New CAG, confused sad, and apparently depressed.

[protomind]

I will admit it, I am freaking out, I can't sleep, I am worried about the bird and if we will have enough of ourselves to give to him. I am pretty sure is is sad and confused too. But I just got him a new cage, I will post some pics below soon.

How do I socialize a bird that will not let me touch him?

 

[_Cass_]

I have socialized many birds that did not want to be touched. they just have to get used to you. Trust you. I had a Yellow Headed Amazon named Pickles, who would not let ANYONE touch him. I put his cage in my room, I would feed him, and I started to be able to have my hands in his cage while I would change around his toys and such. Soon after, I purchaced a pair of leather gloves and started to handle him. A while later.. He was sittibng on my shoulder while I gave him scritches. He was a great bird and I found a wonderful home for him .

Heres a few links that explain handling un-sociable birds.
SOCIALIZATION and THE COMPANION PARROT
Terrified Lovebird? =o(

 

[protomind]

I pick up on the emotions of other creatures easily be they human or not, I guess I have been worrying too much, but I feel better now that I have a big ass cage for him. I had to scare him from the other one and jumped/fluttered to the floor, then went instantly to the new one. He hasn't ventured down yet into the cage itself, but I am sure he will in good time. We did spend some time yesterday talking and he actually was repeating what I was saying right back, it was a crude mimic but interesting. Not that I care if he ever 'talks human' or not. I can already understand a few of his chirps and what not.

I was told how old he was, but who really knows. Is there a guide to help determine age of these grays?

 

[protomind]

Ok so now he is in the new cage on the perch just eating and hopefully relaxing.

Tnx for the links BTW.

 

[Mel]

Just be patient and try to make any interactions with him positive. Move slowly and be calm, just sitting next to the cage talking to him can help, offer treats and most of all be patient.

I would strongly advise against scaring him to move. This will make him not trust you (parrots have long memories) and will make taming him so much more difficult. If you need him to move try to get him to step up on a long perch or stick them move him to where you want him to go.

Good Luck

 

[Erithacus]

A friend of mine bought a wild CAG (meant for breeding) 2 months ago. Surprisingly, when he brought the bird to the gathering recently, his grey was much more socialized than my handraised grey. He took less than 2 months to tame his grey. His grey allowed everyone to touch her and she even perched on strangers' hands.

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi and welcome to the forum, Time and patience, love and understaing are going to be your greatest alies in winning over your new fid (fid=feathered kid), the subject of your post says "new CAG" so I'll asume you haven't had him/her to long, (confused) im sure it is, new surroundings, new people, and as you stated a new cage, all of these can very traumatic and stressful, and (depressed) not knowing the past history I can only say if your CAG was rehomed to you then possibly it may be suffering from seperation anxiety from its previous situation, taking things slowly at this point will be key in lowering the stress level, my suggestion would be to limit your physical interaction with him for the next few days, having the bird remain in its cage, watching to make sure its eating and drinking properly,as mentioned in other posts, talking softly and calmly as sit by or walk by the cage, after this period you can open the cage door and allow the bird to go in and out as it feels comfortable and then slowly work towards a time of physical interaction,as time goes by you'll have more questions, and I'm sure there will be many more folks on here with answers.....Good Luck!

 

[HRH Di]

Welcome and you have some great advice above. Remember that African Greys are believed by some experts to be as intelligent as human toddlers. Imagine a 3 year old child going through rehoming. He's bound to be scared and confused. Speak gently and give him time. Reassure him and let him get used to you. As I said, they're very smart and he'll learn that you want only the best for him.

 

[Spiritbird]

Welcome to your group. We have many AG guardians. If you scare the bird who is already in a new situation the bonding process will be set back even further. You have been given good suggestions by others and I hope you understand the grey's needs. There are lots of good books out there for you to study up on them. They are very sensative birds and really need to trust you before you can train them. Please move slowly and gently. I give you a link that may be good.

Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Socializing The African Grey - The Early Days

 

[Birdamor]

There is no way of accurately guessing a CAG's age. As far as I know, the only thing you can go by is the legs and the eyes (legs get scaly and eyes look hooded and/or a bit sunken) but that only happens by the time they are forty or so. I have two 12 year olds and one that is 22 and there is no physical difference between them.

The advice you've been given is good: patience, love, good diet, solar light schedule, good full spectrum lights, consistent routines and persistence always do the trick. It might take years but they'll work. I promise you.