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African gray refusing to go out of cage

Diveks

Walking the driveway
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180
So i posted about this grey (8 Year old) in my older thread. She? I think? Was a “rescue”. A family member gave her to me because they felt like they don’t have time for her anymore. They said she was very mean but she is a sweetheart so i thought maybe they just forced her to step up ect.

Came in deathly afraid of people and wood but after some bribing she came around and would even fly to me. On her out time she just does nothing hours on end even though she is allowed to fly around. She will now take commands happily but without command she will just be a statue.

after months (almost a year) of trying, she is still deathly afraid of everything wood (perches, toys, tiny wood blocks, ect). And i noticed a month ago she started over preening. I bathe her everyday and she has a complete diet, also toys! Around the same time she started refusing to go out of the cage and its stressing me out. Im not trying to neglect her in a cage but she won’t go out. Tried bribery, soft talking, encouragement, nothing.

It breaks my heart because she is constantly asking for head scratches inside the cage so it shouldn’t be something i did? Also a thing about her she has random panic attacks and falls down to the floor (both in and out of the cage). I don’t want to force her to do anything, especially with her not so trusting background.
 

expressmailtome

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MnGuy

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So i posted about this grey (8 Year old) in my older thread. She? I think? Was a “rescue”. A family member gave her to me because they felt like they don’t have time for her anymore. They said she was very mean but she is a sweetheart so i thought maybe they just forced her to step up ect.

Came in deathly afraid of people and wood but after some bribing she came around and would even fly to me. On her out time she just does nothing hours on end even though she is allowed to fly around. She will now take commands happily but without command she will just be a statue.

after months (almost a year) of trying, she is still deathly afraid of everything wood (perches, toys, tiny wood blocks, ect). And i noticed a month ago she started over preening. I bathe her everyday and she has a complete diet, also toys! Around the same time she started refusing to go out of the cage and its stressing me out. Im not trying to neglect her in a cage but she won’t go out. Tried bribery, soft talking, encouragement, nothing.

It breaks my heart because she is constantly asking for head scratches inside the cage so it shouldn’t be something i did? Also a thing about her she has random panic attacks and falls down to the floor (both in and out of the cage). I don’t want to force her to do anything, especially with her not so trusting background.
It sounds like your grey is exhibiting pretty typical grey behavior but turned up to 100. It sounds like you've already made a ton of great progress with her, and my best advice after adopting my CAG 13 years ago is to let go of your expectations of what you think she needs and how you think she needs to act, and let her set her pace. I think it's also important to watch our energy around them, because they pick up on it. If you're anxious, she'll be anxious. My grey is least likely to do something when I really, really want her to do that thing.

If she's afraid of toys, don't overwhelm her with a bunch. Just give her one or two. Rotate in new ones so she's never forced to deal with a bunch of toys at once. When you want to add a new one, leave it somewhere far from her cage where she can see it for awhile and slowly move it closer until one day it's in her cage. My grey isn't afraid of toys but she does not love them the way you see other parrots love them. She mostly likes cardboard and balsa wood. It's also worth letting her watch you play with the toys yourself before you give them to her. I find that my grey is typically drawn to anything I'm using/involved with.

I would not bathe her every day. After trying everything to get my grey to bathe more frequently, I have decided to let her decide when she wants to bathe. I take her into the shower often but her perch doesn't get wet. She is happy to sit there but does not want to get wet. I bring her in for the ambient moisture. She chooses to bathe in her water bowl every now and then. When I see that, I'll spritz her very briefly with a plant mister. (She is in perfect feather, if that matters.)

I don't think it's a coincidence that your grey started over preening and started refusing to come out after the daily bathes. They have to preen after they get wet, and I just don't know how often wild greys bathe in water. Maybe they're mostly dust bathers by nature? (I've looked but haven't found a good answer.) I would try to build a new reward for coming out -- give her a treat quickly when she steps up and comes out, praise her and put her back in right away. Keep doing that until she comes out more automatically and then start extending how much time she is out of her cage.

My grey will also spend lots of time just sitting on top of her cage or on the "patio door." She's in a King's corner cage. Greys aren't animated like conures or cockatoos. But it's also important that we provide them with activities outside of their cages. If there's nothing for her to do, why wouldn't she just sit around? For a phobic bird like yours, I'd suggest giving her a big reward for spending time outside of her cage, like scattering pieces of nuts around a tabletop or in a bowl on her cage.

Using a shelf, table or play stand to create an activity center is also a good idea. I work from home now and my grey will hang out on her cage doing nothing, but if I pick her up and put her on the dining room table where I'm working, she's suddenly very engaged and more willing to play with toys, boxes, etc.

My grey has been flighted for years but doesn't fly a bunch. Greys are big and heavy, and it's hard for them to have the appropriate space to really fly well in a modest-sized house. My house is 1,200-sq-ft and that includes a half-story. I'm working more with my grey to train her to fly between her cage and a shelf I set up for her across the room. They need safe landing stations in order to fly between different points.

It's important to identify what's spooking your grey. I consider my grey pretty well-adjusted but she spooks on occasion and used to spook a lot more years ago. Sometimes a sudden noise like me dropping a heavy object or my dog suddenly barking at the window can set her off and she'll jump off her cage or my hand. She doesn't like large rolls of toilet paper for some reason. She spooked once or twice in her cage like this. If your grey is prone to that inside the cage, lower the perches and remove objects she could injure herself on. Gently introduce things in the room to desensitize her and take them away so she's not enduring the pain for too long. I don't want to start any angry debates on here, but there are some good YouTube videos about this very specific exercise with greys.

It takes a lot of work to desensitize greys to noises, objects, etc. They are very sensitive birds. They can be fine with something one day and then get spooked by it the next. I had some decorative corn on my table during the fall. My grey saw it every day for two months and had no issues with it. I moved it to my kitchen and one day walked in with my grey on my hand. She looked at the corn, leaned back, jumped off and flew away.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.
 

Toy

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CAG's are complicated birds. They fear just about everything & are always on the defensive. If you have one that is not then you have a rare one. Ours (Jengo female age 22.6 years, got her at age 6 months) fears cardboard boxes & just about anything new. I tried to give her a tiny cardboard bagel toy & she freaked like it was going to kill her. She is fully flighted, but choses not to fly. She likes acrylic toys & toy parts like pacifiers & plastic nut/bolt toy, plastic locking links, etc. She has a metal spoon hanging toy she plays with. She prefers foot toys over hanging toys. I put a small clear plastic dish (got it at he deli) in her cage with foot toys & large toy parts. She has a couple hanging toys, but she really doesn't play with them. She likes to shred paper, so we cut the junk mail catalogs in half & give her those now & then. She will come out of her cage, after I back up about 6 feet. She sits on the door or runs around on the top & flaps her wings. She climbs down to the seed skirt, which is the only place I can get her to step up. She doesn't climb off her cage. She likes to walk around on the floor, so I set her down now on the floor to walk around now & then. She does not like the play gym at all. She likes to go outside to the aviary (spring & summer) & climb around, go to the ground & dig holes in the grass & dirt. We do a lot of contact calling every day. She picked up on a tune I whistle for my Purple Martin colony. One day she repeated it. I asked her if she was calling the birdies. So then she started saying "call the birdies" & then she whistles the tune. She will ask me to call the birdies & wait for me to do the whistle tune. We do that back & forth a lot, also peek-a-boo, etc. Hands on she gets a few beak swipes & that's it, as she is a biter. If I try to do a head scritch, which she tries to lure me into doing, I get a nip. CAG's are mostly hands off birds.

I find Jengo requires the need to know the why/what/how of everything I want her to do. Why I want her to step up, where I am taking her, how, why do I want her to go in her crate, etc. Explain every step of the way. I even tell her why I'm closing the drapes at night....time for night-night, to keep her warm, block out the bright outside lights, etc. This is every day/night. So expect to spend time telling your bird everything, every day & night.

Try offering a treat to get your bird to step up. It may take many tries. Start with just reaching in & giving a treat. Next time see if you can get the bird to come close to your hand, give the treat. Keep working daily until you get the bird to step up, then give the treat. Set the bird back down on it's perch. Eventually work to the point you can get the bird to step up & take it out of the cage, or get it to come out of the cage & step up off the cage. This can take days, weeks, even months.

Most CAG's don't tend to be as playful as a Cockatoo or a Macaw. They tend to sit & watch the world go by or explore by doing what I call a "walk-about", meaning walking around on the floor. Once you get your bird out of the cage try putting some toys/toy parts on the floor/a table/stand/counter or it's favorite treat in a small paper cup & see if you bird will check them out. Pick the toy parts up & touch them to your face. This will show your bird it's safe to touch. Put the toy down & walk away. Let him check it out. They don't move in & grab a toy like many other parrots do. They may sit & look at it a long time before touching it. While your bird is doing this keep talking to it. Everything with CAG's is slow. They don't do things fast & they don't like fast movements.

Once a week shower is plenty. You don't want to over bath them. CAG's fly straight & fast. They are heavy bodied birds, so they need a lot of room to fly & land. Inside flight requires a long open space. I hold Jengo on my hand, clamp her toes with my fingers & get her flapping. This keeps her wing muscles built up, which they require not only to fly, but for balance as well.

So try to get your bird to step up. Figure out what toys it likes, treats, etc. Move slow talk a lot.
 

Shannan

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So much of this information helps me to know that Walter is typical for a gray in a lot of respects. He hates a bath. He also loves to “watch” the world go by. As long as he can be in the center of the household he is happy. You have been given great advice. I love Grays for their quiet disposition.
 

Diveks

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It sounds like your grey is exhibiting pretty typical grey behavior but turned up to 100. It sounds like you've already made a ton of great progress with her, and my best advice after adopting my CAG 13 years ago is to let go of your expectations of what you think she needs and how you think she needs to act, and let her set her pace. I think it's also important to watch our energy around them, because they pick up on it. If you're anxious, she'll be anxious. My grey is least likely to do something when I really, really want her to do that thing.

If she's afraid of toys, don't overwhelm her with a bunch. Just give her one or two. Rotate in new ones so she's never forced to deal with a bunch of toys at once. When you want to add a new one, leave it somewhere far from her cage where she can see it for awhile and slowly move it closer until one day it's in her cage. My grey isn't afraid of toys but she does not love them the way you see other parrots love them. She mostly likes cardboard and balsa wood. It's also worth letting her watch you play with the toys yourself before you give them to her. I find that my grey is typically drawn to anything I'm using/involved with.

I would not bathe her every day. After trying everything to get my grey to bathe more frequently, I have decided to let her decide when she wants to bathe. I take her into the shower often but her perch doesn't get wet. She is happy to sit there but does not want to get wet. I bring her in for the ambient moisture. She chooses to bathe in her water bowl every now and then. When I see that, I'll spritz her very briefly with a plant mister. (She is in perfect feather, if that matters.)

I don't think it's a coincidence that your grey started over preening and started refusing to come out after the daily bathes. They have to preen after they get wet, and I just don't know how often wild greys bathe in water. Maybe they're mostly dust bathers by nature? (I've looked but haven't found a good answer.) I would try to build a new reward for coming out -- give her a treat quickly when she steps up and comes out, praise her and put her back in right away. Keep doing that until she comes out more automatically and then start extending how much time she is out of her cage.

My grey will also spend lots of time just sitting on top of her cage or on the "patio door." She's in a King's corner cage. Greys aren't animated like conures or cockatoos. But it's also important that we provide them with activities outside of their cages. If there's nothing for her to do, why wouldn't she just sit around? For a phobic bird like yours, I'd suggest giving her a big reward for spending time outside of her cage, like scattering pieces of nuts around a tabletop or in a bowl on her cage.

Using a shelf, table or play stand to create an activity center is also a good idea. I work from home now and my grey will hang out on her cage doing nothing, but if I pick her up and put her on the dining room table where I'm working, she's suddenly very engaged and more willing to play with toys, boxes, etc.

My grey has been flighted for years but doesn't fly a bunch. Greys are big and heavy, and it's hard for them to have the appropriate space to really fly well in a modest-sized house. My house is 1,200-sq-ft and that includes a half-story. I'm working more with my grey to train her to fly between her cage and a shelf I set up for her across the room. They need safe landing stations in order to fly between different points.

It's important to identify what's spooking your grey. I consider my grey pretty well-adjusted but she spooks on occasion and used to spook a lot more years ago. Sometimes a sudden noise like me dropping a heavy object or my dog suddenly barking at the window can set her off and she'll jump off her cage or my hand. She doesn't like large rolls of toilet paper for some reason. She spooked once or twice in her cage like this. If your grey is prone to that inside the cage, lower the perches and remove objects she could injure herself on. Gently introduce things in the room to desensitize her and take them away so she's not enduring the pain for too long. I don't want to start any angry debates on here, but there are some good YouTube videos about this very specific exercise with greys.

It takes a lot of work to desensitize greys to noises, objects, etc. They are very sensitive birds. They can be fine with something one day and then get spooked by it the next. I had some decorative corn on my table during the fall. My grey saw it every day for two months and had no issues with it. I moved it to my kitchen and one day walked in with my grey on my hand. She looked at the corn, leaned back, jumped off and flew away.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.
CAG's are complicated birds. They fear just about everything & are always on the defensive. If you have one that is not then you have a rare one. Ours (Jengo female age 22.6 years, got her at age 6 months) fears cardboard boxes & just about anything new. I tried to give her a tiny cardboard bagel toy & she freaked like it was going to kill her. She is fully flighted, but choses not to fly. She likes acrylic toys & toy parts like pacifiers & plastic nut/bolt toy, plastic locking links, etc. She has a metal spoon hanging toy she plays with. She prefers foot toys over hanging toys. I put a small clear plastic dish (got it at he deli) in her cage with foot toys & large toy parts. She has a couple hanging toys, but she really doesn't play with them. She likes to shred paper, so we cut the junk mail catalogs in half & give her those now & then. She will come out of her cage, after I back up about 6 feet. She sits on the door or runs around on the top & flaps her wings. She climbs down to the seed skirt, which is the only place I can get her to step up. She doesn't climb off her cage. She likes to walk around on the floor, so I set her down now on the floor to walk around now & then. She does not like the play gym at all. She likes to go outside to the aviary (spring & summer) & climb around, go to the ground & dig holes in the grass & dirt. We do a lot of contact calling every day. She picked up on a tune I whistle for my Purple Martin colony. One day she repeated it. I asked her if she was calling the birdies. So then she started saying "call the birdies" & then she whistles the tune. She will ask me to call the birdies & wait for me to do the whistle tune. We do that back & forth a lot, also peek-a-boo, etc. Hands on she gets a few beak swipes & that's it, as she is a biter. If I try to do a head scritch, which she tries to lure me into doing, I get a nip. CAG's are mostly hands off birds.

I find Jengo requires the need to know the why/what/how of everything I want her to do. Why I want her to step up, where I am taking her, how, why do I want her to go in her crate, etc. Explain every step of the way. I even tell her why I'm closing the drapes at night....time for night-night, to keep her warm, block out the bright outside lights, etc. This is every day/night. So expect to spend time telling your bird everything, every day & night.

Try offering a treat to get your bird to step up. It may take many tries. Start with just reaching in & giving a treat. Next time see if you can get the bird to come close to your hand, give the treat. Keep working daily until you get the bird to step up, then give the treat. Set the bird back down on it's perch. Eventually work to the point you can get the bird to step up & take it out of the cage, or get it to come out of the cage & step up off the cage. This can take days, weeks, even months.

Most CAG's don't tend to be as playful as a Cockatoo or a Macaw. They tend to sit & watch the world go by or explore by doing what I call a "walk-about", meaning walking around on the floor. Once you get your bird out of the cage try putting some toys/toy parts on the floor/a table/stand/counter or it's favorite treat in a small paper cup & see if you bird will check them out. Pick the toy parts up & touch them to your face. This will show your bird it's safe to touch. Put the toy down & walk away. Let him check it out. They don't move in & grab a toy like many other parrots do. They may sit & look at it a long time before touching it. While your bird is doing this keep talking to it. Everything with CAG's is slow. They don't do things fast & they don't like fast movements.

Once a week shower is plenty. You don't want to over bath them. CAG's fly straight & fast. They are heavy bodied birds, so they need a lot of room to fly & land. Inside flight requires a long open space. I hold Jengo on my hand, clamp her toes with my fingers & get her flapping. This keeps her wing muscles built up, which they require not only to fly, but for balance as well.

So try to get your bird to step up. Figure out what toys it likes, treats, etc. Move slow talk a lot.
Thanks for the information everyone! Ill try to get her some foot toys right away (slowly introduce her to it by the way) what makes me sad is i feel that i am going backwards once again. When she first came in i had her in a smaller cage which i put in my room with the door wide open just letting her walk around in my room. after just observing me for 2 days she decided to pick up food from my hands. after about 2 weeks she started looking for me and flying to me. Unfortunately she now won't step up on my hand. she will still pick up food from my hands and hold on with one of her feet but not wanting to step up. I had a previous grey but that one was not a rehome so she was FAR easier to keep happy (she unfortunately flew away while someone was bird sitting). Dolly (new grey) was kept in a pretty large flight cage (usually seen with breeder birds) don't think she had toys, only some perches and a macaw friend which she decided that she wanted to pluck his feathers out. I think that was the point where her past owners decided they didn't wanna deal with her anymore.

She started refusing to go out of the cage once i moved her to a bigger cage (i found she was pretty nervous in the bigger cage but this not close to what i had my old grey in). She would start wanting to go out every 4, then 5, then, 6, then only once a week. It is not as big of a cage i want her to be in on the smaller side for a grey IMO but i wanted to make sure she is comfortable in a bigger cage before moving up to the permanent one. I wanted her to spend more time out of the cage then in it even in her cage later. She used to do laps around the living room (first cage, (same area different size)), looking like she is living her life and now i feel like i am just not doing the right thing.

I did not know once a week was enough for baths for greys, bird owners shame me a lot for not bathing her more often in the past but not sure if i should've even listened to them since they don't even have a grey. Some even suggested i bathe my bird with bird soap to make her smell good. I've been on the side of just using water for their baths whats everyones opinions on 'bird soaps'. I love the bird smell they have, I find that they smell wonderful. One of my visitors even said that they will take her in if i get bored of her because it seems like i am and they kept saying 'poor bird'. it hurts me that they assumed im not taking care of her just because she is in a cage. this person never had an african grey and had mostly lifely birds like cockatoos and macaws from what i know. she has toys, a great diet, and im slowly working out her fears. same person tried to forcefully pick her up because they didn't believe me that she that didn't wanna go out :banghead:. Tried lecturing me on how to take care of her better which made me feel like i may not be giving her the best life :sad1:.

When she was outside i used to get her to play with foraging toys. Just simple ones like food wrapped in tissue. she would pick up food from the tissue but won't try opening the tissue on her own. When i open it back up she just picks it up, she knows its inside but won't take it by herself. Ill keep trying on that one once she gets out of the cage once again. I think i might try materials for her to try out but right now i just want her to trust me enough let me pick her up to a new area. I am wanting to move her to her permanent cage (haven't set it up yet because i need to make sure she will happily step up to me and trust me enough to put her in a new place.) Im thinking i should not move her in the new cage right away, after she happily steps up to me again...
 

MnGuy

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Thanks for the information everyone! Ill try to get her some foot toys right away (slowly introduce her to it by the way) what makes me sad is i feel that i am going backwards once again. When she first came in i had her in a smaller cage which i put in my room with the door wide open just letting her walk around in my room. after just observing me for 2 days she decided to pick up food from my hands. after about 2 weeks she started looking for me and flying to me. Unfortunately she now won't step up on my hand. she will still pick up food from my hands and hold on with one of her feet but not wanting to step up. I had a previous grey but that one was not a rehome so she was FAR easier to keep happy (she unfortunately flew away while someone was bird sitting). Dolly (new grey) was kept in a pretty large flight cage (usually seen with breeder birds) don't think she had toys, only some perches and a macaw friend which she decided that she wanted to pluck his feathers out. I think that was the point where her past owners decided they didn't wanna deal with her anymore.

She started refusing to go out of the cage once i moved her to a bigger cage (i found she was pretty nervous in the bigger cage but this not close to what i had my old grey in). She would start wanting to go out every 4, then 5, then, 6, then only once a week. It is not as big of a cage i want her to be in on the smaller side for a grey IMO but i wanted to make sure she is comfortable in a bigger cage before moving up to the permanent one. I wanted her to spend more time out of the cage then in it even in her cage later. She used to do laps around the living room (first cage, (same area different size)), looking like she is living her life and now i feel like i am just not doing the right thing.

I did not know once a week was enough for baths for greys, bird owners shame me a lot for not bathing her more often in the past but not sure if i should've even listened to them since they don't even have a grey. Some even suggested i bathe my bird with bird soap to make her smell good. I've been on the side of just using water for their baths whats everyones opinions on 'bird soaps'. I love the bird smell they have, I find that they smell wonderful. One of my visitors even said that they will take her in if i get bored of her because it seems like i am and they kept saying 'poor bird'. it hurts me that they assumed im not taking care of her just because she is in a cage. this person never had an african grey and had mostly lifely birds like cockatoos and macaws from what i know. she has toys, a great diet, and im slowly working out her fears. same person tried to forcefully pick her up because they didn't believe me that she that didn't wanna go out :banghead:. Tried lecturing me on how to take care of her better which made me feel like i may not be giving her the best life :sad1:.

When she was outside i used to get her to play with foraging toys. Just simple ones like food wrapped in tissue. she would pick up food from the tissue but won't try opening the tissue on her own. When i open it back up she just picks it up, she knows its inside but won't take it by herself. Ill keep trying on that one once she gets out of the cage once again. I think i might try materials for her to try out but right now i just want her to trust me enough let me pick her up to a new area. I am wanting to move her to her permanent cage (haven't set it up yet because i need to make sure she will happily step up to me and trust me enough to put her in a new place.) Im thinking i should not move her in the new cage right away, after she happily steps up to me again...
Don't beat yourself up. I wouldn't give her a treat when she only steps on your hand with one foot -- that is training her not to step up fully on you. Only award her when she fully steps up.

Water without "bird soaps" is all you need for bathes unless there's a medical reason you need something else.

Good luck!
 

Diveks

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180
Don't beat yourself up. I wouldn't give her a treat when she only steps on your hand with one foot -- that is training her not to step up fully on you. Only award her when she fully steps up.

Water without "bird soaps" is all you need for bathes unless there's a medical reason you need something else.

Good luck!
Thanks ill try not to! Ohh i see ive been doing it wrong. And ill keep using only water then!
 

Diveks

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Great news! She is now willing to step onto me. although not like how she used to, it is a start. Also finally got her in the new cage. This new cage allows me to work with her inside the cage if she is unwilling to go out. I know some of the perches arent ideal and it has only one toy. I didn’t want to overwhelm her with toys and new perches. These perches are the only ones (for now) she is willing to use.
39156808-F270-4D41-8D11-C6392FB13ECB.jpeg
 

expressmailtome

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Great news! She is now willing to step onto me. although not like how she used to, it is a start. Also finally got her in the new cage. This new cage allows me to work with her inside the cage if she is unwilling to go out. I know some of the perches arent ideal and it has only one toy. I didn’t want to overwhelm her with toys and new perches. These perches are the only ones (for now) she is willing to use.
View attachment 402573
That is great progress in such a short amount of time!
 

Diveks

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Today as i opened the new cage door she walked right out and onto my hand. Unfortunately she jumped off her 6 foot cage! And kept jumping off of chairs ect to go to me. She doesn’t realize how she can’t fly properly. It hurts me to see her plop on the floor as she was an amazing flier.

can anyone help me with the special care needed for flightless/plucking parrots? She keeps dropping to the floor (not even gliding) to get to me or when scared. Anything i could do for her? Suddenly not being able to fly must be terrifying. Here is what she looks like now:(
A0740C5A-43B9-462B-A131-96C831F28BBF.jpeg

Also her claws are causing me to bleed, I need to trim them somehow. Is there anyway I could trim them without her getting traumatized or scared to go out again? I have been dealing with sharp claws for almost a year now but i felt like not going out of the cage made it super super sharp.
 

Toy

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I'm guessing she has chewed her flight feathers off. They will need to molt & regrow, if she lets them. If not you could try putting a collar on her until they grown in. Just give her time first, then take measures.

You can add a ladder on the outside of her cage for her to climb down. I would also add a swing or a boing, some acrylic/plastic toys & some toys she can shred. Place some toys lower, so she can easily reach them from the perches.

As for the nails I towel our CAG. Otherwise she'd bite me. She's never held it against me, but some do. I wrap her in a towel, lay her on my lap on her back, pull a foot out, snip the tips off, then file them smooth. She's get a treat after.
 

Diveks

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I'm guessing she has chewed her flight feathers off. They will need to molt & regrow, if she lets them. If not you could try putting a collar on her until they grown in. Just give her time first, then take measures.

You can add a ladder on the outside of her cage for her to climb down. I would also add a swing or a boing, some acrylic/plastic toys & some toys she can shred. Place some toys lower, so she can easily reach them from the perches.

As for the nails I towel our CAG. Otherwise she'd bite me. She's never held it against me, but some do. I wrap her in a towel, lay her on my lap on her back, pull a foot out, snip the tips off, then file them smooth. She's get a treat after.
im still getting her used to toys, she is still terrified of most but we are getting there. ill get a swing and a boing though! the store ran out of acrylic toys but im looking into getting some. she is still very terrified of shredding toys unfortunately.

she sure is terrified of everything new (which is everything). her previous home was big but she didn't have any toys and her perches were all made out of metal. She also took awhile to her diet now as she only ate sunflowers. she weirdly hates nutriberries (even if i break it down). right now her diet is fresh veggies and fruits and tropican pellets.
 

Toy

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im still getting her used to toys, she is still terrified of most but we are getting there. ill get a swing and a boing though! the store ran out of acrylic toys but im looking into getting some. she is still very terrified of shredding toys unfortunately.

she sure is terrified of everything new (which is everything). her previous home was big but she didn't have any toys and her perches were all made out of metal. She also took awhile to her diet now as she only ate sunflowers. she weirdly hates nutriberries (even if i break it down). right now her diet is fresh veggies and fruits and tropican pellets.
I suggest you play with the toys or anything new you want to add to her cage, in front of her. Touch them to your face. Lay them close by so she can see them. A couple times a day pick them up, touch them to your face, show her the item(s), see if she'll touch her beak to them. It may take time for her to accept them. This shows her they are safe. Our CAG doesn't like nutriberries either.
 

Diveks

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I suggest you play with the toys or anything new you want to add to her cage, in front of her. Touch them to your face. Lay them close by so she can see them. A couple times a day pick them up, touch them to your face, show her the item(s), see if she'll touch her beak to them. It may take time for her to accept them. This shows her they are safe. Our CAG doesn't like nutriberries either.
thanks i will be doing so! the one toy i have in the cage she is only tolerating for now but im hoping she will get around to playing with it. Im hoping she stops the feather chewing but if i need to i will be putting a collar on her.
 

Diveks

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Im currently looking for parrot collars, im not sure what type i should go for though, plastic, cloth, acrylic, hard or soft. Can anyone give me some info on which to use for primary feather chewing?
 

Diveks

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Got some new toys for her with more on the way:bliss:. Also got her a smaller tree perch as she is terrified on the large hoping she gets used to it easier.
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She is still picking though, i will need to order a collar. Any type suggestions for tail and primary feather pickers will help out a lot as i will likely have to order from outside the country to get anything other than the acrylic tube ones and it would take more than a month.
 

Diveks

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AMAZING UPDATE! SHE IS NOW USING THE TREE PERCH!

i also accidentally taught her touch meant i wanted her to touch whatever i am holding. This is the first time she saw the birdy pinata and with around 10-15 mins of me having it on my lap i told her to touch it and she did! While she is not playing with it, she doesn’t mind touching it. I am overjoyed! :excited1:

wow after a year of having no personal space i can go on the computer without her perching on the arm of the chair begging me to pet her. She actually seems content on the perch, grinding her beak and even closing her eyes. Now to work on her plucking…

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Tyrion

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Im so glad things are working out for her she is beautiful ;)
 
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