Longest amount of time your bird has stayed mad with you?

[TRBLMKR]

I recently acquired two male galah cockatoos from a good home (Sammy 3, Sawyer 7). Birds are healthy and happy but surely miss their family. The transition was going well.

The pair were skilled but untrained flyers and stayed on or near the handler (me, or one of my teenage sons). As they got more comfortable they spread out exploring more parts of the house and getting into things they shouldn't. Getting back into the cages became very stressful for them and me.

After much deliberation I decided their wings needed to be clipped. Well, I clipped them, big mistake (someone else should have done the clipping). The younger of the two, Sammy, has moved on. Just over a month and Sawyer won't even take a treat from my hand. When I talk to him, he looks away. I walk to one side of his cage and he moves to the other. He hates me now, lol. How long can these guys remember? The cold shoulder is real.

What's the longest time your bird has been unhappy with you?

 

[Rozalka]

The longest time? Forever.

This really depends on your bird personality. For example my conure generally easily forgives us.
Once time when I had young Bourkies, I wanted to pet one of them... and it was the last time when it sat on me. I didn't do anything wrong, I just touched its head... but it was enough to loose all trust and started escaping from us (note: it wasn't long with us, so maybe it isn't a really good example)

 

[TRBLMKR]

The longest time? Forever.

Haha, starting to think Sawyer is better at psychological warfare then I. Gonna have to up my game. In my case the punishment does fit the crime. What could be worse than taking a birds flight?

 

[cnyguy]

Ralph never gets really angry at me, just a little annoyed once in a while and it doesn't last long. George the YCA would get mad at me occasionally and he would be over it in half an hour or less. At first he would growl when I walked by his cage but once I was forgiven, I would hear soft little "hellos." Scooter the CAG was better at holding a grudge and would sometimes pretend I didn't exist for several hours. She would sit facing the wall and not make a sound. She usually got over it when dinnertime rolled around.

 

[texsize]

For Bingo my YNA it was about 6 days (after coming back from a month long absence).
Toweling him to give medicine get's him temporarily upset but he sees the towel as the bad guy not me so I have been lucky there.

For the Twins I recently had to administer medicine for the first time.
Both of these birds are new-ish (by birdy time scale) to the flock and not completely ..... I don't know how to put it, not tame exactly but difficult to handle.
I would say for them they were much more warry of being approached and picked up but got over in in about a week also.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Oh, wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... how about 39 years?
Does this story count?

When the Rb was a little kid of about a year, he finally grew in a beautiful long stalk of bronze tail feathers. I admired it from afar, longing to gather it and savor it in my boney fingers. He was clearly avoiding that and got angrier as I persisted, zealously protecting his back. At last I would stand it no longer. I waited until he was tired, at ease, not paying attention to my stalking. I waited for the perfect moment and then POUNCED, mustering the beautiful long feathers and hanging on to them as my heart swelled in oneness with Nature! Of course he wrestled free and then...

... has never turned his back on me since. I am clearly a creep who cannot be trusted.

He backs away and hisses if he thinks I'm woking my nerve up, I think.

 

[wrench13]

Longest Salty has held a grudge was maybe 5 days after I went to CHina for 3 weeks. He gets PO'd if I miss a training session, but next day he is usually OK.

 

[SailBoat]

I did travel extensively and would and still do fully announcement that I was going and when I would be back. Still use a version of that today.

I have always had the Vet clip nails, etc. as it is just better to have them as the Bad People and I get to the the savor in the white SUV that would save him and take-him home away from those bad folks. Clipping yourself can get you on their list really fast. Getting off their list commonly takes starting all over again from day one introduction and baby-steps on redeveloping the trust bond.

Too's can be really slow at forgiving as they tend to get very attached.
Understand, if you start today, you will be further along than starting several weeks from now.

 

[TRBLMKR]

I have always had the Vet clip nails, etc. as it is just better to have them as the Bad People and I get to the the savor in the white SUV that would save him and take-him home away from those bad folks. Clipping yourself can get you on their list really fast. Getting off their list commonly takes starting all over again from day one introduction and baby-steps on redeveloping the trust bond.

Too's can be really slow at forgiving as they tend to get very attached.
Understand, if you start today, you will be further along than starting several weeks from nonow

My greatest takeaway from the event is let someone else do the "terrible awful". We were in such a good spot, the "bond" wasn't made yet, but he trusted me. I lost a bit of my confidence handling him as well. I hit the brakes hard, I stopped handling him at all the last week which has yielded favorable results. He has been calling out when I leave the room again. We'll get there again.

Thanks for the stories

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Ooh, longest time Rico was mad at me? His whole hormonal period (June to early august)! He would get very upset with me whenever I did anything. Even changing his food! I feel bad that I couldn’t get his hormones under control though.

One time, he got nesty in a backpack and when I found him, he screamed, flew up and bit me numerous times on the face. My lip, cheeks, and near my eyes. It was really painful.

Another time, I was asking him to step up and he bit my finger really hard, I pulled away reflexively, and I ended up with a one inch cut that was kinda deep. It hurt so bad! He had blood on his face, on his cage, on his perch, everywhere because I have chronic anemia and my blood takes longer to clot. It was really bad.

And another time, he bit my ear REALLY hard and I tell you, it felt like my ear was snipped with scissors! It HURT!

So that’s that. Now he is very docile and I hardly ever get bit, let alone hard enough for it to cause any pain. He doesn’t like to bite and I don’t like to get bitten.

It took a while to figure out his boundaries and the same goes for him to me (no landing on my fan, no landing on the tv, no landing on the tv table, no going in the windowsill, and no being on the floor) and now we understand each other, bites rarely occur

 

[TRBLMKR]

Ooh, longest time Rico was mad at me? His whole hormonal period (June to early august)! He would get very upset with me whenever I did anything. Even changing his food! I feel bad that I couldn’t get his hormones under control though.

One time, he got nesty in a backpack and when I found him, he screamed, flew up and bit me numerous times on the face. My lip, cheeks, and near my eyes. It was really painful.

Another time, I was asking him to step up and he bit my finger really hard, I pulled away reflexively, and I ended up with a one inch cut that was kinda deep. It hurt so bad! He had blood on his face, on his cage, on his perch, everywhere because I have chronic anemia and my blood takes longer to clot. It was really bad.

And another time, he bit my ear REALLY hard and I tell you, it felt like my ear was snipped with scissors! It HURT!

So that’s that. Now he is very docile and I hardly ever get bit, let alone hard enough for it to cause any pain. He doesn’t like to bite and I don’t like to get bitten.

It took a while to figure out his boundaries and the same goes for him to me (no landing on my fan, no landing on the tv, no landing on the tv table, no going in the windowsill, and no being on the floor) and now we understand each other, bites rarely occur

Rico, you can't know how your experiences whilst terrifying are encouraging to me. This house seems to be upside down lately. Nice to know that one day we will land on our feet. It has been and still is a huge challenge for us

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Rico, you can't know how your experiences whilst terrifying are encouraging to me. This house seems to be upside down lately. Nice to know that one day we will land on our feet. It has been and still is a huge challenge for us

I’m glad it’s encouraging! I know you will get through it! It may seem tough now, but when you look back it may be something to be proud of, something to learn from, or a story to tell! You got this!