Newly adpoted Congo

[wolf0994]

Hello,

I am brand new to anything bigger than a parakeet which I never handled. I just adopted a 16 year old (approx) congo, they believed to be male. Kawie lived his whole life in a household with other birds and most of his life in the same cage as a double yellow amazon. Initially he was handleable but after hanging out with the other parrot as much as he did he no longer is easily able to be touched. The male former owner was able to give kisses occasionally and have him step up if he had gotten down off his cage, but even with him, Kawie generally avoided contact and would still bite him. The former owners believe that Kawie will probably accept more human contact now that he no longer has an avian companion. I hope this is true as I would love to be able to get him to step up and hold him and maybe scratch his neck for him and such.

The couple questions I have are the following.

At 16'ish is it too late to work with handling?

How long should I give him before starting to work with him?

How long does it usually take for an adult bird to acclimate to new surroundings?

He was fed table food his whole life, the former owners never gave him pellets at all. I read that 75% of a parrots diet should be pellets with the remaining 25% being fruits, vegetables, cooked foods etc. Is it too late to start him on pellets? I bought some from Petco, undyed, he has eaten a few but seems to be avoiding them. If I need to feed him table food then I want to ensure plenty of vitamins/minerals that he would need.

There are more questions but I will start with these. And BTW, I did order the Barrons book for AG's that should be arriving soon.

 

[Safira]

Aw, good for you for adopting an older bird. We would love to see pictures.

There are a lot of experianced people here that will give you some great advice.

At 16'ish is it too late to work with handling? It is never too late! Just be prepared for it to possibly take a long time, and he may never let you scratch his head.

How long should I give him before starting to work with him?
I would give him a few days at the least, let him get use to routine and your presence.Don't force him, you'll only scare him. Sit by his cage and talk to him, try feeding him treats through the bars, things like that.

How long does it usually take for an adult bird to acclimate to new surroundings. It takes as long as it takes. Every bird is different. It could take weeks to a year( i've even heard of longer!) I adopted 2 CAG's over a month ago, they've settled in and are use to the routine now. I think they're quite comfortable but they don't fully trust me yet.

As for the pellets, keep them available to them. Some people don't like the dye, some people don't mind. I feed Harrisons and I also feed Pretty Bird (my macaw was weaned onto it, so I keep it for her.) Pretty Bird is dyed

 

[Sulphiria]

Its never too late to work on handling. We got a 9 year old cag who was never handled and he took to it quickly, almost craving the interaction. He nipped (never a bite) to test us at first, and when we didnt give in, he started letting us handle him. Its usually best to get him away from his cage to another room if possible.

I would start working with him right away. Talk to him, sing to him, give him treats like fruits and veggies, nutri berries, etc. Watch for him to want to interact and take cues.

I still cant get my cag to eat that much pellets. He does eat a lot less seeds than he used to though. I found he likes the zupreem fruit blend best and he likes the smaller sizes. He will also eat them when soaked in some water. Theres no harm in feeding him table food like fruits and veggies, small amounts of meats (mine looooves chicken, especially the bones), rice, pasta, etc. Just make sure they are unseasoned and always avoid avocado, caffeine, alcohol, chocolate, and most seeds in fruits.

Congrats on your new bird.

 

[Spiritbird]

I think when you take in an adopted bird it is just like starting over again for them. I would not even be concerned with his age. It never hurts to have an avian vet do an exam.

 

[roxynoodle]

I think when you take in an adopted bird it is just like starting over again for them. I would not even be concerned with his age. It never hurts to have an avian vet do an exam.

I've had both experiences now. Merlin seemed to just like me immediately and didn't seem to need much adjustment either to her new cage or home. But, she may have seen me as her savior from the airport and flight experience, I don't know (maybe she would have loved anyone who came and got her and took her home).

Pete took time. It took him 2 days to even want to start interacting with me. It was another 2 before I felt like I could let him out and get him back in again. And even now he gets scared of new things he sees. For some reason today he was afraid of my purse even though he sees it every day. Apparently I set it down slightly differently than usual, lol! And I feel he doesn't completely trust me yet. I did very much have to treat him though like he was a brand new baby bird.

 

[wolf0994]

Thank you all for your advice and info! I really appreciate it. This is such an exciting time. He will take food from my hand and or/fork. He loves mashed potatoes and would prob eat them all night if I was willing to stand there. I tried giving him some ham on Easter and he dismissed it quickly. He loves shepherds pie... omg did he love it. He avoided everything else in his dish. I put a couple spoon fulls in there after feeding him on a fork for over 30 min. He left the carrots, crackers, pellets and everything else in there alone and ate every bit of the shephers pie.

I can hand him anything thats firm enough to hold with 2 fingers and everything else on a fork. It's just that when my hand is empty that he runs from me. I can stand very close to him if I have food, and still somewhat close (maybe 2 feet) when I dont. I was going to get a wooden dowel to try to start working with him, I had a long piece of round plastic thats about the same size as a wooden spoon and he ran from that too. It has only been 2 days but from what I saw at his former owners he didnt get too close to them either, except the male, I got to see him give kisses as I said in the orginal message. But he still would run from their hands. They generally used their forearm to get him to move out of the way though so I am wondering if he is conditioned to run?

I am sure its going to take time and patience. And alot of rewarding. For those who would like to see pics of him, I posted 3 in my new member info post. Again, thank you for all your info.

 

[Spiritbird]

Approach him for a while with good things in you hands like treats. I would not push the training for a while.

 

[Ronald]

Our grey who was only handled with a perch by him previous owner. For awhile we had to use a perch to get him out of the cage but as soon as he was out the door he was met by our other arm. At that point it was arm or back in the cage. It also helps to show him where you plan on taking him. For example... make a short t stand out of dowels. No color, nothing fancy, you don't want him to be scared of it. Put some of that Sheppard pie on it, Mmmmm. Now hold out your arm and ask him to step up, if he refuses then slowly move your arm over to the t stand and then slowly back. Repeat until he understands that you are going to take him to the treat. That worked great for us. For a while papito would refuse to step up until he knew where i was taking him. To this day I have to tell him "kitchen" or "mommy" or "outside" in order to get him to step up. By the way "wanna go see mommy" works everytime for me, papito is a momma's boy.

 

[Sulphiria]

Our grey who was only handled with a perch by him previous owner. For awhile we had to use a perch to get him out of the cage but as soon as he was out the door he was met by our other arm. At that point it was arm or back in the cage. It also helps to show him where you plan on taking him. For example... make a short t stand out of dowels. No color, nothing fancy, you don't want him to be scared of it. Put some of that Sheppard pie on it, Mmmmm. Now hold out your arm and ask him to step up, if he refuses then slowly move your arm over to the t stand and then slowly back. Repeat until he understands that you are going to take him to the treat. That worked great for us. For a while papito would refuse to step up until he knew where i was taking him. To this day I have to tell him "kitchen" or "mommy" or "outside" in order to get him to step up. By the way "wanna go see mommy" works everytime for me, papito is a momma's boy.

Hes my baby, and he will say so! He says "mamas baby" or "mamas boy"

 

[wolf0994]

Well some great news. Tonight he started whistling the "hot girl" whistle that most ppl universally know. He also allowed me to come within 8 inches of him with my face since we were at eye level with him on top of the cage. Then the amazing thing.... he reached out and touched my chin/cheek with his beak, not once but twice! He definately seems to be relaxing some. He still moves away if I get a little too close or something, in which case I just backed up a little and he came right back up. He was royally showing off tonight. He would do that whistle and when we would do it back and call him pretty boy, he spread his wings out nice n wide as if saying "I'm sexy and I know it". lolz. He is a hoot. I was amazed he reached out and touched my face ... and without treats. He had already gotten some treats just for letting me get that close to him. This was AWESOME!!

I do have a question though. Numerous times tonight he walked up to the corner of the cage... standing on top. And put his head down in the corner almost like he was going to chew on the bars or something there but he just squatted down and started slightly flapping his wings and kind of rocking back and forth with his head in the corner... it was odd. He did it to both sides. Almost like a squatting dance, but only with his head right down where the main corner bars come together.

 

[Sulphiria]

Our grey did the "showing off" ALL the time when we first got him. What a ham! He would hang from the top of his cage and fluff his wings and whistle at us, until we said something to him, then he would move to another position and do the same...for hours! If we didn't notice him, he would try different whistles and get louder, lol. Congratulations, sounds like he's warming up quickly.

 

[wolf0994]

Actually that's begging behavior, so that's good, like he was asking for attention.

My Grey loves to rub her beak all over my face or hands and will butt me with it, too. It is a sign of affection, so that was good, too! Obviously he likes you, and will want to make friends

The corner squatting while rocking and slight wing movement is begging behavior? Or the touching my face is?

And how do I get him back in his cage for the night? Since I can't handle him yet, when I get home I open the door and let him come out when he wants which is most of the rest of the night, but then when its time for bed I want to get him back inside. What I have done the last 2 nights is take a plastic little rod thing, kinda like a dowel and move toward him like I am trying to get him to step up.. .he runs from me and if I move to the back of the cage he will climb over the side of the cage and work his way to the front and go in. I just feel so bad having to "chase" him into the cage at night. We have dogs and cats as well. I kennel the dogs at night or they get into the garbage or just plain misbehave and the cats run free. I would hate to have something happen to him or I would just leave him out. Plus we have to leave for work very early in the morning and I dont feel comfortable leaving him out of his cage when I am gone with the cats out and no one home. At least not til he's more comfortable then maybe thats an option.

 

[Sulphiria]

I would make a bedtime routine, thats what we did. We tell the birds its time for bed, turn off the fish tank lights, put cups away and cover the 3 other birds first. He takes them as his cues to get in his cage for bed. It will take a few days, but you will be surprised at how much they understand.

 

[wolf0994]

My handsome boy greeted me when I got home today with tons of whistles and beeps and wing fluttering. When I got him out I came up to him and 3 times he touched my cheek again, without reward or command. I was so happy. And I found out tonight that he likes Asparagus and Spaghetti.

 

[Ronald]

When he touches your cheek with his beak make a kissing noise. He will learn to make the same noise when he does it. The wing flutter is begging, which right now it seems like he is begging for attention. However, grabbing the corner of the cage with his beak and squatting may possibly be "scratch my neck". You will want to ease into this by lightly rubbing with the feathers, but don't touch his wings yet. Also he might test you, be prepared and do NOT pull away or jump when he turns around to nip at you because he might find it amusing.

 

[Sulphiria]

When he touches your cheek with his beak make a kissing noise. He will learn to make the same noise when he does it. The wing flutter is begging, which right now it seems like he is begging for attention. However, grabbing the corner of the cage with his beak and squatting may possibly be "scratch my neck". You will want to ease into this by lightly rubbing with the feathers, but don't touch his wings yet. Also he might test you, be prepared and do NOT pull away or jump when he turns around to nip at you because he might find it amusing.

Might? Papito puts his head down, takes two or three scratches then turns and gets a finger....then laughs and tries to get you to do it again! I'll try and get a video later.

It might be easier or less threatening if you rest your hand near him and let him come to you. Papito will come to my hand, and either shove his head under it or push it up with his beak to get scratches.

 

[wolf0994]

I dont know if this is him trying to get scratches because if you get your hand closer than about 8 inches from him he runs. When I spoke to his former owner lastnight she said she thinks it is him doing a teenage hormonal thing. He doesnt do it when he is trying to get attention, for that he is looking at us and whistling and such. This is different, he lowers his head down below the crossbar where you cant even really see his eyes. I am not sure what he's doing but he just does it, and he makes no noise when he is doing it. He doesnt appear to be looking to see if we are paying attention or anything.

I cut some birch branches lastnight and then cleaned them real good with some dishsoap and I am letting them dry. I got one big enough to use for the upper horizontal perch inside the cage and then I cut one that I can mount vertically with some longer branches that extend up and out about 12 inches, give him something to climb onto while on top of the cage. Aside from the horizontal one that came with it that has the dishes on it. I cut them short enough that he cant hang over the edges of the cage as to keep the poop where it belongs, but it might entertain him at least.

I have yet to see him play with any of the toys in his cage, which concerns me slightly as I dont want him to get bored and start digging at feathers and such.

I see alot of people feed Harrison's for pellets. I can't see to find any here so I bought Lafeber's Premium daily diet for Parrots. But Kawie doesn't seem to interested in it. Has anyone changed from another brand to Harrison's and had better luck getting them to eat it? I just want to be able to feed him something I can stick in there when I am not home that has what he needs in it.

 

[Spiritbird]

Hope you will take photos of your branch creations to show us. Sounds very nice. Will you make me some? Just kidding. I would not worry too much about your birds behaviors. Just go about life with him and have fun. Take some of his toys out on a table and have him with you. Then play with them as if it is the greatest thing in the world. Parrots learn from other birds and us.

 

[wolf0994]

I would love to do that except I cannot get Kawie off his cage. He will not step up as he is too scared. He has not been handled much in the last 15 years. Other than the occasional flight down when scared when his former owner would use a wooden spoon to put him back. There were a few times they could use their hands. He had been very handleable early in life before he was paired up with the Double Yellow Amazon the former owner put him with. He stayed in the same cage with the Amazon the last 14-15 years. Til now. She gave both birds away, we took Kawie and another friend took the Amazon.

I will definately take some pictures when I get the wood perches up