Woah! Cranky bird help

[mnsalani]

Last night Sushi did something that did not make us very happy. She usually gets pretty cranky around 7:40pm or so, but yesterday she was evil! She actually bit her papa so hard that it drew blood! She's never done that. We got her out of her cage anyways, but then she lunged at my fingers when I was petting her back--so she was instantly put back into her cage for the night. Sushi's always been a little cranky, but we're starting to get fed up with her attitude, especially if it's drawing blood. So are there any tips?

 

[suebee]

dont stroke down her back

also once the crankyness starts just leave her to it, once they get annoyed, it takes them time to chill back down

she has leveled up her crankyness, to biting as you have not noticed or ignored her body signals

2 things you can do, before the biting begins when you notice she is getting cranky

1/ distract her attentions by making her come for a treat, she has to come to you and if she does not, put treat away, dont push taking of the treat or over encourage her

2/ or walk away an give the iggy, i dont mean leave her alone, a simple doing something else an ignoring her etc ( i like this option, less confrontational and always works with nut lol)

but maybe she needs to be left to sleep by half 7 at night lol, she knows its late an wants nothing more then just chill an settle, but your not leaving her to it (in her birdie mind)

but you must tell her off/punish her during or instantly after bite!

personally for the next few days just let her chill and try not to over handle her

 

[mnsalani]

I'll try those things for sure Thanks

 

[oled]

I just agree with Suebee, just leve her as soon as "it starts", learn to se the signals

 

[mnsalani]

She'll get really puffed up & sort of hunched over when it's time for bed, then I know there isn't any real chance of her wanting to play, but my fiance took her out last night, so I'm not sure if she was sitting like that. But is there any way to reduce her cage aggression? Sushi can get pretty darn nippy when she is still in her cage.

 

[suebee]

time will, but for now let her get outta her cage, her self

nut is cage aggressive, but she gets out as soon as doors open lol an then is happy to join us, so its not a problem an i don't really see need to put my hand into her space an cause tension, because of it

 

[Spiritbird]

Cage possessiveness seems to be common in companion birds. I learned to live with it and my Rosie comes out of the cage when she wants to. I will not put my hands in her cage when she is inside. Make sure your bird is getting 10-12 hrs. of quality sleep and that means sleep in a quiet room with no human conversations, music or TV. You may want to consider a sleeping cage in a quiet room.

 

[mnsalani]

Sushi has her own room right now We do get up at 4:30 am every morning for work, but we leave her alone till about 7am or so. I'll try keeping her cage covered until 8am and see if she's sleeping more. Whenever she is in her cage I leave the door open so I'll try letting her choose when to come out more

 

[Molcan2]

Last night Sushi did something that did not make us very happy. She usually gets pretty cranky around 7:40pm or so, but yesterday she was evil! She actually bit her papa so hard that it drew blood! She's never done that. We got her out of her cage anyways...

First off she isn't being evil. 7:40 pm is bed time, they are going to want to sleep, they need between 8-12 hrs a night-most prefer 12. Also birds don't always want attention, they don't always want to come out of their cages to be with us. We get cranky when are made to do something that we really don't want to do, we even flat out to refuse to do certain things. So why would a bird be any different. Its very different owning a bird. They aren't like dogs. A bird needs to ALWAYS feel like they have a say in what goes on. If the bird doesn't feel like you are listening then it resorts to biting you to get its point across. If the bird wants to go back to its cage than put it back. The more say that your bird has in what goes on, the more it will want to come out to be with you.

Personal tip, if you don't have a play-gym on top then I recommend getting one or putting a perch or something on top. This expands her area a little bit. Open her cage and allow her to come out on her own. If she doesn't want to then she simply doesn't want to, leave her alone. By this I don't mean to leave the room but sit in a chair or something near her and read a book or something and ignore her, this is like playing hard to get and she will want to come to you. You need to turn the tables from the bird feeling like 'omg these people are always wanting me' to 'why aren't they paying attention to me, I want their attention. Me me over here come pick me up'. Remember back to grade school, all the popular people ignored everyone around them and got all the attention because of it. All the unpopular people who tried to get their attention got ignored thus creating the unpopular people to chase after the popular ones and cluster around them. Ignore her and she will come to you.

Try leaving the door on her cage open, then teach her that you will only pick her up if she is out on the cage door. This gives her a say in whether or not she wants to be picked up. If she wants to be picked up then she will allow you to do so, if she doesn't then she simply moves away from you (this is OKAY). If you don't allow your bird to move away by physically blocking her then she will resort to physically moving away (biting). If you force her past this point then the biting will get more serve as she has to take it to another level since you haven't been getting what she has been saying to you. If you allow her to just move away then she will learn that she doesn't have to bite to get her point across. Remember you are working with an extremely intelligent animal. Her cage is her domain, that is her room, her space, her safe haven. Try going into a teenagers room unwelcome and see what happens. Birds have to feel like they have a safe place to retreat to, this is their cage. She has to know that she wont be forced away from her safe place. They don't always feel secure in their environment and some are more nervous than others. Example: you may come home and set your purse down in a different spot and your bird may react by being nervous about coming out of her cage because she is scared of the 'new' change that you aren't even aware of. Then when you force her out of her cage, your creating her to become even more insecure about her environment and as a consequence more unpredictable. Allow her to make the decsion to come to you when she feels comfortable enough to do so and you will have a better relationship with your bird and a few less bites. Good luck.

 

[mnsalani]

Until night time her door is open all the time, or she's out on her playstand in the living room with me. If she is in her cage, it's for eating or her afternoon naps she loves taking. I'm going to try just letting her come out on her own from now on. And yes, she does have a playstand on top

 

[Pedro]

Sorry but Sushi is a maturing eclectus & she is doing what most hen do as they are reaching that stage of their life & I am not at all surprised she is starting to react in this way. With these birds there is always normally a warning before they strike. If you look into their eyes you'll notice their eyes flash. When my birds do that i stay the hell away.

The honeymoon stage is over now & she is getting sick of the attention. These birds don't normally like all the fuss. Stroking down the back is a no no. That only stimulates her. A female eclectus will not let a male eclectus near her until she is ready, he can expect a good bite is he persists. So your not reading her body language. Don't take things so personal, birds bite.

All my parrots are in bed by dusk & are awake at dawn. Molcan2 has made some very good points. And if you don't respect Sushi as time goes on she will be just stuck in her cage 24/7 due to no fault of her own.

Don’t Take It PERSONALLY!!!

 

[mnsalani]

Thanks everyone. I've been trying to follow all the advice today and Sushi actually hopped on my hand willingly once I bribed her with a treat. I set it on her open door and she climbed out, ate it, and then decided to step up. She was out for about 3 hours before she started to yawn so it was time for her nap. The door is still open incase she wants to come out again

 

[Pedro]

Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Understanding Your Pet Bird's Body Language. Birds Birds Birds

Don't know if you have read this link but it will give you some good ideas.

I am happy she is in a better mood today. I feel there is going to be more bites in the future if you all don't read her body language. I should also warn you that these birds can inflict a serious bite that could have you at the emergency room at the Hospital being stiched up. So avoid the bite as much as possible.

 

[mnsalani]

I can read her body language pretty well--I know when to leave her alone for the most part. It was my fiance who got bit pretty badly, so he may need to read this since he's not with her during the day like I am.

 

[Cowtown]

Abby gets that way sometimes... I just leave her alone, I am in the same room with her, but I do not try to touch her. Also I don't remember how old sushi is but from what I read petting an Eckie on the back is not good... it is a sign of mating and you may have her hormones going awry. I do not try to get Abby out of her cage. She will come out when she is ready.
Just remember they have mood swings just like people..

 

[mnsalani]

Thought I should all give you an update with Miss Sushadora Duncan I've been following your advice a bit closer, watching her body language and letting her come out on her own, and although it's only been a few days, there's definite improvement!! She was just the sweetest little thing last night, when we both sat down with her to watch a movie. We gave her half a fresh coconut with the meat still inside for her to play with and she attacked that for a while and then went on to cooing in the corner of our arms. This morning she allowed me to handfed her INSIDE her cage

Also, we are thinking of taking her to a bird behavioral spe******t for an hour or so. She isn't bad but we just want to get on the right foot with her. Besides, it's cheap for an hour or two, so we might as well!

 

[Molcan2]

I'm glad that you guys are seeing an improvement! Its amazing how fast things can change . Shes a really beautiful bird. If a behavior spe******t is close and reasonable, then why not go?

 

[mnsalani]

That's exactly what we thought too! So we're going to take a little trip this saturday

 

[mygirl]

Mylah always gets cranky when shes molting as everyone said you just have to learn the signals

 

[MikeyTN]

I have noticed that my girl is cranky too at times. When that happens, just leave her be and go back and try again a bit later!!! I don't agree with the time thing people kept saying, yes a bird needs plenty of sleep but they sleep all day when your working. I take mine out at odd times of the day and they act just fine. You need to let her know that it is wrong to bite. You leave her alone when they're cranky so no one gets hurt. The past 15 years I've owned birds I have taken them out at different intervals of the day without issues. Cage aggression does happen, sometimes perch training would be required to keep everyone happy and safe. Gracie bit me good once because of food aggression and I told her that she's a bad bird and ignored her. She's never done it since!