Just joined today.

Stevauto

New member
Joined
Apr 10, 2016
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
So California
Parrots
CAG
Hello.
I just joined this group today. I have had parrots for most of my life. I did rescues for quite a few years & then when a Military Macaw I had as a pet that was a rescue died after over 10 years I stopped for a few years. Last month someone locally needed to rehome a Congo African Grey so now I am owned by a parrot again. She/he (not sure owner says she but not sure & friends say he) is about 28 years old & has been stressed for a while since before I got her/him (Tango is the parrots name). Tango has been plucking for a while but just a small patch for the most part & a little inside it's leg. I have had Tango for about a month now. Tango was owned by a lady for about 19 years lastly & Tango prefers my wife (probably partially because of that), Tango also likes my sister & niece. Tango will go to me & let me hold him/her but as soon as my wife comes home or into the room Tango wants her. The day I got Tango I was bit very hard 4 times but Tango has not drawn blood since. He/she is the same around my son. I have had parrots long enough to know it may take months or longer for Tango to be more comfortable around me. If any of you have suggestions it may help. I already have a few from friends that I need to try also. I mainly wanted to say Hello. I don't get on my computer as often as I should so I may be a little slow at responding also. I'll try to attach a picture of us but the better ones are on my phone.
12718218_10209282771370627_3850083103698844689_n.jpg


12718218_10209282771370627_3850083103698844689_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
Congrats on your new bird. Keep doing what you're doing. Quality time, involving rewards and treats. Try to interact with your bird as much as possible when your wife is not around, or his/her attention will likely continue to be on your wife, rather than the bonding time with you.
 
Welcome to the forums! Glad you and Tango joined us. Wonderful introduction. Thank you for sharing Tango's story. I'm glad Tango found his or her way into your life.

It's pretty normal for species more prone to plucking to do so during transitions. It sounds like Tango's plucking is mild, hopefully it will resolve with good care.
 
Last edited:
Welcome, from a fellow wrench spinner.
 
Thanks for the welcomes and advice. I've had and fostered quite a few parrots but luckily only one plucked (DYA) and that wasn't too bad either. I fostered a CAG about 20 years ago for a short time but he was younger and no issues so this is a little to me somewhat. I'm still figuring out how to use this sit and when I do I'll post more pictures also.
 
Hi, and welcome here. Tango will settle into your flock. Some Greys are just ultra sensitive to change (my own took five years to accept our move to a new house, when everything else stayed the same). He has ever only bit me when he was terrified. Thank you for giving Tango a great new home. Looking forward to updates about her/him.
 
[B said:
wrench13[/B];560871]Welcome, from a fellow wrench spinner.


Not surprisingly this is lost on me, please enlighten? Thanks. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome also stevauto and Tango.
 
Last edited:
[B said:
wrench13[/B];560871]Welcome, from a fellow wrench spinner.


Not surprisingly this is lost on me, please enlighten? Thanks. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome also stevauto and Tango.

A "wrench spinner" is usually a mechanic. I'm not sure how he knew I am a mechanic except for maybe my shirt in my profile picture. I am new to this site so I may have mentioned it somewhere also.
 
Welcome to our world. It's wonderful here. And I think the mechanics reference came from your screen name.nice pix btw.
 
FWIW in my experience patience is the name of the game when it comes to greys. We inherited a 15 year old grey last summer. He immediately warmed up to my partner, but looked at me with suspicion. It continued that way until recently. Recently he's started to act like he wants my attention and even crawled up on my knee one day. Then last night he bit the snot out of one of my toes. I figure it may take years for him to get over his past. They are slow to trust.
 
Hi Steve
Bribery works great :) and I'm sure everyone with a lot more experience than me will give you great advice.

You've probably already heard this (or know) but since I'm going thru it with my girl I wanted to share my experience. Gracie had a ton of behavior issues, bad past & no previous vet history. She looked fine, and didn't act or exhibit any signs of illness. I simply wanted to have her checked out by an avian vet (especially those areas I hadn't been able to really look at, under belly, under wings, bottom of feet, in beak/crop etc.) and I wanted full bloodwork/fecal etc,. to have a baselines for what I thought was any potential future problems. I also wanted a DNA test so in case she was really a she so we could adjust accordingly for behaviors/diet etc. (didn't wanna find out via eggie @ bottom of cage method).

To my shock instead I found out that Gracie may be suffering from liver/kidney disease/damage (should have final results today), serious muscle atrophy (requires a lot of daily exercise to build up vertical, horizontal, stretching, pull ups etc.), very vitamin deficient (needs a lot of natural sunlight - full spec lamp/light isn't enough for her right now) etc. She is also a girl which will help me fine tune her diet better to support her liver/kidney's and account for the female aspect (easier said then done I'm sure). Any and all of these issues I'm sure affected her mood in a negative way.

BEST decision I made so far & the best advice I could give anyone ... birdie check with an avian vet as early as possible.

Enjoy your new buddy!
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Back
Top