# African grey parrot



## kat86 (Sep 24, 2010)

Hi

I picked up Oscar about four weeks ago. He is four-five years old & I know nothing about his previous home, but I do know that he was hand reared. 

He can e quite aggressive, so was wondering what tips you have for taming him down a bit. 

Gotta admit love him to bits & he's such a cheeky boy! Just want him to stop biting & be comfortable with us. He has got a lot better since we first got him so wondering if it will just take time? Or do you think he will always love biting??

If he's out of his cage the only way to get him back in is to pick him up using a towel. Which doesn't seem to bother him much at all, but if you try picking up with hands then he decides that your fingrs make nice chewing toys!!!!


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## Tomcat (Jul 29, 2007)

Hello,

I had my african grey for 7 months before he would even step onto my arm. Now he will fly to me and chatter away to me all day long.

Its a test of patience, however rush it, and you may well regret it! He needs to create a bond with you and learn to trust you, if you try to rush him, he simply wont trust you.

Like i said, it tool Ollie 7 months to even step up onto me and even now, he still has days where he will bite... They are the same as us, they can have moody days too!

Also, stop toweling him. It can break any trust you have. If he wont hop up onto your hand or arm, then try using a perch and over time, shorten the perch until he is on your hand. 

Ollie would never ever let me pick him up, even now, however he will 90% of the time step up without hassle. Start teaching him the 'step up' or 'step' command. Ollie will step onto me when i say 'Step up' and get off me when i say 'Step down'.

A good way to get them back into their cage is with their favourite treat! This is different from parrot to parrot, some will do it for a bit of apple, pear, monkey nut, sun flower seed etc.

Also, diet is very very important with parrots and their mood and behaviour.

When i got Ollie he was fed a seed diet. Although this was advertised as a parrot mix, they arent fantastic... Sunflower seeds are very fatty!

Try and get him on the 'Harrisons' pellets, these are a complete diet and can take time for them to move over onto it, however just do it slowly and he should soon get used to it. You can then use sunflower seeds as a treat! Ollie loves sunflower seeds, however i dont love how close to my fingers he has to be when he takes them from me haha.


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## 53bird (Sep 30, 2009)

some good advice given so far.

its all about time and building trust, which can take a long time and you dont know what has happened to the bird before (scary experiances that can stay with the bird for a very long time) 

trick training is a great step forward and if done right you can end up with a wounderfull companion bird. all it takes is 10/15 mins a day or until he gets bored, as you dont want to push anything on him. it may take a year or two, or even more but it will be worth everything when you get his trust fully :2thumb:

diet is always a tricky one as there are so many views, harrisons is one of the best complete diets out there after that african, prettybird is also very good.
when i got my grey i was always told to feed 33% complete diet 33% special african grey seed and dried fruit mix (very low sunflow content) and 33% fresh friut an veg : victory:
my old vet also said this was best (alan k jones who seminars for other avian vets kind of a guru in the avian world) sadly he is semi retierd now) 

but differant things work better for some an not others, alot of peoples birds do great on a complete diet with fresh fruit an veg added

also try him with palm nuts which you can get from here Parrot Supplies - UK Online Parrot Shop, Huge Range & Fast Delivery

i give mine one a day as a treat for going back in for bed. (in the wild they would eat alot of these) 

also norhtan parrots do alot of training dvds to give you a few ideas and help : victory:

hope this helps and the best of luck


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