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Post by newbietogreys on Jul 17, 2017 17:02:17 GMT -7
I rescued a 3 yrold Timenh male from his basement prison. I have had him for six years and he is ours forever. It actually took us a couple years to earn hid trust and love, but well worth the effort. A couple months ago we adopted a congo grey, 19 yrs old, Sherman. He took to us almost instantly. Pete, however is taking a bit longer to adjust to this newest member of our family. We have 2 med indoor pups. We refer to the pups as "the boys" and the greys as "the guys". They all respond great to this. Each fella has their own special "play time" with us each evening. My question is about Pete. 1st, he has been exhibiting what I think is breeding behaviors with my hand during his play time. This started before Sherman came. I am unsure how, or if, I should curb this. Also, he has started attacking visitors feet. To the point I have to cage him, after I stop laughing. Lol. How do I get him to stop scooting down off his cage as soon as a visitor is engaged in conversation with me? Thank you for provding a place with so much info.
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Post by beakertrout on Jul 17, 2017 17:05:27 GMT -7
Welcome.
FOOTSTOOLS for guests.
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Post by Haz on Jul 17, 2017 17:30:23 GMT -7
Welcome to the forum.
When Pete exhibits breeding behaviour, try distracting him with a toy. If you are sure that Pete is male, it is not so important to stop him. With a female, the danger of breeding behaviour is the production of eggs which can deplete the bird's calcium. There have been several surprised members on the forum when their "male" bird lays an egg after having "him" for years.
It is not unusual for a grey to attack feet. My first grey used to attack my husband's feet. He always had to ensure he wore slippers when the bird was around.
Haz
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Post by chris on Jul 18, 2017 7:33:24 GMT -7
Timneh Ruby loves feet; I think this is pretty common for AG's. My cockatiel (RIP) loved feet too - he'd get so excited it was a little scary! Big difference though - a cockatiel (at least mine) would give little bites that tickled more than hurt. The AG? Ouch!!! Now when she's out-and-about all feet get covered up *quickly* - I swear it's like a reflex action that we don't even think about anymore. BTW I love the name 'Pete' and always wanted a parrot with that name. My g/f hated the name but I won the argument for a few days until the DNA results came in.
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patch
Weaned Todd
Joined: June 2017
Posts: 28
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Post by patch on Jul 18, 2017 15:22:12 GMT -7
The Greys seems to interact with the feet as a substitute for interacting with the large, scary human. Our Grey fell in love with Ken's feet when he was a baby. He grabbed Ken's toes so tightly Ken would wince in pain, but the bird was only trying to be friendly. When visitors come, he goes around, clinging to the shoes of the people he finds attractive. Don't get me started how he reacts on cold nights when we all go to bed, and someone is wearing GREY socks to bed. Twins! His lucky day! LOL
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Post by susan on Jul 18, 2017 17:32:38 GMT -7
The Greys seems to interact with the feet as a substitute for interacting with the large, scary human. Our Grey fell in love with Ken's feet when he was a baby. He grabbed Ken's toes so tightly Ken would wince in pain, but the bird was only trying to be friendly. When visitors come, he goes around, clinging to the shoes of the people he finds attractive. Don't get me started how he reacts on cold nights when we all go to bed, and someone is wearing GREY socks to bed. Twins! His lucky day! LOL Every bird I have had thought that feet were alien being that needed to be killed. The worst was a black headed caique that would literally run to the feet and attack with a vengeance. Sid the CAG will do a slow sneak attack. I could understand if the bird had been stepped on the distant past, but that has not been the case. Shoes and socks just seem to draw added attention to them.
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Post by Haz on Jul 20, 2017 18:51:10 GMT -7
Our last cockatiel was a foot bird. She loved to sit on any available foot. Hubby nearly stepped on her once as she was running to sit on his foot when he wasn't paying attention. She didn't bite. Hubby used to try to get her to bite him saying that if she ever got away, an earthworm would take her. He never could get her to bite.
Haz
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