Hello, new African Grey owner here

[Leo.nardo]

Hello everyone,


My name is Leonardo, and I thought I’d introduce myself. I’m a biologist currently living in the UAE.


I grew up with parrots and kept several species from the time I was around 13 years old through my university years, including Amazon parrots and conures. My last parrots were a yellow-naped Amazon and a lilac-crowned Amazon, and after more than 20 years without having a parrot, I’ve recently welcomed a young African Grey into my home.


He’s about five to six months old and was imported from South Africa. I’ve had him for 10 days now, and so far things are going really well. He’s settling in nicely, we’re starting to build a bond, and I’m very happy with how he’s adapting. He’s gaining weight, becoming more confident every day, and just recently accepted head scratches for the first time, which felt like a nice milestone.


I’m looking forward to being part of this community—not only to learn from everyone’s experience, but also to share my own as we all continue learning from these incredible birds.


I do have one question I’d love to hear your thoughts on.


I’m working on helping him become comfortable spending short periods inside his cage during the day. Most of the time he’s either on the play stand on top of the cage or on a portable play stand that I move around the house. He sleeps in his cage every night without any issues and has already settled into a very consistent routine.


During the day, though, I’m trying to introduce short 5–10 minute sessions inside the cage. I make it a positive experience by giving him his vegetable mix and other favourite foods, and I’ve added toys for him to explore. However, almost as soon as he goes in, he climbs down and starts scratching at the bottom of the cage.


At night he doesn’t do this at all—he clearly understands it’s bedtime, relaxes, and settles down once I cover the cage.


I know it’s still very early days and I’m in no rush, but I’d be interested to hear how others approached this stage and what worked for you.


Thanks, and I’m glad to be here. I look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing experiences along the way.


Leonardo

 

[MommyBird]

Welcome Leonardo!
What's your grey's name?

This digging behavior is normal in the wild.
You could try to redirect by giving foraging activities in the cage, such as an artificial grass foraging mat, a box or tray of wrapped food/toys and crumpled paper to dig thru.

If you really don't want him doing that in his cage you could put the cage grate in above the bottom to separate the body of the cage from the bottom.

This is an article about it :
Ask the Vet webinar - Grey digging – Lafeber® Pet Birds

 

[Shannan]

My Gray loved exploring the bottom of his cage for most of his life. So I just put toys down there and let him have fun. He particularly liked cardboard trays (like the ones that cat and dog food come in, and paper as well as willow balls. He also enjoyed foot toys like stainless steal and other things he could carry around and throw. Congratulations on your new Grey. They require a lot of engagement (both actively and ambient as they like to observe and know what's going on. That's impressive that he is already allowing head skritches as most Greys tend to be more of a hands off kind of bird. Just be aware that they are famous for their bait and switch.... leaning in for scratches and then biting. My grey never did that but I have met several that have.

 

[Parront]

Many years a go we had a AG, and he was the love of my flock! if you train yours up right they can be snuggle bugs. They are also extremly intelligent and he will do very good if you give him enrichment toys as well as foot toys as already mentioned. I actually would spend time each day showing him and our B&G different objects, and repeating over and they were. Over time both had huge vocabularys. You might like this article about Alex. I cried when he passed. I was a huge amirer. Alex (parrot) - Wikipedia

 

[Leo.nardo]

Thank you, glad to be here!

He/she still does not have a name, my boys want to name it Harold if it's a male (like the book "Harold finds his voice"),
I like the idea. Still don't know what to name it if it's a female. I will take him/her soon for a full check up and to get some lab
tests done for chlamydia and will have him DNA tested as well. I've been waiting until he settles down a bit so as not to add too much stress
and will probably take him next week.

As for the digging, I will definitely give the foraging mat or box a try...he is still discovering a few of his toys and is still
gaining confidence to explore a little more every day.

I'm not sure what you mean about separating the body of the cage from the bottom, I will take a photo of his cage and share it
tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing the article, will take a look!

Welcome Leonardo!
What's your grey's name?

This digging behavior is normal in the wild.
You could try to redirect by giving foraging activities in the cage, such as an artificial grass foraging mat, a box or tray of wrapped food/toys and crumpled paper to dig thru.

If you really don't want him doing that in his cage you could put the cage grate in above the bottom to separate the body of the cage from the bottom.

This is an article about it :
Ask the Vet webinar - Grey digging – Lafeber® Pet Birds

 

[Leo.nardo]

My Gray loved exploring the bottom of his cage for most of his life. So I just put toys down there and let him have fun. He particularly liked cardboard trays (like the ones that cat and dog food come in, and paper as well as willow balls. He also enjoyed foot toys like stainless steal and other things he could carry around and throw. Congratulations on your new Grey. They require a lot of engagement (both actively and ambient as they like to observe and know what's going on. That's impressive that he is already allowing head skritches as most Greys tend to be more of a hands off kind of bird. Just be aware that they are famous for their bait and switch.... leaning in for scratches and then biting. My grey never did that but I have met several that have.

Thanks for sharing your experience, the cardboard trays sound like a great idea and will also try the paper and willow balls. He is still exploring his toys and is still a bit hesitant though he is more confident every day and seems quite content with his daily routine at the moment. He is with me and my family pretty much all day every day, he spends a lot of time just on his play stand or on top of his cage doing his own thing while watching my kids play or just around the family. I have taken it slow with the head scratches and started just by touching his beak and speaking kindly to him, then moved towards the cheeks and now he asks for head scratches all the time. I try to not overdo it and leave him wanting more without giving him the chance to bite and I also use a step up perch.

Anyway, we are still getting to know each other...all advice and tips are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Leo.nardo]

Many years a go we had a AG, and he was the love of my flock! if you train yours up right they can be snuggle bugs. They are also extremly intelligent and he will do very good if you give him enrichment toys as well as foot toys as already mentioned. I actually would spend time each day showing him and our B&G different objects, and repeating over and they were. Over time both had huge vocabularys. You might like this article about Alex. I cried when he passed. I was a huge amirer. Alex (parrot) - Wikipedia

Thanks for sharing the link on Alex, very interesting stuff. As for my own, I hope to build up my relationship with him and time will tell how his personality will be.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Welcome Leonardo! Glad you joined. Looking forward to you sharing your journey with your bird!