Can someone tell me what this means?

[Erick123]

GIF OF PEANUT. PLEASE LOOK

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet WHY IS HE DOING THIS?

I am trying to slowly train my Peanut through the cage by hand feeding him, talking, singing, and reading to him. In a previous thread, I stated that I was moving to fast exposing him to new environments and getting up overly excited. He is a bird that has very little experience being outside his cage or being trained from his previous owner.

The problem is that in my attachment, he goes to the side of the cage, shakes his wings and starts screaming and I don't understand why. Someone suggested that I start training him in another room with the T-stand. He was finally able to get on the t-stand which was great, but preforming "step-up" was another challenge. He started to get super hyper in my room so i slowly took the t-stand into his main room. I wanted to bring him back in the cage. I would slowly wrap a blanket around him. His initial reaction was to bite, but I would just wrap it around up, then let go. I did that for about 10 mins until he allowed me to pick him up! PROGRESS

I want start creating a bond with him starting with his cage, but it is difficult to do anything when he automatically does what he's doing in that GIF I posted. (I am taking him to a avian vet Sunday)
*Please note that the gif file is side ways*

Thank you,
Erick

 

[GaleriaGila]

While we're waiting for the 'too experts to contribute, I'll suggest that it looks like a display of territorial/mating behavior. Your bird will hopefully wind up being better-behaved than mine (just about all of them are!), but the Rickeybird claims his cage as his alone. I always have to wait for him to come out before approaching him.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Hi Erick, you will pick up cues to certain movements by when he does them. Does he only do this when he sees you?

I hope Peanut will get the all clear on Sunday. Personally I feel you are trying too much too soon. My guess he isnt ready yet and unsure about different rooms. Tiny steps, remember?

Can I ask some questions about Peanuts cage? The one shown is this the cage where he spends nearly all his time? It is very bare and does not show anything that will occupy and stimulate him. Cockatoos are very intelligent and need to be kept occupied to be happy.

I enclose a link http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/52628-poppy-s-favorite-toys-purple-mohawk.html

This is a really good model to copy ie a big and roomy cage with lots of activities to do. Please have a look and start here for Peanut. If you were put in a room completely blank except for a bed would you be stimulated and happy? If you feel the cage you have is not right, there is usually a market for selling good quality used ones.

 

[Siobhan]

I only know one 'too, so I'm no expert, but when Rocky does that it means he wants to come to me. Crest down is approachable. Wing shaking and screaming is to get attention when you didn't get the signals the first time.

Crest up is excited/mad/frightened. You have to know your bird very well to know which one it is when the crest is up, but crest up always means the bird is NOT calm and relaxed and you have to watch out for a chomp. Happy excited can turn to overstimulated excited in a heartbeat. If crest is up AND face feathers are out, don't pick him up or try to touch him. Happy excited crest up means, in Rocky's case, I can touch him if I'm watching body language but I don't pick him up. He knows that "put your head down" means crest must be down or I won't pick him up.

 

[Scott]

Probably "let me out and hold me" assuming this activity is displayed in your presence. The slight quivering of wings is a big clue.

 

[Kiwibird]

I am also going with an attention-seeking behavior. My dads cockatoo does this when he want's attention. I am not so sure I would encourage this behavior by rewarding with attention. My dads cockatoo is a screamer, and while I wasn't alive yet when the bird was young, I'm betting my parents unwittingly encouraged his lifelong screaming habit by responding to these kinds of behavior with attention. I have an amazon, not a cockatoo, but he only gets attention for making "nice" noises I enjoy hearing or at least don't mind him making. If he gets loud or too overzealous in his seeking of our attention, he gets ignored. He makes far more nice noises than loud ones and seeks attention in appropriate ways. He tested the waters with screaming when still new and was consistently ignored. But we also gave attention/praise for noises he made we liked. After some time, he picked up on getting attention for the noises we like and not for the noises we don't. It is not an overnight process with any parrot species and they can be a bit slow on the uptake. Parrots do tend to pick up on cues (even if it is against their natural instincts) of behaviors accepted by or rejected by their human "flock" though by continuous reinforcing good/ignoring bad. That goes for many behaviors we'd like to alter.

 

[Holly the U2]

Holly (my U2) does the same thing soon as i enter the room, its excitement & she wants me to get her out of the cage

 

[Erick123]

Yeah he only does this when I enter the room. I started to add more toys to his cage. I have to get him a bit excited in order for him to start interacting with them.

 

[YUMgrinder]

begging behavior!

 

[Freebird1969]

Ok for starters I would say he looks very stressed in that clip. The cage looks very bare from what I can see of it, i.e. perches and toys? You have some sort of keyboard next to him. It also looks like it’s a very open space, not in a nice corner against a wall, but I could be wrong. I can also see a ventilation panel at the bottom of his cage, which could be causing him an unnecessary draft of dry air which could affect his delicate air sacs.
You should not be wrapping him up in a blanket, he will not gain your trust if you keep doing this.
How long have you had him? How old is he? You first have to gain his trust before you can start doing any kind of training. He needs to come to you, not the other way around. Does he take treats from you through the cage bars? He should get used to the room he is in before taking him to a new one. If he is a rehome, it will take a long time to settle with you. What is his history?

 

[LordTriggs]

new perches and toys like everyone else has said. Not dowel perches though, look for natural branch ones to keep the feet comfy. If possible get a bigger cage (you will never find one big enough I can assure you!) move the cage into a nice corner so he can see if someone is going to come near him and not suddenly appear.

Now for the big things.

1. Slow right down! You've got easily the rest of your life with him so just calm down, he's going to be extremely scared and upset right now and just needs to chill out for a while.

2. Don't wrap him in a towel. That's as terrifying as can get for a bird. being enclosed like that means they're about to be lunch in the wild.

3. Go back to stage one with him. Focus for now on getting him to eat treats from your hand. This may take days weeks even months but it's vital. Then move on to stepping up with a stick or t-stand. If they don't do it every time you ask within a 10 minute session then they're not ready for the next step which is to go onto your hand.

It's an extremely long process but worth it