nononbadpony
New member
- Dec 13, 2014
- 2
- 0
Hi Everyone
I am looking for some advice on dealing with Liko, my ~10 yr old male Timneh Grey. He kind of fell into my lap ( im a veterinarian though I normally work on horses) after picking himself half naked living in the storage closet at a bakery. I worked with exotics in my younger days, had considered getting a grey for years, and he really needed someone.
He's been home for 3 weeks, and I think mostly so far so good. We have 4 dogs and a cat and while dutifully respectful he is definitely not afraid of them. he does step up/step down, in or out of cage, and baths quite willingly. He initially objected to any touch whatsoever but now is asking for brief head scratches. he will yell and grab your finger if you touch him "Too much" but rarely bites unless you reach into the cage when he is really going at one of his foraging toys ( learned that lesson). Feathers are coming in and definitely no new ones going out. Vet thought he was protein and vitamin A deficient but otherwise ok. He has recently started screaming when I put him in the cage if he thinks he hasn't been out long enough ( i sometimes have to go out on veterinary emergencies) but settles down after a few minutes
He is getting a mixed diet of Zupreme fruit, nut, veggie pellets, Harrisons pellets, and bits of fruit, nuts , sunflower seeds as treats from the humans plus a peanut in his peanut barrel favorite toy daily. I offer lots of different fresh foods but so far he refuses most of them.
My big issue is so called play/bonding/socializing. The cage is open for about 6 hrs a day and from the cage he can and does climb down onto the couch and wander around .he also has a high playtop on top of the cage if the dogs are playing rough and he wants to get up high. He will climb down to me or try to find me sometimes if i am in the kitchen, and whistles to me constantly. However he seems disinterested in play of any kind. I can play with foot toys, offer them to him, and he just drops them. I try to play games my friend plays with her hand fed 1 yr old grey ( peek a boo, up and down, etc) and my bird just gives a grumpy cat expression and sighs. Music, same thing. You dance around and sing and get a bored face and no movement. He can sit on the door of his cage or by his aviheat panel for hours and not do or say much . I know all he did based on piles of poop at his old home was sit on the cage door all day ( only one toy and small cage). while he talks to me, has started asking for scratches, and threw up on me once, he doesn't seem interactive or interested the way the other parrots i know are ( a friend of mine has a grey and another mutual friend has macaws and amazons). he doesn't want to swing though he doesn't seem afraid of the swing or boing ( uses them to get where he wants to go). He doesn't want to chew things. He has toys that we let him get used to before putting them in the cage but he ignores them.He has several foraging toys he likes but even those he only plays with for a few minutes at a time.
Im not sure if this is just him or if he is depressed or bored or what. He isn't feather picking anymore. I haven't been handling him purposefully unless he comes out on the door and starts tilting his head at me etc which means he wants attention. I don't want to force him to interact if he wants to be quiet but i don't want to do the wrong thing either.
Also I am trying to do some clicker training with him. Just teaching him to touch an object which he seems to enjoy. I am using small bits of sunflower seed.again though, as another issue, he was fed almost exclusively on seed at his old home so nothing seems to interest his palate. He spits out most treat foods and even the sunflower seed bits he seems to get bored with quickly.
I just want to do right by him so if anyone can help me figure out if i should give him space or play with him more or what toys/games/treats might interest him. He just seems like he doesn't think anything is fun.....
I am looking for some advice on dealing with Liko, my ~10 yr old male Timneh Grey. He kind of fell into my lap ( im a veterinarian though I normally work on horses) after picking himself half naked living in the storage closet at a bakery. I worked with exotics in my younger days, had considered getting a grey for years, and he really needed someone.
He's been home for 3 weeks, and I think mostly so far so good. We have 4 dogs and a cat and while dutifully respectful he is definitely not afraid of them. he does step up/step down, in or out of cage, and baths quite willingly. He initially objected to any touch whatsoever but now is asking for brief head scratches. he will yell and grab your finger if you touch him "Too much" but rarely bites unless you reach into the cage when he is really going at one of his foraging toys ( learned that lesson). Feathers are coming in and definitely no new ones going out. Vet thought he was protein and vitamin A deficient but otherwise ok. He has recently started screaming when I put him in the cage if he thinks he hasn't been out long enough ( i sometimes have to go out on veterinary emergencies) but settles down after a few minutes
He is getting a mixed diet of Zupreme fruit, nut, veggie pellets, Harrisons pellets, and bits of fruit, nuts , sunflower seeds as treats from the humans plus a peanut in his peanut barrel favorite toy daily. I offer lots of different fresh foods but so far he refuses most of them.
My big issue is so called play/bonding/socializing. The cage is open for about 6 hrs a day and from the cage he can and does climb down onto the couch and wander around .he also has a high playtop on top of the cage if the dogs are playing rough and he wants to get up high. He will climb down to me or try to find me sometimes if i am in the kitchen, and whistles to me constantly. However he seems disinterested in play of any kind. I can play with foot toys, offer them to him, and he just drops them. I try to play games my friend plays with her hand fed 1 yr old grey ( peek a boo, up and down, etc) and my bird just gives a grumpy cat expression and sighs. Music, same thing. You dance around and sing and get a bored face and no movement. He can sit on the door of his cage or by his aviheat panel for hours and not do or say much . I know all he did based on piles of poop at his old home was sit on the cage door all day ( only one toy and small cage). while he talks to me, has started asking for scratches, and threw up on me once, he doesn't seem interactive or interested the way the other parrots i know are ( a friend of mine has a grey and another mutual friend has macaws and amazons). he doesn't want to swing though he doesn't seem afraid of the swing or boing ( uses them to get where he wants to go). He doesn't want to chew things. He has toys that we let him get used to before putting them in the cage but he ignores them.He has several foraging toys he likes but even those he only plays with for a few minutes at a time.
Im not sure if this is just him or if he is depressed or bored or what. He isn't feather picking anymore. I haven't been handling him purposefully unless he comes out on the door and starts tilting his head at me etc which means he wants attention. I don't want to force him to interact if he wants to be quiet but i don't want to do the wrong thing either.
Also I am trying to do some clicker training with him. Just teaching him to touch an object which he seems to enjoy. I am using small bits of sunflower seed.again though, as another issue, he was fed almost exclusively on seed at his old home so nothing seems to interest his palate. He spits out most treat foods and even the sunflower seed bits he seems to get bored with quickly.
I just want to do right by him so if anyone can help me figure out if i should give him space or play with him more or what toys/games/treats might interest him. He just seems like he doesn't think anything is fun.....
