We have had exotic birds for years, everything but a Congo Grey. I have read articles saying what a great bird they are, also the raves from this
We bought a baby, finished hand feeding her, loved her to pieces, lots of attention, talking to her, had her out of the cage a lot, on a perch with us at the dinner table, she loves to eat with us.
The older she has gotten (she is now 3), the less attention she wants.
She will not hesitate to bite my husband, will tolerate a little head rub, and comes out the cage when SHE feels like it, not when you want her to, even with saying Step. She talks only in a gruff voice (male).
I am so disappointed in her. I had hoped for a sweet, lovable bird that I could kiss, hold and pet. The older she gets the less she seems to want to be bothered with people. She has a good variety of food, plenty of attention, lots of toys.
My question is...... are your Congo Grey's what you expected? I guess I shouldn't compare, but after having a cockatoo, this Grey does not even come close in affection.
The most beautiful discovery of true friends is that they can grow separately without growing apart -Katherine Mansfield
All birds will nip occasionally. But if yours wants nothing to do with you, that is unusual. You get out of birds, what you put in, and somewhere along the way, it seems as though you have made some mistakes with her.
What kind of exotic birds have you had for years?
Are you in Texas? We were in Texas last winter... saw millions of beautiful birds on the gulf shore between Corpus Christi and Galveston, during spring migration.
Hi My name is Steve and I am a Cagaholic.....
My Geordie is just gone 4 years old and she amazes me nearly every day.
The thing that gets me most is how she does and says things IN
CONTEXT.
For an example, do you remember the Antonio Banderas version of Zorro?
Well, in the film, Zorro is supposed to jump off a roof onto his horse but the horse moves and Zorro falls on his rear end. OK, not mind-bogglingly funny but worth a smile. Not for Geordie, she lets our a really loud laugh like the Laughing Policeman record. (did I mention we are so soft that we move her cage in the evening so she can watch
TV?) Maybe coincedence but that sort of thing happens all the time.
I live in the industrial North of England and parrots are not very common here but everyone around knows Geordie. She goes everywhere with me....
Supermarket, Post Office, Bingo, walks in the park, driving (she sits on the passenger head rest with a towel under her rear end, lol)
She has always been MY bird as opposed to my wife's but my wife can get more kisses than me at the dinner table 'cos she has more Fries than me.
Agnes always blows on a fry before geordie gets it to cool it down and there's nothing funnier than watching geordie, fry in hand, making blowing noises at the fry.
Geordie has always interacted well with strangers, especially kids, and it's good to see Geordie wandering from kid to kid saying
"Hello,I'm Geordie, Who are you?"
The best though is if you say, "Geordie dance" and she whistles and dances to the tune of "The Stripper"
Here's her ebay page....
I think that so far you are doing not too bad at all~ Your CAG was plucked and now he is feathered... He was silent and now chatters happily away!
Continue to provide him with a happy relaxed home, a calm attitude, a good diet and a nourishing environment... you should see good results.
Petting will come in due time. I think he is already trying. His taking your finger in his beak and bobbing up and down is a good sign. He probably thinks your hand is his friend and he wants to hold on to you. I bet that if you were trusting enough to let him take your finger in his beak without pulling away that he wouldn't bite.. .But I agree that it is difficult to do, so I don't blame you for not wanting to. Just continue to pet him through the cage bars with anything soft, until you feel comfortable using your fingers.
My Grey is 7 years old and my husband will ONLY pet him through the cage bars! On the plus side, Echo squashes himself against the cage bars so that
Rick can reach and scritch all parts of him! That is their understanding.
It works fine for them. I can scritch Echo outside the cage, but when I try it through the cage bars, he grabs my finger and feeds me.. He thinks my hand is his mate/companion! Birds sometimes will do that to someone they love. It appears that they do not take in the 'whole person' as a unit: to them, the face is a person and the hand can be something else. I have even heard of people whose bird likes one hand and is afraid of the other!
Let him take the initiative.. let him decide what he is ready for at his own pace. I am willing to bet that It will turn out OK for you in the long run.
Lorraine if you don't mind sharing I don't mind reading. I can talk bird all day. My friends think I am nuts. My husband tells me he wishes he was as loved as much as my children.
Did yours like to be held like a baby. My cutie will snuggle up with me if I put her in bed with me. I got cutie on Dec 23, 02 day before I was due to go to surgury. That nite I cried like a baby, but it was because I was so happy. Cutie had a amazed me so much. Plus I had already been telling my husband no more birds. For over a year. I already had four. I thank God we did get her. We had already seen cutie a couple of times, but
I kept saying no, but what got me was when I held her and she roled over.
She was like a baby in my arms, so cute.
PS TOLD you I could go on about birds
Mac is my CAG. He is 7 years old now and a very very loving and affectionate bird. He loves to cuddle, give kisses, and wrestle with my daughter on the living room floor. He climbs onto her chest and flaps his wings in her face and yells out uncle! The more she laughs the more he does it. heheh. I did not read up on their behaviour or expectations BEFORE getting him. My reason for this was that I did not want to get in to it with any pre-conceived notions. Mac does have his occasional "bad feather" day as we call them, where he wants little to do with his people, but still has to have his before bed cuddle even on those days.
That was so cute. I tell you what I did with seagull and vulture problem.
I would start telling cracker to say hello. We live by the beach and take them out ever once in awhile. The first time cracker saw seagulls he yelled. So after that I knew I had to get him to act like it was a game.
The thing with the vulture is if he see's through the window or if he saw them while making a trip. So I just started telling him to say hello. Now our bb we took him to the beach and he let us know for 24 hours that he was upset. He just didn't talk for 24 hours. I will still work with them at the beach, just not right now. To many mosquitoes out right now.
I am glad that you did find a good home for Caro. Like happy ending's
Lee and Trish
We didn't have any problem with Caro and wild birds until the seagull actually stole his dinner from him.. We also 'talked' to the wild birds, and 'waved' to them ( spreading of wings) etc. We had Caro for 5 years so he had seen seagulls before that episode...
We just couldn't figure out any way out of this new development. We tried all we could to get him to quiet down and accept seagulls again, but he really kept a grudge! Ducks and geese and others he accepted easily as 'part of the great outdoor' ... but not the seagulls after they stole from him~
But I am glad that you are working out your problem with your own birds.
Just make sure you don't feed your B*G where there are wild birds who could steal his dinner ! LOL!
"The first time cracker saw seagulls he yelled. So after that I knew I had to get him to act like it was a game. The thing with the vulture is if he see's through the window or if he saw them while making a trip. So I just started telling him to say hello..."
Mom came over and went through the biting thing again... and then she said step up and he did! She was holding him but he was still trying to bite her hand. I went over to tell him what a good bird he was for stepping up and he stepped right onto my forearm! I was just waiting for the approaching chomp, but he just sat on my arm and whistled! After three or four minutes
I put him back on his cage door and he was fluffing his feathers and bobbing up and down. For the whole rest of the evening he was happy and talking.
It was fantastic. Unfortunately, we didn't know how to get him back INTO his cage, so he was out all night. The floor has been quite decorated but not as much as my Too would have done... anyway, long story, I know, but I'm excited. LOL. This morning I walked right up to him and scratched his head for a few seconds!!! I stopped when his head turned. I'm afraid he's going to think I'm teasing him if every time I reach for him and he reaches that beak out I pull away. If he would just lower his head we'd have a system.
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