Grey wont go away

[Moo Knight]

Hi all. Sorry I've been off radar... very busy with Dusty and work and Christmas prep!
Thank you all very much for your advice. I soaked some pellets in water and mixed with the seed food and he ate it all but yesterday he didn't and so then was hungry!
I will try the 4 items on a plate but I bet he will go for the sunflower seed!
He's realised that going near the cage and offering sunflower seed means home time so I shall work on that by NOT trying to put him away every time. And step up is improving but only when he wants to do it!!
The only other thing I would mention are his very sharp claws. Have 1 concrete perch and 1 calcium perch in cage but claws are not wearing down. I'm covered in scratches!!!

 

[DQTimnehs]

You need to have his nails trimmed if you aren’t comfortable doing it yourself.

 

[Bokkapooh]

What about opening up the cage and let him come out on his own?

 

[Fia Baby]

As far as claws go - right now, while he's a baby is the perfect time to work on teaching him about nail filing. I try to do this most days with my macaw - we go into the bathroom, and I use a good nail file, and just give each claw a couple of swipes. The more often I do it, the less time it takes, which makes her happy, and her claws stay pretty nice. You can use a treat to reinforce this as you teach it. Use the sunflower seeds. Since he likes them so much, they'd be perfect to use a treat food - the only time he gets them is when you're working to reinforce something.

 

[Moo Knight]

Wow I never thought about filing them. I might give that a go as we have no local avian vet and when we clipped our other birds nails he went right off my husband cos he held him when it was done.

 

[Shinobi]

At 15 weeks old he is ready for training. We started training Henry at 12 weeks old.

 

[Fia Baby]

My macaw hates having her nails trimmed, and this is the easiest solution for both of us. Just take it slow and remember your long term goal. When you're first introducing it, you might not get much actual filing done, but that's okay. At first the goal is to get him to feel comfortable with the file, feeling it with his beak, letting you securely hold his foot, etc. Make sure he's enjoying it at each step and keep it positive and short. I don't know if other grey owners do this or not, you might want to ask them. Greys have a little different personalities as adults, but I don't see any reason why he couldn't learn this as a baby, especially if food treats are involved.

 

[Tracieb]

I start with playing with their toes first so that they are used to you holding their toes without them pulling away. I don't grab and hold tight at first, I start with picking them up and letting them pull away, and then gradually move to picking them up and rubbing the bottoms and holding the toes out in the same position I would have them in if I was filing or trimming them.

Baby grey nails are like razors, even a little filing will make a big difference in comfort for you. As to the other issues, I feel it is important to teach your baby to be out without being attached to you. It is important for them to be able to interact and be part of the family and it is not realistic for them to be on you at all times. I do train my birds to not climb on my shoulder, and to stay on my arm or below eye level if I am sitting, once they get this down then I do occasionally allow them to ride on my shoulder if I need both hands. I have been lucky enough not to have ever been bitten in the face or ear due to frightened bird, but I know folks who have. When training a bird to spend time on the perch or cage top, I place them on the perch with toys to keep them occupied and when they fly down I pick them up and put them back without giving them any additional attention. Some birds take longer than others, more due to their curious nature then lack of ability to learn. I have a LSC 'too that cannot resist the temptation of harassing the dog (they grew up together) and while she is pretty good at staying on the perch when she is out and I can't give her my full attention she cannot resist jumping down to chase the dog if he is looking for treats below the perch. She also can't resist chasing after the dog when we are sitting on the couch together either. Most of my pet birds allow me to pick up their toes and clip them with no trouble, even those that joined the flock as adults (with one exception, and I am pretty sure he just thinks he is being funny by refusing), it just takes patience and consistency.