Need Advice for CAG...Again

[Caitnah]

I have posted a couple of times regarding my adopted 25 year old CAG. I have had him for a couple of weeks. To reiterate, he let me handle him (easily) at the adoption center but when home he bit me drawing blood. So,for the last two weeks we have been trying to gain each other's trust.
I also started target training about a week ago with excellent results. Unfortunately, this is a bit of a long post.

I realize that building trust can take a lonnnng time. His feet and beak need trimming but am afraid to try and take him to the vet since getting him into the travel cage will definitely stress him and hurt the trust we are trying to build.

Have been told that he has never plucked. His condition is very good, but lately have found short feathers on the bottom of his cage. Plucking? Beginning of a molt?
He doesn't like any forms of bathing. Misting freaks him out. Again, trying to build trust and trying to mist him takes us two steps back.

I have built him a large playground on top of and along side his cage. Java branches, toys, etc... But what does he do...climbs down the cage to the floor and under the cage to bite on the wheels.

Lastly, since he has chomped on me, I was using a dowel rod to pick him up. When he is on his cage he attacks the rod BUT when he is on the floor, he quickly and easily steps up on the rod with no problem.

Soon I will be using a towel on my arm covered by a sweatshirt to get him to step up on my arm. As mentioned, for hours at the adoption center, he easily stepped up for me with no problems. In fact the owner said he doesn't like head scratches but I was able to do that on my 2nd visit. That's why I was shocked when bit at home. New surroundings?

Am now convinced that parrots are the reason that alcohol was invented. :19:

 

[texsize]

I don't have any suggestions on the biting.
When a bird is on the ground picking them up can be seen as a form of rescue, they tend to feel vulnerable on the ground.

It took about 5 months for me to get my Bella to accept taking a shower with me.
First time I tried it she screamed like I was going to skin her alive. After 5 months she would come with me without protest.
Now all morning long she asks for a shower by saying "Red Butt Shower?" until I shower with me. she literally jumps on to my shoulder. She does not get all that wet but the humidity should be good for her at the least.

Sooner or later she will try taking a bath in her water bowl. when that happens try misting her, She may decide she likes it.

texsize.

 

[Janet]

Had to laugh at your last comment!

I'm sorry I don't have any advice. I have a young CAG that I visited and bonded with while he was being weaned. He gets so excited when I get home from work, loves to be on my shoulder (even when vacuuming). Gentle head rubs are a must at bedtime ("do you want a massage?"). I admire everyone on this site that take in rescue birds (fids), and wish you all the best. Such a great and beautiful bird!

 

[Caitnah]

I
Sooner or later she will try taking a bath in her water bowl. when that happens try misting her, She may decide she likes it.
texsize.

Yep, he has already done that. Although his bowl is pretty big, he couldn't get a good enough splash. But he has only tried once. The cage however, received a GREAT bath.

Had to laugh at your last comment!

I'm sorry I don't have any advice. I have a young CAG that I visited and bonded with while he was being weaned. He gets so excited when I get home from work, loves to be on my shoulder (even when vacuuming). Gentle head rubs are a must at bedtime ("do you want a massage?"). I admire everyone on this site that take in rescue birds (fids), and wish you all the best. Such a great and beautiful bird!

Yeah, my guy has a fit when I leave the room. He constantly calls out by whistling, hooting and talking. When its bed time ,he calls out in a crying voice that melts your heart.

 

[texsize]

When I bought my Bella she was super friendly at the pet shop. She was a rescue even though a pet shop sold her. She was in very bad shape and I could not stand to see her sit there month after month because of the high price they put on her.

Anyway we did go through a period of time after the honeymoon was over where she would not let me puck her up to take her out of the cage. She would fluff up with her feathers sticking out and bite hard (not to the point of breaking skin).
I used a rather stern approach (tuff love?) that I would not necessarily recommend. In fact I was dunned for taking the approach that I did.
The towel idea sounds like a good first try.
let us know how it works out for you.

 

[ChristaNL]

Japie has the largest dog-drinking-bowl the petshop sells (they had to order it in) as his private bath.
He will come with me into the bathroom and endure a shower once in a while- he just sits on my schoulder and soaks away - only protesting when I move away, so I asume he likes it?

but...put the bowl in the cage, fill it up, and he goes ba-na-naas!!

Hopping in -out, climbing all around
and back in the bowl he goes
flapping, tapdancing, the works ...

Usually- the cage and a part of my living room get thourougly soaked, so he is out of luck in the winter
(He will only bathe in the cage, the same bowl in the bathroom equals a deathtrap - of course)

Appie (the other grey) just watches him with a fascinated expression, almost the kind of focus people usually reserve for the more intense parts of horromovies...
She will sprint out of the cage if I mention "showertime" and happily soak away, but no way she will go near *that* bowl.

=

Just start taking the parrot with you when you go take a shower-
it does not need to get wet, but the moist air is good for them.
(use a small bench if you don't trust your bird completely yet)


Your bird is already calling for you- so he would like to be with you (even though it is biting atm).


I once was babysitting a bitey grey - who did not know this showerthing- and completely freaked out the first few times, started to notice I was having a blast, got curious and got playing

(grabbing at the droplets and later the showerwater ) after a few weeks and yess had a shower (running in and out the falling water all by himself) shortly after.
Somehow it gave him more confidence -> less (attacking and) biting, more interested in people in general.


Can I make a horrible-counterintuetive suggestion?
Present naked flesh instead of sticks and not-so-solid surfaces like layers of cloth -- I've had greys that really got scared when inanimate objects started to move (being moved) and they understood that living flesh = sensitive.
Sometimes it is easy to put too much pressure on them while using sticks etc - because you cannot really 'feel' what you are doing.
(both physical and emotional btw)


Of course if you have one that really bites just to draw blood it is not an option, but usually the first bites when they settle in are just 'testbites' to see how far they can go - just show them you won't stand for nonsense and correct them.
(see pressurebiting, they all get that sooner or later, and greys are wonderfully, wicked smart)


One of mine bit down hard the first time just to make sure I would not move.
(the previous owner was impatient and used to already move while the bird was still in the middle of stepping up)
So... I let her take her time... never had a problem since (though she will warn me if I move too fast bij just opening her beak and gently grab hold)


I love greys because they are subtle birds- but it makes them difficult to read for some people, it just takes time and they are all different.


You'll get there!!

 

[Caitnah]

Japie has the largest dog-drinking-bowl the petshop sells (they had to order it in) as his private bath.

Of course if you have one that really bites just to draw blood it is not an option, but usually the first bites when they settle in are just 'test bites' to see how far they can go - just show them you won't stand for nonsense and correct them.
(see pressure biting, they all get that sooner or later, and greys are wonderfully, wicked smart)

I would like to try this. I DID try using one of those aluminum roasting pans.
But the concern was poop landing in it before he would try.
Your bowl would be smaller but I can place it away from perches.
Can you tell me what diameter bowl you have?

The bite was on his 2nd day home. First day I had NO problem with him stepping up. But, while he was on his landing door of his cage, he was stepping up and then chomped. Wondering if I didn't give him enough time to settle on my hand?
Unfortunately he bit so hard that I pulled away quickly and he fell to the floor. So that's why the trust building (target training) is happening.

 

[ChristaNL]

ehm... sorry about the horrible quality, camera is stuck on "autopilot" for now ;P


https://imgur.com/Gx4kVy8


https://imgur.com/dwPelhV


I have a larger "bowl-like contraption", but it does not fit in the cage.
This is the maximum I can get through the doors (filled with water).


(and yes, my local supermarket sponsors me by giving me their leftover flyers -> plenty of floorcover, looks horrible though it is quite safe)


the diameter is 22 cm / so almost 9 inches (I measured the inside of the rim)


Japie is one of those oversized africans/ about half a kilo.
(He is a ful head larger than Appie, who is no tiny one herself)
No idea why breeders are obsessed with "large and sturdy"- it is not like we eat them ...


-


sorry OP, offtopic again...
=


You are wise to re-start slowly, both of you should be comfortable doing what you do.
I probably would have tried the step-up later that day again, just to see what went wrong.

(mostly because I suck @ clickertraining not because that is a better way of doing things !)

 

[ChristaNL]

I still happens to me sometimes when they are perched on the cagedoors.
They will start to step-up and the door will start to swing away from them ... akward!

(Of course I should have steadied the door with my other hand, but my brain is not always completely focussed on parrots / once I was holding a rather overfull teapot in my other hand and I decided to pick the bird up en route ...)

Since they all know how to swing doors open (or close them on each other or behind them ...) it is hard to keep track

Anyway- most of the time when I end up with a rather painfull experience -> balance issues!

They grab and hang on for dear life, I try not to use too many swearwords... afterwards we decide we still like each other, and move on.


(the exeption being Sunny atm because of her oversensitive tail and wings)

 

[EllenD]

First of all I want to thank you for taking this Grey into your family, I can tell that you already really love him and you're committed to working towards earning his trust...it will happen, but you've only had him for a couple of weeks...This is a marathon, not a sprint my friend...

The reason he is stepping-up easily when on the floor is because he's not on his cage...This is extremely common, he has decided that his cage is "his", it's his "safe place" in a new home with a new person...So when you're trying to get him away from it, or you're approaching his cage with your hands or anything else, he's protecting his "safe place"...This is very, very common, even Budgies do this, all parrots do to some point, even brand new, hand-raised babies coming to their first home will lean quickly what their "safe place" is and want to protect it...remember, you have not earned his trust yet...

It honestly sounds to me like things are going fine so far with your Grey, as you need to always remember that #1) He has the intelligence of a 4-5 year old child, #2) He's 25 years old and has already had God knows how many homes, people, etc. He's gone through this before my friend, even the rescue you got him from became his home, and those were his people. He was extremely comfortable there, which is why he interacted well with you while in the rescue...Then he was once again moved from his home and taken away from his people, and brought into another new home with another new person...why should he trust you at this point? To him, right now, you're just another person who has taken him somewhere new to start over again. That's how he's thinking right now, and you need to start thinking like he's thinking in order to understand where he's coming from...

Take things at HIS PACE, not yours...He's the one who was just ripped-away from another place he felt comfortable in, and he's the one who's trust you need to earn...and it will happen, but slowly, not at your pace. I know it's frustrating for you, but imagine how he feels...Just keep spending as much time as possible with him, even if that just means he's in the same room as you while you're doing something else. He needs to be around you/with you as much as possible so that he starts to understand he can trust you. Find out what his very favorite treat is and reward him with it whenever he is friendly, whenever he steps-up without a problem you must reward him and make a big fuss over him...And respect his cage area as being his "safe space"...It will happen, but not in a couple of weeks...