Update on my new 5 year old CAG Sam

[KeroRocks]

So we are taking it slow with Sam. His vocabulary amazes me. Yesterday I just opened his cage to see if he wanted to come out. I also moved his tree next to his cage so he can get used to it. He did come out but he stayed on the top of his cage.

He loves scritches but is nervous about stepping up so I'm not pushing him. I just tell him he's a good boy whenever he lets me touch him and I give him scritches. He closes his eyes and grabs onto the bars with his beak so it steadies his head when you are scratching his neck. It's pretty funny.

He did step up once yesterday and WOW are his nails sharp. I just scratched his neck and put him back on his cage so he wouldn't be afriad.

He now says, What cha doing? Hello, Hey Babe, Hi Big Bird, Goodnight goodnight, Wow, Bombs dropping, water bubbling, trucks backing up, the microwave, the Fire alarm battery sound, a ton of sounds I don't recognize. He gets very chatty while I'm watching T.V. in the evening. He said something else that I didn't catch last night, I'm sure he will repeat it.

I'm hoping he will want to be on his tree soon because I can move that where he can see me. He can't see me in the living room from his cage and it's WAY too large to move into the living room. (Very small room very large cage) He can hear me where he is so I call out to him and walk over to him often.

He hasn't screamed at all yet. The loudest noise he makes is a beeping noise. He also hasn't shown any agression. He will hold my fingers in his beak but he doesn't use any pressure. He will move my fingers away if I'm trying to get him to step up and he doesn't want to but again he doesn't use any pressure.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Pics or it didn't happen..

 

[Calace]

Gorgeous pic! Sounds like you are making slow but steady progress! He sure does seem like a very sweet little boy!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Sounds like things are going great

I've read online they can have very sharp nails if not maintained, partly because in the wild they forage on the ground and "chicken scratch". Makes me wonder if their nails are a little harder than the average parrots to avoid wearing down to much. A friend of mine had a African grey with dagger like talons, it was painful to hold him. My mom always got upset when I came home with long bleeding scratches, I still have some light scars.

A safety pumice, or cement perch can help to dull them a little. That way you don't have to break his trust by trying to clip them right now.

 

[KeroRocks]

I ordered an arm bracer... It's a leather cuff that covers my whole forearm. I'm going to train him to stand on it

 

[Zumaria]

Aww congratulations! How long have you had him?

I adopted Jenga (7 year old CAG) about two weeks ago and she has been very quiet. We are certainly making progress though! but it still surprises me how quiet she is....

 

[KeroRocks]

I've had him about a week and a half and he talks/makes noises all the time..pretty much non stop unless he's eating LOL It's a good thing I don't mind noise.

Last night he stepped up for me. Yay