holly95
Just Hatched
Joined: March 2018
Posts: 2
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Post by holly95 on Mar 26, 2018 2:15:19 GMT -7
Hi. I bought my boyfriend an African Grey about 2 years ago. She used to be really sweet towards me and would even suckle on my fingers when ever I was around the cage. However she's now taken to lunging and biting me.
When ever I go near the cage now she lowers her head and when I go to stroke her she then quickly goes to bite me.
Even when she's out of the cage and runs at any piece of flesh that's exposed and bites it.
Me and my boyfriend are moving in together soon, so any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
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Post by Jane on Mar 26, 2018 3:12:48 GMT -7
Hello and welcome to the forum.
You say you bought her about 2 years ago - how old is she now? They can change behaviour around the age of two, in the wild they would be leaving the family group at that sort of age.
Have there been any changes in her surroundings?
Jane
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holly95
Just Hatched
Joined: March 2018
Posts: 2
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Post by holly95 on Mar 26, 2018 3:37:54 GMT -7
Hey Jane.
I bought her in 2016, so she must be about 1 1/2 because she was born June that year.
There hasn't been any changes that I can think of.
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Post by Jane on Mar 26, 2018 5:01:27 GMT -7
This is not unusual. Many Greys go through a phase around this age when they are wanting to be independent and they are trying to assert themselves and test relationships. They sometimes change their favourite person (if they have one) at this time because instinctively they should be breaking away and making new relationships, which is what they would be doing in the wild.
Stay calm but firm with verbal requests, don't appear nervous.
Also try providing more toys and rearranging the cage to provide extra stimulation as a distraction.
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Post by beakertrout on Mar 26, 2018 8:37:11 GMT -7
Sounds like what my son went through with Beaker.
It only took 5 or 6 years for Beaker to develop a great relationship.
AG's are pieces of work.
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Post by Thomas on Mar 26, 2018 11:46:38 GMT -7
AAHH!!That's one of the great mysteries of life, the biting parrot! Once you are moved in and interact with her, she may become a bit less aggressive...or not. My grey, Sheeba, bites everybody, but seems to accept me. But she will let me know once in a while that she can bite me, too.
I have had several parrots over the last 40 years, I have been bit by most. Only a Mealy Amazon and a Mexican Double Yellow Head never bit me. If you show any fear, they will use it.
Have patience.
Thomas
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microtyger
Just Hatched
Joined: August 2018
Posts: 1
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Post by microtyger on Aug 21, 2018 21:01:54 GMT -7
I've had my AG, Mumbles, for 27 yrs now. When I got her at one yr old, she bit a lot out of fear, but she was not hand raised.
After lots of time and patience she gradually stopped biting/drawing blood for the most part.
I still wanted to get her so she really didn't bite at all, so when she did bite hard, I acted like it was no big deal and didn't hurt.
This phase has gone on for years. It suddenly occurred to me to try something quite the opposite. I figured maybe she didn't know she was actually hurting me, as this was the message I was giving her after all.
A few months ago, I began yelling OOUCHHH really loud and walked away as if in major pain (which was really the truth anyway... lol) whenever she would draw blood or even bite really hard.
Well, she got the idea quite quickly. She's almost completely stopped biting now and is extremely gentle with her beak 99.9% of the time!
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Post by chris on Aug 22, 2018 9:00:02 GMT -7
That's good info microtyger. My suspicion is it's not the yelling as much as the walking away that has caused the improved behavior, but in consideration that we know these birds to be so intelligent, why not treat them accordingly? Ignoring something painful isn't a terribly smart thing to do!
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