Feeling lost

[AnnBrown]

I was so excited to bring Raz home and now less than a week later I cant help but wonder if I made the wrong choice. I sat with her for over two hours each time at the breaders and she was so sweet and gentle. I have been doing step up practice with her and she has been doing great. First the sneezing made me really nervous, then the issue with having her cage in the laundry room, then yesterday she would not go to my son whom she would previously run to (I have observed all interactions between the two so I know he has not done anything wrong with her) then this morning she started lounging at my younger son (puffing her crown up and hissing then lunging at him. She was not connecting even though he was close enough for her to) Then this afternoon I sat down with her to spend our usual quite time relaxing and cuddling before the kids get home and she started "attacking" my arm... "fussing" at is and nipping but not really biting. then all of a sudden she latched onto my thumb and bit! and i mean bit! she was throwing her body around so hard I was worried she would hurt herself. I did not make any noises or react besides trying to ease her off my hand. when she let go I stood up and went to a part of the house she is not use to being in and made her do some step ups. Then placed her in her sleep cage for a time out. Though she had her crest up she did not attack again or even make a noise at me. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. I have been reading book after book (both before bringing her home and even now once she is here) I know some part of this is her testing to see what she will be allowed to get away with but I honestly feel like all my previous experience isn't anything and I'm so lost. I no idea where to go next. I can take the bites while she tests the waters but if she bites one of my sons like that it is really going to hurt him... The only real thing I can say that has upset her is that I will not allow her to just hang on my shoulder all the time... she will grumble from the stand and wave one foot at me, I usually let her fuss for a little while then when she quiets I will start talking to her from where ever in the livingroom/kitchen I am working, in an attempt to get her use to not having my full attention at all times! Any advice would be great!

 

[GreyNickels]

I don't have a lot of experience with birds, and almost nil with 'toos, but I can say that every bird I have ever owned has gone through crabby days/ weeks. Think of them as a two year old, and treat them that way. They push boundaries and try to get away with murder and sometimes are crabby for no apparent reason. Go through the same checklist you would with a 2 year old. Hungry? Tired? Cold? Hurt? (Pin feathers coming in?)

And when all else fails, put them in a time out and let them know that nippiness only gets cage time.

 

[getwozzy]

Hi Ann!

Sounds like an eventful first week! IMHO- it sounds like you're on the right track with training and reprimanding.

There's what's called the honeymoon period, where everything is hunky dory for a period of time and the Mr Hyde comes for a visit. This is normal- as you already know, this is a testing period....it shouldn't last forever.

If you've moved her cage recently, she's probably mad about that too.... And she's probably mad that you won't let her on your shoulder....

During this time, it's important for your young ones to keep a safe distance until she gets it out of her system. She could just be overwhelmed by everything.....

As for her attacking and fussing at your arm, all I can think of is that she might be asking for something and then gets frustrated that you don't understand. For example, one of my pink monsters will get fussy and nippy if she's hungry and needs a snack.

Just keep doing what you're doing~ sometimes it can take a little while for them to get used to their new flock and home.

 

[AnnBrown]

Hi Ann!

As for her attacking and fussing at your arm, all I can think of is that she might be asking for something and then gets frustrated that you don't understand. For example, one of my pink monsters will get fussy and nippy if she's hungry and needs a snack.
.

I have figured out a couple things... She has a LOT of new feathers coming in on her head! She always want to be rubbed on her head and neck and I think she is torn. She fluffs up and wants to be petted but then pulls away like it hurts and makes little squeak noises. So i am being very careful about how to pet her. Also when I placed her back on her stand she went straight to her food bowl and started screaming. I knew she had food but had not looked at the contents. I have been slowly including pellets into the mix with the seeds that the breeder had her on. Today apparently she has eaten all of the seeds out of her bowl and was very mad that all she could find was pellets.

I also get the feeling she is just in a dont mess with me mood....

 

[getwozzy]

Molting can make some birds VERY cranky because not only does it take up a lot of their body's energy and nutrients, but it also hurts I would bathe her 2-3x/wk and do daily preening sessions and get the pins you can.

Do you feed her fresh fruits and veggies as well?? Instead of her being disappointed by the lack of seeds in her snack bowl, maybe she could have something else tasty to eat?

Grapes, a slice of pomegranate, sugar snap peas, dandelion greens, apple slices, broccoli....these are all favorites with my pink ladies

 

[OOwl]

It's sounding to me like she's insecure and scared. Moving to a new home from her nest home is very stressful and difficult for young birds. It's not really surprising that she's "acting out" as the only way to communicate the disconcerted way she's feeling. I think you'll find her sweet personality you observed at the breeders will return in a few weeks when your home and her new cage become a source of the familiar and known and represent security to her. After I read your post, I thought back to how things were with my guy when I brought him home 12 years ago. (I also purchased him from a great breeder, visited while he was weaning, and brought him home when he was weaned.) He did a lot of the same things. He definitely behaved differently than he does now. Just hang in there for a few weeks and let her adjust. I think you'll be surprised how much she will relax and become the bird you want her to be. Good luck!

 

[Jayyj]

Lots of good points already, but I'll add a couple. Galahs seem to be on the beaky side generally - if it's interesting, it goes in the beak. The only toys mine has any interest in are shreddable toys and she always goes for fingers. Nibbling fingers almost always leads to chomping fingers when she gets over excited so it's really important to set limits for what is acceptable pressure to be applying. She still nips harder than I'd like occasionally but she's been taught that 'gentle' means to ease up on whichever bit of me she's in the process of chewing. They also tend to home in on moles, hairs etc - as a female galah owner you probably won't experience the delights of a bird that keeps reaching inside your t shirt to pluck out chest hairs every 30 seconds but, take it from me, it's not funny! But, generally, nippy behaviour is likely to be an issue that needs managing.

The second thing, my first few weeks of galah parronthood were pretty horrible too - you're not alone! The first little bit, where the bird is unhappy and struggling to adjust and you don't really know how to read the body language or what is normal for the species, is often hard and often a big contrast to how you expect it to be. The chances are everything will settle down and be fine - so for the time being just hang in there, maybe let the kids know she needs a little space and patience and they might not be able to handle her too much just now.

The upside to a difficult start is the feeling you get when things do begin improving - there were so many milestones with Alice that were tiny, stupid little things but felt so amazing when they happened!

 

[AnnBrown]

Thanks y'all! I feel a lot better hearing all of this. I do offer her fresh fruit and veg every day but sense the breeder only fed certain things that they grew she is not familiar with some of the foods I put in her bowl and just throws them on the ground. She LOVES broccoli but only the stem... she is not a huge fan of carrots but will eat them... trying new things a little at a time.
I tried spraying her with the water bottle (started out by spraying my own hand to see how she reacted to the sound/presence of the bottle then gently spritzed her) and she seemed very scared. how do ya'll do baths? i was thinking about offering a large shallow pan with water in it and see how she does with that...

 

[Captsteve]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Psychotic, bi-polar Toos. She is adjusting and testing her limits. Stay firm and preen her. Lots of baths will help her be more comfortable.

She will come around, just be firm and let her know what you expect. Do not let her win the battles or you will enter the downward spiral of a Too running the house.

 

[AnnBrown]

They also tend to home in on moles, hairs etc - as a female galah owner you probably won't experience the delights of a bird that keeps reaching inside your t shirt to pluck out chest hairs every 30 seconds but, take it from me, it's not funny! But, generally, nippy behaviour is likely to be an issue that needs managing.

The second thing, my first few weeks of galah parronthood were pretty horrible too - you're not alone! The first little bit, where the bird is unhappy and struggling to adjust and you don't really know how to read the body language or what is normal for the species, is often hard and often a big contrast to how you expect it to be. The chances are everything will settle down and be fine - so for the time being just hang in there, maybe let the kids know she needs a little space and patience and they might not be able to handle her too much just now.

The upside to a difficult start is the feeling you get when things do begin improving - there were so many milestones with Alice that were tiny, stupid little things but felt so amazing when they happened!

Sorry but i did laugh.... Thank you for the information. It has really helped to hear from other Galah owners. The kids are standing back but still sit in the chair by her stand and talk to her. I have also been allowing them to still bring her treats (usually spinch or broccoli that they can hold out to her.

 

[MonicaMc]

Here are my thoughts...

I sat with her for over two hours each time at the breaders and she was so sweet and gentle.

She was at the breeders house. The place she was born and grew up in. This is where she felt comfortable at.

You take her home, away from her "parent", away from any possible siblings she had, away from what she is familiar with and used to. You place her in a new home with new people, new sites, new sounds, new everything! She's going to be kind of scared and on edge at first! Many people call this the "honeymoon" phase, however, I'm not a big fan of it, as it seems to imply that parrots intentionally react aggressively once it's over. That's not the case.

then yesterday she would not go to my son whom she would previously run to (I have observed all interactions between the two so I know he has not done anything wrong with her) then this morning she started lounging at my younger son (puffing her crown up and hissing then lunging at him.

Sounds like she previous accepted your kids, but now something about them she isn't comfortable with. Could it be because they run past her too fast and it freaks her out? Could it be because they are smaller than you are and she feels more comfortable with adults? Maybe your kids don't have as strong of arms as you do, and the wobbliness of a child's arm vs an adults could be bothering her.


In order to figure out why she's lunging, you have to watch how your kids are acting around her. Are they moving too fast? Making too many noises? Or sudden movements? Does she lunge under certain circumstances, but not others?

Then this afternoon I sat down with her to spend our usual quite time relaxing and cuddling before the kids get home and she started "attacking" my arm... "fussing" at is and nipping but not really biting. then all of a sudden she latched onto my thumb and bit! and i mean bit!

I have to wonder how long was she with you before she started attacking you? Was anything going on within the environment that could have caused her to act like that? A random shadow or even light reflecting off of something? Something going past a window? Another pet perhaps?

Was she in her cage before you interacted with her or on her stand? Could it be that she was bored? Or tired? Maybe even frustrated?

I did not make any noises or react besides trying to ease her off my hand.

It's "good" that you tried to get her off of you. It's *NOT* a good idea to ignore her bites, but it's even stupider to allow a parrot to sit on you and tear into your flesh. If you allow a behavior to occur, it as been reinforced. This doesn't mean to punish the undesired behavior if you don't want it to occur, but rather find ways to avoid that behavior in the first place.

So like the lunging, you need to figure out what upset her and caused her to do that so you can try and prevent it in the future.

when she let go I stood up and went to a part of the house she is not use to being in and made her do some step ups.

I wouldn't be very happy with you either if you forced me to do something I didn't want to do!

You *WANT* your bird to be eager to step up and look forward to it. When you force a bird to step up, you can create a bird who bites when a hand is presented as well as avoidance behaviors. This means more biting and aggression in the future!

I do not recommend this "technique".

Then placed her in her sleep cage for a time out.

Also don't recommend this. Most birds do not understand punishment, at least not in the way humans understand it best. Not only that, but she was probably already thinking of other things from the time the behavior occurred, to you forcing her to step up, and then to her sleep cage.

In short, it was pointless to do this.


You also don't want your bird to learn to associate going to her cage (or *any* cage) as a negative thing.

I know some part of this is her testing to see what she will be allowed to get away with

What if I told you it wasn't? What if I said that she's not trying to boss you around, she's not trying to dominate you, and she's not trying to test anything to see what she can get away with?

What if I told you that she's a parrot, and parrots are prey animals? They do not live in a "pack", but rather a flock which acts more like a society. Being prey animals, they have a higher sense of "fight or flight" response than other animals. This can make them more curious about their environment. To know what is safe or not safe.

Having a young parrot, well, this only increases their curiosity about their environment.


Might even go as far as saying that you have a feathered puppy with a can opener on their face and certain things can make them skittish and afraid! Like a puppy (or even a toddler!), they are very curious about their environment! They like to explore things, put things in their mouths to feel texture (maybe even see if it's edible!) and essentially figure things out! Through all this, they still need some guidance and some support.

A bored animal, or even a bored child for that matter, is more likely to get into trouble than a busy one. A kid that plays sports, has many family functions (dinner at a relatives, go out hiking or camping somewhere, etc) and may even be a part of school clubs is less likely to be a problem child than a child that sits at home all day long with nothing to do and parents who are too busy to engage their kid. In other words, he *has* to find something to do, and that may not always be a good thing!

So it's also true for parrots. KEEP THEM BUSY!

I can take the bites while she tests the waters

The only bite that can't be rewarded is the bite that never occurs. The more your bird bites you, the more the bird learns that she must bite in order to get *HER* message across. Biting is most often a form of communication, and it's an extreme form! Usually there is body language prior to the bite. This could be an open beak, eyes pinning, wide stance, feathers on neck ruffled, wings spread out a little bit away from the body... When these signals are missed or ignored, the bird takes it to another step and bites.

Guess what the bird just learned????? TO BITE!!!!!!!



So..... How do you teach a bird not to bite? Although easier said than done, the best way is to not get bitten in the first place. This means to learn to read your bird's body language and to back off before a bite occurs. It also means not putting the bird in a situation that will result in a bite. As an example, if you have a dog and the dog loves running around the room and this freaks out your bird, resulting in your bird biting, you either teach your dog to be calm and quiet when you have your bird with you, OR you don't allow them in the same room together. Simple solution!

 

[MonicaMc]

The only real thing I can say that has upset her is that I will not allow her to just hang on my shoulder all the time... she will grumble from the stand and wave one foot at me, I usually let her fuss for a little while then when she quiets I will start talking to her from where ever in the livingroom/kitchen I am working, in an attempt to get her use to not having my full attention at all times!

Does she have toys on her stand that she interacts with? Do you reward her for playing with toys on her stand? If you want a bird to learn to be independent, you don't ignore them. Rather, you teach them to be independent by encouraging them to play alone. At first, being rewarded for doing so may confuse them, but once they get the idea that playing on their own equals good things, then they are more likely to repeat the behavior! And boom! You have a bird that knows how to interact on it's own and entertain itself!




There is a dog at work that belongs to a co-worker of mine. This dog, Jackie, barks. You walk away from him, he barks. He hears someone in another part of the building, he barks. You mop the floor around him, he barks. You move the mop bucket, he barks. You open the big door, he barks. You get food prepared, he barks. In short, he's *really* annoying!

I've been instructed to yell at him and say things such as "Jackie, KNOCK IT OFF!" or "PFUI" (fooey). Anything along those lines to get him to shut up! And yes, it works. For a short period. Sometimes. Since it was not working to the effect that I wanted, and I really didn't like doing this (I'm a rather soft spoken person and I do not like raising my voice), I decided I'd try to get him to do something else... but what else could he do? Jackie is stuck in a kennel with a crate and a toy. Although trained, he doesn't listen to his commands very well, nor will he go in his crate on command... so what can I have him do instead of barking?

The answer was rather simple. He can get his toy! I started asking Jackie "Where's your toy?", or saying "Go get your toy!" and he go and pick it up. I then made a big deal about it! "Way to go Jackie!" "Good boy Jackie!!!!!", etc. Occasionally I would even pet him!

One day of doing that. Just one. Next day? He's barking and I walk into the room. He sees me and instantly runs for his toy! He grabs it and runs around his kennel! "What a good boy, Jackie!!!!! You got your toy!!!!!! Good boy!!!!!!"


I went from trying to verbally punish an undesired behavior with very little effect to rewarding a desired behavior with a huge effect! Sure, he still barked when moving the mop bucket, or opening the door, or preparing the food dishes! I didn't expect a fast result, but it worked. If he barked, I would ask him where his toy was, and would repeat it until he went and grabbed his toy. I would then make a big deal about it. In a short period of time he was barking less! (as long as he had his toy!)

Got a new coworker in, and she noticed what I would ask Jackie when he was being annoying, and what Jackie would do. She started doing the same thing I was doing, which only reinforced the behavior of him "playing" with his toy, and not barking.


What I learned? Punishing an undesired behavior doesn't make fast results. Rewarding a desired behavior does. Think about this with your bird.

She has a LOT of new feathers coming in on her head! She always want to be rubbed on her head and neck and I think she is torn. She fluffs up and wants to be petted but then pulls away like it hurts and makes little squeak noises.

Considering how big new feathers are when growing in, and the fact that they have a blood supply to them, I imagine it hurts a lot when the feather gets rubbed the wrong way!

You might want to teach her to allow you to touch her head by rewarding her for allowing to have your finger near her head. As she gets comfortable with that, then touch her head and reward. You can then try a quick scritch and reward.

Also when I placed her back on her stand she went straight to her food bowl and started screaming. Today apparently she has eaten all of the seeds out of her bowl and was very mad that all she could find was pellets.

Why not try feeding her sprouted seeds? They are a multitude times healthier than dry seeds are!

Sprouted seeds are like fruits and vegetables. They are LIVING food!

Pellets on the other hand are "dead" food. It cannot grow and never will grow again. (except mold and bacteria...)


I'm not suggesting to stop feeding pellets, but sprouts can be a great way to increase a birds diet, and if they are picky about foods, you can finely chop up foods to mix into the sprouts and feed that!

I also get the feeling she is just in a dont mess with me mood....

Birds can, and do, at times, wake up on the "wrong side of the perch"! That's perfectly fine! Ask the bird if they want to step up or come out, and if they don't, that's ok! You can try again in a few minutes or later on in the day!

I tried spraying her with the water bottle (started out by spraying my own hand to see how she reacted to the sound/presence of the bottle then gently spritzed her) and she seemed very scared. how do ya'll do baths? i was thinking about offering a large shallow pan with water in it and see how she does with that...

Here's some ideas on bathing birds. each bird is an individual!

• Try luke-warm water
• Try cold water
• Try ice-cold water
• Try a spray bottle
• Try a plant mister
• Try in the sink with the water running or just some water in the bottom
• Try in the sink with the sprayer
• Try in the tub with some water in the bottom
• Try a casserole dish or similar with some water
• Try the dish with ice
• Try the dish with foot toys
• Try the dish with some small rocks or pebbles
• Try the dish with some leafy greens like endive or other types of lettuces that may create a "natural" bowl
• Try the dish with a vacuum cleaner running
• Try in the shower with you - watching you having a blast getting wet!
• Try dancing the bird into the shower with the water already going
• Try spritzing yourself, and have fun doing it! Then spritz the bird
• Try outside in an empty cage large enough to spread wings during a nice rain shower
• Try outside in an empty cage using the hose with a mist/shower attachment
• Try playing videos of other birds bathing

I know the vacuum cleaner sounds wacky, and I've had people tell me that, too! But they tried it! And their birds (typically amazons) loved it! Could be because the vacuum changes the air pressure inside the way a storm would change the air pressure outside....

 

[Dinosrawr]

I'm very happy to see that you're back, Monica [emoji4] Your posts are always so informative. I just want to add onto the last bit... the vacuum 100% works in my household for bathing. In fact, when I vacuum my ringneck flies into my face and tries to bathe himself on me (when he showers with us he likes to use my hair as a soaking tool [emoji28]). My conure will fluff up and dive immediately into her water bowl.

Also, bringing them into the bathroom and just simply running the tap water encourages them to want to bathe because of the sound. Once they make the association that bathing is good, you'll have problems turning on water and not finding a bird beneath it! Just keep your head up and continue the positive reinforcement. Your pink fluffy sweetheart will return eventually!

 

[AnnBrown]

Thank you all for your information. Things have relaxed a little in our house over the last two days. Sunday raz started with a nose so we went to the vet. After some antibiotics and a change of location for her cage (she is now in my sons room at night and not the laundry room) she is back to being sweet.

To answer a few questions she has toys toys and more toys on her stand a few she plays with more than others but she does not lack for toys on her stand or in her cage.

Having her on a seed based diet is not my choice, we are trying some sprouted seeds but she still profers her dry seeds, my vet wants her on a portion of pellets. We are weening the dry seeds down to a smaller ratio (the breeder was feeding a seed/pellet mix but it was seed heavy.)

With the kids; she is still leery about the youngest, we have NEVER allowed running or yelling in the house. we did make a rule that running and horse play is no longer allowed in the front yard after I watched raz watching the boys threw the front door as they practiced soccer. Kale my oldest has taken on the chore of filling her food bowl every morning and afternoon, her cage is also in his room and she is going to him happily again. Raz sings and whistles when he walks up to her stand just the same as she does for me.

As far as learning her body language we are all working on that. There have not been any more bites. (I do think that I did not explain myself well enough about my reaction... trust me I reacted... I just did not scream/pull away I said No in a firm voice, sat up straight and as gently as possibly removed her beak from my flesh and as far as the "step up" once we were in a different room she very willingly and happily preformed the requested task. I just did not want to place her directly back on her stand or in her cage after the biting incident, I have been badly bitten in the past by an M2 and was hospitalized and almost died, when he bit my neck damaging my trechea.)

We are still working on the bath situation... we have tried;
spray bottles,
plant mister
warm water
cool water
shallow pan
shallow water in the sink
shallow water in the tub
water in the tub with a few toys she likes
we have watched videos of other birds bathing (this was funny, she hid behind my computer and slowly worked her way around to see what was going on. She ended up mimicking my laugh while I laughed at her reaction....) We are going to try the shower together tomorrow morning.

Please dont ever get me wrong. She has a forever home and I am not an idiot, I have never had a bird this young so there are some things that i'm not sure of. Also there are a few things that have never come up with my fosters like "is it safe to have the birds sleep cage in the laundry room" because I have never had a laundry room....

Also sense they were all older the bath things was not an issue...

 

[Aquila]

For the bath issue, I would also suggest maybe putting her on the shower curtain rod a few times while you took a shower. Throw a little hand towel over the rod so she can get a grip, and she'll get the steam and get used to the sound. Maybe moving her onto the shower head if you're able after that, or onto a grab bar or rack that's not under the water.

Just keep doing what you're doing, it sounds like you're making great progress.

 

[Jayyj]

Alice didn't like the idea of baths at first. My vet was of the opinion that it's less critical for parrots that come from fairly arid climates to have regular baths and if she wasn't keen at first let her settle in and try again a few weeks down the line, but not to force it. Sure enough, once she was settled I tried using a spray bottle again and she loved it. She'll still not a huge fan - she's never warmed to other forms of bathing and if I try to spray her more often than once a fortnight she'll go and hide at the back of the cage. But she enjoys her fortnightly dousing. I wouldn't worry about it too much just yet.

It might be worth checking with the breeder if she previously had a preferred method - that way you can concentrate on a tried and tested method.

 

[bigbluemacaw]

Hi, this is a hard one - I presume she is no longer in the Laundry room (fumes and chemicals even from the simple act of tumble drying will give her a major headache or worse . .) if she is then this could well be your problem (she's feeling lousy). If not, then what you're probably seeing here is boredom, jealousy and punishment (of you!). It's by no means hopeless though None of the below is easy and I want to encourage you to stick with this and you will win through!

Parrots are wonderful and super clever but they need massive (and I mean massive) amount of interaction and attention. They need to be as important and get as much time from you as your Children to be happy. They can be very jealous of other people getting your attention too and rapidly become a 'velcro' attachment to their 'partner' (you)! You may have to re-think how you work with her. These are my suggestions:

a) Have her with you at least 50% of the day and ideally not in her cage (shoulder is a good bet as long as she doesn't bite your face). Clean the house with her, answer the door with her, make your sandwiches with her, dance with her and shower with her!!

b) Get an Aviator harness and lead, then take her on the school run with the kids, take her to the local Costa cafe, go shopping with her do everything with her (well as much as you can).

c) Get silly with her as well as 'fussy'. Birds are complex like Children they need to express a wide range of emotions, Birds like play - lots and lots of it!! Let your hair down and go mad. Sure, the neighbours will talk but who cares?!! Silly voices and erratic (mad) head movements in front of Parrots are always appreciated.

d) She'll settle down to fuss time when she's ready which is usually at the end of the day when you sit down and watch a film together on the Couch (and the kids are in bed)

General: Birds are flock animals, they want to part of a flock/family and they cannot really live in 'Dog' mode (i.e. wake up, take them for a walk, sleep, eat, wake up take the for a walk bed). They are super intelligent and need the same sort of interaction as your or my Children. Share your life with them and fill their days and just like Children they will snuggle up with you in the evening . . . it's a big committment and I truthfully don't think owning a Parrot (and keeping it really happy) is much different to having Children!! (done both). But your life needs to revolve around the Parrot as well as your Kids, your Partner and of course your work - (you can multi task can't you?!!! Me neither Your life is in fact - NOT YOUR LIFE! It's just a service run for the benefit of others I like it that way myself, gives me a purpose - Jesus taught we should be that way too, but it isn't always easy

Video of the fun bit below:

[ame="https://youtu.be/8sjsYsBRn3c"]Blue; Playtime with Daddy! - YouTube[/ame]

God bless


Mark