shells better than one ready to eat.

[Pajarita]

'Alex and me' is not going to help you at all. It's not about pets, it's about a parrot study in a lab - a parrot that was very intelligent but which was made to suffer greatly. You are better off reading about them in sites that deal only with pet grays. But I am still waiting on your answer about the eyes. And this is very important because if the bird is a baby, you need to feed it baby food.

[mustafarangoon]

I think its about 8 months old. Pet store people have given me Seeds for him. I usually give him pomegranate and he eats like any thing. He growls at me if i go near but i dont look into his eyes and he calms down. I am also afraid to give him hand feeds thinking he will bite. Today morning i gave him pomegranate on my finger & he took it while growling. His eye are black with outer ring of yellowish color i think.

Which book should i buy? or can you please suggest me any forum which only deals about greys?

[Wolf]

I can understand you wanting a forum that only deals with Greys, they are very special to me as well, so check your PM for one from me.

I will say that you will still find as much information here as you will on forums that just deal with a single species. Also you will find that many forums have sections in them that are just for a particular species of parrot.

Over all most of the information that you are wanting actually applies to just about any species of parrot. So much of the time I find that the differences between birds of the same species such as two Greys, far out weighs the differences in the species themselves, such as a Green Cheeked Conure and a Senegal. Sometimes the two type of differences can be of equal importance and sometimes the one will be more important than the other, in a given circumstance.

Most dietary information for the different species of parrot are nearly the same, although one species may require a slightly different diet than another species, but then there are so many species of parrots that some parrots are specialized as far as their diet goes. Most training will do just as well for one species as for another. All I am trying to point out is that although there are differences that much of the information is the same regardless of the species.