New C.A.G. Owner. Need Help

[cjandrazzle]

Hi Everyone, My name is Cj and I have a Congo African Grey who is about 10 years old his name is Razzle. His previous owner had very little time to spend with him so he gave him to me, the parrot tolerates me, he takes little almond slices from my fingers and repeats whistles that I do(but only if I am out of the room) If I put my hand near him without a treat he will either lunge or actually bite on to my finger. When he bites I try to react as little as possible but currently I have about 7 "wounds" on my hand. His chest feathers shake usually when I get near, I let him sit on the door of his cage or on the top all day and only put him in when it is bed time. I don't know how to start training, besides clicker training, I really just want to touch him and pet him so I can have a feathered friend. I feed him a seed mix and give him water fresh 2-3 times a day. The only aggressive behavior he shows is when I reach to get him to step up and its biting, I have no idea how to handle this problem or get him to like me and like my petting him. Also one day I was switching his water and he slipped off his perch in the cage and flew to my bed and sat there so I sat next to him and he let me pet him but when I finished he put my finger in his beak and applied pressure. Please help me with him!


I have had him for about 7 days now. He's in my bedroom/office where i spend most of my time.

[Lokums]

HI, there are two sticky posts on the top of this forum that will definitely help. They aren't exactly your problem, but they both deal with aggression of some sort.

I think they key is, there is no quick fix, just time and patience. Greys are also know for their dislike of change, so that fear will ease up with time. 7 days is truly nothing in terms of the long term. Imagine if you suddenly were whisked away to a new home surrounded by people you don't know, it would be stressful.

Just keep with it, get him into a routine, and reward him for positive interaction (treats and happy voice!).

Mike

[GlassOnion]

Take it slow and don't push him. Do NOT get bitten because prevention is the best method of a non biting parrot. Realize that parrots are NOT dogs, dominance does not work, and instead causes hatred and grudges. Respect him ad his body language. Learn to read his cues. Its all about respect and earning his trust over time.

Get him off that diet, whoever owned him was a stupid, ignorant person who didn't bother to research avian diet at all. Seed-only diets kill parrots. You need to switch him over to mostly pellets and veggies with some seeds. Look up 'mash' for parrots on google. It's imperative that he gets a good diet.

I have a lot of useful resources to share with you, because I personally know several grey owners.
Feel free to ask anything or PM me. )