Am I a sissy or what?????

[Vee]

I have been given an African Grey and he is inclined to bite. I would like some advice on how to handle him and want to know if their bite is very painful. I am a bit nervous of him. I have had him 3 days and he has calmed down a lot. When he arrived he was growling and screeching at me and moving away when I approached his cage. He now stays where he is and isn't growling at me. I would love to be able to touch him but I am very concerned about his biting. Can anyone give me some advice? I am throughly enjoying him and want to be able to do more with him. Or am I just being a sissy????????
Regards
Vee

[Pepper's Pa]

One look at the hooked bill of a parrot and it’s easy to be intimidated by thinking of what it is capable of doing to your flesh. On the other hand, when you’ve experienced the gentle preening they can do with their beak, you become in awe of its gentile and delicate abilities and uses.
To answer your question, you’re not a sissy. An African Grey is capable of delivering a painful and bleeding wound, but that doesn’t mean that he will bite.
Just as your African Grey needs some time to gain confidence and comfort in being around you, you need to do the same thing with him. If you are nervous and tentative with him, he is likely to be more nervous too and bite you.
You don’t say if you have any other experience with companion parrots. You may want to go to a bird specialty store and ask them to show you how to properly approach a parrot and prompt for a step-up.
Having never stepped-up for you, this African Grey will need to test that you are sturdy enough and he will not fall if he steps onto your offered hand. He will likely reach over and grasp you (this is not a bite) with his beak and check to see if you are safe for him.

These two articles may be of interest to you:
A Tribute to Bongo Marie
Aggression and biting . . .

Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress with your new African Grey.

[Tombstone]

Give your African Grey time to adjust to you. Let him make ALL of the moves. Just because the growling has stopped does not mean the bird is ready to be touched by you. Remember, these birds live a long, long time - so, you start building a 40 to 60 year relationship slowly and steadily. Sit next to the cage and talk to and read to your bird. Let him move closer to you and not the other way around. Remember that these birds tend to be very afraid and timid. If the bird is allowed to make all the moves, then he will warm up to you much quicker. Always allow him to set the pace on new things after you are handling him. Resist the temptation of short circuiting the patient method and doing things in your own time. A traumatic experience can change an AG's behavior significantly...you don't want your bird developing a fear of you.

As for the bite, YES - they do hurt. However, you're going to live through it, and you are likely not going to sustain any major damage. Most birds do not bite to their fullest ability - they usually try to use the bite to bluff us into fearing them so they can avoid us. That makes it very important that you not only let the bird come to you, but you DO NOT display fear of the bite. If it comes down to being bit, just bear it and do not show fear. Work on being able to do that before you begin handling the bird. He is a biter because he has learned this is the quick and easy way to assert his desire for human hands to leave him alone. If you think about that, you can probably appreciate him for doing what works.

Finally, keep in mind that African Greys aren't typically very cuddly birds. (There are exceptions to this rule, and mine is one of them - but I am speaking in general terms here.) These birds do not typically enjoy being cuddled and "pet." They usually enjoy a scritch on the back of their necks, but they don't like you to go overboard with the physical attention. They prefer to sit on your shoulder or next to you or on the back of the chair or couch behind you without a lot of touching. Mine plays on the back of the couch, and when he wants my attention, he jumps on my shoulder and sometimes even gives me a kiss after saying, "kiss, kiss, kiss." I also started saying, 'scratch, scratch, scratch," each time I scratched him on the back of his neck - now he asks for that by name! I ONLY do it now when he asks. He has learned that his space and his wishes are totally respected - he had a great early start, too - so he is a lot more physically affectionate. Yours can get there with months and years of trust and mutual respect.

Remember that your bird comes with a certain amount of baggage. He will need time to figure out that he is in a new situation with all new rules. He needs an opportunity to adjust and catch up to speed on what being in this new home means to him - his daily habits, etc. Just love the bird and use common sense. Do a lot of reading and asking questions, and you'll both be alright. The most important tool you have is patience...patience, patience, patience in all things involving AGs.

Good luck!

Angela Tombs

[Sashagirl]

Whether this is your first experience with a bird/parrot 3 days is not long enough for it to get get acclimated to you.If you are showing signs of fear this is not a good thing.You need to wait and approach it when you both are ready if not you can be sure a guaranteed bite.Yes it will hurt.Depending on where and how you obtained it and how much socialization you had with it before bringing it how determines how close you get to it.But right now you must start at step one.Do not try pushing yourself on in.You have not earned it's trust yet.Try sitting by it's cage and taking to it offering it treats,talking,singing to it.After some time then try the next step just don't move too fast.TIME AND PATIENCE!

Marcia

[AndreaSctlnd]

I know that a budgie's beak isn't nearly as scary as an AG's but I am in a similar situation. I got a very immature budgie and he was supposed to have been hand raised and very friendly. Well needless to say, NOT! I feel so bad for him because I have a Sun and he is out of his cage more than he is in it and the little budgie can't come out becasue he is afraid of me and runs away. I have been doing what the others are telling you to do. Just sit and talk to him/her. It has gotten so that Sky now sits close to me in his cage and will look at me when I call his name. I have been working with him for over 2 months now. You can do it.

If you get a chance post some pics.

[Vee]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I can't express how much I am enjoying my bird. I have also taken 20 minutes a day to sit at his cage and read or chat to him, already I can see a difference. He is now taking treats from my hand and doesn't seem as frightened as he was when I first got him. I am also amazed at how quickly he is picking up words.
I do let him out his cage during the day he normally just sits on top and flaps his wings whistles and mumbles but I have noticed that he is now looking around while flapping his wings as if he wants to take off. I have been told that taking him to the vet to have his wings clipped will set him back to where we were in the begining. What advice can you give me on clipping his wings? Should I do it or not?
Thanks once again to all of you who have given me advice, much appreciated.
Veronica

[Addicted to Tequila]

Originally Posted by AndreaSctlnd

I know that a budgie's beak isn't nearly as scary as an AG's but I am in a similar situation.

Personally, I think I would rather deal with the grey! Budgies latch on and GRIND... just like tiels. Why is the small ones...

Nope, not even gonna finish that thought, lets just be glad that most of the bigger ones have yet to catch on to that technique! LOL

[Addicted to Tequila]

Vee:

I must say that is a lovely Grey!

[Chief's Mom]

In my opinion, I would not clip his wings right now, but that's just me. However, should you choose to leave him flighted, even if only for a little while, you must make sure that you have taken the necessary precautions to have a flighted bird in your house

Also, if you're working on teaching him to step-up, but still don't think you'll be able to just let him bite with no reaction, ace bandages wrapped around your arm helps.

[wildirish]

We went through this as well! I picked up Earl last summer, growling and hissing and flying away from us! I thought oh boy here we go again LOL!

I never pushed him to step up (he still doesn't from the cage), and let him do things as he wanted. Now a year later, he feeds me, I can pet him all over, and he will get on the floor walk to the couch and step up to come up on the cushion for petting LOL!

CAG's are very stubborn and picky as to what and who they like. Ours are complet opposites! Sophie steps up but refuses to let you pet her without a nasty bite, Earl won't step up and loves to be petted, go figure!

Everyone has given great advise, just go slow.

We did clip Earl at first as he flew very well and since he refused to step up at the time even from the floor or other bird cages it was a problem. We let them grow back in and now he is flying again all over the house. 9 out of 10 times he makes it back to his own cage now!