I got a Timneh

[Ryan13]

Hello- I recently got a TImneh. I have had him for 2-3 days. All he is doing is hissing at me. He started eating the first day and obviously loves peanuts. He hisses if anyone gets near the cage. Do you think he will stop?? How long until I take him out of his cage? Also, I noticed one of his toes crooked. The previous owner said it could have caught on carpet and sprained it before I got himinto his cage. Does a crooked toe mean I should get it checked out or wait it out and see if it goes back. It looks like its sore to him. Please help!!


Ryan

[prettylila]

ouch.. it seems like your little baby doesn't trust humans very well.. Mine was the same way. When I got her she was extremely distraught and destroyed my fingers.. So what I did, was I talked to her a lot in a very sweet gentle voice. To get the bird out of it's zone, I openend the cage door and left the room.. She eventually waddled her way out ( I was secretly watching) and I had no problem getting her off of her cage.. Just let your new bird get adjusted to his new home and shower him with lots of attention and toys and lots of treats.. About the crooked toe, that might be very painful for him still so If I were you, I would take him to the vet as soon as possible, it might be broken.. which will explain hissing.. This is all new to him so get him checked out and have fun with your new baby

[FairY]

Ryan13, it might be very well that he's hissing at you because his toe hurts. It's quite a normal reaction (for any animal) to react 'agressively' while they're in pain...<br><br>Post edited by: FairY, at: 2007/01/25 20:45

[Havok316]

I remember when i bought my timneh, the first 2-3 days she was hanging onto the top corner of the cage doing the same thing. We let her out a couple of days later as the pet centre was training her before but it take atleast a week or two before she trusted us now ive trained her not to bite and respond to the word "gentle" when being handled and stops the biting

[brdiecat]

For years most of the birds I've taken in/bought have been abused or totally untrained or mishandled & have emotional problems, and I have been able to retrain all of them over time.

Some words of advice: do everything you've been advised to do by the other members PLUS: never EVER hit, slap at, scream at or poke at your bird. That will only teach him to be bad to get your attention or cause him to not trust humans & be aggressive. Praise your bird for being good & hold off on the peanuts- only UNsalted ones & only as occaisional treats! Find a source of pelleted foods in your area & slowly switch your bird over to the pellets. If you're unsure how, let me know & I'll tell you. I use Hagen, but whatever brand you use, make sure it's free of dyes & other chemicals. Feeding only peanuts or sunflower seeds & allowing your bird to ignore pellets & veggies/fruits will have a good chance of resulting in fatty liver disease. It's like putting ice cream & veggies in front of a hungry child. Guess what the child will eat all up & ignore the rest.

When I got Willie, she was badly abused & bit down to the bone. I broke her of it within 24 hours of getting her- by letting her come out of her cage and showing her that I wasn't afraid of her, and by 'beak wrestling'. She'd go to bite me & I'd grab her beak gently but firmly & slightly shake her beak back & forth. She wasn't sure what was going on because she didn't get the negative reaction she'd been getting from others & after a while enjoyed it. When she did it without trying to bite me, she got a treat. When she tried to bite me, I'd turn my back & walk out of the room without saying a word. A few times of doing that cut the biting efforts way down, then out totally.

Punishing a bird doesn't work, but rewarding them works great. Want to punish a bird for something? Turn your back & walk out of sight for a while. African Greys are EXTREMELY intelligent & will figure things out fast & are like 4 year olds. If the best way of getting attention is being bad, they'll do it, but if being naughty causes you to withdraw attention, they quickly learn that being good will get attention & they'll stop being naughty.

BTW- the hissing is from fear & possibly being in pain from the hurt toe. Get that toe checked out, & be reassuring. Your bird will come around & become your best buddy in no time. Just let your bird get comfortable & trust you.

I believe you'll do very well with your bird, especially since you show such concern & caring for him already. Keep us posted!

Oh, also get a special light that supplies UV light as they need it for their bodies to manufacture B vitamins, which enables their bones to absorb enough calcium. I have a bulb in one of those silver hoods & put it over Willie 3-4 days a week for about 4 hours each time. Cockatiels need the light for the same reason. Obviously, if you live where you can put your birds in an outside aviary most of the time, you don't have to worry much about it, but I live in a COLD part of the US (northeast) so need the light for the birds.

SUE<br><br>Post edited by: brdiecat, at: 2007/02/08 01:30

[Qweevox]

Ryan13 it sounds like you Grey’s talon might have been broken or dislocated, each condition is very painful. How did it turn out? Did the vet find the problem? I am so glad you took your Grey to the Vet.

[SchroedersJen]

when in doubt, go to the vet!!! If you wanted a cheap pet, you would have purchased a goldfish.....Your bird is probably scared. You might see if something in the cage is scaring him or if it is you. You can do this by systematicaly removing an item and seeing if behavior changes. If not, put the toy back and try another. If your bird is afraid of you, You may try hand feeding it a variety of foods (not just peanuts, or you will have a junk food junkie) that your bird can manipulate and munch on while you so something calmly in the proximity of his cage. I babysay a friends CAG while she was on vacation and Buster freaked out when I walked in the room....I spent time, in 10 min chunks throughout the day, sitting by the cage and reading childrens books to it. It allowed the bird to observe me doing something non treatening. By day 3 Buster was competing for snuggle time with my TAG Schroeder.

[siobha9]

As this post is almost 2 years old, I am sure that Ryans grey is fine now

Why dont you visit our welcome room and tell us a little about your TAG Schroeder?

[Ryan13]

It actually has been almost 2 years!! Well since I posted that, I have had great success with My Timneh. He is letting me pet him and loves to come out of his cage all the time! He still doesn't step up for me, but its a working progress. I honestly believe he was never worked with, or even abused before I got him. Since I have had Pee Wee(timneh) I also got a Congo named Reggie. He is just a great bird, even though he prefers males! Having them two in the same room is just a riot! Once one gets going and talking, the other is just whistling off him! But thank you for your concern.

[luvparrots]

Well Ryan13 welcome back. It's great to know that you and your TAG have reconciled your differences.:cheer: And congratulations on your growing family. I hope that you will share some of the experience you now have with us first timers. I can't wait to see some pictures of your TAG and CAG.:cheer: