Hi all,
I became the proud owner of a Green Cheek back in July of this year. I got him as a rescue from his previous owners, who felt they didn't have sufficient time to tame and train him. They told me he was about 1 year old then. When he arrived he was terrified of hands, wouldn't even take sunflower seeds from me and was just really skittish in general.
Since then we've been working hard getting to know each other and after a couple of months he began taking food from me and 2 weeks ago we finally had our first success with step up training. When we're at home, he generally spends between 2 hours and all afternoon out of his cage, playing with toys or sitting on my shoulder while I work.
About a week ago however, I needed to travel back to my parents house, which is about a 6 hour drive. I bought him a carry cage, secured him safely on the back seat and covered his cage with a light coat to keep him in the dark - he slept all the way with no problems at all, and was eating, drinking, preening as soon as I had him back in his normal cage when I'd set it up at my parents'.
In the last week however, his behaviour has begun to change. When I go to give him a treat, he just takes it from my hand, throws it on the floor and digs his beak into my finger. If he's out, he's not at all keen on me stroking him and either runs away or goes for me, which is completely out of character for him - he normally trusts me so much that I managed to actually get my hand round his wings and pick him up when transferring him from his main cage to his carry cage without any problems at all. BUT, this was the first time I had actually picked him up so I wonder whether this might be why he's not keen on hands anymore. He also moves around his cage a lot more, seems to 'attack' his toys more. He isn't much more vocal though, and he still plays with his other toys as much. When he does go for me, I don't flinch away and make a reasonably loud (but by no means shouting) 'Ah-Ah' noise - Is this correct? His living conditions are a bit different when at my parents house, although he's in the same cage with the same toys:
1) when at home, it tends to be just me or my girlfriend with him in my office, whereas at my parents, he's in a busier kitchen (no non-stick pans or scented candles) which I thought he would like because there is more going on?
2) There are dogs around who pay little to no attention to him, but they do bark sometimes.
3) when he comes out, it tends to be for shorter bursts throughout the day and evening, rather one long session in the afternoon.
4) His hours are also a bit different - at home he's awake from 8am until he takes himself to bed (just after dark) or until maybe 9pm if I haven't been able to get him out for long in the afternoon. Here his hours are more from 6am until about 9pm.
Do you think these changes might have brought about the change in his behaviour? If so, what advice can you give me other than to just try and replicate the environment he's used to? I have also read that parrots can have a few difficulties when they reach this time in their lives with hormones etc, but can't find a definitive answer.
Many thanks in advance.
I became the proud owner of a Green Cheek back in July of this year. I got him as a rescue from his previous owners, who felt they didn't have sufficient time to tame and train him. They told me he was about 1 year old then. When he arrived he was terrified of hands, wouldn't even take sunflower seeds from me and was just really skittish in general.
Since then we've been working hard getting to know each other and after a couple of months he began taking food from me and 2 weeks ago we finally had our first success with step up training. When we're at home, he generally spends between 2 hours and all afternoon out of his cage, playing with toys or sitting on my shoulder while I work.
About a week ago however, I needed to travel back to my parents house, which is about a 6 hour drive. I bought him a carry cage, secured him safely on the back seat and covered his cage with a light coat to keep him in the dark - he slept all the way with no problems at all, and was eating, drinking, preening as soon as I had him back in his normal cage when I'd set it up at my parents'.
In the last week however, his behaviour has begun to change. When I go to give him a treat, he just takes it from my hand, throws it on the floor and digs his beak into my finger. If he's out, he's not at all keen on me stroking him and either runs away or goes for me, which is completely out of character for him - he normally trusts me so much that I managed to actually get my hand round his wings and pick him up when transferring him from his main cage to his carry cage without any problems at all. BUT, this was the first time I had actually picked him up so I wonder whether this might be why he's not keen on hands anymore. He also moves around his cage a lot more, seems to 'attack' his toys more. He isn't much more vocal though, and he still plays with his other toys as much. When he does go for me, I don't flinch away and make a reasonably loud (but by no means shouting) 'Ah-Ah' noise - Is this correct? His living conditions are a bit different when at my parents house, although he's in the same cage with the same toys:
1) when at home, it tends to be just me or my girlfriend with him in my office, whereas at my parents, he's in a busier kitchen (no non-stick pans or scented candles) which I thought he would like because there is more going on?
2) There are dogs around who pay little to no attention to him, but they do bark sometimes.
3) when he comes out, it tends to be for shorter bursts throughout the day and evening, rather one long session in the afternoon.
4) His hours are also a bit different - at home he's awake from 8am until he takes himself to bed (just after dark) or until maybe 9pm if I haven't been able to get him out for long in the afternoon. Here his hours are more from 6am until about 9pm.
Do you think these changes might have brought about the change in his behaviour? If so, what advice can you give me other than to just try and replicate the environment he's used to? I have also read that parrots can have a few difficulties when they reach this time in their lives with hormones etc, but can't find a definitive answer.
Many thanks in advance.
