Just wondering

[alwaysontimneh]

My husband and I brought our TAG home on Saturday and we have been spending a lot of time with him he has barely spent any time in his cage since I only work part time. My question is if we hold him and play with him all the time will we end up with a spoiled rotten child? I want to do what is best for him and want him to be comfortable around people. I am new to owning a bird and my husband is new to owning a parrot. Recently if we put him in his cage because we have to do something where we can't watch him he will cry and try to dig his way out. We have tried putting him on a stand but he tries to come over to us. I am worried that we have already spoiled him any advice would be appreciated.

[pippy]

Originally Posted by alwaysontimneh

My husband and I brought our TAG home on Saturday and we have been spending a lot of time with him he has barely spent any time in his cage since I only work part time. My question is if we hold him and play with him all the time will we end up with a spoiled rotten child? I want to do what is best for him and want him to be comfortable around people. I am new to owning a bird and my husband is new to owning a parrot. Recently if we put him in his cage because we have to do something where we can't watch him he will cry and try to dig his way out. We have tried putting him on a stand but he tries to come over to us. I am worried that we have already spoiled him any advice would be appreciated.

As I understand it you should only give your newly brought home bird the attention you'll realistically be able to give it on a regular basis rather than bombarding it with cuddles, strokes and affection at a level which you won't be able to maintain.

I've done loads of research on this very subject as I'll very soon be bringing my two baby CAGs home and I want to get it right!

[mmr]

You didn't specify if this is a baby parrot. Or was it adopted. That in my oppinion make's my answer completely different.

[drheather]

We like to have Gonzo play independently on her playtop or manzanita stand for the majority of the time she's out (usually between 5-9 on weekdays and most of the day on the weekends). She does get about ten minutes of cuddle time in the evening and the frequent head scritches as we walk by her, but I'm afraid that too much cuddle/human time will make for a needy bird. We rarely having problems with her begging to come out or screaming when someone leaves the room and I attribute that a lot to how creative she is on her own and that she loves to play with her toys.

So I guess my answer is that you may be fostering some unwanted behaviors that could stick. Grey's aren't as demanding as 'toos physically and emotionally but I'd be afraid that separation anxiety when he can't come out of the cage or when you're not home could potentially be detrimental to him.

But then again, I'm no expert!

[Sprecker]

Love him/her to all the extent you can. If you can't do it all the time then fine. If you can then fine. Try not to over do it with the planning and guessing. It will only make things more complicated than it needs to be. You will get in to your routines and natural scheduals soon enough so for the fist couple of weeks it's ok to enjoy the bird all you can.
Remeber because s/he is new to the home you still have to build a relationship with the little one. You won't have much of a bond if you try to let him/her go off on his/her own just because you are affraid of something that might or might not happen. It's natural to want to hold him/her for hours and coddle him/her but that's not going to be what you are going to be doing later on. For now if it's happenening good. Later as you find out how adventurous and inquizative they are you will find that you will want to do more observing and playing with them rather than holding and snugling. Not that you won't want to snuggle but you will find that there are so many other things to do with them or around them.
Another thing you can do is keep his play area be it his/her cage or playstand or what not in a more public area of the house so if you don't have time to hold him/her or if you need some "you" time, he/she will be able to do things on his/her own wiht out feeling left out and you will still be able to do your "thing" and still give ambiant attention or the odd head scratch and what not.

[alwaysontimneh]

Sorry I forgot to mention that he is a baby still. The amount of time that I spend home with him now is going to be how often I am home for the most part. All of his cages/playpens are in the living room where we spend most of our time and the kitchen and dining room are visible. I want him to be independent but not anti social, the reason we picked him was because he was so interested in people and all the others were afraid. Thanks for everything!

[mmr]

In my opimion and it is my opinion BUT: You can't over do it right now on holding etc. The bird needs lots of attention right now. Wait till the bird is the right age to teach independence. Right now it needs lots of love and assurance. That's how you teach confidence.

[babypiggy]

MY 2 CENTS

even tho u spend a lot of time with your bird to scoialize him/her it doens't mean that it won't freak out with other ppl...
they know u guys are mom and dad


we dont' baby our grey as much since we got him as we have busy work schedules
(i work 4 ten hour days)
he spends out of cage time whenever we are home
he sure loves us and would never dare to break skin (tho he has given us a few good pinches) he is also willingly step up to other ppl but wery of letting them pet him unless he has seen the person a few times

it really depends on your life style i suppose and how u want your grey to be for the rest of it's life

u can still have a social bird without spending all your time with it

if u have a velcrow bird how on earth would u run errnads,clean,cook,etc etc


just soemthing u wanna thing about
:)

[DynamitePsycho]

I cuddle and snuggle Ziggy all the time. And actually, I think it was for the best because he wants to be friendly with everyone he meets. Granted, he "velcroed" himself onto me, being mom but he does have "time out" where he just sits on his stand or plays in his cage. Is he spoiled? Yeah, I would say so, but I like having a friendly spoiled bird who I can have other people enjoy him. But like everyone else has said, handle your fid a reasonable amount every day. Good luck! :o)

[drheather]

[quote=drheather;1105695]We rarely having problems with her begging to come out or screaming when someone leaves the room and I attribute that a lot to how creative she is on her own and that she loves to play with her toys.[quote]

I just want to expand on this a little bit more- when we first got (at the time 4 mo. old in Feb 08) Gonz she became very, very attached to my boyfriend. She was his velcro bird. If he was home, she wanted to be with him. This became very inconvenient, annoying, and dangerous when she'd fly to him as he was trying to walk out the door, or fly through the kitchen looking for him and end up smashing into a window (and mind you, she is clipped), or she would scream relentlessly if she was put in her cage while dinner was being cooked.

We discussed this with the woman that we got her from and she really rec'd not allowing your bird to become so dependent on physical interaction and to foster independent creativity in your bird. With her advice we got her a lot of foraging toys, a ton of foot toys, and found ways to keep her active and thinking on her own.

Since then (May) she no longer SCREAMS when Kris leaves the room, she doesn't SCREAM to be brought out of her cage in the morning, she doesn't fly around the house searching for him, and she honestly is the happiest and most entertaining bird that I've had in my life. Does she still scream occasionally? Of course. Does she scream so much that I wanna leave my window open and set her free? Not a chance!

So, as long as you are prepared to deal with the potential of flying after you through the house, the screaming when put in the cage, the constant need to be near you or on a shoulder then by all means go for it. I do know a lot of people really, really enjoy their bird being dependent on them and physically demanding and theres absolutely nothing wrong with that. To-MAY-to, to-MAH-to.

I'm just the kind of person where I want a bird that is happy to see me and will gladly accept head scritches and hugs, but can also find the joy in hanging upside down and talking to a hanging kabob for an hour at a time And I enjoy sleeping past 7 on Saturday mornings