With 5 birds, I never thought I'd ask this

[Loopey89]

My latest addition to the fam was a young African Grey (8 wks when bought). I'm a stay at home-soon to be mother, so my birds see me all the time. I haven't worked in a couple years, and this has never before turned out to be a negative situation. Wall-e, the african grey, has a cage big enough for a macaw. Like our other birds, he hardly ever stays in it because I'm home all day. I have about 5 -6 perches of different sizes and textures in the cage and I rotate different toys. There's also a swing in the cage, multiple paces to get food or forage, and its equipped with his sun lamp. All was swell until about 3 days ago.
Wall-e had been flying for about 3 or 4 days, and it was time to get his wings clipped. The vet visit went fine-there didn't seem to be any stress at all. After that, now when I put him in his cage- he climbs to the bottom corner and tries to "dig" out. I'm worried this will turn to feather picking later on. Is he just spoiled? Have I let him have TOO much free time out of the cage? He's in the weaning stage and he wont eat from the food cups hanging on his cage or playgym. I have to sit him on the couch with his bowl in front of him to get him to eat. However, he's not losing more weight than he should, looks perfectly healthy, and acts happy outside the cage.
I have two other parrots, cockatiels, and used to have lovebirds- Ive never encountered this before.

??
Thanks all,
Kate

[Valo's Moirana]

hmmm - that's a tough one... never heard that before. only thing that i can comment on, is that stress situations can lead to a relapse when it comes to weaning - he might want some comfort feeding... as long as that is fine with you sitting there with him on the couch holding his food bowl, i'd go with it for a few days, and slowly revert to food in the cage. other than that - maybe he just needs a few days go "get over it"

[expressmailtome]

I think that Valo's Moirana is right. It is called regression. There is some information on it in the macaw section. I hope that everything works out well for you!

Matt

[SallyQZ]

My grey Tonka did that a lot as a baby. He still likes to dig in the bottom of his cage. And when he is placed on the floor, he'll walk over to me and start scratching at my legs (if I'm sitting on the floor) or my feet. He'll butt his head up against something and just scratch away like a chicken. He's a anxious worrier, so I'm sure it's some type of nervous behavior. He seems to favor corners too. He's been doing this on and off for 10 yrs now, so I'm not too worried.

[magdalena]

My grey's been doing this since she was little on and off. Generally she only does it now if she really wants out of the cage or if something scares her and she wants out of the cage. She's almost never in her cage anymore so I don't see it as often. She prefers to scratch at the top corner of the cage rather than the floor but as a baby anywhere would do.

[Loopey89]

Glad to see other people were experiencing this too. My grey spends the majority of the day out of the cage..if fact, he doesn't even sleep in the cage. He sleeps in the bedroom with me and my husband. I'm hoping I can get rid of this behavior by not letting him get his way every time. I'm about to have a baby so getting him back used to his cage now would be the best thing I could do. Thanks for all the replies, Im not so worried anymore. =)

[Lisa B]

yes, its a grey trait to scratch.

and watch the weight because of what Valo mentioned.

[Buckys Girl]

wow these guys really sound like kids sometimes :) like when you move just after potty training etcl. It is amazing how much we have in common with these little guys/gals :)) I cant wait to start my feathered family tree (well one twig maybe lol ) I am only lookin for one special needs a forever home.

[Lori~D]

I dont see anything in that pointing toward regression at all. Matter of fact the poster said they weere weaning at this time. If they are starting to wean there cannot be "regression",lol. It sounds like the baby is learning to explore more and do more. Burrowing and scratching is a common Grey trait if allowed to be on the floor with BOTH of my adult greys.

[tracie]

I am far from an expert, but having got my CAG August of 2008, I have had quite a learning curve. Zoe was a pretty picky eater, and I worried constantly about her not weighing enough. I bought baby food chicken and sweet potatoes, and squash, and sweet potatoes and just fed her a little bit each morning. I also fed her watered down oatmeal and cream of wheat. I have read so much that greys mature a little slower and I think they really like the little extra comfort of being hand fed a a little longer. It doesn't take that much time and she changed and was much more content once I returned to the hand feeding She eats out of her bowl and her pickiness has gotten better, but I think they need babied a little longer. They deserve it. Zoe will scratch when I put her in her sleep cage, but again I have read this is a grey thing. It isn't obsessive, just something hard wired in her brain. I just love her to death!