Quick African Grey Question.?

It is possible to get past Obi's reluctance to leave her cage, but only at HER pace. Talking to her is good and singing with her is fine, but getting her to come out of her cage must be done so that it feels like it's HER idea and not yours. It could be that she was forced to do some things in her life and so she's become extremely sensitive to any idea of force or coercion.

Try this:

Sit next to her cage, but don't look at her - have the side of your face visible only - don't make eye contact. After a day or two, leave her cage door unlatched and slightly ajar and continue to only watch her out of the corner of your eye, while sitting next to the cage. You can talk very quietly to her, even whisper to her. The quieter the better as this may draw her closer to you in order to hear you clearly. If/when she dares to venture out of the cage - don't alarm her in any way, continue to "ignore" her. Continue to let HER do that approaching, not the other way around.

If Obi has a favourite treat, you can try placing the treat just out of reach of the door of her cage, so that she must take a step out in order to get it. Subsequent treats can be placed, or offered, a little further from the cage, and so on. This is called positive reinforcement, the bird is rewarded with every step forward towards the goal you have in mind. Don't expect miracles overnight, but sometimes birds can surprise you when they suddenly "get it" and give you exactly what you hoped for, for which they should receive extra treats and praise (whatever praise they prefer, that is.) Never startle or spook a Grey that you are trying to encourage.

Getting a fearful bird to exit their cage takes a lot of patience! Allowing Obi to go at a pace that's comfortable to her may take A LOT of time, but it can be accomplished if you can take your time.

Learning to let someone handle her will also take time, patience, and "positive reinforcement" (aka treats). I recommend getting Barbara Heidenreich's DVDs on bird training. She uses treats to seduce birds into stepping up, going into carriers, allowing physical contact, etc. Her methods WORK and do not use any kind of force, instead it's a reward system that really gets results.

You can find these DVDs and a couple of books by her as well at this site: http://www.goodbirdinc.com/parrot-store.html

You may also like to join a forum, where you can get help and lots of tips from other companions of African Greys: http://www.anafricangrey.ca/

I help moderate the site, and having the help of fellow Grey-enthusiasts makes life with a Grey that much easier and more rewarding.

I hope this helps. :)

You can slowly tame a bird to handling then gradually to going into new rooms. The problem is that she feels safe in her own cage/nest area. People often think in human terms about how wonderful it would be to fly. In bird terms, flying is used in emergencies....to get food if they run out and to escape from predators or threatening weather. It's like running for us. Some people do it for fun, but most people use it for emergencies.

So consider all taming to be about showing her that things are safe. If you offer her food, will she take it from your hand? Try asking her to eat a bowl of food while you hold the bowl. Each time she approaches the bowl, you can move your hand a little farther away.

You are trying to show her two things. Being brave is rewarded by safety and she controls how much touching or handling there is. As long as she knows that it's up to her if you get close, and trying it out results in safety of distance, she'll get braver and braver.

What most people do is gradually ask the bird for more and more contact. This can make a frightened bird worse because MORE is exactly what she is afraid of. So instead, reward her for approaching by backing up. This way she can learn that you won't close the distance. Only she can.

Building trust takes time and don't move the cage around as this only confuses the bird more. You need to have ongoing dialogue with other people having been through this.

There are several message boards able to help you with your parrot. I would suggest joining all of them as each one has a different 'flavor' and level of friendliness but all have members with decades of experience living with parrots.

http://www.mytoos.com/

http://www.skarlettsweb.com/forums/index.php

http://www.secondchancebirds.net/forum