Helpless about our GCC

[dannyboy]

Our green cheek Doc is about a year old and my gf and I just feel helpless. We think Doc's a male, so I'll just keep using that pronoun for the sake of simplicity.

He doesn't show any symptoms of poor health, has regular sleep, good appetite and has been to our new home long enough to get comfortable. He's got his cage in gf's bedroom and a playground in the living room. We also try to take him outside whenever we can, although ~10 mins are usually enough before he loses curiosity and he doesn't seem to be a huge fan of nature.

Here comes the confusing part. He will scream when either of us leaves the room, is happy when we watch him eat/preen and likes to sit on my hand. However, he doesn't like to be pet, in fact doesn't seem to like any form of touch. Doc preen's us (even though he's not very gentle), but his response to any kind of touch is to bite (not immediately, not aggressively, more like "that's enough, get that thing away from me"). Prefers to scratch his own head and take his own bath in a small water dish, doesn't like sinks, larger water vessels (think shallow tupperware), showers or misting.

Doc is also scared of everything, all the time. He'll play with toys, but his response to anything new is to run away and attempts to coax him are hit or miss. When we try training him in any way, most of the time he'll go along once and then completely ignore the task - Doc will either get distracted by his own feet or something only he can see, or he'll just try to go straight for the treat.

He did go through an aggressive stage which luckily we got over, now he's generally not aggressive toward either one of us. However, before his little 'hormonal' period, he would say words and repeat things, sometimes very clearly, whereas now it's like he gave up trying - he rarely even says the words he used to before and doesn't seem to pick up anything new.

Lastly, our roommate got a cockatiel recently (about a month ago) and while they are not openly aggressive, they would either avoid each other and mind their own business or go back and forth looking for an advantage without actually attacking.

Any thoughts?

 

[clark_conure]

I am bewildered that he doesn't like to be petted. A lot of the things you describe are VERY common to gcc behavior but usually they will do anything for attention, esp. being petted.


Clark is often apprehensive to anything new but that can be an advantage to keeping him safe e.g. he's afraid of pots but and the kitchen but that's the one place he could be hurt. I'm not worried about that. The being on you bu not liking to be touched is kind of weird.

When you approach to pet make a downward pet motion with your finger, clark realizes that means petting's....if he doesn't accept that I dunno could be something he just doesn't like.

 

[LordTriggs]

some birds aren't fond of touching, it's a simple thing, the fear he has plays into that.

As for fear of new toys and stuff yes that's incredibly common. In the wild a new thing more often than not means it's something new trying to eat them.

As for training always work with little steps, maybe use treats to open him up to touching, like you touch him he gets a treat then a scratch ETC. It takes time to teach them to enjoy touching.

Did you and your room mate quarantine the tiel before introducing? It could have been carrying something that could have an effect on Doc. Also the sudden change recently will be related to the Tiel appearing in his domain

 

[Flboy]

Our green cheek Doc is about a year old and my gf and I just feel helpless. We think Doc's a male, so I'll just keep using that pronoun for the sake of simplicity.

He doesn't show any symptoms of poor health, has regular sleep, good appetite and has been to our new home long enough to get comfortable. He's got his cage in gf's bedroom and a playground in the living room. We also try to take him outside whenever we can, although ~10 mins are usually enough before he loses curiosity and he doesn't seem to be a huge fan of nature.
Outside--please say in a cage! Clipped or not, please no! My JoJo does love the bird's and wind!
Here comes the confusing part. He will scream when either of us leaves the room, is happy when we watch him eat/preen and likes to sit on my hand.
Flock call-normal! He wants to know where you are and are you safe! You can help modify this to something a bit more ear friendly! Also, let him know you are only going for a minute and will be back!
However, he doesn't like to be pet, in fact doesn't seem to like any form of touch. Doc preen's us (even though he's not very gentle), but his response to any kind of touch is to bite (not immediately, not aggressively, more like "that's enough, get that thing away from me"). Prefers to scratch his own head and take his own bath in a small water dish, doesn't like sinks, larger water vessels (think shallow tupperware), showers or misting.
For some, again, normal! My JoJo hates being cuddled! 'Hey dude, back off!' Loves hanging on me though! For baths, has his own large dog dish. For JoJo, a window of cuddle-ability is when he just finished his bath and is soaked! Will even let me scritches his head, normally a blood letting offense!

Doc is also scared of everything, all the time. He'll play with toys, but his response to anything new is to run away and attempts to coax him are hit or miss. When we try training him in any way, most of the time he'll go along once and then completely ignore the task - Doc will either get distracted by his own feet or something only he can see, or he'll just try to go straight for the treat.
Still so young! Two year old male brain!
He did go through an aggressive stage which luckily we got over, now he's generally not aggressive toward either one of us. However, before his little 'hormonal' period, he would say words and repeat things, sometimes very clearly, whereas now it's like he gave up trying - he rarely even says the words he used to before and doesn't seem to pick up anything new.

Lastly, our roommate got a cockatiel recently (about a month ago) and while they are not openly aggressive, they would either avoid each other and mind their own business or go back and forth looking for an advantage without actually attacking.

Any thoughts?

You have what sound like a normal, growing bud!

 

[LordTriggs]

Oh god yes I didn't notice about outside. Do you know that more clipped birds are lost than flighted birds? It's because people think they can't fly and newsflash, in any form of moving air they can and they do. Flying is what a bird does and even if they only ever want to be with you they will still go for a fly and not know how to get back. If outside they stay in a cage or a harness

 

[dannyboy]

Thanks for your reply. We tried small steps with treats, but it's pretty much that what he doesn't like always overrides what he likes. He can nibble on a treat and in the next moment just drop it and make his displeasure known.

 

[dannyboy]

Did you and your room mate quarantine the tiel before introducing? It could have been carrying something that could have an effect on Doc. Also the sudden change recently will be related to the Tiel appearing in his domain

He didn't interact with the tiel for a while after roommate got him (the tiel was a baby and roommate kept him in her room) and his aggressive period happened before the tiel moved in.

 

[dannyboy]

Outside--please say in a cage! Clipped or not, please no! My JoJo does love the bird's and wind!

Doc is clipped, but even before we got him clipped, he would never try to fly out of sight, usually just a circle around us and land somewhere near. That's how scared he is. He doesn't talk to other birds and for example didn't like to sit on a tree branch - gave it a short try and asked to come back.

I've seen him do some ground exploration on his own and he likes to roam around the kitchen/living room, but most of the time he would just make a straight line back to us. Unless it passes through a shadow, in that case he calls.

 

[LordTriggs]

Outside--please say in a cage! Clipped or not, please no! My JoJo does love the bird's and wind!

Doc is clipped, but even before we got him clipped, he would never try to fly out of sight, usually just a circle around us and land somewhere near. That's how scared he is. He doesn't talk to other birds and for example didn't like to sit on a tree branch - gave it a short try and asked to come back.

I've seen him do some ground exploration on his own and he likes to roam around the kitchen/living room, but most of the time he would just make a straight line back to us. Unless it passes through a shadow, in that case he calls.

I'm sorry but for the love of god don't take him out. It takes seconds for him to be gone forever, go into the sub-forum on lost/missing parrots and read a few. Do you really want to go through that? Get a harness they're cheap and make him safe. Why would you knowingly let a bird out without the proper equipment? I've seen so many people have parrots without harnesses be fine for years and then one day their pet got confident or scared and poof, gone forever

 

[Flboy]

Doc is clipped, but even before we got him clipped, he would never try to fly out of sight, usually just a circle around us and land somewhere near. That's how scared he is. He doesn't talk to other birds and for example didn't like to sit on a tree branch - gave it a short try and asked to come back.

I've seen him do some ground exploration on his own and he likes to roam around the kitchen/living room, but most of the time he would just make a straight line back to us. Unless it passes through a shadow, in that case he calls.

I'm sorry but for the love of god don't take him out. It takes seconds for him to be gone forever, go into the sub-forum on lost/missing parrots and read a few. Do you really want to go through that? Get a harness they're cheap and make him safe. Why would you knowingly let a bird out without the proper equipment? I've seen so many people have parrots without harnesses be fine for years and then one day their pet got confident or scared and poof, gone forever

Any little thing spooking him, any dog, hawk, etc. you baby is gone!
Remember, he relies on you for safety and if separated in a spook situation, he will be in a wild panic, survival mode!

 

[LordTriggs]

I'm sorry but for the love of god don't take him out. It takes seconds for him to be gone forever, go into the sub-forum on lost/missing parrots and read a few. Do you really want to go through that? Get a harness they're cheap and make him safe. Why would you knowingly let a bird out without the proper equipment? I've seen so many people have parrots without harnesses be fine for years and then one day their pet got confident or scared and poof, gone forever

Any little thing spooking him, any dog, hawk, etc. you baby is gone!
Remember, he relies on you for safety and if separated in a spook situation, he will be in a wild panic, survival mode!

even a wild leaf!

 

[itzjbean]

Any little thing spooking him, any dog, hawk, etc. you baby is gone!
Remember, he relies on you for safety and if separated in a spook situation, he will be in a wild panic, survival mode!

even a wild leaf!

I'm in total agreement here...a hawk especially could fly by and dive down, grab and go and your baby would be gone forever. Please consider taking your bid out only in a travel cage, or with a harness.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I guess I'll add this in support of no-flying-outside.
I'll start by saying that the bird wound up FINE and is still fine (some 15 years later), but...
A friend and his Amazon was out in their front yard one day back in New Mexico, where cacti are common natural and landscape items. The clipped (and very heavy) 'Zon got spooked and jumped and was totally unable to get any lift, and wound up crashing into a big Opuntia (Prickly Pair) hedge nearby. Sank to the bottom. My friend was as full of spines as the bird by the time he got her out. They both got good emeergency care (bird first, friend later) and they were both healing for months. He burned the hedge down the next day out of fury and guilt and anxiety, I think.

 

[LordTriggs]

I guess I'll add this in support of no-flying-outside.
I'll start by saying that the bird wound up FINE and is still fine (some 15 years later), but...
A friend and his Amazon was out in their front yard one day back in New Mexico, where cacti are common natural and landscape items. The clipped (and very heavy) 'Zon got spooked and jumped and was totally unable to get any lift, and wound up crashing into a big Opuntia (Prickly Pair) hedge nearby. Sank to the bottom. My friend was as full of spines as the bird by the time he got her out. They both got good emeergency care (bird first, friend later) and they were both healing for months. He burned the hedge down the next day out of fury and guilt and anxiety, I think.

oof I know that feeling your friend had. I had a fight with a cactus out in Tunisia a few years ago. suffice to say I lost the fight quite decidedly, if only I could go back and burn that cactus!

 

[clark_conure]

I...respectfully disagree with most....Scott said differing opinions are ok, so you can all call me wrong. But my bird I trim to a glide down only posture, the most he can attain is about 12 inches on a surprise jump and then it's nothing but down. I have no predators in my area that I know of and we only go out for maybe 15-30minutes at most. Even in a gale force wind he might get 100ft or 30 yards away, but I could probably run and get there faster.

If a bird is fully domiciled and thinks he's people I think the best course of action is to clip, for their own safety and security.

There is a certain quality of life that comes into going outside with a bird free together as man and dinosaur and knowing he's safe. Car rides, gardening, enjoying clean air and sunshine.

My bird won't stray from me even more than a few feet, so this may not be the best advice for everyone, but if you bird is SERIOUSLY attached, I don't think its all that bad to just go out on the patio and get some sun together if he's clipped.

OH when in a car, always keep the windows up...that COULD be disastrous.

 

[MonicaMc]

Our green cheek Doc is about a year old and my gf and I just feel helpless. We think Doc's a male, so I'll just keep using that pronoun for the sake of simplicity.

He doesn't show any symptoms of poor health, has regular sleep, good appetite and has been to our new home long enough to get comfortable. He's got his cage in gf's bedroom and a playground in the living room. We also try to take him outside whenever we can, although ~10 mins are usually enough before he loses curiosity and he doesn't seem to be a huge fan of nature.

Here comes the confusing part. He will scream when either of us leaves the room, is happy when we watch him eat/preen and likes to sit on my hand. However, he doesn't like to be pet, in fact doesn't seem to like any form of touch. Doc preen's us (even though he's not very gentle), but his response to any kind of touch is to bite (not immediately, not aggressively, more like "that's enough, get that thing away from me"). Prefers to scratch his own head and take his own bath in a small water dish, doesn't like sinks, larger water vessels (think shallow tupperware), showers or misting.

Doc is also scared of everything, all the time. He'll play with toys, but his response to anything new is to run away and attempts to coax him are hit or miss. When we try training him in any way, most of the time he'll go along once and then completely ignore the task - Doc will either get distracted by his own feet or something only he can see, or he'll just try to go straight for the treat.

He did go through an aggressive stage which luckily we got over, now he's generally not aggressive toward either one of us. However, before his little 'hormonal' period, he would say words and repeat things, sometimes very clearly, whereas now it's like he gave up trying - he rarely even says the words he used to before and doesn't seem to pick up anything new.

Lastly, our roommate got a cockatiel recently (about a month ago) and while they are not openly aggressive, they would either avoid each other and mind their own business or go back and forth looking for an advantage without actually attacking.

Any thoughts?

Agreed with others - don't take him outside unless restrained in a harness or cage/carrier.


The lack of accepting physical attention could be just him or it could be the result of something as he was growing up. It can be re-trained, but may take some time.

Doc screaming when people leave the room - that's normal. With 99% of parrot species, there is safety in numbers. Parrots who are "alone" (even if there are other birds around) may feel scared or anxious. Question is, what could he do instead? And how could you reward that behavior?

Could he... learn how to whistle? Ring a bell? Forage for treats? Play with toys? And how could you reward those behaviors?

As far as new items, there's a few ways you could teach him to accept them. It could be placing the item on the bed or the table and placing his favorite treats around the item, or teaching him to target towards the object, or maybe it's a game of "hide and seek" with the object, but done in such a way that it doesn't scare him?

How do you train him? What are you using as rewards? Are these his favorite treats?

How did you handle him while he was being 'aggressive'?

I...respectfully disagree with most....Scott said differing opinions are ok, so you can all call me wrong. But my bird I trim to a glide down only posture, the most he can attain is about 12 inches on a surprise jump and then it's nothing but down. I have no predators in my area that I know of and we only go out for maybe 15-30minutes at most. Even in a gale force wind he might get 100ft or 30 yards away, but I could probably run and get there faster.

If a bird is fully domiciled and thinks he's people I think the best course of action is to clip, for their own safety and security.

There is a certain quality of life that comes into going outside with a bird free together as man and dinosaur and knowing he's safe. Car rides, gardening, enjoying clean air and sunshine.

My bird won't stray from me even more than a few feet, so this may not be the best advice for everyone, but if you bird is SERIOUSLY attached, I don't think its all that bad to just go out on the patio and get some sun together if he's clipped.

OH when in a car, always keep the windows up...that COULD be disastrous.

I've heard of plenty of stories where the birds were *EXTREMELY* attached to their owners, and the birds *STILL* spooked and took off... so being clipped and closely bonded to you is no guarantee that a bird wont take off and get lost - especially with some adrenaline and a nice gust of air.

It's better to take them outside in a harness, cage or carrier and teach recall training in the event that the bird does end up loose, you could potentially recall them back to you.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13XmlniLKd4"]Charlie Flying Outside - YouTube[/ame]

 

[clark_conure]

I agree that a harness might be best, but in my situation I don't think I need it, I once lost a bird that flew off when I was a kid, I was heartbroken, but my bird can basically only go down...I monitor his flight ability all the time, probably because of that. Besides I own a third of an acre, anywhere he could possibly get to even with 40mph winds, (not that I'd take him out in that) would still basically end up on my property in the trimmed grass.

 

[LordTriggs]

There is a certain quality of life that comes into going outside with a bird free together as man and dinosaur and knowing he's safe.

There's a fundamental flaw with this statement Clark. Not an opinion, but a fact. The're not safe when out without a harness or in a travel cage. yours may not be inclined to fly off but how do you know he won't get startled? In a moment of pure terror everything but the flight or fight instinct turns off, they forget you even exist.

Also let's be fair and outside of predators or scares let's look at the most disgusting of all creatures, Humans. Now how many stories have we heard of pets stolen? Dogs running in a field bundled into a van, cats taken off the street, homes broken into to get at parrots. Now a thief sees a tiny parrot, well-behaved on someone's shoulder. They think "there's an easy couple hundred dollars". What is there to stop that man walking up behind you and just snatching him then running off? With a harness there's a lead attached to your wrist so you can tell and a cage will be in your hand. A Pacobird carrier will be physically attached to you.

As I was taught in Army cadets, "plan for the worst, hope for the best"