New member looking for advice

[singingtheblues]

Hi all I'm Pat and new to this site and new and a little naive to the parrot world. I have adopted a bonded pair. A Quaker called Pepe (male) & a Alexandrine called Mia(female). I have had them for two weeks. I think I have a problem with over bonding with Mia the Alexandrine if that's possible so quickly, she wants to be with me all the time, if I go out the room she is calling out to me. If my partner sits with me, Mia goes quite and sulks. If I'm on the phone she starts whistling loud and dancing to get my attention. She loves to sit on my shoulder and dance as I whistle or sing to her and she keeps kissing me. The problem I'm having is after the first 2/3 days they would both sit on my shoulders preening me very gently pulling my beard, hair and nibbling my ears which was lovely but the last 4 days Mia has become obsessed with ear nibbling and has got harder she is now making them bleed. She is not aggressive she is licking and nibbling then kissing me and dancing. I have had to put pads on my ears but she is pulling them off. She is now putting her beak around my nose and touching it with her tongue not hurting me and the same with my fingers. If she is sulking because my partner is sat with me and I try to get her to step up she will hold my finger in her beak and gently push me away until she decides to come to me. She is so sweet I don't believe she has any intention of hurting me. Sorry this is a little long winded but any advice would be most appreciated.

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[texsize]

Welcome to the forum.

Number 1 . Sitting on the shoulder is a privilege not a right. If you can't trust the bird to behave he needs to come down.

Number 2. It could be this is a vicious circle. He bites your ear and it bleeds a little and forms a scab. Birds love to pick at scab's and so he now has more interesting things to pick at. Things would snowball from there.

 

[Laurasea]

Congratulations! Welcome to the forum!!
I can tell you, from working with some rescues. That its possible Mia is just over excited, and has previously been attention starved. And this will likely calm down in a week or 2.

I had an attention starved and also actually starved Nanday I was nursing back to health that woukd preen my fingers so much they bleeding.

As far as parrots and tgeir people on phones, that's completely normal and annoying behavior lol my GCC Ta-dah went through a time if attacking me if I used the phone or she would tell the phone No over and over. I started to fo postive association with the phone by giving her , her crack seed,
safflower when I held the phone. When I talked on the phone I just keep giving a seed every few minutes, until the phone became good. I dont have to give tge seeds anymore.

Fantastic pictures!!

Whenever she goes fir tge ears say no, and move her to a perch for a couple of minutes then pick her bsck up. She should learn quickly thst she wants to be with yiu but touching ears is a no no.

It also helps me, to use a ceiling hook snd fishing line to hang a rope bungi near my hsng out spots. Or use a movable metal stand with swing or perches so my birds can be near but niot on me. Having tgeir own furniture helps. I have 3 quakers and a GCC so its hard to have them all on me st the same time.

I'd love to hear more about tge story of how you hit these two

 

[Laurasea]

Parrots can easily be killed by many things in the home do read this
https://birdsupplies.com/pages/parr...xt=One of the most common,(e.g. lead and zinc).

They need lots of things tgst are easy to destroy like yucca chips , shredders, ect. Food foraging is a great wsy to keep them busy. Lots of fresh veggies and leafy greens. I use a rubber ball toy that has holes and I stuff popcorn in it to keep mine busy and as a treat. Look up foraging ideas

 

[Ira7]

They’re birds, not dogs. You have a lot of reading to do.

And getting two birds like this? Huge mistake.

 

[Laurasea]

build positive association with your partner to. Play pass the birdie. You hand off the bird to your partner who gives a treat then passes tge bird back. When i had a new boyfriend snd a jealous GCC , we did a group date with her on the couch. Lol we shared a plate of strawberries between us three, and passed her back and forth and really made her feel like she was part of the sction. Id kiss her then my boyfriend, tgen he woukd kiss her then kiss me She knew it was special, and ended up really being excited to see my boyfriend. He always greeter her and gave her a treat when he visited and always gave her a treat and said goodbye when he left. She felt respected and important.

Have a flock call word phrase or whistle, and use that exact thing to answer back every time. Birds want to contact call their flock.

Create routines and rituals birds like that.

 

[Laurasea]

They’re birds, not dogs. You have a lot of reading to do.

And getting two birds like this? Huge mistake.

Oh I dont think this is a mistake at all. How fantastic and enriching for the birds to have a freinds they like. Birds are so social. And many of us have more than one. Im so glad they were re homed together!

 

[Scott]

Welcome aboard Pat, Pepe, and Mia. Thanks for joining and sharing some nice pics!

Some wonderful advice above. Almost impossible to learn too much about each species, recommend reading from the Quaker and Alexandrine forums.

 

[Betrisher]

Congratulations on acquiring two lovely birds!

The first thing you need to do is relax and spend as much time as you can simply watching your birds and working out what makes them tick. Two weeks is not long for them to have settled in, so continue to go slowly, speak in a low voice and don't make any loud noises or sudden movements until you know you can read their responses.

In my experience, female Alexes can sometimes be quite 'beaky', especially during nesting season but also at other times, depending on what's going on in their lives. It's very important that you set your standards of behaviour *now* rather than waiting for unfortunate behaviours to develop. I wouldn't permit either bird to sit on your shoulder for now: it's just begging for 'little nibbles' to develop into fair dinkum biting. You can permit it later when the birds are used to your cues and know that your hand is their designated place.

I'm trying to work out how to keep my own bird off my shoulder. She manages to get there despite my every move and I'm toying with the idea of making some kind of a slippery cape that will prevent her from getting a purchase on my shoulder. I'll let you know how that goes. For now, when she gets on my shoulder I reach up my hand and step her up, giving a treat if she stays on my hand for a heartbeat or two. She is improving, but it's still an uphill battle with her.

One thing you might consider is target training (see the forums for instructions). It's probably the simplest thing to train and it gives the bird something to do and to think about rather than sitting on your shoulder bloodying your ears. It has the added benefit of enabling you to put the bird wherever you choose to put it and that could include the cage or a table or your hand. Since it's an easy train, it also gives you an opportunity for a positive conversation with your bird at a time when it can be daunting to deal with unknown behaviours.

The main thing is to stay calm, keep training sessions short (but meaningful) and if things go wrong, just put birdie quietly and calmly back in the cage and try again later. We've all been through these early stages and it does take patience, so don't worry. Keep asking questions: that's the way to learn!

 

[singingtheblues]

Thank you all for the positive advice some interesting comments, I will take your advice and put it to good use.

 

[Flboy]

Welcome! My JoJo gives my ears a beating during his seasons! He nibbles, I say no, he nibbles, I move him to his stand. Yes, he flies right back! Never discipline her negatively! Always redirect the unwanted behavior into something wanted!
This really should mellow out for you soon!