BeeFernandez22

Thanks for the advice everyone. After re-reading my post, I think I need to clarify a few things. When I say he flies off of his stand, I should point out that he has multiple "stands" and places that are his to perch and play on. It isn't like I am expecting him to stay on some stationary object and chasing him down the second he leaves. It kind of sounded like it though, as I read what I type. He was always trained fairly early on with towels so it wouldn't be as big of a scary event when it was necessary to do so, like at his vet visits, for example. He has never been fearful of this before, nor is this something brand new and foreign to him. I had accepted that he was probably just growing into a more independent, adult bird and thus wanting to test his boundaries and explore on his own terms but any time I walk anywhere near him he immediately flies away. Now when I am sitting down doing something, he will approach me in his usual nosy fashion and usually climbs up on me for his head scratches. (If I am eating, he is literally fighting to sit in my food dish and trying to steal everything in it.) The second I begin to get up and ask him to step up, or if I have him step up and then stand up and start to walk he will immediately fly off and refuse to allow me to approach him again. This leads me to believe this is not a fear thing, but simply a stubborn "I don't want to so I am not going to" thing. Similar to a child at bedtime or anywhere else that they are not ready to leave. Often times I am not even trying to pick him up to take him back to his cage, but to go upstairs or into another portion of the house (which he is used to) so I also don't think he is just conditioned to think that my trying to pick him up is always an indication of playtime ending. There are simply times when I just have to resort to the toweling because this will just continue on and on and I do not always have the time allowance to just let him find his own way back to the cage when he is tired of being out. Last night our squirrel, Ollie, was laying on my chest while I was petting her head and Eric brought him upstairs and into the bedroom (he has suddenly stopped despising my fiance whom he has always tried to bite and was never able to even touch Mav). As soon as he noticed what was going on he kept trying to get to my chest and putting his head down and chirping insistently that I pet him, in a very almost jealous manner. The same sort of thing we get from our dogs when one is getting attention and the other tries to "butt in". As far as the screaming goes, this has been going on for some time and I do not think it is anything health related. It also is not limited to any particular time of the day or correlated to anything specific that I am aware of. If I am standing there looking at him or I turn around and look at him, he immediately stops. It very much seems like an attention thing but not addressing him and ignoring him when he screams did not seem to help at all. This has been an ongoing issue for awhile now but this refusing to step up thing is fairly new and started overnight it seems. As far as his name... he was named after my all time favorite movie, Top Gun. Being that Maverick was a bit of a boundary pusher and pain in the butt (so to speak) in the movie, I guess he is just living up to his character.... Haha.

Hi all It has been a long while since I have been on the forums! Hope everyone is doing well. I am having some serious behavioral issues with Maverick. If you all remember, I got my CAG, Maverick, last August. He will be 2 on March 25th already. Yikes! He has been developing a HUGE vocabulary and talks non stop! lol. He is definitely in the right family He is SO entertaining to listen to. That being said.... he is getting quite unruly in his behavior and his non stop screaming has gotten to a point where my fiancé and I are beginning to actually fight over it. I have been in contact with my breeder who has offered some advice but we have yet to make any progress. I am certain this is not just normal "loud bird" behavior. I am quite familiar with his "pterodactyl" scream that he does when he is playing and this is not it. He is just being a spoiled brat. We have tried several things for periods of time with no changes made We have tried flat out ignoring him, talking to him quietly to reassure him, putting him in time outs... NOTHING has helped. What on earth can I do to help this situation? I cannot imagine having to rehome him but I am afraid that will have to be considered if I cannot improve things somehow. To add to the frustration, Maverick is now flighted. (I realize that this is a very debated topic in this community but it was discussed at great lengths with both our avian vet and breeder and we ultimately decided to give it a try.) At first he was absolutely fine with this and we had no issues. Both my fiancé and I discussed what allowing him to remain flighted would entail in the way of safety precautions and whatnot and it was working very well. Occasionally Maverick would fly off of his stand or onto something I would rather him not so I would quickly correct him with a stern "no" and place him back on his stand or cage play area. For the last month or two he has been absolutely pushing his limits and refuses to stay anywhere he is placed. I know it is nor realistic for him to stay somewhere permanently and I don't expect that, but he is flying off the second I set him down and NOW he will not even allow me to pick him up when he does this so we are forced to play the "chase" game that usually ends with me having to blanket him. This is NOT the way I want to train him and I know it's very frustrating and un healthy for the both of us. I am at my wits end. I have had just about every animal known to man throughout my lifetime and have always been very successful in training them but I am absolutely lost here and feel like I am a terrible parrot owner. I literally look like the crazy woman standing in the check out line at Walmart while her child just runs through the store screaming, destroying shelves. My next move was going to be taking him to get his wings clipped again but I wasn't sure if this would be safe now that he is used to being flighted. Will this cause problems? Also, getting his wings clipped doesn't fix the actual problem of him being 110% stubborn and uncooperative with me so I would like to actually address the root of the problem in the correct way. Perhaps I am doing something wrong that I am unaware of to cause this?? :confused::confused::confused: Any and all suggestions and advice would be overwhelmingly appreciated. Sincerely, "Going bald and CRAZY over here...."

Maverick wants nothing to do with nuts.. I continue to offer them but no such luck. Any suggestions on how to get him to eat them?

Let me tell you, when they bite seriously... it HURTS. As someone above mentioned, they can cause serious injury. Maverick also is a big fan of ears and cannot help himself when he is sitting on my shoulder (sometimes even on the back of the couch by my head) so he isn't allowed on my shoulder. My breeder has said what others here have- some birds just cannot be shoulder birds. Doesn't mean you are doing something wrong, they simply are all different.

Whenever I take Maverick out of his cage, the first thing we do is go to his basket where he drops a big present. Then the following droppings when he is out are much smaller in comparison. (Especially because he doesn't like to go in his cage so he tends to hold it when possible). Maybe you could try taking her to the desired location each time you take her out and allow her to hang out there until she potties? Just an idea.. Maverick kinda started this method on his own. I, like others here, had just accepted that the poop came with the territory

Maverick is trimmed right now (my breeder trims all babies while they're very young and before she allows you to take them home) and I assure you, they do not stay in one place still. Even though he is trimmed he can can fly/glide a fairly good distance.

I've bought so many toys (some quite pricey) for Maverick and NOTHING comes close to his love of tissues!!! Guess he is just easy to please lol

Hahahahahaha! This will be my first Thanksgiving with Maverick but judging how typical dinners go around here, this sounds spot on!!! Thanks for the laugh!

Awwww he looks like he is coming along FABULOUS!!! Look at him just settling right in! Thanks for sharing!!! Such a doll!

I missed the part where anyone called anyone a bad guy... I actually just re-read the thread and the only thing that even was in response to that was a simple "I disagree that bigger is never better" which is someone's personal and valid opinion that they are entitled to, and it was from 4 months ago.. Why is this negativity being brought back up???

Awesome news!!!! Glad to hear Neytiri is feeling better!

Oh bless her little heart! She sure is a smarty

LOVEEEEE this idea. Will be picking up a Christmas stand this weekend!! As far as the height, I would think it's nothing a step stool couldn't take care of. As for my fid, all I would need to do is rattle the shredded cheese bag to get him down! hahaha

Corky is one smart birdy

Jungle Chicken haha. Very appropriate I just thought of his little "I got a red booty" diddy he does on one of his videos. Such a cutie.