Novice Parrot Owner Needs Help!

Hello all,

I have an issue that i'm afraid, I just can't solve on my own.

I put that I am a "Novice" parrot owner because I only have about 2 years of experience in owning birds. I know a lot of you here have had birds for many years (maybe even decades). As such, I feel like I needed to come here for advice.

A little bit of backstory --

My first bird was a Myers Parrot (Her name is Zoey and I got her around 2 years ago). She absolutely loves me and my wife. She has her moments where she gets grumpy, but I've come to know that it's normal with the species. No big deal. I couldn't have asked for anything better. We love her a lot!

Fast forward a year and a half (about 5-6 months ago). My wife and I purchased a Juvenile Pionus Parrot(Blue Headed). We loved birds so much that we wanted to expand our horizons. We named our (female) Pionus Mia. Unfortunately, our experience with her has been nothing but difficult and frustrating.

I spend A LOT of time when we first got her to help her get acquainted with her home with us. I read everything I could get my hands on about Pionus (forums/books/etc). None of it worked. I was never able to "tame" her, so to speak. When she first got here, she would step up on my arm without biting, but I could tell she was pretty nervous. I took it slow and tried to win her over with her favorite treats. We worked on stepping up, and other basic commands. She was (and is) terrified of my hands. She barely accepts treats if I am close and acts pretty scared. (I offer them at a distance with my arm extended and allow her to stretch out for the treat)

As time has gone on, she has gotten a lot worse. Quite literally, any progress I had with her in the beginning, has decayed ever since. I can no longer even put a training stick in her cage for her to step on. She tries to attack me through the bars when I walk by her cage, and she will lunge/attack if I open her cage to replace water/food.

I am doing my best here and I feel like I am, unfortunately, almost out of options. Either I am just a horrible bird owner or she is just a special case that needs a professional to keep her. I feel like it's the latter considering I get along with my Myers just great.

I am not expecting for her to be super affectionate with me or anything. I just want to be able to take my bird out of her cage so she can enjoy time with me/my wife. So she can live a happy life.

Sorry for the novel -- it's a long story and I really do need help.

I couldn't cover everything for respect of everyone's time in reading this. So if you need more details please ask.

What do I do next? What do I try going forward?

Thanks!

Will she climb out of her cage if you leave the door open?

Was the change sudden or gradual?

How old was she when you got her, and were her wings already clipped?

What is her diet like?

If you put a perch into the cage, will she step up onto it, even if she bites it first?


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Hello, and welcome to the Parrot Forums family! From what I've read in your post, you sound far from being a terrible parront. And though Mia is a more difficult case than Zoey, I doubt her situation is such that she can only be managed by a "professional". She just has a different personality than Zoey does. Just like with people, some are more easy going than others. So your interaction will largely depend on coming to understand her body language, as well as her likes and dislikes.

Now, she may have hangups or even phobias that spring from her prior home. But without knowing that history, we can't be sure. The questions Dani asked are good ones. They will give us a better idea of what might be going on. The age question, for instance, as well as whether or not this was a gradual onset or sudden, could tell us whether or not you're likely dealing with a hormonal bird. The diet question is huge as well, as her regular diet can actually have a huge effect on her temperament.

In the meantime, here is a link that might be helpful for avoiding biting: http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

And here's one on target training, which is a good foundation to start from when dealing with a bird not yet ready to be touched by you: [ame="https://youtu.be/HaOicTtwIZo"]Beginners guide to target training parrots - YouTube[/ame]

Ditto on studying the Brainstorming thread!
She also sounds very possessive of her cage(safe home) and an aggressive posture is in their nature when feeling threatened! For now don’t even encroach on her comfort zone around her cage! She will come around when she sees you are beginning to understand her and respect her needs! From her point of view, you are the stubborn one, and she is getting frustrated!
Read and reread stuff by MonicaMC!
http://www.parrotforums.com/search.php?searchid=1408630

Hi & Welcome to the Forum.

I’m fairly new to the Parrot world as well. All the above is great info thus far.
I’m going to add this link. . .
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html
And maybe in addition to the previous advice you might want to consider a reset and start from the beginning?
Just a thought???

Best of luck to you all. :heart:

SilverSage said:

Will she climb out of her cage if you leave the door open?

Was the change sudden or gradual?

How old was she when you got her, and were her wings already clipped?

What is her diet like?

If you put a perch into the cage, will she step up onto it, even if she bites it first?


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Click to expand...

Answers to your Q's:

She used to do this, but no longer will climb out of the cage if I leave it open.

The change was slow and gradual from the time we got her, to now.

She was on the young side, about a month removed from hand feeding (she has never reverted back like some young parrots can do). She was around 6 or 7 months I believe.

Her wings were not clipped, and they still are not clipped.

I feed her a seed medley with fruits/vegetables in another bowl.

She runs to the opposite end of the cage. If I move the stick closer to her, she bites it but does not get on it.

She def does not seem like an aggressive parrot to me. She just seems scared/anxious and as a result bites as a defense, if that makes sense.

I hope these answers bring more clarity.