jenphilly
Active member
- Oct 15, 2013
- 1,950
- 23
- Parrots
-
BE2 (Ivory), B&G Macaw (Max), Budgie Group,
Granbirds- tiels; GCC (Monkey & Monster); Sun Conure (Loki); Bare Eyed Too (Folger); Evil Green Monster YNA (Kelly); B&G (Titan)
So I was going to make the title of this thread... Folger is being mean to me... but figured it was more serious then a funny title...
We posted about the step up turning into a nasty bite on the arm Saturday. That seems to have opened a door with Folger and he is now doing a jump / flying attack thing with me. Up until the step up request, there had been what I would call a grudgingly semi truce... I would give him toys or treats and he would grumble at me, but no lunging or biting. Today he has twice left the chair or table and flew (much as the chicken bird can with what feathers he has) at me. Both times I was able to safely get him to the ground with no one shedding blood. Tho the first was kinda funny, I was walking into the kitchen and I give him a wide berth as I go past so not to think I'm invading his space and he needs to defend himself. I got past him and the bugger jumped off the table and landed on my leg (wearing pj pants, so yes there was a moment of panic that resulted in me calling for Tori to help get her little vulture). The second time I was going out of the kitchen and I got well past him and he got a little more lift this time and came a decent distance and landed on my arm, again got him to the floor, but this time we had some flying oatmeal, as I was carrying my bowl of just made oatmeal to the sofa, cause there was an attack bird occupying the table, so not like I could sit there...
All humor aside and yes, I do find some humor in this, but know its quite a serious issue. We adopted Folger knowing he may very well never be a bird that would safely socialize. I can accept 100% if he is only happy with Victoria and only wants to interact with her. However, flying or jumping attacks just is not acceptable to live with... I am home quite often, I have MS, no longer can work full time and work for a wonderful small company that allows me to do most of what I need from home using logmein, so when the weather is too hot or too cold or just having one of those days where everything hurts, I am home... Victoria is still in college and has a fairly easy schedule with this being her last semester for her bachelor's degree, so we don't have a luxury of her being home a whole lot by herself to have him out alone. And while we are in the works with making her an awesome new wood playstand designed with Folger in mind for her room or wherever she wants to roll it, I am not real happy that leaves her confined to one room for his out time.
So for anyone who has dealt with the flying attacks in any species, not just cockatoo, what are your main suggestions? I had read quite a bit of Birdman's posts in other threads and had in mind to get him down to the floor. But, what can we do to curb his new urge to fly and bite whatever body part he can get his beak on? My thought is I need to show him I am higher up the flock chain, but with his history and abuse he has suffered, I don't know if what works for a 'normal' bird will work for Folger. He truly is psychotic, all jokes aside, he has some major issues because of what people have done to him. So while I don't want to have him thinking this is acceptable behavior I don't want to do anything that is further trauma to an already 'damaged' psyche.
So knowing that we are dealing with a bird that has suffered mental and physical abuse and years of neglect, how do we teach him that even tho he doesn't have to like me or socialize with me, chasing me down to bite my butt is not acceptable either.
And for anyone suggesting returning him or any thoughts of that sort, that's not happening, don't even bother wasting your time typing. We knew what we were getting into with him, we knew his background... he belongs with Victoria, there is no doubt or question about that, we only need specific help with how to curb the jump attacks.
Thanks in advance for any help!!
We posted about the step up turning into a nasty bite on the arm Saturday. That seems to have opened a door with Folger and he is now doing a jump / flying attack thing with me. Up until the step up request, there had been what I would call a grudgingly semi truce... I would give him toys or treats and he would grumble at me, but no lunging or biting. Today he has twice left the chair or table and flew (much as the chicken bird can with what feathers he has) at me. Both times I was able to safely get him to the ground with no one shedding blood. Tho the first was kinda funny, I was walking into the kitchen and I give him a wide berth as I go past so not to think I'm invading his space and he needs to defend himself. I got past him and the bugger jumped off the table and landed on my leg (wearing pj pants, so yes there was a moment of panic that resulted in me calling for Tori to help get her little vulture). The second time I was going out of the kitchen and I got well past him and he got a little more lift this time and came a decent distance and landed on my arm, again got him to the floor, but this time we had some flying oatmeal, as I was carrying my bowl of just made oatmeal to the sofa, cause there was an attack bird occupying the table, so not like I could sit there...
All humor aside and yes, I do find some humor in this, but know its quite a serious issue. We adopted Folger knowing he may very well never be a bird that would safely socialize. I can accept 100% if he is only happy with Victoria and only wants to interact with her. However, flying or jumping attacks just is not acceptable to live with... I am home quite often, I have MS, no longer can work full time and work for a wonderful small company that allows me to do most of what I need from home using logmein, so when the weather is too hot or too cold or just having one of those days where everything hurts, I am home... Victoria is still in college and has a fairly easy schedule with this being her last semester for her bachelor's degree, so we don't have a luxury of her being home a whole lot by herself to have him out alone. And while we are in the works with making her an awesome new wood playstand designed with Folger in mind for her room or wherever she wants to roll it, I am not real happy that leaves her confined to one room for his out time.
So for anyone who has dealt with the flying attacks in any species, not just cockatoo, what are your main suggestions? I had read quite a bit of Birdman's posts in other threads and had in mind to get him down to the floor. But, what can we do to curb his new urge to fly and bite whatever body part he can get his beak on? My thought is I need to show him I am higher up the flock chain, but with his history and abuse he has suffered, I don't know if what works for a 'normal' bird will work for Folger. He truly is psychotic, all jokes aside, he has some major issues because of what people have done to him. So while I don't want to have him thinking this is acceptable behavior I don't want to do anything that is further trauma to an already 'damaged' psyche.
So knowing that we are dealing with a bird that has suffered mental and physical abuse and years of neglect, how do we teach him that even tho he doesn't have to like me or socialize with me, chasing me down to bite my butt is not acceptable either.
And for anyone suggesting returning him or any thoughts of that sort, that's not happening, don't even bother wasting your time typing. We knew what we were getting into with him, we knew his background... he belongs with Victoria, there is no doubt or question about that, we only need specific help with how to curb the jump attacks.
Thanks in advance for any help!!