Over protective??

[Skittles2016]

Oh dear :52: so today my mum came in from shopping and I went downstairs with skittles to say hello. Skittles started fluffing up which she usually does at the sight of someone else so I didn't think much, but today she flew at my mum and started attacking her! Funny for me to watch but my mum didn't appreciate it and luckily just put her arm above her head (was worried she'd swat at her) so after a few seconds of attacking her sleeve I collected her. But I'm just a little concerned now because i don't want to risk skittles getting hit and hurt.

My mums tried to interact with her, offer her treats, scratch etc but she won't have any of it!! Are birds just unwilling to befriend some people, and I will just have to make sure they are away from each other to keep her safe or are there better ways to prevent these lunging and attacks at other people!?

She did it a few times before I decided I had to take her back upstairs.

I don't mind her being a mummy's bird, but while I live with family it won't do either of us any favours

 

[EllenD]

Oh my, bad Skittles! I'm sorry you're having this problem, but your mom needs to know that she can't hit the bird or swat at the bird. I know that's easy to say but she could easily kill your bird by swatting her into a wall or something. If Skittles flies at her face she should cover her eyes and face with her arms/hands until you can intervene and retrieve Skittles. I would try to talk to your mom nicely about that particular topic asap. (I don't know what kind of conure you have, but if Skittles is a green cheek, black capped, etc. and is quite small she could be easily injured)

As far as interaction with your mom or other people, we don't know the history of where Skittles has lived and with whom. Obviously she is your bird and she loves you and is bonded with you, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she can't or won't learn to like and interact nicely with other people. All birds are different, and there are some that are much harder than others to tame or to train, but I personally don't believe that any bird is impossible to get through to.

If Skittles is new to living with your mom then it may just take some time. How is she with other people besides your mom? It's obvious that your mom has yet to earn the trust of Skittles, and my best guess is she is attacking your mom because is trying to protect you from her. A lot of birds do this, some birds even attack their owners when in the presence of another person because they are trying to get them away from the other person, who is perceived as a danger.

I think your mom needs to spend some training time with you and your mom daily. Not long, but like 15-30 minutes a day of your mom working with her. Get your mom to try and hand feed Skittles her favorite treat. Actually sometimes all it takes is exposure to you and your mom in the same room. If you only bring Skittles out into a room with your mom once in a while that won't do it. Try bringing Skittles into a room with you and your mom daily. Get a perch or T-Stand for her to sit on in the room while you and your mom are doing something in the room, like cooking dinner or cleaning. It's just going to take time and exposure but it will happen.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[GaleriaGila]

Thed Rb hates everybody and evrybody hates him. Vicious cycle. He's intrusive/aggressive... gets caged... gets less socialized... gets aggressive... caged. Due to his full flight, I can't take the chance of open doors, arrivals/departures...

 

[Skittles2016]

Oh my, bad Skittles! I'm sorry you're having this problem, but your mom needs to know that she can't hit the bird or swat at the bird. I know that's easy to say but she could easily kill your bird by swatting her into a wall or something. If Skittles flies at her face she should cover her eyes and face with her arms/hands until you can intervene and retrieve Skittles. I would try to talk to your mom nicely about that particular topic asap. (I don't know what kind of conure you have, but if Skittles is a green cheek, black capped, etc. and is quite small she could be easily injured)

As far as interaction with your mom or other people, we don't know the history of where Skittles has lived and with whom. Obviously she is your bird and she loves you and is bonded with you, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she can't or won't learn to like and interact nicely with other people. All birds are different, and there are some that are much harder than others to tame or to train, but I personally don't believe that any bird is impossible to get through to.

If Skittles is new to living with your mom then it may just take some time. How is she with other people besides your mom? It's obvious that your mom has yet to earn the trust of Skittles, and my best guess is she is attacking your mom because is trying to protect you from her. A lot of birds do this, some birds even attack their owners when in the presence of another person because they are trying to get them away from the other person, who is perceived as a danger.

I think your mom needs to spend some traitor with you and your mom daily. Not long, but like 15-30 minutes a day of your mom working with her. Get your mom to try and hand feed Skittles her favorite treat. Actually sometimes all it takes is exposure to you and your mom in the same room. If you only bring Skittles out into a room with your mom once in a while that won't do it. Try bringing Skittles into a room with you and your mom daily. Get a perch or T-Stand for her to sit on in the room while you and your mom are doing something in the room, like cooking dinner or cleaning. It's just going to take time and exposure but it will happen.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Thanks for thank the great response! Haha she is a bad girl indeed yes my mum does really like birds and I have told her to be careful but I don't think she's quite aware as us that she could really hurt her if she's flapping her arms about. My skits is a green cheek so a small little baby.

I got skittles from a family store (they bred their own birds and tamed them) so she was around people all day but I don't think she got much attention apart from prodding fingers and such and i got her a couple of months ago when she was 5 months.

She's been living with my mum since I got her but you're quite right about one to one time. Because my mum works full time she doesn't interact with her that much, and it's only really on the weekends that she'll see her for a bit so skittles isn't really getting the chance to get used to her. As for other people, she's the same with my sister but she doesn't live with us, and with my dad she's scared she'll shy away or fly over to me and just generally try to dodge him.

I'll start to get my mum to interact with her more while she is here, and even if that means she just ignores her it'll be better than a flying attack

 

[Skittles2016]

Thed Rb hates everybody and evrybody hates him. Vicious cycle. He's intrusive/aggressive... gets caged... gets less socialized... gets aggressive... caged. Due to his full flight, I can't take the chance of open doors, arrivals/departures...

Oh dear..!!!! Hopefully she doesn't get like that, though she is a madam at times she's not too bad with aggression! Hope it stays that way... not looking forward to her adult behaviour

 

[EllenD]

Thanks for your response that filled in the blanks. I now really do believe it's just a matter of Skittles not being socialized as of yet. She has really only spent time with you and bonded with you, so she is scared of everyone else. It's not just her personality at all, she doesn't know anything but you so you're the only human that she trusts and is safe. Makes sense and will happen with any bird, hand-raised or not, if they're not socialized. Happens to dogs as well, they are living, cuddly little puppies, then they go home with their new owner and they never get exposure to anyone else, so the first time they see a new person after spending months with only their owner they get scared and growl and bite.

This is actually a very easy problem to remedy at this point IF you're proactive about it. She is still very young and can learn very easily that people other than you are OK. All you need to do is expose her daily to other people. No one even needs to interact with her necessarily, at least not at first. She just needs to be in the presence of other people every day. After a short period of time of daily exposure to other people, she will stop attacking and will not be aggressive towards anyone. That's step one. Step two would THEN be one on one time with the people you are close to and that you live with, like your mom and dad. That way they can interact with her, touch her, get her to step up if they need to move her or watch her for you, etc. She will be non-aggressive around everyone and will allow close people to interact more intimately with her.

Where is her cage? I'm guessing it's in your bedroom...If so, I would move it ASAP to the living room, kitchen, or den, whatever room people in your house are in most of the time. Just her being amongst people walking around and walking past her and near her all the time will help tremendously. Like I said, she doesn't need to be touched, just exposed. If you would consider getting her an Aviator Harness then I would suggest taking her to places like Petco and Home Depot, where you can walk her around on your shoulder, past all kinds of strangers. Even getting her a little travel cage/carrier and taking her to the park in the summer, or on a public bus, to family functions like Christmas dinner or holiday parties, etc. You'll be shocked how quickly her attitude will change once she knows there are other people out there in the world that won't hurt her.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[wrench13]

I also suggest daily one on one time with your mom, 10-15 min, and work on getting Skittles to accept treats from her. Parrots re ruled by their bellies - if Skittles knows your mom means treats, I doubt she will attack. Also good advice on taking her to Petco or the like. Salty loves his outings there. Not only socializes him, but he gets to pick out his own toys.