Hello! My name is Aspen, and 4 days ago I purchased my very first bird, a cinnamon GCC named Cypress, whom I love very much already. However, due to my inexperience, I feel as though my bird has developed behavioral issues that need to be corrected. So, in this post, I will outline everything I have done and know about Cypress, and pose a question at the end. I apologize for the length of this post already.
I have autism, and birds, parrots in particular, have been my special interest for roughly a decade now. Due to situations at home, I was not able to get one until just recently. I did a load of research leading up to getting this bird, and hoped I would be able to handle any issues smoothly. Life, of course, doesn't usually work out that way.
I got Cypress from a pet store an hour away. This pet store got their birds from some breeders that the owner was friends with. All of these birds would be handled by strange people every Saturday, so it does not surprise me that Cypress isn't the biggest fan of my hands. All the birds there were clipped as well, and on half seed, half pellet diets. I got some of the seed and hoped to transition fully over to pellets, but as of right now Cypress shows no interest in anything but seed.
Day 1, I brought home Cypress and let him slowly get acclimated to his new cage. He likes it fine, especially the top of the cage with the ladder. He plays with his toys and knows where and how to get to the food and water. Near the end of the day, I believe I made my first mistake. I began trying to step up train Cypress with a perch, using millet as the incentive (he doesn't have any hanging in his cage, and he seems to like it a lot). I took him out of the cage and let him vibe on top of it.
Day 2, I opened his cage door and let him sit on top of the cage once again. He tried "flying" off the cage to get to places, but the step up training proved at least somewhat useful then in returning him. I continued to leave the door open, though, and started step up training with my hand. He got the hang of it rather quickly, though sometimes he'd get frustrated and bite when I didn't give him the treat after getting just one foot on my fingers. All was well, though, I thought. Just stood and took the bites as some places said I should do.
Day 3, this is where the real problems began. He started refusing to step up onto anything, instead biting whenever I asked him to. I didn't know what to do, so I would just take it and try and find something else he could do that I could reward him for so it didn't look like he was chasing me off. Another big mistake, I assume. Soon I got fed up with it, though, and tried to take it back to square one. I waited til he went back in his cage for water, and I haven't let him out since. I tried giving treats through the bars and putting my hand in with a treat on it, and pretty much any time he could reach me to bite, he would.
Day 4 has so far been much the same as the end of day 3. He's been in his cage, I've given him millet, he's tried to bite through the bars. As I sit at my desk typing this, he is pacing at the bottom of his cage, as if patrolling. My desk is rather close to his cage, so I assume he's being territorial. I know I absolutely haven't given this bird much time, but at the moment, I feel lost. I don't know what to do going forward.
So, the question...does anyone have any advice to help me here?
I have autism, and birds, parrots in particular, have been my special interest for roughly a decade now. Due to situations at home, I was not able to get one until just recently. I did a load of research leading up to getting this bird, and hoped I would be able to handle any issues smoothly. Life, of course, doesn't usually work out that way.
I got Cypress from a pet store an hour away. This pet store got their birds from some breeders that the owner was friends with. All of these birds would be handled by strange people every Saturday, so it does not surprise me that Cypress isn't the biggest fan of my hands. All the birds there were clipped as well, and on half seed, half pellet diets. I got some of the seed and hoped to transition fully over to pellets, but as of right now Cypress shows no interest in anything but seed.
Day 1, I brought home Cypress and let him slowly get acclimated to his new cage. He likes it fine, especially the top of the cage with the ladder. He plays with his toys and knows where and how to get to the food and water. Near the end of the day, I believe I made my first mistake. I began trying to step up train Cypress with a perch, using millet as the incentive (he doesn't have any hanging in his cage, and he seems to like it a lot). I took him out of the cage and let him vibe on top of it.
Day 2, I opened his cage door and let him sit on top of the cage once again. He tried "flying" off the cage to get to places, but the step up training proved at least somewhat useful then in returning him. I continued to leave the door open, though, and started step up training with my hand. He got the hang of it rather quickly, though sometimes he'd get frustrated and bite when I didn't give him the treat after getting just one foot on my fingers. All was well, though, I thought. Just stood and took the bites as some places said I should do.
Day 3, this is where the real problems began. He started refusing to step up onto anything, instead biting whenever I asked him to. I didn't know what to do, so I would just take it and try and find something else he could do that I could reward him for so it didn't look like he was chasing me off. Another big mistake, I assume. Soon I got fed up with it, though, and tried to take it back to square one. I waited til he went back in his cage for water, and I haven't let him out since. I tried giving treats through the bars and putting my hand in with a treat on it, and pretty much any time he could reach me to bite, he would.
Day 4 has so far been much the same as the end of day 3. He's been in his cage, I've given him millet, he's tried to bite through the bars. As I sit at my desk typing this, he is pacing at the bottom of his cage, as if patrolling. My desk is rather close to his cage, so I assume he's being territorial. I know I absolutely haven't given this bird much time, but at the moment, I feel lost. I don't know what to do going forward.
So, the question...does anyone have any advice to help me here?