# How to get an african grey to trust again?



## BlackRose

This is roughly the situation.
My husband has an African grey. He must be about 2 and a half now, something like that. He got him when he was a baby and he was hand reared from our local breeder. 
Lovely bird,talks all the time, whistles and very handsome...not plucking or anything. 
He's in a massive cage and he's also in the same room as my parrotlet so they talk to each other too. (lol he even says ssshhh pepper when she gets too loud)!

Anyway, he used to come out all the time and not being much of a one for toys he would ignore them and prefer just to sit on the curtain pole and rant away, sometimes swinging upside-down.

My husband had been very I'll a lot recently and in and out of hospital. While he was home he had to relax as much as possible. So I was looking afer his parrot for him. At first it was a bit of a drama cos he's not used to me after building up a bond from a young age with my husband.
I have always made sure I was around for part of their time together so he would tolerate me at least if such a situation should arise.
He wont let me near him or in his cage and sometimes growls but he will let me take his food bowls out of the side of his cage and change them etc. He will sit right up to the cage and listen to me, clicking his beak and fluffing up. Sometimes he will bow his head for a scratch before deciding hed like to try and bite instead.

For a while it was hard going with my husband trying to earn trust back from him when he was well enough to give him the time he needed again. Eventually he was graced with a fluffy grey head to scratch and all seemed well. Now though he is screeching loudly at my husband whenever he goes near he cage to even take his food out the side or anything and we gotta plug our ears. He won't let anyone open his cage and so won't come out. 
How long before the screeching stops at least? Cos he needs to come out to stretch his wings. He's not very good at flying...never has been and during a bad molt (and many a bad crash landing) he had a broken feather or two on his wing which the vet said would heal. 
Its been so long now and I'm afraid he's not ever gonna come out or trust again.


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## Nel5on

Patience, thats the key, just keep going and eventually he will get better.

Im sure somebody else will have some better advice. but just keep at it in the meantime.


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## BlackRose

Thankyou. I told my husband its just time and patience. Spend as much time as possible with him. I said I know it's not what it's supposed to be like...just sitting by the cage talking to him for ages without him coming out but he won't be coming out at all until he feels like he can trust again and that's the way to do it. I just realised I answered my own question really and there was no point in asking but I suppose I'm just desperate cos my husband gets down or irritated by it,,,especially with the loud screeching. We got kids outside screaming their heads off which makes my depressed husband more depressed and he has to go up his rents for the night or a few nights and I feel like it starts all over again then and it's back to square one with me looking after the parrot. It's not the ideal environment ATM for him I do admit, but we did not expect all this commotion and delay with the health side of things. 
The grey doesn't screech or scream at all except when he's scared and jumps around his cage if you're near him. 
I don't understand cos of course when he was new he was scared and wasn't used to anyone but he wasn't like that. Surely it would be quicker and easier then for him to recover the trust and use the bond that's already there with someone he knows. It's not like he has never seen us before.
Seeing as this has been going on so long and he never plucks of anything and he always talks to himself does that mean he's not stressed?


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## Nel5on

What i would suggest is to try and situate the cage near your husbands chair in the living room or somewhere like that, get your husband to just sit in his chair and watch tv and let the bird realise that theres nothing to be scared of. make sure there is a perch high up on the other side of the cage incase he starts to get stressed by it all though.

has anything new been introduced to his cage? might be worth taking it back to the bare basics again and then start to introduce his toys back in gradually and see if that makes any difference.

just a few suggestions.
hope all is well asap, greys are lovely birds. if a little "sensitive".


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## samurai

I would introduce clicker training to your bird. Type "building trust with your bird" into youtube and go to the first video that comes up to see what i mean :2thumb:


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## BlackRose

He has had to be moved to a different room as the cats kept putting their paws through the cage and I was afraid they'd get their paws bitten off or they'd start climbing it. The parrot doesn't seem to be stressed at all by the cats prescence but if they climbed the cage that might be a different story. I made space for him ready for him to come back into the lving room and have been looking for answers as to deter the cats from touching the cage. The only thing I could think of was having cardboard all round the bottom of it but that would be ugly, stop us opening the door and the parrot hates cardboard. 
I also can't have my parrotlet out flying in the same room as she's so small she nearly gets into he greys cage. I havnt a cover big enough to cover the whole of the cage so she doesn't get in.
Btw I have to say its a bit odd calling him parrot or grey all the time lol so I'll just say that his name is Bonsai. He seems to really like the Muffin and Rolo (the cats) anyway and can even tell them apart. He knows them by name and if he hadn't seen them for a while he will ask 'where's Muffin?' or call Rolo.

I had a clicker on my iPod for pets that seemed to work well when it was feeding time for my bearded dragon and he would run to front with his mouth hanging open lol. I'll hafta download it again and try it. Any suggestions on he cat problem would be appreciated thanks.


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## Nel5on

my grandads old african grey used to get harassed by the dog ... untill one day he put his nose in the wrong place and got a bit of a nip ... needless to say the dog never bothered him again and there was no lasting damage to the dogs nose.

if the cats are intent on getting to the grey then id say dont let them in the same room as him. but as long as the cage is secure .. if they go near it im sure he will show them thats its not a great idea.

id get a cover for the cage that would fit snuggon the cage so you can get the parrokeet out.


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## BlackRose

Thanks. Maybe then, seeing as my cats are indoor cats, I can put the cats out the room when we go out anywhere. When we are home we will have to figure something out about the cage so the cats can't cling to it or get their paws in. Obviously cats can reach to quite a height when stretching up on their back legs and mine are by no means small cats...so maybe a set of blankets attatched and connected together around the cage from the bottom to quarter of the way up may keep that from happening. We can always take them off then when Bonsai does get to the stage where he can come out again. I just dont wanna have to worry about the cats getting hurt or feeling guilty if I move him back in and something happens. 
Both cats have been through their fair share with self inflicted injuries through their young lives and I know a grey can do a lot of damage to a human hand and bone, let alone to a poor little cats.


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## Sarah-Jayne

My African grey can be a bit temperamental sometimes, my other half is just starting to gain her trust. You have to be firm with them no hesitation, if you give them an inch they will take a mile! It will take time and patience but you will get there in the end. Whatever your birds favourite treat is feed it that whenever he does something good ie puts head down for a scratch etc and he will soon learn  I have a clicker for my grey but whenever she sees it she just does kiss noises and won't do anything else lol I clicker trained her to do kisses and I don't think she understands she has to do other things too bless her


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## BlackRose

Aww she sounds sweet 

If bonsai isn't plucking it doesn't necessarily mean he isn't stressed though right?
I will try and move him into the loving room tomorrow when I get back from my appointment. For now I guess I'll just hafta keep looking over my shoulder at the cats. I know cat bites can kill a bird in just 24 hours but it's far more likely that he will go for them I think.

How do you bird and cat keepers ensure safety and harmony between your big parrot and your cats without one or the other getting injured? The only suggestions on gOogle I found are spray bottles.


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## Nel5on

our cat isnt interested in the bird, and the bird isnt really interested in the cat. so its a win win situation. we dont leave them in the room when were not here though.


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## violentchopper

I've had to try and get my grandads parrots to gain my trust and it's hard work. We used to look after them a few times a year. He made the mistake of putting 2 together back in the early 90's. They are horrible and one will bite the other if you walk past or talk to them. 
I've found after gaining their trust it all goes out the window as soon as my grandad came back. They didn't want to know me then and I'd usually get bitten lol. 
Also they were cage defensive at first, even out on top of the cage they would attack me. I found once they left the cage I could pick them straight up and they were fine. I then tried to lure them off their cages with food and then handle them. After a short while he will be yours. Just be prepared to be dumped when your partners back. 
This is what i have experienced and may not be true in all cases. Parrots are great but don't get 2. My grandads parrot slowly stopped talking when he did this and one bullies the other. After being together for nearly 20 years I would say it's cruel to separate them


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