tamming african greys

Question
i have just bought a congo grey.i dont know how old it is but its tail still has a bit of brown in it.i want to tame it but she wont let me anywhere near it(squarks like mad) can you help me.

Answer
Hi,

You have taking in a HUGE commitment. Congrats on your new 2 to 3 year old child! (Because African Greys have the emotional and social skills of a 2 & 1/2 to 3 year old human child. And the intellectual skills of 5 or 6 year old human children in some cases).

If you keep in mind that your grey is of that intellegence, it is understandable how scared your bird might be right now. Just remember that this bird has been displaced from everything s/he has ever known and might not even be accustomed to people.  It will take a LONG time to tame a grey that is very frightened of people. But it can happen if you are gentle, consistant and above all, patient. It may take months or even years (to for warn you).

Here are some wonderful articles that should help you work with your new grey:

http://www.parrothouse.com/pamelaclark/secondhand.html

http://www.parrothouse.com/jh4.html

http://www.parrothouse.com/pamelaclark/greymatters.html

http://www.parrothouse.com/pamelaclark/stress.html

I hope this helps.

-Maggie