Phobias birds have

[clark_conure]

My GCC is most nervous in the kitchen than any other room in the house, or outside or in the car, he tolerates it, but it's the one room he's always kind of been on guard.

He had a huge reaction to some black pots I owned, the were crap and flaking so I just junked them anyways. He also was afraid of purple Popsicle once upon a time, but not the red and orange ones; he got over the purple Popsicle once he saw me eat it as food.

Could this be the breeder kept him in a pot or....I dunno, I have no fathomable idea why he would be opposed to them. He's uncomfortable about the copper bottom pots as well. But he doesn't do a terror shriek, he just goes to the far side and eyeballs them closely. I'm pretty sure he's never been cooked in a pot before since he's sitting on me right now.

One more thing he doesn't like being held up high near a ceiling, outside he doesn't mind at all.

1) do any your dinosaurs have the same phobias, different phobias, any idea why or how? Any Ideas on the ones I mentioned?

2) should I try to acclimate him so he isn't nervous or scared, more exposure, .....or just let it be?

 

[clark_conure]

Oh and I ran a search first but everything was really old or the bird was just afraid of everything. I'm asking about a normal confident bird, no fear in general but is triggered by just certain items.

 

[Skyrider]

I'm new to this avian game but I have spent time around other super intelligent beings. That said the birds remind me of horses in the way they deal with unfamiliar environments. Fight or flight in a prey animal leans more towards flight/run. A horse is always huntin a hole in case they need to get gone. You never know when a grizzly er a saber tooth tiger might appear around a bend or from behind a tree. Yikes! Hang on, it's a covey of quail RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!! Once you've had a few pasture rodeos you begin to see what they see. In other words birds see villains and shadow monsters everywhere in unfamiliar places. This is especially true for a new comer. They need time to catalogue every molecule in their reference frame. Once they know every detail you see the calm confident companion. Over time if they are not attacked by velociraptors, and you are always present when that don't happen, they become confident in you as well. They are super duper cautious about everything. This is how they became so successful at survival. This is why every species alive today is here now. We become one with our environment and we have learned to communicate. Learn their language. See what they see and take your time. I promise you they ain't in no hurry to please you if there be monsters near. You just have to prove to em ther ain't.

Monty Roberts wrote a book called The Man Who Listens to Horses.....I recommend it with the upmost confidence that you will love it.

Don't be to hard on him, I shy away from pots and pans too.....

Good luck and watch out fer grizzlers

Arrivederci

 

[clark_conure]

I agree with everything you said...I'm just curious about these, wierd triggers. I've had Clark for over a year and a half and he's gone into mom and pop stores with me, car rides, goes outside and trys to pick fights with wild birds like robins, to which he's probably loose.... I'm curious if anyone else has a confident mostly fearless bird but just has a few things that set him off for no discernable reason.

For instance IF and I mean IF, I threw a rubber snake at him, I'd expect him to fight or flight....mostly flight....and shriek and loose his shi- .....but a black pot sitting on the counter he looses his shi-

 

[Inger]

Bumble is afraid of the color turquoise. Which is my favorite. Correction WAS my favorite-I have to pick a new one now. Coincidentally, it's also very close to her color so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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[clark_conure]

Inger that's what you call Irony

 

[wrench13]

Salty is pretty good about that. The only item he has freaked out about - the other day I brought home a 1" diameter ball bearing - just the ball. I thought maybe it would be a fun thing to introduce into our play. Nope. Salty took one look, squawked, and ran away from that devil thing.

 

[clark_conure]

THANK YOU wrench13 that's exactly what I mean, I think my bird might love a nice shiny ball bearing, where yours didn't...

So what's the proper course.....do you keep bringing it around, but not forcing it till the bird looses it's fear or do you just remove it and never bring it around again...

 

[clark_conure]

I really haven't ad my question answered, what approach should one take with a bird with a phobia?

 

[Kentuckienne]

Gus is afraid of sticks. He goes ape when we sweep around his cage. Did someone hit him with a stick, did he once fall off a stick, who knows? I think most birds are afraid of one thing or another and you might never figure out the reason, if there is one. Does the kitchen have a window with scary trees outside? Is there something that makes a noise, like a stove Hood that sounds like a snake? Start by just observing to see if it's just the space in general, or if he seems to be paying special attention to something. Usually it's a matter of time and habituation, if he is around the scary whatever and it never hurts him, he might get used to it.

 

[clark_conure]

No nothing out of the ordinary and I don't cook much there, mostly I cook downstairs in this mini bar area off the den with a microwave.

I think maybe he was raised in a kitchen until he was sold to the petshop...that's all I got. I'm not running the garbage disposal or any loud noises. He is curious about the fridge ans super cold fresh water it provides that he gets to drink before I do because he's kind of a butthead....but nothing in my kitchen has ever done him any harm.

I'm still wondering what is the new school idea on this...gently acclimate or respect the birds wishes and let him continue to be nervous.....I'm siding with acclimating him so he's not scared, even though there are dangers in the kitchen.

But Since I asked this question it's like I asked a "third rail" question. Like no one want's to give an opinion till they see what others say.

If your bird flights after seeing a toy do you throw away the toy or let him get used to it.....how does that work with an entire room?

 

[Kentuckienne]

I think there isn't a single answer that works for every bird. With some birds, you can remove a scary toy for a while and then leave it across the room, moving it closer every few days. Many times if you play with the toy yourself, especially good if there us a friend and you can hand it back and forth and make a big fuss over it, they will decide they want to see it. And sometimes they just hate anything orange, or stick shaped, or whatever and they just don't get over it. Careful observation will often tell you what you need to know about this bird, in this place, with this thing. Then come back and tell us what worked so we can try it on our own weirdo parrots!

 

[clark_conure]

Fair enough, thank you Kentuckienne

 

[LordTriggs]

oh boy Rio had some strange things. He didn't like red things except for my sofa which is red and my PC which has red lighting to it. Anything else red he was terrified of

He also had a weird fear. Essentially I tied a cat ball to a piece of sizal rope and hung it from a perch, like that he loved it. But if I put the same ball on the floor he would go into a blind panic. Lastly some toys scared him from the moment he saw them so I got rid of them.

He was also scared of the flight Harness after his scare with it along with anything similar looking but that I understood

 

[clark_conure]

So you would agree to not to expose a bird to things he's afraid of. I am still trying to figure out what the right thing is. Expose him till he's no longer afraid or shelter him from it.

I'm leaning toward if he's ok but nervous proceed but if it's say a black pot (which I already tossed) but something like it that gets his hackles up then not expose him to it.

 

[Oedipussrex]

I too have this problem.
My old Ekkie was really weirded out by nail polish. He wouldn't let you touch him and tried to relieve you of your defective nails ��

In general if it's a rejected toy or something easily removed I wouldn't bother pressing the issue. But if it's something you know your bird is going to be exposed to out of your control often, (or like me now, it's hands). Then getting them used to it will reduce their stress overall. Slower exposure in a setting where they are allowed to feel safe and secure with a lot of reward I guess is the way to go.

 

[FlockFive]

Hi! some birds have been kept in the same environment, with the same toys, the same routine for a long time before coming to live with us - these birds will sometimes show phobic behavior like the ones you mentioned. Perhaps the best way to tackle this is to tackle the phobic tendency instead of directly acclimatizing to the objects your baby is afraid of. We do regular playtime with our birds, where we introduce them to a small number (we started with one new toy each time, now we do a handful) of bird safe objects each time, and get them to play with it, or at least peck at it once. This overtime has worked really well in reducing phobic behavior to anything in general in our rescue babies. We have a video on it too, if you are interested, it is rather long so just watch from 11:32 to 13:09. Hope this helps!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IZFltmVM5c"]PARROT CARE DAILY ROUTINE AND TIPS - A day in the life of 3 parrots - YouTube[/ame]

 

[LordTriggs]

So you would agree to not to expose a bird to things he's afraid of. I am still trying to figure out what the right thing is. Expose him till he's no longer afraid or shelter him from it.

I'm leaning toward if he's ok but nervous proceed but if it's say a black pot (which I already tossed) but something like it that gets his hackles up then not expose him to it.

I'd say some things you can help desensitise over time, if I had more time I could have got him to not be scared of some of those things but I just didn't get the chance with him. IT wasn't much of an issue really

 

[Kentuckienne]

Well, if they are really scared, they are really scared. Parrots are prey, other animals eat them, so they have well-developed senses for safe/unsafe. If they decide something is scary, it's a deep, intense reaction and it's no good reasoning with them. You have to remove the scary thing right away. But now you, with you big human brain, can do something to change the scariness. You can put the thing at a distance...you can show that it's harmless by getting someone to play with it...you can leave it in the environment, far enough away to be non-threatening, so the bird gets used to it...

For example, we have to sweep, so we just sweep when we need to. Gus doesn't like it, he comes over to show his open beak to the broom, but the broom doesn't come after him. Eventually he will probably get over it, but the interaction isn't really causing a serious problem, so we don't do anything about it.

You just can't know! Did the previous owner turn a pot upside down over him, or put him in a big pot where he couldn't get out? I would say, if he's just upset with something in the kitchen but not freaking out, don't sweat it. He will probably get used to it over time. As long as the pot stays on its side of the kitchen and behaves itself, it will be accepted in time.

 

[Flboy]

The wife's Bongo is terrified by balloons, JoJo doesn't even give them a second look!