Angry Bird

[micaskye]

Hello again all,

I'm sure these first few weeks, i'm just going to bombard you with questions. I keep reading books and webpages, but there's nothing like the experiences of others to learn from.

So Ra is developing some new habits. He is now biting me. He's seriously attached to my boyfriend. We spend the same amount of time with him, but he now bits my neck when hes on my shoulders and had drawn quite a bit of blood. He then hops on my boyfriends shoulder, puffs up and snuzzles. Won't lie, I'm a bit jealous. I'm trying not to react, but I don't think i'm doing too well.

Now we have a new problem. Ra used to hop onto a stick and come out to play with us. Now he grabs the stick and slams it repeatedly into a perch. We assume he doesn't want to play. He then screams for attention. I'm feeling some mixed signals here. I want to socialize him, but he just seems to want to be alone. He screams for attention but doesn't want it when it's offered. I don't know how this game is supposed to work apparently, i'm still learning to speak parrot.

He's too pretty to be so angry!

 

[samanthabe1]

Good luck I'm sure someone will be around to answer your uestion. Have you been around him as much as you usually do?

 

[Spiritbird]

Without knowing your bird's history I will say step #1 is to take him to an avain vet for an examination and lab work. At that time you can talk about his behavior. When a bird acts like this the best thing is not to push them into anything the bird does not want. Make sure there are no bird toxins in your home and you are feeding him the appropriate diet. He should get at least 10 to 12 hours of quality sleep at night. That means a darkened room with no TV, Music or conversations. Some people use a sleep cage. Have you tried leaving the cage door open when you are home? I would not use the stick to get him out of his cage. Let him make that decision and come out on his own. Also I suggest you keep him from landing on your shoulders. Make sure he has both foraging and shredding toys. Learn what birds body language is and observe him very closely. Parrots for Dummies is a good basic book for learning what their needs are.
Step back, take a deep breath and observe him. provide for him and if he wants your attention he will let you know. Screaming does not necessarily mean I want you to play with me. That is why I suggest an avain vet visit. He is a cutie as most sunnies are.

 

[Von1983]

Welcome to the forum!

Sunnies are a law unto themselves, huh?

I can reassure you by saying that I went through exactly the same as you.

How old is Ra?

With the stick......do not worry if he is messing with it. Sounds like he is wary of it and the fact he is playing with it is a good thing. Let him. If you just hold it in the cage and make reassuring noises, he will soon learn it's nothing to worry about. If in a few days he is not changing his behaviour say gently but firmly "No, step up" and hold the rod just above his feet and press it gently towards him. It will all take time as it is trust as well as him learning about mutual respect.

With your problem of liking your bf more, we had that, but reversed. Cal preferred me to my husband.

Again, it just take time. If he is biting your neck and shoulders, do not put him in the position to. It is as simple as that. You need to work harder with him building trust.

The way we got round this was I had to tell my husband not to be so anxious for Cal to come to him. Everytime I successfully managed to get Cal to do a new thing like step up perfectly, I made sure my husband followed suit. Gradually she came to realise that both of us were the good guys .

Our relationship stands like this. She loves me and does as I say pretty much all the time. We cuddle. She loves my husband and SOMETIMES does what he says. lol. They cuddle. Dave can pick Cal up with his hand around her body and put her on her back in his lap - this is their favourite game! I can blow raspberries on her and kiss her all down her back and she will lift her wings so I can kiss under there - this is our favourite game!

She loves us both equally, you can tell, but in totally different ways. She knows that her "Daddy" is a pushover She knows that she must do as I ask and there's no point in arguing lol.

We have had her since she was 3 months old. She came from an aviary and was not used to human contact. We both bled a lot in the early days, just from changing water bowls! She was so territorial of her cage - not at all now that she trusts us.

She is now 8 months old and will go to anyone Dave and I hand her to because she trusts us. She is also flighted which means she has been extra extra good in learning what her world is about. She has never been forced to comply with ANYTHING.

This is the best piece of advice I can give you. Listen to Ra. If he is distressed and biting, cease what you are doing immediately. If he is not in the mood to learn step up, try again in an hour.

If he doesn't treat you with much respect, then you must earn it. This may involve going back to basics and just sitting beside him while he's in his cage. Talk, talk talk. About nothing, think aloud, read aloud. SMILE at him (they can understand facial expressions you know, and if all you do is frown and wince because he is biting you then you will be wary )

Don't be afraid to tell him no gently, but firmly if he hurts you, but at this stage, do not punish him in any way or raise your voice. Dave used to pretend cry when Cal hurt him. Just like a puppy, Cal would stop and look at him in shock! I used to simply swallow the "OUCH" in my throat and gently take my hand away. This ALSO gave Cal food for thought. Because she was not so******ed, she was not sure what my hand was doing. She didn't associate it with her food bowl or treats, just the fact it was fun to bite lol. She never stopped looking shocked when blood appeared. Or when I had the cheek to take my hand away and tend to it lol.

Do NOT get anxious, do not worry that this is how things will always be - it won't. It may take a long time, it may take a short time, but you cannot put a timescale on this type of bond. It is to be earned on both sides. Do not show fear to Ra. If anything, indifference works best when a sunny bites lol. It sort of shocks them into behaving properly. It is one thing for a sunny to show a human they dislike them.....quite another when they get no reaction lol. Ra will come around if you take the time to understand bird mentality.

There are many, many resources on the web but you know, 95% of it is INSTINCT and of course, common sense. Noone can say "Here's how to fix this problem" because we've all been through it in varying degrees, but each bird is different. It is up to you and your bf to unwrap Ra's personality and find out what works best for you all.

I hope that helped and I wish you luck!

 

[micaskye]

Thank you all! Thanks for the reassurance Von. Everyone seems to have such well behaved birds, it's nice to hear these are common issues.

I will stop with the stick and start letting him work on his own terms. I have been a bit wary to leave the cage door open as for now he is in the room my rabbits live in, and since he cannot fly back up, I wouldn't want him stuck on the ground with them.

I sadly do not know how old Ra is, i'm guessing about a year? I expect him to be a little set in his ways and this to be a little slow going. He was just so loving when we brought him home. I guess he's still trying to adjust to his new territory. He does sleep at least 12 hours a night in a quiet room. When i'm not , I leave music on for him. If I can get him out of the cage, I had planned to get an appt with my vet next week for a general check up and to officially get a gender.

I guess we'll just have to learn his quirks and learn to speak Ra. I feel so paranoid freaking out over little things, but i've never owned a bird before. I'm terrified i'm accidentally going to teach him to be mean. I guess he and I are just going to have to learn from each other.

 

[suebee]

Parrot Musings: Parrot body language

try this

and yes my partner is nuts prefered person even though i spend most time with her :52: etc and yes she has bitten me, (lots) but i now let her take her time, it is about trust and yes she does trust me, and i think she trusts me the most as she still bites my partner an my son??? :63:

everything thats been said from spirit an von

she don't fly to my shoulder at all now just to my partners!!! she'll let me rub her neck etc and if were alone she is more likely to sit on my shoulder etc, but as soon as mr parrot gets home thats it! i'm all forgotten about

 

[Spiritbird]

We are all here to help you along the way, especially Von who is a fantastic guardian for her sun Cal. Our birds can feel our moods keenly so if you are frightened or stressed out that would not be a good time to be with this bird. All will settle down and you will be so happy you are now a bird guardian.

 

[Von1983]

Aww thankyou Di, that's a lovely thing to say!

Cal has only been in our home for 5months and it feels like forever. Within a month she had learned to trust us (not to be confused with BONDING) and was voluntarily coming to us for cuddles and kisses.

As sunnies live on average for 25-30yrs, the time we have had her is NOTHING lol.

It also pays to remember that a BOND with a parrot takes a very, very long time and most importantly it is like any human relationship. It is liable to change and must must MUST be worked at forever. Hormone changes, moving home, new pets....these things can all change the close relationship you have with your bird. If you don't continue to work, you can lose it forever.

This is what we are up against as parronts

Parrots are so very complex and routine is exceptionally important.

It is a lifetime rocky road but they give you back so much more than you could ever give back.

It is so SO much fun. I promise, in a few months time you will not recognise the Ra you are seeing now!

 

[micaskye]

I think things will get a lot better fast. We're moving back to our house (it was being remodeled) next month and Ra will have our whole office to himself. I think the complete freedom to have his door open and us sitting around and talking more will be a big help in getting him to come out of his shell. Until then we're spending as much time as we can around him. it's working really well because he gets to watch us interact with the rabbits and observe us in our world playing, rather than obsessively watching him.

He was a petstore bird and had been there for 6 months, so I expect this to be pretty slow going. Luckily the manager owns birds so he's at least a little more social than I'm sure some are. I know hes still confused about his new world and I guess since he was so friendly with us at first that we pushed him too hard to socialize. Now it will be entirely on his terms. The cage is open, and he's welcome to come out and join us, but until he wants to, he will not be forced. I fed him this morning and opened his cage door and sat down in a chair, rather than trying to get him to come play. He looked very confused and watched me (not my bf!) very intently while eating. Hopefully he'll realize that we're not scary. It may well be that he's used to so many people wanting to hold him in a petstore environment that now that he can say no, he's enjoying his first freedom from that life in six months. Either way, I look forward to the day when Ra will come join us.

 

[suebee]

awww i am sure he will and eat with him?? eating is a social thing and i know nut enjoys it when we all eat together, even though she is in her sleep cage :11:

for the simple reason, she could scold herself trying to steal a piece of meat etc :11: plus she likes to inspect each plate, she's pulled brocoli from my son's plate once an dropped it off edge of table?? she doesn't like brocoli an nor does my son?? i had accidently on purpose put a little onto his plate he was whinging about it, an then she solved the problem :20:

 

[VickyWhiston]

Don't worry, i'm not a parrot expert, but your parrot's behaviour is similar to that of my parrot!

I would imagine he is slamming his stick into his perch because he is playing with it, either that or he likes the reaction he is getting from you.

When he bites you what do you do? I have heard that when parrots bite and get a reaction from it that they are amused by they will do it again and again simply for your reaction.

My parrot has also attached to just one person in my family, he attacks everybody else, similarly to you, i think this is due to jealousy of other people interacting with his favourite person.

Parrots are very intelligent, i have come to know this by owning one for for the best part of my life!

Hope this helps, or if not, i hope this reassures you! Xxx

 

[roxynoodle]

My Nanday was also in a pet store for about 6 months. She chose me rather than the other way around though! She did require more training and guidance than my Blue Crown did, who was a newly weaned baby when I brought her home from the breeder. But, I think it's also just her personality.

Ra is probably also going through his "terrible 2's" stage. I think everyone has advised you well on reading material. Some birds go through this stage easily and some are a handful!

Best of luck and I'm sure everything will work out just fine.

 

[MRauhauser]

Hello everyone I just bought a sun conure Saturday morning he is very beautiful and I think I'm going to name him apollo but at the store he loved me and when I got him home ge got all mad squaking hissing and biting what do I do I've been trying to give him treats when he doesn't squak and trying to give him a bath and he will be cuddly and loving for a bit then it seems as if he hates me again

 

[MonicaMc]

Hello everyone I just bought a sun conure Saturday morning he is very beautiful and I think I'm going to name him apollo but at the store he loved me and when I got him home ge got all mad squaking hissing and biting what do I do I've been trying to give him treats when he doesn't squak and trying to give him a bath and he will be cuddly and loving for a bit then it seems as if he hates me again

You took him out of an environment he was comfortable in to a new, and scary, environment. He doesn't know what just happened and he may very well be biting because he's scared or unsure of his new situation. He probably needs time to settle in and some training.