Please Help! Trouble introducing grey to ANYTHING!!!

[jj_qpr]

Hi All,

New to this board, and to African Greys, I have had Corkey (5 years old) for about a month now, and on the whole she is brilliant, very friendly and talkative, never bites or screams at me. However I am having real trouble getting her to get used to ANYTHING such as toys, ladders, stands, ANYTHING, and wondered if there were any tips people can give me? The toys she had in her cage I've take out as she wasn;t interested in them, the ladder I got to help her get in and out the cage she is petrified of it. Today I bought a proper parrot stand so she can be with us when eating, or so I could put her in another room when cleaning the cage out etc. But shes terrified of the thing.
How can I get her used to the stand? At the first sight of it she ends up trying to fly across the room and she won't go near the thing. Any advise would really be appreciated, I dont wnat to get rid of the stand as it will help me a lot, and mean I can spend more time with her in other rooms I hope.

Thanks in advance,

James

[Kibibi]

It often takes a LOT of patience. Right now it's probably still getting used to you so anything that you offer is possible harmful in your Grey's eyes. It takes a long time with some Greys (sometimes years) to build a trusting relationship. New toys should be slowly moved toward them. You can start by placing the toy in clear view but far enough away as to not scare the bird. This may be 5 feet or 20 feet depending on your Grey. Once it gets used to it, you can move it closer to its cage. This may take multiple steps and it may take days. Eventually (with great patience) you'll be able to attach the toy to the outside of the cage without scaring your Grey. You can then move it inside the cage after your Grey gets used to it and explores it. After repeating this process with many toys, over many months (or years) you Grey will eventually trust you and what you offer and the process can be accelerated. I've had my Grey about 9 years and I sometimes still have to follow this process with new toys. Whatever you do, don't put a new toy inside the cage before the Grey is used to it. It would be similar to a tiger trainer releasing a tiger inside your house.    You would be afraid of the tiger AND you would be afraid of anything else the tiger trainer puts inside your house in the future. Also, never force it. This will undue any trust that you Grey has with you up to that point.
Regarding your stand, if you have toys on your stand or anything else on or around it that may be frightening, then you might want to remove them and let your Grey get used to just the stand. Again, you should treat the stand just like any other new experience. Place it in view of your Grey and leave it there for a while (probably a few days) and slowly move it toward your Grey step by step. Eventually you'll be able to carry your Grey close to the stand and with great patience, your Grey might want to reach out and touch it with it's beak to explore it. Eventually it will step up on it. You can entice it during this last step with it's favorite treat.
I know this sounds like a pain in the butt, but Greys are very suspicious of new things especially with a new owner so you have to take your time. Sorry about the long winded response - it's easier to do than to explain.... it just takes a LOT longer

[ladytek]

Most of the books I have read suggest placing a new item in the room where they can see it, move it closer to the cage each day until she accepts it.  Let her see you play with the new item, even playing with it and another person or bird.  She needs to know that it won't hurt her and by you playing with it, touching or handling it she will see that you are ok and that the new item is ok.
Faye