I may have to move...

[Anansi]

Love the pics! And yeah, the love... and defensiveness... over your husband are evident in that 1st photo.

Your experiment is the right way to go. While my Maya isn't as extreme as your Sucre, she definitely prefers me to my wife. And historically, if my wife held her for more than maybe 2 minutes or so with me around, Maya would bite hard enough to draw blood.

So my wife started to work with her whenever I was off at work, or in another room with strict instructions not to let my voice be heard. (That's right, being out of sight is not enough! The sound of your husband's voice will get you chomped!)

And this method has yielded results! Maya has become far more tolerant of my wife, and their relationship has improved considerably.

It's still a work in progress, though, so far as when I'm around. But baby steps, here.

 

[Allee]

This is Sucre and the love of his / her life.



And this is Sucre being a sweetheart.

These pics are priceless! Sucre has definitely claimed your husband for his or her own. And the second pic, the classic 'sweetest bird in the universe'! I love it, don't believe it for a second!

Kim, you can request a collection kit from Avian Biotech, there are several companies, I think they are all pretty reasonable and offer quick results. You can send a blood or feather sample, if you want to use feathers, you'll need three freshly plucked breast feathers. It's not as bad as it sounds, I don't think Poppy even noticed.

Avian Services Center: DNA sexing and disease testing for all species of birds.

 

[Scott]

Sucre is a beautiful U2, and seems to embody the glory of the species in every respect!!

 

[Sucre]

Anansi, I know what you mean. Not only am I banished to the other room, I cannot speak. I try to give them their "alone time", though. I have things to do and can't sit hiding under a blanket all of the time. She is getting a little more tolerant of seeing me in the kitchen working, and doesn't try to come at me quite as much as she was. I think we're working on giving each other "space". Maya sounds a lot like Sucre! Imagine having two like that at once!

I don't guess the sex matters. It's not like I plan to breed (can't imagine more than one of her / him) and from what I've read, it isn't like knowing would give me some sort of epiphany as to how to fix this.

My coworkers are laughing at me when I tell my stories of the dogs and I hiding underneath the comforter and peeping out at what is going on. It's a good thing I have a sense of humor!

Scott, thank you. The more I read the more I understand her. She's pretty typical personality wise, but I think she's beautiful, too.

 

[MonicaMc]

I would like for her to be able to fly around freely, but not while my face is her intended target. So, that is why I am getting her wings clipped this weekend. It is temporary, so I will feel more comfortable working with her.
Whether Sucre is clipped or flighted, I still recommend starting from inside the cage working on target training through the cages bars. Deliver a treat via a spoon or a "treat cup" that you can drop her reward in. That way, if it looks like she's about to bite, you can back off and avoid getting bitten.

If Sucre is caged, she can't chase you!

And if you can work with her while your husband is not around, you can build up a relationship. Please do read about Rocky, Lara and his ball! Rocky was a cockatoo that was no neurotic that he was going to be put to sleep. Lara saved his life and although he's been a *LONG* work in progress, it's still amazing to see the progress that has been made over the years!

And Lara Joseph was an impulse buyer. She walked into a pet store to buy a pooper scooper for her dog and walked out with a "white cockatiel", Rico! Well, Rico turned out to be an umbrella cockatoo! If you need any additional help, please reach out to Lara, too!


You may also find this link of help. Well, it would be your husband doing the training!

https://larajoseph.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/training-a-bird-to-station-its-importance/


Or Barbara Heidenreich who started her career training birds in zoos! She was so perplexed by the issues with pet parrots that she went from training zoo animals to training *all* animals, including pets! She's extremely in tune with their behavior!


Training Parrots | Parrot Training DVDS & Books



She acts out (screams) if not let out, and we have found NOTHING that will stop her.
Can you time exactly when she starts to scream?

If yes, you could try bathing her until she's soaking wet *before* she starts screaming and hopefully she'll be busy preening and drying off instead of screaming.

Or maybe try giving her some safe, natural perches with as much bark and leaves still left on them for her to strip down? (if she's not afraid of them!)

Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages.

Or........ you can find or buy some pine cones, put some dried fruits, pellets and seeds between the various petals of the pine cones and give that to her to forage in? One person even took dandelions (flowers, stems and leaves) and wrapped those around a pine cone!

Feather Plucking, Feather Plucking Remedies, Feather Destructive Behavior, Pine Cones, Exotic Bird Food, Pinecones, Bird Toys, Feather Picking Solutions and Refeathering


Get some untreated 2x2's or 2x4's, lengths of 4" to 10" (hang it as a toy or make into a perch!), drill holes into the wood, and stuff the holes with Nutriberries, wooden beads, seeds, pellets, toys, etc! Instead of drilling holes, you could also make slots within the wood to stuff food into.

Or a fun activity for some birds! Give them a dish of water fulled with small pieces of fruits and veggies! Basically, bobbing for apples! Except it's various foods! Peas in the pod, carrots, zucchini, etc!


Got any extra phone books lying around? Tear off the outside covers and either weave the pages through the cage bars or drill a hole in the spine and bolt it to the cage!


Or to revisit the foraging idea... make sure you remove all food at night and first thing in the morning, give her a variety of ways to eat her breakfast! Please 5+ *small* cups around her cage and fill the cups with a *small* amount of food. Wrap food up in mini paper cupcake holders! Place her food in foraging toys. Using safe string, tie her food up to her perches so she has to pull the string up to get to her food. Place her food in containers with easy to remove lids.

Start simple, but make her work for her food. The more time she has to physically work to eat, the less time she has to do some other less than desirable things!



Would all of this make more sense if "she" were a "he"??? The people I rescued her from weren't overly trustworthy. Should I have the test again? Would that help what we're trying to do here?... I don't guess the sex matters. It's not like I plan to breed (can't imagine more than one of her / him) and from what I've read, it isn't like knowing would give me some sort of epiphany as to how to fix this.

You're right, it doesn't matter the sex of Sucre in regards to training.... however, it could potentially be a life or death situation knowing the sex. Male birds can't lay eggs, therefore they can't get egg-bound. I can't imagine there's much worse than rushing your male bird to the vet because he's not acting right, only to find out that "he" is really a female that's egg-bound, and if you had read up on all the egg related health issues in female birds, you might have been more prepared for this incident or might have been able to prevent it by knowing the triggers to egg laying.

At least, that's one possible scenario. So in that sense, it kind of is important.


She was allowed to drink her own cup of coffee every morning with her previous owner, so she would also like to drink ours, and we don't want her to have the caffeine, so a coffee cup can cause a real battle of wills.
Besides offering her fruit juice, as another member mentioned, you could also offer her warm green tea or chamomile tea, or other caffeine-free teas.

Maybe you could use her love of warm drinks to your advantage? If she's good, she gets to have a sip out of her own cup?


We are going to the vet to get her wings clipped to slow down her attacks (and give me time to get out of the way when she comes running), do I just need to get a piece of feather? Do I have to request a kit for DNA? Who is best to deal with?
As previously mentioned, if using feathers, you need to pluck a few. It's mostly recommended to pluck feathers from the breast area. You want plucked feathers though as they contain the most DNA on them. (typically some skin around the base of the quill from being plucked) If you use clipped feathers or molted feathers, these have less DNA.

Otherwise, it's clipping a toenail too short, or taking blood from the jugular, nail bed, or wing to do a blood sample. If you need to do any blood tests, such as a CBC, this would be a great time to get a little extra blood taken for the DNA test!

Or....... if she happens to break a blood feather.... you could always use that.




Hopefully you are able to find a way to work with her and create a positive relationship with Sucre!

 

[Sucre]

Thank you, MonicaMc, for the excellent advice. I read through it all late last night, tried to send an email to Lara, and my pc malfunctioned about the time I hit submit, so I will have to try again. I tried to find the articles on Rocky specifically behavior wise, but I was too tired to keep looking. I will read some more tonight.

I'm a little confused. Target training in the cage, but I am assuming you also mean for me to work with him inside the cage when my husband isn't around, too?

I'm very intrigued by the station training, but agree that my husband would probably be the one to have to do that, unless things change drastically between Sucre and I.

We did go to the vet this morning. Vet says he's definitely a male, not to waste my money on DNA. Under the fluorescent lights his eyes were as black as coal. At least I was right about something! Wings are clipped, both of them. Beak is trimmed, nails are trimmed and I've got one pouty bird on my hands right now. We've actually been enjoying the peace and quiet today - she turns her back when either of us come to the cage, and won't even eat her favorite - turkey and sweet potatoes!

The vet also said I was expecting too much too soon from her, and advised working with her one on one from the cage when my husband wasn't around. He said all good things (food) must come from me, which is what I have been doing. He said that we don't know what the drug exposure has done to her mentally, and that we may have a long road ahead of us. But he did put things in perspective, much as all of you have done, and I appreciate your help so much.

We were actually questioning whether I should be in the room at the vets or not, but she was so busy introducing herself to everyone there when she came out of the crate that she totally ignored me.

Going to finish cleaning and get spaghetti on to cook, and read some more. Just wanted to update everyone.

 

[Scott]

Coal black eyes in a Too are so strongly indicative of a male.

Not surprised Sucre ignored you in the vet room; think of it as sort of a DMZ where you are a familiar frenemie in a zone of a hostile vet, techs, and strange equipment.

Did you offer some spaghetti? Many of mine love cooked pasta, particularly whole-grain.

 

[MonicaMc]

I tried to find the articles on Rocky specifically behavior wise, but I was too tired to keep looking.
I think I tried to link to those ones in particular, since you are having the same problems with Sucre. Here, check out this post again.

http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/59419-i-may-have-move.html#post543473

I'm a little confused. Target training in the cage, but I am assuming you also mean for me to work with him inside the cage when my husband isn't around, too?

Yes! Below is a video of someone working with their amazon through the cage bars on target training. I'm suggesting the same behavior between you and Sucre!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW2yZOclnfo"]suki target.MOV - YouTube[/ame]

In the next video, Lara is shaping the "lack of" lunging from Molly. Whenever Lara would walk by the cage, Molly would lunge to attack. Lara found that walking at a slower pace and putting Molly in a more "open" location (so as to not be startled if Lara walked around a corner and 'suddenly appeared') reduced the lunging behavior. This in turn made it possible for Lara to reward desired behavior - i.e. not lunging.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgk_5fjngKM"]Molly walk by - YouTube[/ame]

It may indeed help to work with Sucre one on one without your husband around, as your husband will serve as a distraction. You want Sucre to be relaxed, yet focused on you. Once you are able to form some sort of trust with Sucre, then you might try working with Sucre in the same room as your husband, but have your husband at a far distance.

Maybe even try creating a game between you and Sucre that only the two of you play? This can also help to form a bond. It may not be the same kind of bond that Sucre has with your husband, but it can still be a bond of trust.


The vet also said I was expecting too much too soon from her, and advised working with her one on one from the cage when my husband wasn't around. He said all good things (food) must come from me, which is what I have been doing. He said that we don't know what the drug exposure has done to her mentally, and that we may have a long road ahead of us. But he did put things in perspective, much as all of you have done, and I appreciate your help so much.

It definitely helps to have another perspective on things! So glad the vet was so helpful!