CAG wimpering over egg

MCCHICKEN

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Jul 18, 2019
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Hi all! First time poster as I just acquired an African Gray, Lucy, who is 29. She is very sweet but very anxious! Just a small background on the bird - It was my Uncles but he passed away. My mom took Lucy in for the past 2 years but could no longer care for due to the dander even with multiple HEPA filters. Before I took her, she had laid two eggs. One my mom removed and then she had the other, which I kept as I know a new environment can be stress on the bird and I wanted her to have some comfort. Its been about 4 weeks since its been laid, and she still paws it and makes like a crying sound and keeps it under her. Not all of the time. Her day starts with a little attention and cleaning/food. I leave a radio and the TV on while I'm at work for stimulation. She is out of her cage and in the same room as me for about 5 hours of the day. My question is, if I remove the egg, will this cause stress to her? She so badly wants it to hatch, and I feel awful for her. I leave the egg for when I am at work, I thought it would give her comfort. I just want to do right by the bird. My mom seems to think she may be depressed and missing her. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
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itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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Hello and welcome!

I think you should remove the egg, because she is only watching it part of the time, and is not consistently incubating it, leads me to believe the egg is more of something she does when she's not hanging out with you, which means it can likely be easily replaced with something more healthy for her to take out her energy on and let go of those anxieties -- chewing wood toys, cardboard toys, would be nice for her to shred and have something to destroy while you are at work, instead of focusing on the gg that will never hath for her.

Take it away when she's not looking and out of the cage with you, and then when she goes back in it will likely be out of sight, out of mind. That's what happens for my cockatiels -- they get a little aggressive with a nestbox/eggs in their cage, but as soon as they are taken away and out of sight (their eggs weren't fertile last clutch so I just took it all out in one sweep) they were totally normal pets again, seemed actually glad to not have to incubate constantly anymore.

Good luck with your grey!
 
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MCCHICKEN

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Thanks for your help! I do leave newspapers for her to chew. I will have to construct some cardboard toys. There are toys around (moreso plastic), but I see what you mean. She needs more stimulation in chewing and foraging. Have a great day! :)
 

charmedbyekkie

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If all she has to chew is newspaper, I'd recommend getting some wooden toys to help her take care of her beak and some foraging toys to help stimulate her mind. Greys are too smart for their own domesticated good!
 
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MCCHICKEN

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I did notice the tip of the beak getting longer. She does have those perches that are sandy-like to file it but youre right about the wood! She seems to like to gnaw at things a lot. I have one wooden toy she likes to chew at. Can untreated wood suffice as well? I have good pieces of wood from projects (from home depot) that are not treated with chemicals, but I was afraid that it might split out inside of her and cause her a digestive issue. Things like shims and furring strips. I do have nice untreated cedar as well. She hates toilet rolls and paper towel rolls, afraid of them actually.

Yes, its amazing how incredibly smart they are! It truly is like having a toddler, temper tantrums and all haha. They pick up things quickly as well. I did remove the egg that she was crying over, no issues. itsjbean was right, just boredom and something to do. I looked on amazon for creative foraging toys, but was overwhelmed on which is best for the energetic gray but I think these are what you mean...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=creative+foraging&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Do you think hanging shoe strings can be something for them to do? I don't know if they would climb up it or chew. Thought maybe putting some of those around in for gnawing ability :-D
 

charmedbyekkie

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The thing with toys is they have a purpose:

Foraging toys like the "Creative Foraging Toys" series and Planet Pleasures are for mental stimulation. Planet Pleasures also serves a shredding instinct.

Wood toys are for filing down their beak and allow them to enact what they would do in the wild. This is instinctual and should not be ignored.

The reason why I say all this is to get you to ask yourself before purchasing a toy - "What purpose does this toy fulfil?"



The next thing is that there are no regulations on parrot toys. Dangerous toys that kill birds are sold all the time. You have to do your research on safe toys. These links below are a good start to understand how you have to think and evaluate toys.

Bird Toy Safety
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/toysafety.html



All of that being said, some birds are picky about toys. Some birds rotate through favourite toys. I would argue that just 1 wooden toy is not enough. Can you imagine giving a human toddler just 1 toy? How quickly would they become bored? And you've a gray, which means they're even smarter than a human toddler.



At the end of the day, to answer your questions:
- Get only bird safe wood, not shims and furring strips which are way to thin for that beak. If your bird gets into it, I can almost guarantee those won't last a day. You need some wood blocks. And safe color dyes help pique interest.
- Shoe strings are dangerous for a variety of reasons. Accidentally creating a knot and getting tangled up has caused some birds to self-amputate (bite off) their toes. Or even accidentally hang themselves. In addition, shoe strings are made of two parts - the fibre (cotton or synthetic) which can be ingested but not digested (so surgery to remove build up over time - and time could be years), and the plastic end which they can tear into and eat.
 
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MCCHICKEN

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WOW! Glad I asked before doing something stupid! Thanks for this information, its really helpful!

She does have a lot of different types of toys, just one that is wood. Most of them are bird toys, but are plastic. I guess the clanking of them is what, in this case, stimulates her because she definitely likes to move them to make the sound. I am going to look around for foraging toys and especially safe wood. Thought maybe the shim type wood would be good because its a little soft, but didn't realize it needs to be a bit more solid. She sure likes to destroy! Also, I try to rotate the toys around to different parts of the cage. Trying to mix it up a bit for her :)
 

Laurasea

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Aug 2, 2018
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Congratulations on your Grey. It's incredible to share life's journey with a parrot.
 

ScottinSoCal

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Had a Blue Front Amazon. Now have an African Grey (CAG)

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