Settling in!!!!

[Mike Rowley]

After a long search, I managed to find an african grey who was delivered yesterday. He quickly seemed to get accustomed to his new home and started eating and preening pretty well straight away.
However after 30 hours he has not moved from the centre of his main perch except to his food and water. I previously had a Macaw and a cockatoo who both started climbing straight away. His cage has been open since he got here but he has made no attempt to leave it.
He has started a sort of communication, mainly clicks squeaks and whistles but usually when I am out of the room. Am I expecting too much and should I just wait til he feels more confident in me.

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Just be patient, take it slow, and read his body language.
But congrats on the new bird, you're doing great!

 

[Owlet]

I suggest closing the cage and letting the bird settles into his cage before expecting him to leave it. Once he has settled in a bit more and has started exploring the cage a bit more I would suggest working on your bond with him and the best way to do that is via training. One of the easiest "tricks" you can teach him that would also help with further training is Target training. Get a chopstick or something of the sort and hold it near him. If he is nervous of the target move it further away and gradually bring it closer, rewarding him with a treat frequently so he slowly equates the nearness of the target as a good thing rather than something to be feared. Once he is more comfortable with the target bring it back near him and wait until he investigates it. If he taps at if with his beak, reward him immediately. Rinse and repeat and he will get that idea that interacting with the target is also a good thing. From here you can move the target to different areas of the cage and have him follow/target it and reward him every time he taps it.

 

[Laurasea]

Congratulations! It does take some a day or 2 to feel more confident. Some want to be with you right away for comfort some want to feel things out. Follow his lead.

But I like to pull a chair up to tge Cage and just hang out with them. Not staring at them all the time and focused on them, but just near. Talking to them once in awhile and just reading.

And when I'm out of sight I talk to them to check in and let them know I'm near by.

 

[Mike Rowley]

Congratulations! It does take some a day or 2 to feel more confident. Some want to be with you right away for comfort some want to feel things out. Follow his lead.

But I like to pull a chair up to tge Cage and just hang out with them. Not staring at them all the time and focused on them, but just near. Talking to them once in awhile and just reading.

And when I'm out of sight I talk to them to check in and let them know I'm near by.

Hi thanks for your comments. I have followed you advice but after 9 days I am no nearer to getting my grey (Stanley) to accept me and I am getting worried about his lack of exercise. He backs away when I put my hand anywhere near him, he is basically silent except for the odd electronic sound and doesn't move from the centre of his main perch except to eat and drink. He will take food from my hand but backs away if I get too close. Should I simply wait for him to come to me or is there something else you could advise?
Thanks for your time Mike

 

[Mike Rowley]

I suggest closing the cage and letting the bird settles into his cage before expecting him to leave it. Once he has settled in a bit more and has started exploring the cage a bit more I would suggest working on your bond with him and the best way to do that is via training. One of the easiest "tricks" you can teach him that would also help with further training is Target training. Get a chopstick or something of the sort and hold it near him. If he is nervous of the target move it further away and gradually bring it closer, rewarding him with a treat frequently so he slowly equates the nearness of the target as a good thing rather than something to be feared. Once he is more comfortable with the target bring it back near him and wait until he investigates it. If he taps at if with his beak, reward him immediately. Rinse and repeat and he will get that idea that interacting with the target is also a good thing. From here you can move the target to different areas of the cage and have him follow/target it and reward him every time he taps it.

Hi thanks for your advise. I have tried most of what you suggest but as soon as he sees my hand he backs away. He still doesn't move from his perch and I am worried about his lack of exercise. He does seem quite happy and spends a lot of his time preening, but does this in silence. What would you advise giving him as treats as he will tentatively take food from my hand but backs away if I get too close. Would it be advisable for me to wait until he accepts me a little more before attempting any further physical contact.
Thanks for your time..... Mike

 

[Mike Rowley]

Just be patient, take it slow, and read his body language.
But congrats on the new bird, you're doing great!

Hi thanks for your comment. His body language after ten days seems to indicate that he doesn't want me to get too close yet. He makes no attempt to leave his cage and I am worried about his lack of exersise. He is silent except for the electronic sounding beeps and clicking sounds. His previous owner assures me that he is an excellent talker with a wide range of sounds. He is 3 and a half years old. Should i just wait for him (Stanley) to accept me a little more or is there something I can try to build the bond.
Thanks for your time Mike

 

[Laurasea]

Ahh , burd time can move slowly. How old is your new one?
My most recent quaker girl a got from a petstore. She had a huge true phobia of hands, a whole nother level from hand shy. Anyway it took 6 month before would cuddle and be affectionate. Now she always with me and very sweet and gentle.

So trust takes time, but you will get there.
Keep respectful, like you have if he backs away let him don't force your attention on him.

But in the meantime you do want ( whst is his name? ) to come out of cage and engage with his environment.
African Grey are thinkers and observing and taking it all in. I haven't had one only pet sit one. But I have worked with a lot of species .. generally parrot advice applies to all species, with some parrot specific traits. We do have members with African Greys. And hopefully they will find your thread and offer the more species specific advice. An excellent source of behavior articles and blogs is Pamela Clark and she does keep African Grey. I'm going to link a general article of hers. But you can Google her and look for more.

Stress Reduction for Companion Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

To put it bluntly, keeping companion parrots is similar to trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. The fact that they do as well as they do is testimony more to their adaptability than it is to our husbandry efforts.

lafeber.com

 

[Laurasea]

I really like foraging as way to engage them. You can do thus in the bottom of his cage, as a hands off way to enteract and engage him. Start extremely simple and with treats a yummiest stuff at first. Like you could use a slice of apple, show him and eat one yourself, let him see you put in a bowl add a couple if little scrunched up pepper and a small square if paper that only half covers the apple slice . Then back off and enjoy your apple slice making a big deal about how yummy it is. Hopefully he will go down and get his slice. When he does Bragg and Bragg on him !!! Just do this foraging for fun and play and enrichment. Wait till much later when he is happy and bold in your home before making him have to foraging for his meals, ..I just enjoy doing stuff like this with mine.

Also I think burds tricks is working with an CAG i look for that

 

[Mike Rowley]

Ahh , burd time can move slowly. How old is your new one?
My most recent quaker girl a got from a petstore. She had a huge true phobia of hands, a whole nother level from hand shy. Anyway it took 6 month before would cuddle and be affectionate. Now she always with me and very sweet and gentle.

So trust takes time, but you will get there.
Keep respectful, like you have if he backs away let him don't force your attention on him.

But in the meantime you do want ( whst is his name? ) to come out of cage and engage with his environment.
African Grey are thinkers and observing and taking it all in. I haven't had one only pet sit one. But I have worked with a lot of species .. generally parrot advice applies to all species, with some parrot specific traits. We do have members with African Greys. And hopefully they will find your thread and offer the more species specific advice. An excellent source of behavior articles and blogs is Pamela Clark and she does keep African Grey. I'm going to link a general article of hers. But you can Google her and look for more.

Stress Reduction for Companion Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.

To put it bluntly, keeping companion parrots is similar to trying to pound a square peg into a round hole. The fact that they do as well as they do is testimony more to their adaptability than it is to our husbandry efforts.

lafeber.com

Hiya, thanks for the advice. Stanley (for it is he) was said to be 3 3/4 years old when I got him 10 days ago. I checked out the link you sent me and it seems I have to à lot of work in to make Stanley accept me. He happily takes food from my hand but backs away if I move too close to him. The only time he talks is when I am on the phone and not chatting to him. Once I stop chatting he clams up and then all I get is the clicks and peeps. He seems quite happy to sit in his open cage all day but his lack of exercise worries me a lot. I hear him chatting to himself early morning before i get up but once I get up he goes very quiet again. Ah well I just enjoy his company and maybe he'll come round to trusting me, I'll give him as much time as he needs.
Once again....thanks for your time Mike rowley

 

[ScottinSoCal]

I echo what others here have said.
Scooter is the bird that runs our house, these days. She came from a rescue, and the rescue required several weeks of visits, so every Saturday for almost 2 months I was at the rescue, visiting with her, letting them see how I was with her, and she was with me. By the time I brought her home, she'd come to me without hesitation, we'd play toss with the cap to my water bottle, she'd bonded to me. But still, for several days after I brought her here, she was quiet, sat in the middle of her cage, and didn't make much noise.
New cage, new place, new dogs, new sounds, and none of it "her" territory - she had to get used to it, and it took her a few weeks before she was really confident about it.
That was 2+ years ago, and like I said, she runs the place now. She's learned to open the kitchen drawers and create a ladder for herself to climb up to the kitchen counter. If the cupboard door on the treat cabinet opens, she has to have a treat and will clang the bell on her rope ladder until she gets one. On laundry day, she knows the timer going off on my watch means I'm going upstairs, and she has to go with me. And she's gotten used to being outside, and loves to preen in the sunlight, perched on my hand or leg, and get head scratches.
But all this took time, for her to get settled in, and get used to the new place.