Sterretjie going for PBFD test.

I have to take her now. She is flying all over the place and she attacks every one. I really wanted to keep her flighted and I did EVERYTHING to stop her from attacking Craig and Christie but she is crazy - really. Time out does not work - time out for at least a half an hour does not work. The time outs become so much that I hardly see my girl. Positive re-enforcement does not work either - she had that for a year already. When she is out with me she is 100% but the moment somebody else walks in she flies and attacks instantly. Dont think I walk away un-scared either, Sterretjie bites me until I let go when somebody is around. I only let go when she is back in her cage so my hands and face are really sore by now. I cant lock up my family so she can be out and I cant keep on locking Sterretjie up - it is really breaking my heart because I LOVE SEEING HER FLY. I really tried everything. Craig and Christie are currently walking around the house with brooms - it is the only time that Sterretjie keeps her distance because she is terrified of brooms.

With the clipping will come the testing. I AM ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of the result. I am so tired of crying.

But I know that if it comes back positive then with all your support I will pull her through until the bitter end.

Linky, I am sorry things are not going well. I must have somehow missed the threads that Sterretjie was being aggressive. Actually, this is a common problem with IRNs. You definitely need to ground her for the protection of your family. Having them carry brooms around for their protection only exacerbates the problem, as she sees them as the enemy. She obviously has a bond with you and sees you as her mate. She is trying to protect you from them, even biting you to scare you away from the danger of them. This is normal.
It has been found that time outs really do not work. Positive reinforcement usually has a good effect. Negative reinforcement also has some effect. Negative reinforcement is ignoring the behavior, turning your back on the bird, giving a stern verbal command and even dropping the bird to the floor. Though the last seems dramatic, if done correctly it has been proven to work for very aggressive birds. Aggression is not a quick fix and hormones defintely plays a part. Sterretjie is definitely of sexual age.
We have to stay positive that she is negative for PBFD. I also would have normal blood panel done just to make sure all levels are normal. Some birds have aggressive behavior due to bacterial infections, and they are just not feeling well.
Either way Linky, you have our support and we are here to lend our cyber shoulders for you. I hope all turns out normal.

I am sorry I should have given more information.

Sterretjies aggressive behaviour is something we've been dealing with since I found her in my garden March 2010. She was an abused bird and in really bad shape. Sterretjie broke her leg in 3/4 different spots and the previous owners just left it to grow back on - wrong way around. This must have been extremely painful and is still painful when she uses the leg a lot. Her tail feathers were also burned. She does not trust - period, and I dont blame her. I have managed to earn her trust but I would say it was only because she was badly clipped and had no means of moving around without my help. I've dedicated my whole life to her because of her past and she has improved much more than what anybody expected.

Believe me, walking around with a broom is the LAST RESORT and started yesterday. This is why I am taking her to the vet today.

She is being tested for PBFD because we adopted a baby IRN - Sunny. Sunny was tested positive for PBFD and he is now flying free in heaven. Although we did quarantine, PBFD is EXTREMELY contagious and it is carried in the air. I've been putting the test off because I was waiting for Sterretjie's molt to finish and because I am scared of the result.

Thinking of you Links.

I'm glad you know we're all here. Let's just see what happens. We know our Sterretjie is such a fighter.

Poor Craig and Christie.....at least they can put the brooms down

If Ster has her wings clipped Links, at least you know she is safe and not going to hurt herself or the other pair.

We're hear waiting with you for the result. I'm crossing everything. xxxx

Von1983 said:

If Ster has her wings clipped Links, at least you know she is safe and not going to hurt herself or the other pair.

Click to expand...

That is a different way of looking at it, thanks it does make it better - a bit.

Maybe in the far future she will be ok and we dont have to clip her. It is really hard to earn trust where other people has destroyed it. Neither my husband or daughter wants to put the effort in, they are scared of her and I dont blame them either.

My heart goes out to you. I can only imagine how tough this is for you. We're here for you to help as much as we can.

i am so sorry to read this, and i do hope it all goes well for you all

Linky As an animal lover of the first degree I do feel your pain with these events. I am praying hard that you will no longer shed tears for Sterretjie, your little wild child.

Oh Linky I sympathize with you and at the same time I salute.
I have witnessed Sterretjie first hand when visiting you guys. I was lucky only once, the first time we visited you, Sterretjie let me kiss her AND NEVER AGAIN. Remember how she bit my finger, and omg that was sore for 5 weeks. I have seen her go for Craig, not a joke at all. I am even to afraid to go near Sterretjie and it breaks my heart as well.
I know in my heart that Sterretjie's test will come back negative, EXACTLY THE SAME AS MISHKA'S. When I took Mishka for the blood test, Dr Russell said to me, he is positive that Sunny was the carrier, and not Sterretjie...
I PRAY HE IS CORRECT AGAIN.
We are all praying

antoinette said:

he is positive that Sunny was the carrier, and not Sterretjie...
I PRAY HE IS CORRECT AGAIN.
We are all praying

Click to expand...

Ant when I said that I was not in the right frame of mind, I was without a mind. I think I said it purely out of fear that I might have put my girl in danger. Really, the moment I said it I already did not believe it. Remember how I was crying - nothing I said made sense.

Got home and it was poring with rain, I almost used it as an excuse to not go. But I was brave and got Sterretjie's sleep cage for the trip - she IMMEDIATELY knew that trouble was on the way. She sat on my shoulder all the way to the vet and every now and then Oh-Oh came out - tooo precious!

There was nobody at the vet, now I am thinking it might have been a sign? His rooms are ALWAYS packed! The day that I took Sunny to be tested I went late so that I could keep other birds safe - that day there was also nobody. Maybe I am just being paranoid.

We waited for Dr. Russel cause he was in surgery and during this time Sterretjie was the biggest ANGEL alive. She was singing ALL the new tunes that I taught her and she even sat right next to Craig without any aggression. It was her way of saying - Please mommy I will be good from now on, Please dont leave me here again.

Dr. Russel took the blood sample, clipped her wings and did her toes. She was not impressed at all. It is a horrible clip as well, she 'almost' drops to the floor. I dont know how he stuffed up like that. Poor Sterretjie, it is the second time that her wings are cut wrong in only 12 months.

When Dr. Russel were done we waited for the bill and Stettertjie started singing again - very happy cause she realized she was going home.

I will most probably only have the results on Monday so I am praying until then, then again, I've been praying since I found out about the disease last month.

Dr. Russel gave Craig some 'strange' advice but I'll start a thread on that one.

Ahhh poor Ster and her wing clip! Still, at least she knows how to deal with it beautifully.

So glad she was her best good girl self

We are all waiting with you on this. Positive thoughts only! xxxx

NEGATIVE!!!!

... ... ... ... ...

Oh THANK YOU!!!!! This was the most stressful month I've ever been through, worrying the whole time that I might have made a mistake somewhere and got Sterretjie infected in the process!!!!!!!

I want to THANK ALL THE MEMBERS for ALWAYS mentioning quarantining - hammering it in - because if it was not for you then I never would have know how important it is! The result could have been completely different.

Something new that I learned during this proses was that when you are quarantining that you can not use a vacuum cleaner to clean the house. Luckily we have wooden floors. Rather quarantine in somebody else's house - the risk of an airborne disease is really just too big.

wildheart said:

NEGATIVE!!!!

...

...

...

...

...

Oh THANK YOU!!!!! This was the most stressful month I've ever been through, worrying the whole time that I might have made a mistake somewhere and got Sterretjie infected in the process!!!!!!!

I want to THANK ALL THE MEMBERS for ALWAYS mentioning quarantining - hammering it in - because if it was not for you then I never would have know how important it is! The result could have been completely different.

Something new that I learned during this proses was that when you are quarantining that you can not use a vacuum cleaner to clean the house. Luckily we have wooden floors. Rather quarantine in somebody else's house - the risk of an airborne disease is really just too big.

Click to expand...

Oh Linky I am so happy for you. Best news we could have had.
Now you can relax and get on with your life's routines.

Woot! Ruby, Jade and Max all send their congratulations along with mine. I'm so glad you got good news.

Horray!!!!
I'm so happy to hear this

Congrats! So great to hear!

Woohooo! So happy for you Linky! Lucky Sterretjie is a lucky bird!!