wild caught african gray.

[alfy1]

I accidentaly bought an wild caught african gray in January. The seller told me he was very tame and that I could teach him to eat from my hand in 3 days. A week after I got him he started eating seeds from my hand. He doesn't let me touch him and he doesn't want to step-up on my hand . He bites me or tries to hide when I try to touch him. When I put his cage on the floor , if I sit near the cage he would climb on me (because they always want to go higher ) but he is very scared in that moment and I can even hear his heart beats. He accepts to take from my hand nearly everything , but he doesn't want me to touch him. Sometimes when I'm near him he fluffs his feathers and opens his wings and move his hand up and down, making a clicking sound with his beak. I think this probably means he's very angry , but in that moment , if I give him a seed he takes it and becomes "back to normal".
He learned 2 whistles from me in these 4 months.
When I bought him I was told he was a baby but he had a white circle on his eye. I don't think he's very old as I saw pictures on the internet with other grays which had a much larger white circle.
My question is how can I tame him?? He is very far from being tame but I don't know what else to do. I tried to target train him but he hates the stick more than my hand. It makes me cry to think that I probably have to live with this wild untamed bird another 30 years , because I'm already very attached to him and I can't donate him to buy a hand -feed gray. I also don't have enough space to keep 2 grays.It's so bad to have your dream pet in your house and not be able to touch it.

 

[ShellyBorg]

Back off training for now. Spend time just being near him. Spend lots of time sitting lower then his perch. Play peek-a-bird and just talk to him. Open the cage door and eat with him. Sharing food is one of my Greys favorite past times. You need a firm foundation of trust before you can do much more.

 

[antoinette]

[FONT=&quot]Your bird must have time to settle down and adjust. Just imagine how many new things the bird has encountered, in the last 3 months. So many new faces and voices, it must be so scary.
To gain your trust could take days, weeks, months even years. Each and every bird is so different. He obviously feels a comfort zone is his cage.
Sit near the cage, talking and singing to the bird. Let him become familiar with your voice. Leaving the cage door open, offer him treats through the bars at first. When he willingly accepts them, try placing a treat near the open door. Eventually he will starts taking the treats from the door, make no attempt to touch him. When he does come out, he will probably climb around on the cage. Let him explore in his own time. To get him back in, place a treat inside the cage, making sure it's visible.

Please keep us updated

Good luck
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[MonicaMc]

I accidentaly bought an wild caught african gray in January.
Curious to know where you live... easiest place to get a wild caught grey is in Africa. Anywhere else, and it may be difficult to get one - especially a young wild caught grey.


The seller told me he was very tame and that I could teach him to eat from my hand in 3 days.
Did you see the seller interact and handle the bird? It's very possible the bird was tame and friendly with the seller, but not with you. Unlike dogs, many birds find strangers to be scary new beings, so just because the bird was fine with the seller doesn't mean that he or she will be fine with you.

He doesn't let me touch him and he doesn't want to step-up on my hand . He bites me or tries to hide when I try to touch him.
When *YOU* try to touch him. He sounds scared. It may help to take a step back and try not to push him beyond his boundaries that he's willing to go. Encourage him to step out of his boundaries by using a favorite reward of his.

Working with Fearful Parrots: A Study in Videos | Learning Parrots

When I put his cage on the floor , if I sit near the cage he would climb on me (because they always want to go higher ) but he is very scared in that moment and I can even hear his heart beats.
If you can set his cage on the floor, his cage sounds far too small for him. Some greys may feel better in smaller cages, but ideally, they should be in a large cage where they have plenty of room to move around in. I half wonder if him being in such a tiny cage is making him feel trapped and it's causing irrational fear.

He accepts to take from my hand nearly everything , but he doesn't want me to touch him.
Besides the head and feet, it's not really a good idea to pet them anywhere else on the body. Doing so may be seen as a predatory/sexual thing... not good in either case.


My question is how can I tame him?? He is very far from being tame but I don't know what else to do. I tried to target train him but he hates the stick more than my hand.
You don't need to use a stick to target train a bird... you could use a bamboo kabob, empty pen cylinder, or even your hand! Anything the bird isn't afraid of!

Here's only a few links that are worth checking out. I think if you can figure out the *right* way to train your grey, then things would go a lot smoother and quicker! And I would suggest to pay close attention to the videos from Barbara Heidenreich!

Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Help! My Parrot Wont Step Up!
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Respecting the Bite


Living With Parrots Cage Free: Bucky and Strider - Millet Eating Fiends!


A ?Bird Attacking? Question | Lara Joseph
A Question About an Issue with Nipping | Lara Joseph


Positive reinforcement | Learning Parrots

 

[lotosha]

Hey, congrats. on AG.
Just wanted to understand how can one accidentally buy a bird?

 

[alfy1]

More informations : Last summer I visited that pet shop (it was huge and very beautiful ) and they had one african gray which was adult and had a ring and a certificate , and the seller told me that we can bring him in our country legally . I told him that I want a young bird and not an adult , and he tol
d me that he will call me when he has a young gray.He called me in January. My parrot was held in a very big cage and he was very healthy. I tought he was hand raised , just like the first parrot I saw , and the seller told me that it was tame , that's why I bought him. I'm not very sure if he was parent raised in captivity or wild caught because he was a little tame ( he ate from my hand in a week ) and he eats just sunflower seeds.I think a wild caught parrot would it fruits and other seeds , but he throws them away. I give him every morning fresh fruits and veggies , and a seeds mix.. but he takes only the sunflower seeds. I bought him white sunflower seeds because the black ones are more greasy and unhealthy.
And his cage is 80 x 80 x 60. It's small but we bought it a year ago and we try to sell it before buying a new one , because it was about 300$. We had money to buy a newer cage for him before we even bought him but we want to get rid of his actual cage before buying a new one. I've posted on several forums from my country about selling the cage , but nobody yet contacted me (it's been 2 months since I posted it ). If nobody buys our cage , we will buy him the new cage sometime before July. And he stays a lot outside. We close his cage door only when we go out for a long period of time. In the evening he goes by himself in the cage and stays there until morning . When we left him alone in the room he always goes in the cage , and when we come back he gets out.
Thank you for the replies!!!They are really helpful !! Yesterday when I cleaned his cage he went up on my shoulder , and I sat on my bed and he went on my bed to play with some papers. I was pulling the paper with my hands and we kind of played together. Today I cleaned his cage and he again climbed on my shoulder. I noticed that after 5 minutes he started to clean himself and seemed relaxed even if at first he was scared.
After reading your replies I decided to keep him closed in the cage more time , and let him out like 2-3 hours a day, because he seems more confident when he is his cage and not outside , and more social. I won't let him climb on my shoulder anymore ., and I will spend a lot of time talking with him and feeding him when he is inside the cage. Is this right?? I want to see how he reacts to this and then maybe I can change the tameing method.
Edit: And no , I didn't bought him from Africa . I didn't even think that people still trade wild caught parrots.

 

[Kiwibird]

I personally don't think you should keep him in his cage 24/7, even if it's just while he's getting used to you. I think it would only be fair to him to open his door and let him crawl around on his cage for short periods of time (20/30minutes at a time) so he gets some daily freedom. You do not need to have contact (petting, holding ect..) with him right now during your bonding period, just sit near the cage while he's out and talk with him. If you need him to go back in, put a treat in his dish and he will go back (no bird can resist a treat!). When he starts getting more trusting and curious about you, he will start coming closer and initiating friendly behavior on his own. I would also keep letting him eat out of your hand if he's accepting of that, because it will reinforce to him that your hand is "safe" and isn't a threat (which is good for when you start reining him to step up). Always be very soft spoken with him, and try to be around him (within eyesight) as much as possible so he gets used to you. Another VERY important part of gaining a parrots trust is proper care, as in feeding him a healthy diet and providing a clean cage with lots of toys. Parrots are highly intelligent, and they quickly realize who exactly is giving them yummy food and intriguing toys. They show their gratitude by forming a close bond to the person taking such good care of them. And don't worry if he isn't "warming up" to you "fast enough". Some parrots will form a near instant bond with their owners, while others may take years for you to earn their trust. Patience and persistence is key. Let him be the one to initiate friendly behavior, and reinforce it when he does. Our BFA has just really started initiating friendly contact behavior in the past 6 or so months (we've had him over 5 years). He was neglected before we got him, so it understandably took some extra time for us to earn his trust, but the patience and persistence has really paid off. It was the best feeling ever the first time I noticed him reaching for my knee so he could come sit on my leg We let him come around on his own terms, and it's been nothing but positive progress since he finally decided we were trustworthy

Wanted to add- we never kept Kiwi shut in his cage, even though he never wanted us to pet him or to be touched other than stepping up. We bring him everywhere and include him in everything since a few days after we brought him home. We bring him to the table while we eat, let him on the couch/bed/chair/desk when we hang out, my husband takes him in the shower and I bring him around while I'm cleaning (he loves watching me clean lol). We have a simple t-perch we bring him around on. I highly suggest you make or buy one, it'll allow you to include your bird even if your not holding or petting him (yet). All parrots want to feel included even if they don't 100% trust you yet.

 

[alfy1]

Thank you so much for all the advices!!This is the best information about taming a gray I ever red!! I'm sure your answers will help me a lot with him. I already spent today about 3 hours feeding and talking to him. I'm thinking to remove his food recipient with sunflower seeds and feed him from my hand twice a day with the amount of sunflowers he would normally eat , as I have enough time to do this.. I noticed that he came immediatly to me when I had a sunflower seed in my mouth ( and he was about 70 cm away from me ) but he didn't want to come when I was holding a seed in my hand. I think he fears hands not people.

 

[ROSIEKING]

I've been reading a lot of articles from Chet Womach about bird taming and training and he seems very sensable and from the videos he provides he seems to have a great deal of success. You might try looking into that to get the help you need. Go ON THE INTERNET AND LOOK UP CHET WOMACH OR BIRDTRICKS.COM.

 

[MonicaMc]

Do a search for "Bird Tricks" and the Womach Brothers on this forum, Rosieking...

Alfy, your grey should be on a pellet based diet. A wild caught grey probably wouldn't recognize the fresh food provided to them in captivity - as what they eat in the wild is not often the same foods they'd eat within captivity... a poorly raised grey may not know to eat fresh foods, and some birds can regress and refuse to eat certain foods, even if they are foods they've eaten before in a different place.

Saliva is also dangerous to them... please don't feed your grey anything that has been in your mouth or has even touched your lips.

 

[Kiwibird]

MonicaMc brings up a valid point about some birds not eating fresh produce for a variety of reasons. However, be it pellets, seed or grains mixes, none of those are acceptable as the ONLY source of nutrition. Your birds health WILL suffer over the long term if he only eats any one kind of food. All parrots need a varied diet heavy in fresh produce. If he is not accepting of fresh produce, you have to figure out ways to get him to try it and eat it. Birds do have likes and dislikes, so keep trying him on new varieties and in different "forms" (such as big chunks, chop mixes, pureed ect...) until you find a variety and way he will try it. Baby food (veggie/fruit only) is often a good way to introduce a picky parrot to fresh produce. You can also offer him healthy table foods such as oatmeal, pasta, steamed veggies, yogurt, eggs ect... ( familiarize yourself first with toxic foods, such as avocado, chocolate and alcohol so you know what you can and cannot feed).

 

[alfy1]

I didn't know that I can give him table food or baby food. But I will sure try that.Other than that , I fed him all the fruits and veggies available in my country and not toxic for him , in a lot of different forms (I even tried putting pieces of fruit in a sunflower seed ) but everytime he just played with it and then throw it away. But I keep trying because he will probably accept someday eating something else besides sunflower seeds. I think his problem is that he doesn't recognise fruits and veggies as food.
But if I put blended fruit juice in his water? Maybe he will remember the taste , and next time I give him that fruit he will eat it.
And I couldn't find pellets in my country.

 

[lotosha]

I have my AG for less than a year. There is a big variety of food which I offered her time after time. First she didn't even look at it, but eventually we had a success with almost everything. So just keep trying and it's also helps if the parrot seas you eating in front of him.
Good luck

 

[MikeyTN]

If he was wild caught, he will most likely not eat from your hand in 3 days. They will freak a lot more then a captivity raised parrot. Not saying you can't tame a wild caught, but I highly doubt yours is a wild caught!

Since you've had him since January, you already started giving him a variety of food but here's how I start with changing diets and giving variety, I provide pellets all day in one bowl, fresh water in another, and fresh veggies and fruits in another during the day. Then in the evening I give minimal seeds, around 1-2 Tbsp full. Then next day I start all over again. Once you can get him to eat pellets, then you can yank the seeds if you want to and use as treats so you won't be wasting them. That's the way I get all mine to eat everything now days as I have no issue. You must be persistent!!!!

Training takes time, you can't expect a unsocialized bird to be attached to you within months. Sometimes it can take a year or more. But just be patient and persistent. I really like the recent video someone posted of the lady using a rope perch to get them to step up, but I usually just use a perch as it works for me. It is great for training purposes so no one gets hurt. Then eventually offer your hand in confidence. I need to post you that video someone just posted a day or so ago....

 

[MikeyTN]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jpLv4l41wWM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[MikeyTN]

For the life of me, I couldn't get that video to post on here....only the darn link....how is it being posted these days????