Neglected Grey

Greetings all,
I am new to the forum and have been researching how a bird might fit into our family as a potential pet.

While I was speaking to my husband about this topic, he mentioned that he wondered if his grandfather (86 years old) still had his bird. About 6 months ago he got a young, tame and friendly African Grey. When speaking to his mother she confirmed that grandpa still did indeed have the bird but that it was now "mean" and he couldn't even take it out of the cage because it would bite. She also said that grandpa hadn't done anything but feed him since he got him, and that he at one point even wanted to return the bird but he was afraid to try to take him out to get him back to the store.

In short, I am very concerned for this bird, it sounds like he is getting the bare minimum standard of care and no intellectual stimulation. I told my husband that we should consider taking the bird if grandpa really wanted rid of him and that I would try to rehab him and turn him into a tame bird once more. If that is not a possibility (he would have to be flown to us since they are clear across the country) then I suggested that they look into surrendering him to a qualified avian rescue group.

So what I was looking to find out is that if we do end up with this bird and I am tasked with the job of trying to win his trust and remake him into the friendly little guy he once was, what can I expect? Has anyone had previously neglected Grey that they were successfully able to turn around? I have had birds before (though it has been a while), including Quakers, Budgies and finches, but never a troubled bird.
Many thanks.

I think that you could absolutley rehab this grey. How old is it? I rehomed a very neglected amazon that is 15, she was a handful once home. You would be amazed at what some patience, kindness and attention have done for her! She loves her new family, and she is responding everyday to the love and attention we give her! There are so many great people that would give advice and help on this forum! If you are truly ready to spend the time and energy needed then I say go for it. However this does take loads of time, patience and at times "bravery"!

Thank you for the reply I am waiting for my husband to get more info on the bird, for now all I know is that he is a Grey and "young" and that he is from a bird store somewhere in central California. I don't even know "his" name (or if the bird has even had his or her gender identified).

I am very willing to put in the time, whatever it may take, to give this bird a happy life with us. I know it could take months or even years for him to feel comfortable and to trust. Though I don't love being bitten by anything I have been involved with both equine and canine rescue and have been bitten, kicked and run over by troubled animals more than once so I am unafraid!

I also understand the lifespan and know that this bird would be with us for the majority of the rest of our lives which is actually comforting in a way, it is never fun to say goodbye to our companion animals. We are going to be going through that soon since we have a very senior dog who does not have much time left according to the vets due to his advanced kidney issues.

You can absolutely turn this Grey's life around if you are willing to put in the time.

My Grey, Bitty was very different when I got her. Though she had toys, I get the distinct impression she was very neglected, and probably frightened, as a lot of her tail and flight feathers were badly damaged, a sure sign of a bird falling in their cage a lot. Her blood chemistry also showed that she had been eating a lot of cheap seed food.

She loves me to death now, and your potential adoptee probably would be nuts about you too, after a while If someone saved you from a boring, pitiful existence, wouldn't you love them too?

Oh absolutely, no doubt! You can make a positive change in this greys life.

Although, this short story isn't about a grey, but it is about a pair of cockatiels I took in in August. At first, it was a rehoming and when they showed up at my place, I realized, it was also a rescue.

These tiels were horribly neglected, their cage hadn't been cleaned in a long long long time, they had a piece of doweling for a perch that rolled between the cage bars as it was not secure in any way, no food, and slime for water, and how long they'd been living like that...I do not know. I elbow greased the cage, cleaned and sanitized their dishes, put them on a healthy diet, clean fresh water and made their cage a more stimulating environment to live in with a variety of perches and talked to them all the time.

At first, they only chirped to each other, the same chirp sound all the time, nothing different. Now, almost 2 months later, the male tiel is talking up a storm! He says pretty bird, hello, whatcha doing? Him a good boy, wolf whistles and whistles songs...and it seems every day he's learning something new. I held off on hand taming them until just recently. They're nervous about being handled, I'm patient and don't force the issue, I usually open the cage door and if they come out, great, if not...its okay. Every day, they are getting braver and braver. I rescued an injured feral pigeon last month, she's soo tame and grateful! We are so in love with her and we can tell...the feeling is mutual.

From what I know about greys. They are incredibly intelligent birds and I really think with patience, love, kindness, TONS of attention, being talked to, read to, sung to this grey will come around quickly and I really think your efforts would NOT go unnoticed in this greys life. I bet he/she rewards you 100fold!

Good Luck and keep us posted!

Toni

i took in what appeared to be a perfectly trained and friendly bird, and after 2wks nut turned into a monster, all beak and claws! (she was like that for months to follow)

my mum still asks how the nut is, (she was my brothers parrot) and when i tell her what she has done, my mum would say, oh she use to do that and she doesn't like you to tell her off etc!

so i think with taking in a bird that has been neglected, you can better prepare yourself for any anti social behaviours, unlike how i was with nut

but with saying that, time and patiance and lots of love will win them over.

personally i'd love to have a gray, but glad my brother only got a sene!

As others have said, you can definitely help this bird! Be prepared to have your work cut out for you. Greys are very intelligent, and will respond to you, once they understand that you are treating them right. I rescue birds, and have re-socialized many. The procedure is the same as for any new bird. Sit with him, let him get to know you. Have patience, and you will be rewarded with a lifetime companion unlike any other pet. Thank you for thinking of helping this poor guy.

Yes yes and more yeses. What you need is time, patience and a big does of self education on the species. If you study them in the wild by reading and research you can better tell what they need as captive birds. We are all here to support you.

I have a one year bird and is invest a a lot of time and love. You vet back what you put in and that will be the same for your grey. For the firs time a had my polly to a orchid meeting, 40 people around hear. She looke at me, is this save? good girl i said and after that she was totally calm. So if you get the trust from you grey then she will overcome a bad background. Good luck

Thank you all so much for the replies and insight, I have some convincing to do now (convincing grandpa to give up the bird, convincing my husband that we can/should do this).

I think grandpa will relinquish the bird, he does realize that he is in over his head and that he is not meeting the bird's needs. In retrospect, he does understand now that getting a pet that will outlive you by potentially half a century is maybe not the best idea.

My husband is probably going to be the tougher of the two. Although he is intrigued by the intelligence of birds and said he would consider one as our next pet instead of a dog, he has never been a bird guardian unlike myself. He is afraid the mess will be overwhelming and he is concerned with being bitten, our children being bitten, and concerned about the amount of time we will need to devote to the bird.

Birds are messy, that is a given. But life is messy, you just clean up as far as I'm concerned. It never bothered me to have to clean up some flung food or torn up paper or poop when I had birds before, or for that matter mud on the kids after playing soccer or chocolate cupcake frosting on their hands and faces after a birthday celebration

Being bitten I can understand, it's never fun to have pain inflicted on you, especially by a pet that is supposed to love you! But I will try to take the brunt of that and try to earn the trust of this little guy and teach him how to appropriately interact with people and then slowly work on the rest of the family so that it is less likely that he'll nail them.

The time factor I can also understand, we are a busy family with lots of activities. But I think you can make time for just about anything if you really want to. I work part time and on my off days I have plenty of time for pets but even on the days I work I go home and spend an hour hanging out with the dogs and having my lunch, that is some special pet time I set aside. There is also time in the morning and time in the evening and perches can be strategically set through the house so that we can interact while I'm doing all the usual things like folding laundry, overseeing homework or preparing meals.

There is one other factor that makes him somewhat hesitant and that is the "wild animal" factor. He thinks pets should want to be with you as much as you want them there. That is why he likes dogs. The fact that many birds would just fly away never to be seen again at the first opportunity makes him think that they just aren't meant to be pets. But I know birds can be affectionate and can be happy as companions. To that I say ok, so don't perpetuate the bird pet trade by purchasing a bird from a breeder or pet store. That will only cause more birds to be bred (same argument as don't buy a puppy from a pet store to perpetuate puppy mills). But there are so pets our there on the secondary market that need homes, someone needs to take care of them! What will happen to this bird if we do not take him sooner rather than later? His best case scenerio if not with us, is a bird rescue that will put in the time to make him a happy, comfortable companion once again and find him an appropriate home. Worst case is that he goes to the first person who responds to a craigslist or freecycle ad once grandpa passes away and the relatives on the west coast try to get rid of him. Sure, he may not have chosen a captive life, but he is here now and going to probably live a very long time, so someone needs to give him the best possible life he can have in captivity.

My husband just needs more convincing now that it looks likely that we may take this bird into our family. I think he will be surprised at what an interesting, enjoyable and complex relationship you can have with a bird. He has just never experienced it before.

And lastly there are the logistics. Has anyone had experience with obtaining a bird from far away? This bird is on the west coast and we are on the east coast, so he will need to be flown all the way across the country. Can it be done safely? I am sure they must fly in the passenger cabin, surely they are not flown as cargo! Unless I suppose we make a road trip but I am not sure how feasible that is. He does already have a large cage but again I am not sure how it would make its way to us. We could certainly buy a new cage, I was just wondering if it might stress him even further to have a completely new living situation including a change of cage since I know some birds get very attached to their cage. I would like to cause him the least possible upset in the transition.

Thank you all once again.

Shipping birds has come a long way since years ago. Delta does a good job with them. Check out various animal transport companies online. As far as his cage goes...that will be expensive to ship. And a new cage will not be such a trauma for him. He'll be getting used to a new living situation anyway. If the cage was old, he'd need a new one, and have to get used to it. Just give him toys, attention, and treats, to distract him. This is a big undertaking, but, far from impossible. If all the family is in agreement, you should have no special problems. Keep us posted. We're all behind you, and thank you for helping this bird out.

I hope you get him! I think you'll do a fantastic job!

I find it very upsetting when people buy a pet without doing enough research on them first... :-(

Please be aware there is an airline that ships only animals in first class conditions.
Pet Airways - Should You Fly Your Pet on Pet Airways

Many thanks. I looked at pet airways and couldn't find any info on bird transport, just dogs and cats so I am waiting for a return call for an answer on that. It is probably the best solution if they will fly birds since it is climate controlled and exclusively for animals. I like that idea.

I got a little more information; the bird is a thought to be a male and the name... wait for it... Pepe. I couldn't help but laugh, wrong continent.

My husband is giving it due consideration which is good. A little progress was made with him last night since he said he would like to get himself as well as the children allergy tested for a reaction to birds before we take this on. That is very good in my opinion, it means that he realizes that this is serious and permanent and that a new pet is for the lifetime of that animal. Since he has never lived with a bird in the house it would be terrible for everyone involved to bring him here only to find out that he gives my husband allergy fits and asthma so I am looking for an allergist today to set up the testing.

And also in the meantime I am doing my due diligence on birds (there is a lot more information then when I last had birds in my life!) and Greys in particular. I found a nearby avian vet already as well. It is good to know that it won't be traumatic for him to be in a different cage so I am looking at new cages and have learned about what size we will need and what the correct bar spacing should be. Also starting to get a feel for what kinds of playstands we might place throughout the house and toys, food etc. We will certainly be very well prepared!

It is so great to see that you are really doing your homework, and have this birds best interest at heart. As someone who has seen so many birds in the wrong situations, I applaud your concern and consideration.

While we are looking into solving transport issues (Pet airways is an option, though at $880 and two days in transit I am not sure if it is the best one), I have been continuing to research and learn as much as I can about these beautiful parrots as I will admit that Greys were not amoung the birds I had been considering (Pionus, Conure, Hahn's Macaw). There will be other relatives visiting early next year who could possibly bring Pepe with them on the plane which seems like it may be a good solution.

I had in my reading, seen somewhere that the dander of the Grey tends to be somewhat high on the scale of birds that cause allergic reactions. Has anyone else heard that statistic or had personal experiences with this? I am waiting for a callback on allergy testing, otherwise we are still in a holding pattern.

I am continuing my research on other birds in case this adoption for whatever reason does not work out, and hopefully either way I can facilitate a better life for him even if he doesn't come to us in the end.

Greys, cockatoos, and cockatiels are very dusty birds, greys and cockatoos being more dusty because they are larger. I recommend buying an air purifier because it'll suck out a LOT of the dust. I don't have personal experience with greys, but I have two cockatiels and you can see dust clouds flying off of them when they shake their feathers! I can only imagine what it would be like with a larger bird... just be sure to wear light colored clothes! Hopefully your hair is a light color too! I have very dark hair.. lucky me... it always looks like I have dandruff (but I assure you I don't) hahaha. Hopefully someone can give some first hand experience with greys. We have several grey-owners here.

It's good that you're getting allergy tested first. I see things on Craiglist like "we got a cockatiel but he is too dusty and we have bad allergies" and they end up selling the bird . Sounds like you've really thought of everything!! Good luck, I hope this bird ends up with you .

All of your concerns are valid!... change for a bird is similar to change to us. If you approach it in a hesitant manner (the new cage) he will sense that and be apprehensive.. always be positive and any changes will be accepted more readily.

Most important is to allow time!!! He will need time to adjust and become comfortable with his new surroundings.

Good luck!.. I hope it works out for the grey's sake!

themama said:

While we are looking into solving transport issues (Pet airways is an option, though at $880 and two days in transit I am not sure if it is the best one), I have been continuing to research and learn as much as I can about these beautiful parrots as I will admit that Greys were not amoung the birds I had been considering (Pionus, Conure, Hahn's Macaw). There will be other relatives visiting early next year who could possibly bring Pepe with them on the plane which seems like it may be a good solution.

I had in my reading, seen somewhere that the dander of the Grey tends to be somewhat high on the scale of birds that cause allergic reactions. Has anyone else heard that statistic or had personal experiences with this? I am waiting for a callback on allergy testing, otherwise we are still in a holding pattern.

I am continuing my research on other birds in case this adoption for whatever reason does not work out, and hopefully either way I can facilitate a better life for him even if he doesn't come to us in the end.

Click to expand...

The idea of the other relatives bringing him sounds like a good idea. I think I read on her somewhere before that crated birds can ride in the cabin with somebody. (Kinda like a "carry on" lol). And yes, greys are definately dusty birds. From everything I've read, an air filter would be a good investment. Best of luck to you on bringing Pepe home!

Good on you for giving this the thought you have, I hope it all ends up well and he comes to live with you, and if thats not feasible that you can organise a better situation for him

As for allergies, like it's been said greys are supposed to be pretty bad for them. That said though, I have plenty of friends with birds and live with one myself, and never have I had an allergy problem, even with 'dusty' birds like greys or toos when an air purifier is in use. And I'm a bad case! My own bird doesn't give me an allergen issue (non powder down species). Unlike cats, their isn't really a compound on them that people are allergic to (like the compounds in kitty saliva that cause allergies to many people) so it's more just a matter of dust control. I'm sure their are some people actually allergic to feathers or something on them out there, but for the most part it's just 'dust' management to stop repository issues. I'm not sure if greys are a powder down species, but they are dusty all the same, but provided you get the tests done and get an air purifier I think you'll be ok