CAG noises?

[kytten]

On Monday night I brought home my new baby CAG. He's about 17 weeks old and has been weened for about a week now -- meaning he hasn't been hand fed for a week.

He was bred by one person and then handed off to a hand feeder who has taken care of him since them. She did a very good job socializing him, feeding him and fledging him.

My boyfriend and I visted him about once a week for the last 4 weeks or so to get him used to us before bringing him home. During the times that we would visit he seemed very attached to his hand feeder and if she were in the room would not stay with us, but would constantly try to get back to her.

Monday night, we brought him home and slowly introduced him to the apartment, his new "brother" and his new cage. When we felt he was more comfortable, we put him into the cage, waited a while as he explored and then closed the door. He seemed to settle in fine and was grinding his beak as the night went on. Around 9:30 I started the other bird's bedtime ritual -- turning off lights, closing blinds, turning off tv, etc -- explaining everything to my new CAG (Trey) as I went. Nothing seemed to startle or worry him in the least and I continued to talk to and reassure him as I did everything. I then covered his cage and we went to bed, no problems at all.

Last night after we got home from work Trey was less reserved, talked to us (he already has a vocabulary of several words and phrases). He'd eaten throughout the day and would take treats from both my boyfriend and my hands without a problem.

Last night at bedtime we put him back into his cage, did the whole ritual from the night before and waited for him to settle down. However, he was all over his cage, climbing around like crazy in the dark. I was concerned so I opened his cage cover a little more to provide more light, but that just made it worse. So I finally opened the cage and had him step up to me. He did without fuss. I took him over to the couch and sat with him. He pretty much settled right down.

Now I explained that all to ask this: Do your AGs make "grumbly" or "purring" type noises when they're settling down for the night or when you're snuggling them?

He snuggled up to my chest, neck and head against my shoulders and made these noises in my ear. I and my boyfriend were able to pet him and cuddle with him and he seemed to be going to sleep like that.

I'm fairly certain that the hand feeder didn't cuddle him to sleep at night, so I'm not sure why this is happening. Also, I've never heard him or heard of another AG making noises like this and so I'm slightly concerned that he was stressed or frightened... though that's not the sense I got at the time.

Any ideas, thoughts?

[JillLang]

It seems like I remember Oliver making some baby noises and he was a cuddler when I brought him home. I'd just cuddle him while you can. He grew out of it.

[greyburd]

I don't think it's a stressful sound at all. Tristan makes the same types of noises (I just brought her home this past Friday, she's 13 weeks old). Tristan enjoys sitting on my shoulder or on my chest and having me scratch her head.

[Regina U.]

Those noises you hear when he is calming down with you is his way of being content. I remember both of mine did that as babies. When Ziggy has a night fright, the only thing that makes her calm down, is to come out of her cage with me and stay with me for awhile.

[radiogirl995]

I just brought my baby girl home this morning and as soon as she settled into her new cage, she started grinding her bill, purring and making little noises. I lookde away for a moment and she was asleep. I've read that this is common and a good sign.

Not sure if you want to make a habit of cuddling him to sleep though?

-Kris

[birdsnthings]

The cuddling issue can just be a reassurance for your bird right now since there is a change in environment. They do grow out of that but you do need to establish the "trust" your bird has in you so this is a good time to reassure your bird that all is well.
Alice