Please help,

There are so many issues with this bird, I have no idea which topic to post it under:

I'm visiting my grandma next week who has an african grey which was given to her, but which has severe behavioural problems. My biggest issue is that he is a vicious biter. When I last visited him a year ago, I tried training him to perch on my hand, instead, he grabbed my knuckle and thrashed about. There was blood everywhere, and he barely avoided going into the joint. I had bought a couple of books on african greys but neither had more than a couple of pages on biting or rehabilitation of parrots. Please could you recommend a reliable resource to use for this particular case, as well as suitable gloves/handwear and where I might get them from?

I urgently need to know where to start.

Thanks in advance.

You will need to give more information regarding the history of the grey? How is he with your grandma?

I don't know much about greys but please reconsider wearing gloves to "train" him. It will take lots of time and patience to earn his trust and not all birds ever make hand tame parrots.

There are some amazing people on here with masses of experience rehabilitating parrots though so I am sure that someone will be able to help you - what area are you in?

Egytort,

A good place to start might be to contact the helpline number. They can find out where you're based, what sort of issues there are and see if they can get someone to come out and visit you. As Steve says, there is clearly a lot of background that would need to be known about, before anyone can give you helpful advice.

Sorry Em but PLEASE do not use gloves near him it will only frighten him more, my guess is that hes scared thats why hes biting... please can you tell us if he is tame with your grandma... or has he always been like this, how old is he, how long has she had him, and where did he come from?

If you can answer this we can give advice.

If hes always been the same chances are hes a parent reared bird who is not used to humans and hes just really frightened.

He isn't mine Sheila

I agree with Sheila,please dont use a glove. The wearing of a glove freaks the majority of birds.If you could post some more information, his previous history, was he mistreated, neglected etc.. does he interact with any other family member, does he have time out from his cage etc...

There are various reasons as to why parrots bite ,One of the most common being fear,feeling threatened or nervous ,the list is endless..

Sheila, I think Em was advising Egytort NOT to wear gloves. It can be read either way though.

I was indeed asking Egytort to reconsider using a glove as it would make things far worse

Don't worry Em, I am sure Sheila's post was directed at egytort and not you , I must agree we need much more info from you before we can help. Birds take a lot of time and patience to tame. Greys espacially generally need a softly, softly approach, gloves or sticks can just make matters worse as they are generally more scared of the "new item".

Vicki

What Vicki and Sheila are saying is so true. I sometimes have to wear wrist splints. They freak birds out completely, even the gentlest birds will go for them.

It is important to know how old the bird is too. I have had a number of birds here, usually older ones, that have been parent reared and they are not handleable at all. Some will come in and out of cages to command, others have had to be tempted, for example, using a biscuit for one that couldn't resist them, to get him back into his cage.

If you don't have the bird living with you, you won't be able to help it. It's your grandma (or main carer) who will need to do the training. The first thing is to establish a routine, along with repeating the same words, ie 'out you come' when he's let out, 'inside' when he has to go in, that kind of thing. Some birds prefer to step onto a stick. If you cut the bottom off a Coke or lemonade bottle, and put the stick through the smaller hole, you can put your hand inside the bottle to hold the stick. Then you must be careful not to let the bird think the stick is a threat.... it will take time, time, and more time still. It all depends on the personality of the bird, and why it's biting. Scared? Territorial? Dominance? Until you know, you can't do much about it. Regular (and short) sessions will help. Lots of praise, bribery works wonders... and it's true, not all birds want to be 'people' birds. Most birds, though, can be trained not to be attackers. I have a Blue Fronted Amazon who will never, ever be handleable, but he's out of his cage a lot, and he has learned not to go for me, which is a huge improvement on previous behaviour. Good luck with it.
Doddie

I can only echo what has already been said regarding any background, and not using gloves. I have 4 greys, one is not handleable at all.The plus side with greys is that it is quite easy to read their body language, and so avoid being bitten.They are notorious for being suspicious of anything out of the ordinary.Fluffing up and pinning eyes, snaking body posture are all warning signs.Head down and looking at you sideways is another. Head down not looking at you, neck feathers raised they will usually accept a tickle.Slowly is the key. When you approach take notice when his body language changes, if he starts to fluff up. back off.Gradually as he becomes more confident, move closer.This all takes time.Let us know how you get on with him, it would be good to hear of any progress.

I know this may sound weird but one of my people in manchester also had a very very agressive bird that belonged to a relative, it was when I was not ACO but re told me this story about 2yrs ago. The Bird (a grey) had been isolated and ignored for years, so when she finally got her hands on it, it was terriefied of everything. So she put the cage next to her armchair, and she just at first sat there , watching TV and having 'one sided chats' with the CAG, then she would read to him, and she would eat her dinner next to him, offering him some from a spoon. At first he was really scared, but over time and we are talking months he gradually got braver and braver and now he will come out of his cage and sit next to her on the armchair, she makes no move to pick him up, like others have said, a routine was formed with consistant words, and when its betime she says comeone time for bed, and he walks into his cage now. Time is the factor with this, time and alot of patience.

Sit with the bird and talk to it let it hear your calm voice do make sudden movements dont put sticks near it just let it no your no threat to it. It may never be able to be handled but thats something you have to deal with many bird are happy to just play around there cages and sit and watch the world go by my TAG hates hand and will always be the same but he is out all day everyday playing and taking food from me!! He is happy so i am!

Just want to say sorry Em read it wrong got too many things going on right now.. we cant help until we have more information

lol no problem hun