globalist1337
New member
Hey there
I've had my birds for almost two years now and I'm kind of in a tough spot. I have a male and female bird who are a pair. Initially I bought them because I literally felt terrible seeing these two beautiful birds at a chain pet store while I was buying cat food. They were in a tiny little glass cage and were so scared of the environment so I bought them. My last resort is giving them to a more experienced bird owner, but this is my dilemma; any advice would be appreciated.
Their environment:
They have a whole room to themselves. They have the biggest bird cage I could find, it's about 5'5 x 3'
I leave the bird cage door open so they can fly around in the room as they please, they also have a bird perch outside of their cage with two little bowls where they fly up to to eat and hang out when they are bored.
I do leave their door open on purpose just a bit because they like to listen to me, especially when I am playing the guitar. My cat is also free to walk in and out of their room, I've watched them interact together on camera, and he's been doing it every day for the last two years; he only sits and stares at them for company, and they do not seem to mind him at all, besides Pablo occasionally mess with the cat when he is bored.
The room is temp controlled to 67 at winter, and they have two little bird cage heated plates in case they get too cold.
I keep the cage cover half on, and half off so they can fly in and out as they please 24/7. So the back area of the cage is completely dark, and the other is semi lit, they always hang out and sleep in the dark side because that is where they feel safe, and I want them to feel they have their own place where I can not intrude on them.
I turn off the lights every night at 10PM sharp, if the birds are tired Pablo will chirp a few times it means turn the fing light off before 10.
The male (Pablo) is just a punk to put it straight forward. This little guy has learned that I will eventually give in to any of his demands, he yells and doesn't shut up. He will yell and yell until I give him sunflower seeds. He starts at 7:45AM on the dot, and if I ignore him, he will fly out of his cage and start yelling and puff out his little chest.
He acts like a tough guy in front of Petey, but if I get a little closer he looks at me confused and runs towards Petey, where she crawls up the cage in a defensive mode. Now here's the kicker... this is all a play. They are not actually scared.. it's some weird show they put on.
If I put my hand in their cage, Petey crawls up the cage, and Pablo fake lunges at me until I f off. He will eventually keep charging and bite me if I am there for too long. I change their water frequently, and it's such a pain doing it. I can feed ONLY Pablo through the cage, either green grapes, or sunflower seeds is all he will take directly from my hand, and ONLY through the grates. If they don't have grapes or seeds and all they have is other food, they will just literally throw it out. Pablo will look right at me and throw his food away in protest. I have never in the last two years had the chance to get near Petey to even feed her through the grates.
I tried feeding them everything. All sorts of berries, spinach, kale, different fruits, bird mixes etc. All they will eat are green grapes (sliced up vertically in small slices) or sunflower seeds. I do put a multivitamin in their water that the vet gave me. They both are a little chubby, but still a good weight (which is much better than when I got them, they were both so frail and underweight and Petey was actually discolored, now she is bright and strong.) The avian specialist gave them a clean bill of health two months ago, and found nothing wrong with them. She had minimal advice on their behavioral issues.
My goal is I would like them both to come out of their cage and not be scared of me when I am around. I want them to fly to me and let me touch them so I can feed them and play with them. I need Pablo to stop fake defending Petey, he has her trained that I am a threat, even though when I first got them, she was so playful with me and liked me, he has her brainwashed and controlled. Summer is coming up and I bought a small outdoor cage for them that I want to take them out on my back porch so they can sing and get some sun but handling them is not possible, I have never actually touched the birds after having them for almost two years now. Twice I took them to an avian specialist for checkups it was a disaster getting them in another cage. I would also like them to eat bird seed, berries, fruit and veggies without throwing them on the floor.
I simply have to fix this situation or give the birds away, my partner is getting tired of their temperament and would love our old guest room back.
Am I being to passive with them? They are very skittish and I don't want to traumatize them even more or scare them. Any behavioral tips I would very much appreciate. Let me know if you need any more details from me.
Cheers
I've had my birds for almost two years now and I'm kind of in a tough spot. I have a male and female bird who are a pair. Initially I bought them because I literally felt terrible seeing these two beautiful birds at a chain pet store while I was buying cat food. They were in a tiny little glass cage and were so scared of the environment so I bought them. My last resort is giving them to a more experienced bird owner, but this is my dilemma; any advice would be appreciated.
Their environment:
They have a whole room to themselves. They have the biggest bird cage I could find, it's about 5'5 x 3'
I leave the bird cage door open so they can fly around in the room as they please, they also have a bird perch outside of their cage with two little bowls where they fly up to to eat and hang out when they are bored.
I do leave their door open on purpose just a bit because they like to listen to me, especially when I am playing the guitar. My cat is also free to walk in and out of their room, I've watched them interact together on camera, and he's been doing it every day for the last two years; he only sits and stares at them for company, and they do not seem to mind him at all, besides Pablo occasionally mess with the cat when he is bored.
The room is temp controlled to 67 at winter, and they have two little bird cage heated plates in case they get too cold.
I keep the cage cover half on, and half off so they can fly in and out as they please 24/7. So the back area of the cage is completely dark, and the other is semi lit, they always hang out and sleep in the dark side because that is where they feel safe, and I want them to feel they have their own place where I can not intrude on them.
I turn off the lights every night at 10PM sharp, if the birds are tired Pablo will chirp a few times it means turn the fing light off before 10.
The male (Pablo) is just a punk to put it straight forward. This little guy has learned that I will eventually give in to any of his demands, he yells and doesn't shut up. He will yell and yell until I give him sunflower seeds. He starts at 7:45AM on the dot, and if I ignore him, he will fly out of his cage and start yelling and puff out his little chest.
He acts like a tough guy in front of Petey, but if I get a little closer he looks at me confused and runs towards Petey, where she crawls up the cage in a defensive mode. Now here's the kicker... this is all a play. They are not actually scared.. it's some weird show they put on.
If I put my hand in their cage, Petey crawls up the cage, and Pablo fake lunges at me until I f off. He will eventually keep charging and bite me if I am there for too long. I change their water frequently, and it's such a pain doing it. I can feed ONLY Pablo through the cage, either green grapes, or sunflower seeds is all he will take directly from my hand, and ONLY through the grates. If they don't have grapes or seeds and all they have is other food, they will just literally throw it out. Pablo will look right at me and throw his food away in protest. I have never in the last two years had the chance to get near Petey to even feed her through the grates.
I tried feeding them everything. All sorts of berries, spinach, kale, different fruits, bird mixes etc. All they will eat are green grapes (sliced up vertically in small slices) or sunflower seeds. I do put a multivitamin in their water that the vet gave me. They both are a little chubby, but still a good weight (which is much better than when I got them, they were both so frail and underweight and Petey was actually discolored, now she is bright and strong.) The avian specialist gave them a clean bill of health two months ago, and found nothing wrong with them. She had minimal advice on their behavioral issues.
My goal is I would like them both to come out of their cage and not be scared of me when I am around. I want them to fly to me and let me touch them so I can feed them and play with them. I need Pablo to stop fake defending Petey, he has her trained that I am a threat, even though when I first got them, she was so playful with me and liked me, he has her brainwashed and controlled. Summer is coming up and I bought a small outdoor cage for them that I want to take them out on my back porch so they can sing and get some sun but handling them is not possible, I have never actually touched the birds after having them for almost two years now. Twice I took them to an avian specialist for checkups it was a disaster getting them in another cage. I would also like them to eat bird seed, berries, fruit and veggies without throwing them on the floor.
I simply have to fix this situation or give the birds away, my partner is getting tired of their temperament and would love our old guest room back.
Am I being to passive with them? They are very skittish and I don't want to traumatize them even more or scare them. Any behavioral tips I would very much appreciate. Let me know if you need any more details from me.
Cheers
