that is awful was he born that way?

yeeea. the breeder was going to kill him or something as a baby, but a worker there, who just so happened to be my dad's friend, bought him for cheap and then ended up giving him away to my daddy.

I'd say definitely contact someone who has experience with CAG's, they are not like other parrots. It's pretty much like having a 2 yr old for 50+ yrs.

His poor feetsies, he's lucky you got him tho I'm glad he wasn't put down ;_;

i can vouch that its like having a 2 yr old man LOL but they are absolutely amazing once you have their trust <3. they're amazing birds.

and ugh yea. it really upset me that they would have killed him for such a reason :/ he's an amazing bird. just lacking in toes. lol

Is he a talker? I LOVE how smart they are.

Lots of treats.
You can also maybe message the macaw and cockatoo rescue of new mexico on facebook. They're pretty nice and deal with mostly handicapped/disabled/bad attitude birds so she would probably have a lot of info for you.

Actually, they just had a little cag girl there with no feet. She was sweet, and got adopted.

well for one thing, stop being afraid of bites. it's not like you won't pet a cat because you're afraid of being scratched, right? even if he does bite, you clean it and bandage it if needed and then go back to interacting. clip his wings to prevent him from flying away again, but for extra security, go to walart and get a cat harness. not a collar and leash but one of the harnesses that leash behind the shoulders. if it's a smaller parrot, try a ferret harness. but put it on backwards so the leash is in the front by his belly. this will help you catch him if he DOES fly away, or if he attempts to at least. I saw someone at the mall with a big ass macaw with a harness on it like that.

don't force the bird into the harness on the first day. just like housebreaking a dog you gotta train him to tolerate the harness. it won't hurt him or anything, the worst it will do is ruffle his feathers a bit. start off by putting it by him and let him explore it himself. give him treats as he plays with it to help him understand it's not a monster and won't hurt him. then pick it up and put it closer to him and give him treats every time he doesn't show fear or aggression. continue the step by step process till you can keep it on him for at least an hour without him trying to take it off. positive behaviors like this should be rewarded, either with treats or his favorite toy.

not to mention this whole time you're doing this, he'll end up learning to trust you again because of the interaction. but this can't be a one day training period. to make sure it sticks you gotta do it daily, going out or not. heck, you can do it while doing college homework at the computer, sitting on the desk next to you where he doesn't need to perch. just don't reward him if he does something wrong like attack your keyboard, not even to get him away from it, otherwise he'll link 'attack button monster' with 'mommy gave me yumyums!'

on another note, for birds, EVERYTHING can be a toy. teach him to nudge your cell phone over when it vibrates or rings, give him a treat. teach him to fetch a toy, reward him by playing with him. give him a tennis ball on the floor, let him roll around and amuse himself.put a towel down and a bowl of water, let him give himself a bath. even the small things can be a positive interaction. and that's how they learn, even in an older age, and that's how trust is gained between bird and loving owner.

and of course, teach him that wearing the harness means going outside with mommy! c:

It's been too many years since I've worked with parrots properly, but to my knowledge African Grays are sort of one-person birds. It was explained to me that some parrots take pair-bonding more seriously than others. I'm not sure how true this always is, but an example often used is that a lady lovebird likes usually one person or one thing (ie, their caretaker or their toy) but a male is more chill and will put up with being petted by your friends. Could it be that?

Food is also a good motivator. If they associate getting a special kind of treat with an certain activity he may give you more of a chance.

Fuck he's so cute.

uhm, idk if this story will help you;
I got a cockatiel from one of my mom's friend's not too long ago (jr. year, I'm in college now) and she was kept in the dark, in a cage with one or two toys, next to laundry machines. She's like 6-7 years old, so the owner told me that I can't expect to really train her or befriend her even. When I stuck my hand into the cage, she'd go absolutely crazy with fear and flap around crazily. The owner at this point told me that Pidgey (I ended up renaming her ) had never ever perched on someone's hand.

So I took her home and worked with her. It was really hard and painful to get her to socialize. She bit me several times to the point where I bled, but in the end, I got her to allow me to give her scritches and she'll stand calmly on my hand.

So yeah. Be by the cage a lot. Talk to him softly. Get him re-used to your hand, but don't force him. Wouldn't be worth it, to get bitten a couple times to have your old friend back? /idk lame

If you don't have a hard time catching him I would suggest keeping the cage in a room you can close off or in a room where he doesn't have 100 places to fly away at.(at least till you and him are comfortable with each other again) The leave the cage open and just sit and do what you normally do. Birds are very curious creatures and if he wants your attention he'll find a way to get it. I understand he doesn't have feet so it makes some things harder but I assume her can still make his way out of the cage if he wanted to. (if he can't correct me) But if you just leave him alone I'm sure he'll come out on his own, maybe not to directly come to you but once he's out on his own I think you should try lots of treats and just slowly socializing him and getting him to trust you. You just can't be nervous about it. The more you tell yourself its going to happen and its going to take some time the less you'll get frustrated with him and send him bad vibes.

If he can't get out of the cage on his own then try opening the cage and just slowly socializing him and getting him to trust you from there. But from there you'll have to be more patient with him and take it even slower. If it has to be that way I wouldn't do it every day unless he doesn't seem stressed out about it. The less stressed he is the more willing he'll be to trust you. But from the cage, you have to understand that you're in his home and safe place. So he might be nervous about that in the beginning. So if you take it slow and don't rush him by doing it everyday, I think he'll eventually warm back up to you.

Just do what you started to do with him. No one can socialize that bird and know better then you. I miss my beautiful bird Beaky.

Just going to add in here that the harness thing is a GREAT idea - and there are specially made ones for birds that allow them to fly while on harness, so even if he did lift off, you could reel him in gently with it. I had one for my baby girl Jossy....I still have it after she was murdered and would offer it to you since I have no use, but it would be far, far too small. Ebay is where I got mine, just type in bird harness or something like that. It's what I did.

Good luck lovey, it's gonna be hard, but it's so worth it. Just remember how amazingly sweet he is and how much you love him - that's all that matters.

Well, I'm not sure what to add to this.... my parents have a parrot, (She's about 13 or 14 now, and she was originally for me, because I was also that parrot-begging little kid, haha) but she's not well-behaved at all, because my mom treats her like a spoiled little baby.
But parrots are very emotional creatures. They know if you're afraid of them, and it makes them nervous...I'm sure he wants you to trust him, so that he can trust you. Spend as much time with him as you can :3 Parrot beaks do hurt your hands like a sunnabitch, but you can't let them know they have that sort of power over you.

My sister isn't a parrot expert, but she does work with parrots at her job. She says you obviously had a strong bond and did a very good job of socializing him to begin with, and reminds you that the bond you have will still be there, you just have to build it back up. You can't let him know you are afraid. She said to start from scratch like you did when he was a baby, and also to work with him inside his cage then move outwards. And if you get his wings clipped, even if he does fly away outside, he won't get very far at all.

I wish you luck <3

She said check out GoodParrot Inc if you have more questions.

You know... you did it once, and while I know things are easier said than done, but you should just be able to do it again. Stop being afraid and worried. You can win his trust again.

Does it say something about me that my first thought was a design for prosthetic perching feet?

As many others have said, spend lots of time with him and give plenty of treats when he's being calm and not showing signs of aggression! Talk to Willow, even if it's reading to him, reciting the grocery list, etc. I've noticed that my mother's birds love it when they're talked to gently.
Share healthy snacks with him, such as fruits and veggies that he may enjoy.
Make sure that he is comfortable with you being around him outside of the cage. When this is accomplished, work on how he is with you inside the cage. Then you can try to take him out and have him in the house with you.
DO NOT act scared around him at ALL. Parrots, especially Grays, are amazing at picking up on moods and emotions. Don't flinch if he tries to bite, and do not scold him. He may be frightened by the scolding, or think it is a game.
If he's planning on biting, his eyes MIGHT dilate. When Casper, mom's worst one-person-only-thx parrot- and also a Congo Gray- wants to take a chunk out of my finger, his pupils will shrink and grow in diameter in quick succession. Take note of how Willow acts before he bites you and you'll be able to predict nips.
Finally, look into clicker training parrots. I highly recommend it.