my african grey

[smithy101]

hello i have recently adopted an african grey, actually only 4 days ago. despite the timeframe being so short i am already feeling downhearted/dissapionted. first day i bought him back and constructed his cage(which came with him) and put him inside- in the carrier box and let him climb out by himself. all going well after that with him taking to me immediately, asking me to pet him and taking food from my hand sooo all was h.p!!HOWEVER, that evening i went to bed and after 10 mins there was an almighty load of screams and squarks so ran to see him i did. he was all tied up in his swing chains with one wing tied up real good and i couldnt free him so i had to take the swing down whilst supporting "paddy" at the same time!
it took me only seconds to seperate him from the swing and carefully placed him back and back to bed i went.

thats where it all went wrong because since then he screams if i go near the cage sometimes and he goes crazy while im re-filling his bowls despite moving slowly and not looking at him and numerous other tips ive read.it makes me feel terrible as i am eager to continue building a relationship but now he has ZERO trust in me. what is step #1?! i am intending purchasing a target training clicker although im not sure how to use one yet, but can anyone give me (a novice) any tips to regain my bird's trust?

thanks in advance

[Polarn]

I'd say you currently have the same problem as mentioned in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6723

There has bin some tips about it, but all I would suggest is try have the cage in a room where you spend a lot of time, but preferably far enough away from you so that he isnt panicing all the time (if you do have a room big enough for this, and in addition see how close you can get to the cage without him freaking, so kinda on the edge of being tense and freaking, just stay there dont move any closer, talk to him, sing to him, just let him hear your voice, and as soon as he is relaxed again, walk away. the walking away being his reward btw. do this over and over and you should be allowed to move slightly closer each time without him freaking out.

I think if you were todo this several times a day it wont take you many days before he lets you sit right next to the cage again and when he does place your hand where the bowls are and see if he gets tense then, if he does, start talking and singing again and just keep your hand til he is relaxed again.

Once he is comfy with you atleast being close enoguh to be able to reach out your arm, get your hand closer and closer each time, with a treat in it.

this is just my 2c as somewhat of a novice on "untamed" birds, someone might have an idea including less work or quicker progress

[smithy101]

thanks m8. i have been trying to just keep my distance and work my way closer, however i have had several setbacks!
he has been diving out the door whilst changing food and water so i have tried to leave him to climb on his cage but when i need to walk past the cage he has jumped off a couple of times and landed with a thump!!
i have purchased a clicker but he wont take part in target training let alone taking a treat from me afterwards so it seems like im kinda doomed here.
we have no room for a big cage in our living room so he is between the kitchen and the living room and my plan was always to get him to a stage where i can bring him into the room with us on a perch of some kind but we are a long way from that right now!!
this is gonna take weeks at best.

[Polarn]

as i sed earlier walking away from him is somewhat of a treat to a bird stressing when your getting close, so if you start at say 20 feet, move in one feet at a time until he starts stressing a little bit stand still, once he is fluffed up "click" and reward him by taking 4 steps back, give him some time to enjoy the distance you just created, then move back in, when he is relaxed again click and reward him by taking a couple of steps back. The bird should learn the clicker sound means he has done something good when he hears it, even tho this wont associate it with a good taste, not until you are at the point where you can treat him, and when you are you start using the clicker and treat him with a peice of fruit or a peanut instead. But i do think the clicker conditioning should work by rewardning him by leaving him the heck alone.
Ive now had my lil baby here for 6 days so almost a week he is still somewhat hesitant to my hands, but he will aloow me to touch him before clicking and treating him. but I've spent hours working on getting close to the cage and allowed to treat him. Ive bin home the whole week he has been here and spent basicly every waken hour on a chair in the room moving closer and then away again (I found it he was less scared of me sitting low on a desk chair so i took one with wheels and rolled up n down.) now I can walk up to the cage open it and reach in. but before i was allowed to stand up and treat him I was only allowed todo it by sitting down, and first only through the bars.

[Polarn]

I'd say dont be too discouraged, just keep trying to work with him and eventually it will gain your trust quite quick. as soon as it figures your not harmful to have close to the cage or changing the bowls etc it should take long before your able to give him a peanut or whatever he prefers through the bars. well I actually had to spend half a day placing the treats on his perch waiting for him to walk over and take it then pace em closer and closer before I was allowed o give it straight to the beak.

[ghostrider1964]

The week before Thanksgiving I brought home a Timneh Grey that was traumatized by a local vetinarian. The previous owners were totally unable to get close to the bird. In fact, the bird had become agressive and started darting at people and biting. The couple gave him to me after they heard I knew a little about birds. I was concerned at first, because this bird was actively looking to hurt someone. You could not get near Layla's cage without her going ballistic. She was wild and her wings were not clipped so she could fly. She got loose the second day I had her. I finally got her caught and she was like trying to hold a banshee. Biting, clawing, and squaking like crazy. I held her in a towl and proceded to clip her wings and smooth the point off her beak a bit cause it was like a needle. All the while I was working her, I talked calmly to her. Once done, I put her in her cage and put her a peanut in her foodbowl for reward. Everyday, I started forcing her to have contact with me. After a week, I finally lured her on my arm with a peanut. Within 2 weeks I had her stepping up on my hand without any treat. Now she will sit on my shoulder and preen my hair as I walk around the house. I know this may go against some thought. But, I feel that getting the bird to realize you are not a threat, does not mean letting the bird control the situation. Layla bit me several times the first day I brought her home. They are like a small child and learn about the same rate, hmmmm, maybe faster I believe the previous owner probably slapped her or otherwise punished her when she bit and then the started leaving her alone in the cage cause they feared her. I established that I was not afraid and that I was not a threat. This has worked with all 4 of my birds and several others I have had. I guess I have become the local rescue. I have had 3 other parrots in the last year that I have found homes for. Including, one demonic yellow headed Amazon that wanted to hunt my dogs and other birds. He was very tempermental but has a home with a local medic and will now step up and most of the time.

[smithy101]

hey there!
thanks btw for replying as it has been interesting reading.

you say you forced your bird to interact with you every day? HOW?! lol i am so lost here as my only other experience with a parrot went mostly problem free so this has come as a suprise to me! "paddy" simply stands at the furthest point away from me and does this kinda shrieky whisle while im in the room THEN my gf or her mum will enter the room and he will immediately swing back to the nearest point to interact?!?! for weeks now i have been working on making him realise i am no threat incl talking to him and ignoring his negative behaviour.....but still he hates me and loves everyone else despite me being the hand that feeds him everyday.

trouble is if he wants to bond with a female and not a male thats fine but my gf has no interest in bonding with him( happy to have him here but thats all) and so he will have to be re-adopted as im not going to have a bird in the corner forever that wants nothing to do with me. thing is i need to rule out (or in) this possibility so im giving it a couple of months and if i see no positive movement ill be forced to find him a new home. IM JUST HOPING THIS IS GONNA GET BETTER!!!

[MeanDonnaJean]

IM JUST HOPING THIS IS GONNA GET BETTER!!!

Seems to me that it really can't get much worse....so I'd say yeah, it'll probably get better.

Ya've got no place else to go from here BUT up!

[smithy101]

just so you good people dont waste your time trying to advise me further i thought it only right to make it official .

i have hereby given up on this bird. after going through all the emotions and trying many things advised by different people it is clear that this bird hates the very sight of me and yet wants to interact with everyone else just to twist the knife! afterall it was me who went out looking for him and worked to earn money to pay for him and yet its only me he wants nothing to do with.

this must happen in the "parrot owner world" and indeed must be common as us humans cannot command a bird to like us if it truly doesnt want to.

thanks again for all your advice

[liz]

Myrtle got her leg caught in a hanging toy. By the time I ran to her she was in a panick. In an effort to get away from the toy she grabbed my finger and tore the skin loose from my knuckle. I finally had to cut the toy as close as I could to the flailing bird and let her go to deal with the rest on her own. She got it off but did not speak to me or look at me for the rest of the day.

I have a hyperactive immune system. It only took a week to get the skin to grow back in place.