Every new toy I bring to her she screams at, bites, and automatically hates. I walked past her yesterday with a tape measure to measure a "priceless" and well loved poster I aquired from Canada and she launched to the bottom of the cage, fell on her back, screamed and when I put the tape measure down she attacked me.

I'm beginning to wonder if this behavior will ever stop. I've tried leaving toys near her cage for days to introduce her to them but then she'll just stand to the furthest corner of her cage she can and only if she's starving will go down to eat from her tray, othertimes I buckle down and move the object of hate from her sight just so she will go eat. She's so stubborn!

She also refuses to step up, so I have to corral her to the corner of her cage with my hands as gently as possible, and physically remove her from the cage sometimes =(.

I do this for baths, and when I have to clean her cage and lord does she not like it. I play with her for two hours a day minimum, and I'm always in the room with her and we chat a lot, and if I can lean up on top of the cage with my arms and pat her bum she'll walk up onto my arm and sit there but then I have to pry her off so she'll sit in my lap because I don't want her developing shoulder dominance.

She's constantly afraid of normal things I do in the house, and the covering half her cage when I have to do things doesn't seem to be working for her anymore because now she's started throwing bratty fits at the towels being placed anywhere near her.

I love her dearly, and don't want to trade her for anything in the world but she's kinda making me feel like a bad mom for trying. What am I missing that:

1. Could better her acceptance of new objects and regular tasks in the same room.

2.) get her to step up normally so I don't have to chase her and pry her out of the cage because I know that can't be good for her psyche

3.) Get her, to stop opening her cage, and climbing into Data and Rosetta's and chasing them out without me having to resort to paddlocking her in her own cage?


I really don't think that's fair for me to lock her in when the tiels get to run wild all day but she likes to do it when I take my 2 hour bird break every day. (which she gets locked in for) or my bathroom breaks sometimes where I have come back in to see her sneaking her way out.

On the plus side of Harley She's very talkative. She learns at least 1-2 new words a week that I can understand, or a new person's voice. All her feathers that were destroyed in her previous place of residence are growing back in nice and strong and though sometimes I think I am making progress on gaining her bond with me. She always relapses into these screaming fits with me and I feel like I'm making her insecure when I'm not trying to.

Also.

My male Friend Greg when he visits, she always goes to the bottom of her cage and does a chicken leg rut thing like she's scratching the ground and will stare at Greg until he leaves. What behavior is that?

Bless your heart! Greys are known for their "fraidycatness". Gipper never would accept new toys. The ones he would play with had to be natural colored. NO bright colors. He would startle easily too. I read somewhere that it is because they are so smart. When a macaw falls off her perch she think "OOPS. I just fell off my perch." When a grey falls off his perch he thinks "OH NO!! I fell off my perch!! I could have been hurt!! What if I'd lost a feather??? What if .... What if ....!!!". Just give lots of reassurances and have lots of patience. I believe it will get better. As for what she does when Greg is there, I can translate that for you. "GET OUT OF OUR NEST NOW OR ELSE!!!!".

So.... I'm not a bad big bird mom it's just how she is? Cause my other birds love me, learned step up, can whistle a tune or understand to give kisses I don't really ask anything else of them. But she when she screams and cries sometimes it makes my skin crawl like I'm the worst person in the world for wanting to do her daily upkeeping.

Oh Harley, what are you doing to your poor Mum! I'm sure she'll come around eventually . The only reason I believe that is because JubJub has been the exact same ever since I first got him, but he's FINALLY starting to get used to things now. It's taken almost a year, but he's stopped flapping like crazy when we walk into the room or when Tiana yells suddenly. He still gets spooked by the simplest things (like fresh water... What kind of bird is scared of fresh water??), but he is learning. So I'm sure Harley will come around too, you'll just have to have patience . I know that part's hard, too, I was so upset when I'd walk into a room and have JubJub throw a total fit, flapping around the cage and hiding under things.

Oh, you HAVE to get a video of Data (I think that's who it was) whistling the Star Wars theme song, that was soooo cute when you showed me!!

Hope Harley starts to behave

Of course you aren't a bad bird mom! You are a good egg one! Even as long as I had Gipper I could ONLY scritch his head and neck. When he died was the first time I ever touched his little wings. It's ok. He loves you, he just can't help it. Keep at it though and you will be rewarded!

My sister wraps up new toys so that Gizmo opens it, he is not scared then. Does Harley rip up paper?

I know how it feels, Brian is just over a year old and it took ages before he would be ok with new toys. I always used to read that you should change toys every week, or even every few days. It never worked for me, cause he never had the chance to get used one toy before it was replaced with a new one, and I think it all got too much. He still doesn't always play with his toys, but he at least allows them to be put in there now.

With the toys, I think you need to take very small baby steps. At first I left Brian's cage as it was for a few weeks, then just made one small change, by moving one of his toys to a different location in the cage. Then I left it for a couple of weeks or so, and then made another small change. After a while you can start making larger changes, by moving a few toys around, and eventually moving all of them. Then you can try replacing a toy with another one, preferably one she has already played with. To add a completely new toy I would leave it near the cage for weeks before adding it. You could even try leaving it the other side of the room and bringing it slightly closer each day or something. If she still goes mad when you add the new toy, you could try getting a new toy which is very similar to one she already likes and see if she will be more accepting of it. The key is to always be taking really small baby steps, and if that isn't working, you have to think of ways to go even slower, for example waiting longer before making the next change. It is frustrating, but she will get it in time.

As for getting her used to regular tasks, I think you should leave the cover off. It might be scaring her or making her angry cause she can't see what you are doing or she thinks you are excluding her. If she screams just carry on doing whatever you are doing like it is a perfectly normal task and you're not going to stop just because she is making a racket. All the time she is not screaming you could carry on, but talk to her and tell her what a good girl she is being.

Hi - just read your troubles - good for you for doing your best.

As has been mentioned ~ I think the natural coloured toys or natural products might work. The paper wrap sounds like a great idea too. I made food toys for the Grey I bird sat. Bunny was very social though - a dear really.

Do you take Harley out at all? Is having friends over a rare thing? Maybe he's just not used to these things. All creatures have their tolerance levels. Me too.

Tough one. Probably hard for any of us to say without being there, but here are a few suggestions.

-Focused training (clicker and/or trick training to develop trust).
-Step up training, from a small T perch in a neutral location, every day for 10-20 minutes, until the issue resolves and Harley learns to step up and trust well, or until it is evident that this training is not going to solve the issue. Also, try stick training.
-Foraging boxes THEN gift wrapped toys, so the bird learns to associate opening things with good stuff.


As for the tape measure. It's a dangerous snake dontcha know???!!!!! Actually, Tiki my scarlet has declared tape measures her worst enemy; it has always been that way... and she LIKES new things. So, there could just be things your bird does not like, period. But if it is EVERYTHING new that Harley doesn't like, it might take some therapy to help cope.

How old is Harley, the cage floor behavior when your friend visits almost seems like nesting behavior, or territory protective behavior. Hard to say without seeing it.