hello there
my name is injood. im 23 Female from Bahrain. i have an african grey which i love so much but im wondering if you can give me any advice that could help me with her. she's around 2 years old and she's a Congo. I'm calling her a she because she has a rounder head and is lighter in color so im guessing its a female. Her name is Tommy but i usually call her Big Bird and she sorta thinks thats her name LOL, i also have 5 cockatiels but they all have separated play time since my grey always wants to bite them.
here is the thing, my cousin got me tommy as a birthday gift february last year. She got her from someone i dont know and i dont think this person knows how to take care of birds in general, so when I got her, she was very aggressive and very angry. It took me almost one year to almost tame her. We dont really have any good vets here so when i took her for a check up the guy just didnt know what to do. He just gave me some vitamins and told me that her droppings were sorta watery and left. So, i had to do everything on my own. When i got her she was very thin and had stress feathers, she would growl and scream at anyone who came close to her, and she wouldnt eat and barely drank her water. But all of this has changed thank goodness. She is now in proper shape and no more stress feathers. She eats and drinks like she should and has gained weight. She talks and whistles and plays like a grey should be. but i have one problem with her, she HATES other people.
i am engaged but still living with my family till my fiance finishes with building a new house. My grey will accept food from my mother father and brother but will not allow them to pet her. She is TERRIFIED from my sister. Once she sees her she will jump and scream. She does the same thing to family and friends that she doesnt know, so when ever i have a guest around i have to cover her cage or take her to another room even though i hate doing it. I'm guessing that this behavior is from lack of socialization from her previous owner. she also hates new toys and likes to chew on her towel and rope all day, she only lets me give her scritches and pet her, she will only come on my hand. Shes just ther sweetest bird when im around her with no one else there.
so im worried about when im moving out, all my birds will be coming with me, but im affraid she will be scared of the new place and im affraid that she will give my fiance a hard time ( since she thinks shes the boss sometimes ). Shes not used to him at all. Do you have any advices or tips for me to use so that i can change this behavior about her? i really love my grey and im very attached to her, i hate to see her this way.
im looking forward for your reply.
thank you in advance,
Injood