Tobias

STORY OF TOBIAS

The date was 21 November 1999. We were visiting Safari Select to see what birds they had in stock and whether or not our ordered Cape female had arrived yet. We spotted several cages of African Grey parrots. I asked one of the staff if they had a young bird available. He took me to another section where several birds were. I chose the bird I liked the look of. He had only just started to get the yellow in the eye, and was estimated to be between a year and eighteen months old. At the same time we saw a beautiful cage on casters which measured b7" wide x 24" deep x 68" high (69cm x 61cm x 172cm). It was fairly expensive but we thought that it would be an ideal size for him, so paid for that at the same time as paying for him. He was wild caught imported from Africa. We realised that being wild, he would probably take a while before we could interact with each other.

How Tobias got his name

We were in the car heading home, and as usual when getting a new bird were discussing his name. All the younger children had already made up their minds. A television program in which the children morphed into animals, birds etc had a teenager who morphed into a hawk. As his name was Tobias, they thought that would be appropriate for our new family member. Tobias it was.

Tobias Learns something new

After he had been through his "house quarantine" period, we let him out to fly around. He was really clumsy, flying into everything and growling much better when we went to help him. It took a few outings for him to find his wings and get his balance and directions right. Each time we had to wait until dark, turn off the lights and catch him with a towel in order to put him back to bed. His cage had a little opening at the top, and I decided that I would try something new. I opened the hatch and said to him "Out please" while pointing to the opening. Eventually he climbed up and exited through the little hatch. I said to him "Thank you. Good boy" and he responded with a "Graah!" When I felt it was time for him to go back in, I pointed to the opening and said, "Bed please" to which he responded, "Graah!". I kept repeating the command and pointing to the hatch door. Imagine my surprise when he walked over to the hatch, looked at me and went inside. I said to him "Thank you. Good boy". He had surprised me! After that, each time his turn to come out arrived, I would go through the same motions, and like a good boy, he would go to bed, usually after only one request. He is still good like this. It took him less than a month of repeating the command for out and bed, before he responded. Sometimes, if he feels he hasn't been out, he will need two, or at the most, three requests and will then comply.

His growling took about six months or so before he stopped doing it when approached, and now only occasionally makes the sound.

Learning to talk and imitate

It was not too long after we got him that he learned to say his first words. His very first word was my eldest daughter's name. He started calling repetitively "Corrine. Corrine" after she left for work one morning. He kept that up on and off all day until she came back home. His next saying was "Pee-po". He learned that when I was hiding and put my head in sight, saying "Pee-po" it meant he had to look for me. It then got to the stage where if he wanted to see someone when they were in another room, he would start calling this until someone appeared. His next word was our second daughter Joy's name. He would go for days where he would call Joy all day and every day after she left for college. Once she arrived home, he would only call her occasionally. He has copied all the other birds sounds exactly. It is now very difficult to tell whether it is one of the other birds or Tobias now. One clue to telling who it is, is by the volume. Everything with Tobias is done with the volume turned up to maximum. Even the soft "Prip, Prip" from our Maroon Bellied Conures he gives rendition of at full volume.

He loves chewing and really made a mess of the wall paper next to his cage. We make a point of hanging new toys on the outside of his cage prior to putting these inside as he is a very nervous bird and does not like anything new. Once he accepts the new item, then he is fine.

Making friends

I decided on Tobias' first time out, to take a chance and let Cheeky out at the same time, but watch them both very closely. Their cages were next to each other, so they had seen each other since Tobias arrived. They were instant friends. Cheeky was on his apple branch above his cage and Tobias sidled across and started to make friends. Soon they were preening each other and had settled down to a very good friendship, considering they were both males. This of course was all before we got a wife for Cheeky, or in fact a wife for Tobias. Up until Sweety arrived, Tobias and Cheeky were the best of mates. They ate each others foods, drank from each others water bowls and frequented each others cages.

After Sweety arrived, Tobias became very aggressive toward Cheeky, so we stopped letting them out together.

He started chewing on his feathers and removing lots of them, so we decided that he was obviously upset at loosing his mate. It was out of the question to let Sweety and Cheeky out at the same time as Tobias, and at the same time, out of the question to separate the new pair. There was only one avenue to follow. Tobias had to get his own wife. Please read the story on Tabatha to find out about her.

Tobias is very much a bully. He always bites to get his own way. One mistake that we made initially was to chastise him for biting his new mate. That, unfortunately, made him bite her even more, as he was now getting attention by being naughty.

Percy was certainly a very different African Grey to what Tobias is, and showed very few of the tendencies which Tobias has. Maybe we were just lucky with him / her.

Making friends with Tobias is a very long and sometimes painful process, but slowly, he is accepting humans more. He now allows me to catch him with a towel and put him to bed if he has got "lost" in another part of the house. Whereas before he would growl and bite all the way back to his cage, now he is quiet.

Foods & Eating

Tobias is a GREEDY bird. He takes first, intermediate and final options for eating every time. He loves his fruit, as well as his nuts and seeds. To allow Tabatha a chance, we have had to place the seed bowl on one side of the cage and the fruit bowl on the opposite side. That way she at least gets a chance to have something. What he doesn't like, he throws on the floor of the cage. He will take fruit and nuts from the hand without much problem.

Thank you for reading the story of Tobias. Please do read the stories of our other birds.

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