Adopted a beautiful African Grey Congo 22 years old any advice please

[busterbrown]

Hi all,

Ive always wanted an African grey got as far as a cage but the time was never right, I knew I would need more time than I had available.

Fast forward 5 years and the opportunity arose to adopt a 22 year old African grey Buster from the local pet shop. More time on my hands I decided to take this lovely parrot on.

Never been handled, never been hand fed, chatty, but shows a wariness of people incredible array of whistles sounds words. Warned he will bite anyone.

So Buster moved in a week or so ago.

We got him a bigger cage, positioned him where he could feel safe, yet still interact with this busy household, and gently let him get used to his surroundings, he is very attentive will **** his head to side and listen, he mimics me already at least 5 phrases like you alright mate, and good boy etc in my voice perfectly.
I can feed him seeds from my fingers at times, he's not had veg before so I feed him small bits of carrot and broccoli which he takes no problem.

The only problem with him is he is incredibly aggressive, we opened the top of his cage to give him the opportunity to get out if he so wanted, not forcing him just giving him the option, 2 days no movement, then last night he decided to climb up to the top and perform dancing singing whistling and chatting.

I stood in front of him we interacted dancing together up down side to side with him laughing and chatting, then suddenly he lunged for my face. I stepped back and avoided him. Left him alone for a few minutes then sat next to the cage.

He climbed down the outside of the cage onto my sofa and started padding towards me, got within 2 feet then lunged at me gripped my arm and bit me a nice bite some blood, then gripped my finger and punctured that too, I was as calm as I could be got him to the floor where he released me, but he showed no signs of being scared just chatted away as he threateningly walked around the lounge looking to bite toes anything that was in the way, I thought he was going to climb back up his cage he showed interest but then flew through 2 rooms to the kitchen, he was still calm imitating me padding around not scared but I couldn't get hand near him without the threat of biting, I used a towel gently over him and returned him to his cage.

No backing off he was still interacting with me.

This morning I went to change his water and he lunged to bite me just missing and hitting the water bowl.
Ive been chatting to him all morning he seems fine will accept snacks from me but im wary.

Any ideas is this a seniority challenge? I could understand it if he was cool with me in cage but he seems to enjoy my company yet hate me lol.

My aim was eventually to get him to step up and receive some love and attention but I dont want to go the wrong way about it.


Sorry to drone on

Buster

 

[Cowtown]

Remember he is 22 years old, what is his background, has he been in the pet store all his life?
Also you have only had him a week, it will take patience and time to get him to trust you completely. I might be weeks or months, I re homed an 11 year old grey that the only human contact for the last 4 years was to give him food and water... I have had him 2 months now and he will not step up and he still lunges.
Keep us posted on the progress and post some pictures.

 

[busterbrown]

Cheers,
Yes pet store all his life owned by the owner who cared for him as in food and water but no real bonding she was scared of him, Im in no rush and wasn't expecting him to come out of his cage, and as for stalking and attacking me that was even more of a surprise, just wonder wether to leave his cage closed for a week or so to avoid the same again.

He seems to like attention maybe trust will just take a long time for an older bird

 

[PortaPerch]

Congratulations on adopting such an abused child.

Greybeard bonded to wifey a year or more ago, and I am his rival. He talks in my voice, and learns phrases from me. I cannot put my hand near him without getting warning nips or full on bites. He's usually content on their playstand, but once in awhile he comes after me, and I even have to retreat downstairs. Is yours bonding to your mate?

It's our belief a big, smart bird should not be caged. Ours aren't, and our furniture shows it. We get their flight feathers trimmed about every six weeks. ParrotAlert sends me notices of lost & found. By far the most often reported lost are Greys. It takes only a moment with an open door or window.

 

[jellybean94]

My female African Grey (Also congo) was passed down through many owners, people having her for just a month or two before realising they didn't want her anymore, going for weeks being shut in her cage etc. So when she came to us, she was a very moody bird. Very aggressive, bitey and drew blood on a daily occasion Almost a year on and we have got her to a much nicer stage. Still can be moody at times, but she lets anyone she knows fuss her beak and feet. My dad is her true love..he's allowed to fuss her all over including stroking her back and all sorts. Lucky for some!

With time you should hopefully see some improvement Give your birdy lots of attention, talk to him lots, make sure he has toys in his cage and so on.. and keep us all updated

 

[busterbrown]

Well the wife interacts with him but I do all the feeding watering and a lot of chatting im a big kid, maybe he does see me as a rival, she's a little scared to get bitten by putting fingers too close after seeing my arms and fingers , lady from pet shops says he prefers males but maybe he just didn't like her.

Time will tell

 

[busterbrown]

Well hopefully here is the Phsyco parrot in all his glory

 

[Mozzie]

He is beautiful!!! You are going to need to give him a lot of time and patience. My grey and my Amazon both took a year to fully trust us. If he were mine, I would clip his wings as porta perch suggested. It would make it much easier for him to have time out of his cage and I think it would help your situation as well. I wouldn't try to do it myself. Take him to an avian vet and have them do it if you decide to go that route. Good luck. He will learn to trust you, but like I said before it will take lots of time. Just spend time talking to him and singing with him at first. It is a wonderful thing you did in taking him in and giving him a better life!!

 

[willist]

One thing with a bird like him is, you should not let him ever to be higher than your shoulders. If he is higher than you he feels dominance over you and might act aggressively. I know it might be difficult at this stage but getting his wings clipped will definitely help with his attitude. Also he won't be able to fly at anyone and bite them. The main thing however is going to be patience and plenty of it. Sometimes weeks or months, sometimes years. The important thing is never give up, he'll come around. Best of luck.

 

[Thekatsmeow]

Years ago we rescued an Orange Wing Amazon who behaved much like your Grey. He was kept in a big cage that hung from the ceiling in the kitchen and fed nothing but peanuts and sunflower seed. When we brought him home his cage went immediately to the floor and that is where it stayed for 2 years. He would lunge at us just talking to him. I knew it was not personal so we just showed no reaction to his nasty-ness. Any show of improvement was rewarded with treats and eye contact. He lunged at us for cage cleaning and feeding. Until he stopped lunging we either wore gloves or protected ourselves by shielding our skin with a pie plate in the other hand. He screamed nonstop when awake for the first few months but I was determined to make a connection. With positive reinforcement, sloooowly changing his diet and heaps of patience and some puncture marks he improved. I didn't have high expectations for him as far as becoming tame. I just wanted him to be respected and cared for. Also, He is a magnificent bird! I am sure he is a joy to look at and appreciate.

 

[TREETREE]

I feel so very blessed, I adopted a rescue almost 5 months ago and my cag is 5 years old and she hasn't a mean bone in her body, she is such a sweety I just love her so much she lets me do almost anything touch her feet her beak and rub her head and what ever , she sometimes grabs my finger real lightly but only to play , God blessed me indeed!!!!!!!!!!