Is Perjo too cautious or still just too young?

[DRB]

She is mostly a really sweet bird, she has completely bonded with me, I can handle her with regularity, even when she doesn't want to be handled she isn't nasty about it.

She exhibits what appear to be typical reactions to trivial every day things, like a new toy being introduced or seeing her new soft carrier come home. She quickly moves away from these items and usually takes a week to approach a new toy (except paper chew toys that are not larger than her).

But to me she seems overly cautious. If she sees me with a big 6-8 pack of paper towels from across the room she gets in take over mode, if she sees a new bed sheet (to cover her cage at night) or a large beach towel (to place under her small cage used for indoor bath misting) she tries her best to stay away. I don't get a ton of visitors just b/c my circle of family and friends seem to entertain more and have larger homes for it.

She's just a year old, has NO problem with me touching her or her touching me, as she has started softly preening my face recently, but she just doesn't seem to like other people or other things of any notable size that she has never seen before.

Anything I can do to get her more used to new stuff or does it just take a long time at their own pace to not be SO cautious? Or is she picking up on my cautious approach to her being in the home, I am quite careful with her freedoms and what she can do depending on where she is in the house?

 

[LeaKP]

Probably a bit of both. The more you can expose her to, the better. New sounds, new towels, new things, new toys, it's all good. Change the cage around every few months, offer new foods, and it soon turns into a pattern of "new."

Perjo sounds amazing and I know you will be lifelong buddies!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I found that Smokey was rather cautious..even after 27 years..something "new" would put her on high alert..even a new toy.

Invite a friend or family member over. Socialization is always good.
My buddy Joe would come over a couple times aweek,just to play cards. We'd sit at the kitchen table,I'd go get Smokes and let her join us.
Now Smokey was a wild caught Timneh who hated hands..and most "new" people/faces, but it didn't take her long to get used to Joe..to the point she would actually walk over to him,and climb his arm and perch on his shoulder...gurgle in his ear..bang her beaky on his forehead and nibble his ear..even on occasion step up onto his hand..it was a great achievement for her!

Also Perjo is still young,and obviously has settled in very comfortably with you and your household. I think this would be a good time to broaden her horizons!

Jim

 

[Billdore]

I did read someone else's post about males and female African greys. They were saying the males are more out going than the females, and the females tended to be more cautious. My Timneh gets startled by something once and then seems to know what to expect. I vacuum my house with Timneh on my shoulder and now doesn't seem too surprised when something falls and makes a loud bang. I feel like she understands what has happened and knows what to expect little more. My TAG has gone through a lot of change from breeder, to owner, to pet store, to me. I feel very lucky to have found my TAG. Best of Luck sorry I'm not more help.

 

[DRB]

One thing she has started doing is being a bit more stubborn to stepping up exactly when I want her too, a bit of disobedience, even when I have a treat in my hand. But my theory on this is it's more due to her figuring me out a bit.

Her out of the cage time has grown to 75% of the time I'm home. She'll sit on the perch on the door or the perch above the door and just sit there like a queen in a throne and do her thing. She goes into the cage plenty to play and eat, but once she's fixed herself outside the cage door it become a bit of a chore to get her to go back in. I believe when I say step up (for the purpose of putting her back in) she knows this, and will just sit there and stare at me. I make a couple vocal attempts to coax her on my hand, then grab a pine nut or two, but she still won't step up all the time. Instead she leans in to get the treat, but is quickly ready to retreat and I believe it is b/c she knows I'm trying to coax her into my hand to put her in the cage for awhile. Little ****.

I really don't want her to be a skittish or paranoid bird, anymore than the innate caution parrots would have.

 

[jdlehman76]

I have only had one CAG, so I can't speak for the rest of them. However, my CAG takes at least a week to warm up to new things. She doesn't necessarily try to get away from them, but she definitely doesn't take to new stuff quickly.