Parrot Going Rogue

[KathyBatesel]

Hi everyone,

New here, and somewhat new to birds. I moved in with my (now) husband two years ago. He had a grand eclectus and a yellow-naped Amazon. The YNA was supposed to be the "mean" one and the eclectus a sweetheart who would let anyone hold her.

Well, when I moved in, I brought my dog, too, bringing the total of pets at our home to 9 - the two birds, two cats, four dogs, and a gerbil. Though it sounds more chaotic than it is, the change seemed to affect the eclectus badly. The YNA for some reason decided to bond with me.

Since then, however, another problem started gradually and seems to be getting worse. The eclectus had normally been caged during the day, and let out when my stepdaughter came home from school. That's her "favored" person. She's a teen now, and is gone a lot, so I started letting Scarlett (the eclectus) onto her cage during the day until it became apparent she hated me and wanting only to bite me. I've managed to make friends with her, and she no longer does this, but now when I let her out, she flies into the room where the Amazon is and tries to attack her.

Their cages are in separate rooms. The YNA, who was always left out of her cage because she never flew from it or climbed off, started climbing to the ground after the attacks started. It used to be once every great while. Now it's a daily thing.

I can't let the birds be on the ground when we have other animals. I have tried using a perch in the room I'm in, staggering their time out of the cage, etc. I put them in and lock the door when the YNA climbs down, but once she starts, she resumes climbing down every time the door of her cage gets opened. She doesn't do it in the mornings for at least several hours.

Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions that might help me figure out how to address this problem? I hate the idea of the birds being caged all the time, and the idea of one of them getting hurt or lost is even worse.

 

[terry52449]

I don`t have all the pets to contend with but my Cameo. She has become very fearless of her surroundings and likes to venture from her cage during the day. We have always let her out in the morning and play on the playgym on top of her cage during the day. She was always staying put until recently. Now she will venture to the kitchen counter and find the banana hanger. If the bananas are ripe enough for her she will dig in.
The other day my wife made herself a sandwich for lunch (she works at home) and was being watched very carefully from afar. My wife had to answer the phone in her office and by the time she got back to her sandwhich it had been chewed on pretty good. Cameo had her taste and got back to her cage and when Jean came into the kitchen Cameo said,"Hi!!!"
But this is getting out of hand so my wife keeps Cameo in her cage all day unless I am home. Cameo then spends the day in my office on a playgym in there. Even in my office Cameo is now getting into everything. Jean tried to keep Cameo in her office at least to keep an eye on her but that doesn`t work because Cameo keeps trying to answer the phone for Jean. Cameo hops over to the phone and talks up a storm while Jean is trying to speak to clients. At first it was funny but now is a pain. I don`t like the idea of keeping Cameo in her cage all day when I am gone (2-3 days/ week). She is such a good climber a fence wouldn`t stop her. So I am trying to figure a way to keep everyone happy.

 

[KathyBatesel]

Glad to know mine's not the only one. Has anyone ever been able to stop this or even read suggestions about how to?

 

[Mare Miller]

I free flight my bird, so, when he is in the house I couldn't imagine him not being free to roam. Pain in the butt, but we just deal with it. They are such characters and I definitely think they need to know manners. Amigo gets the "NO" word sometimes but mostly he is respectful.

Your situation is different than mine, I have only one bird but this bird is very territorial. When there are people in his territory, that he thinks should not be there, we then have a situation!

At this point, he is put back in his cage.

 

[suebee]

Their cages are in separate rooms. The YNA, who was always left out of her cage because she never flew from it or climbed off, started climbing to the ground after the attacks started. It used to be once every great while. Now it's a daily thing.

clip the ekkie?? the YNA might for some reason feel less open from a ground attack from the ekkie??

but with saying that, it'll still take time for the YNA to feel comfortable that the ekkie is not going to attack, and you could end up with 2 birds running on the ground! as i know how single minded and fearless, birds can get when they feel they need to express there annoyance at someone/thing

i hope it settles soon, an my little nut likes to have a walk about on the floor at times, and who ever spots her, has to let every1 know! stand still with bear toes an there hers!

 

[KellyH]

Either clip the Ekkie or do some really good flight recalls with her until she gets tired. Sounds like she has too much energy. Will she fly to you when you call her?

 

[solobaby]

all my birds just roam the house at will but my dogs and cat ignore them completely and they only roam if they are looking for me or are following me so it's not really a problem

 

[KathyBatesel]

Thanks, everyone! My husband won't ever clip their wings, much for the same reason: If they need to escape one of the other animals. Even though our dogs and cats pretty much ignore the birds, there have been two incidents from right when I moved in that keep us on guard.

For those of you who let your birds roam, how do you protect your furniture, walls, mouldings, electrical cords, etc.?

The eclectus will fly to my stepdaughter sometimes when she calls, but otherwise I don't think so. She flies within a couple minutes if everyone has left the room (ironic, since she's so territorial about the rooms and squawks if someone passes through.)

 

[MaraWentz]

My bird doesn't really care to eat any of the things around the house, except when i take her to my fathers' then she likes to eat his couch . I just make sure its neat and tidy and anything harmful is put away.

My advice is to put their cages in the same room, but not together, so that they get used to one another.

 

[suebee]

For those of you who let your birds roam, how do you protect your furniture, walls, mouldings, electrical cords, etc.?

keep any live cords out of sight/reach, tidy away phone chargers, hot drinks/food, anything of value, we have a simple rule in our house, if you didn't tidy it away, nut will get around to taking it apart!

all my tables have been chewed at the corners, my computer chair has been well chewed, but i just cover it, and she leaves it alone

keep toys handy to distract them when they suddenly find there new fav chew spot

it takes alot of time to discourage them from doing something, but they do come around

nut is also fully flighted, we always take special care, when leaving or entering house when she is out of her cage

 

[solobaby]

the rule in my house is if you didnt put it away its your own fault - my dad has had to replace his laptop key board twice and my moms phone has gone in to repair a few times
my house is also pretty bird proof

 

[KathyBatesel]

I'd love to put their cages in the same room, but my husband is adamant about keeping them apart. I don't know which of us is "right" but I can see his viewpoint. Pepper had been bullied by another bird at the rescue, and neither of them would be able to stay on their cage instead of inside it.

 

[henpecked]

I've had issues with amazons climbing down from their cages also. Our birds are not allowed on the floor.A couple of the cages i bought large skirts that act as seed catchers, if they are wide enough the zons can't climb over them. I also made perches from old floor lamps that have slick metal poles that they can't climb. Of course zons can be pretty hard headed ,so good luck.