Confusing behavior

[Sindbad]

Sindbad is my first experience with birds, and he is great. But I guess I'm just a bit confused about a few thing and I thought of asking the Gurus out here. )

 

1. Sindbad gets scared very easily.. also of every thing new to him or even my hand movement sometimes while he is nearby.

 

2. He does all his whistles and talk shows on his perch, but if I go to him, pick him up or give him attention, he is quite and very uninteractive. Is that normal?

 

3.Nowadays he is becoming very loud to an annoying point. What should we do to get him to be quiter?

 

4. Sometimes he bites, and he is very tricky. Usually he would take my finger in his beak or rubs his beack against my hand... I guess it's a sign of love. But sometimes he does bite. Like I would be rubbing his neck and he would bite me suddenly. Oh by the way he is molting.

 

5. How long does it take for him to molt. We're tired of vacuuming his little cotton-like feathers that fly every where.

 

6. We tried to potty train him and all we got is that now his most uttered word is "poop" his majic word to do it. hahaha. Any tips?

 

7. When I'm away for a day or two, he puts a show when I come back. He spreads and lowers his wings and makes different voiceless sounds and he would dance and make those sounds as long as I'm standing beside his cage for up to 30 minutes. But some other times I feel that he doesn't like me. ( He steps away from me when I go to his cage!!! he is a weirdo I'm telling you

 

Sorry for all those points in one posting, but I always want to post, but I get busy with work and never do. Thanks for your help in advance. Have a great weekend. )

[judygram]

Ok I am going to try to answer as many as I can but others will be along shortly to help you too.

 

1. My Josey is skittish too, it doesn't take much to scare her and I guess that is just the way she is and maybe yours too.

 

2. Josey also does most of her talking on her perch, she is quiet when she is sitting on my shoulder or elsewhere, that is probably true of most greys.

 

3. You should ignore the loud behavior so as not to reward it by giving some kind of response to it, he might interpret that as attention.

 

4. That biting might be because he is grouchy from the molting, the new pin feathers tend to be uncomfortable and also maybe he doesn't want you touching him at certain places or at certain times.

 

5. I am not sure about how long a molt lasts, I guess it can vary from bird to bird.

 

6. When potty training you have to use the same word all the time and praise him when he does it but right as he does it, if you wait or hesitate any he will not associate it with the pooping. Others might have more suggestions on that.

 

7. Oh I think he likes you, just because he reacts differently on different days only means he has bad days along with good days just like we do. Sometimes all we want is to be left alone.

[Sindbad]

Thank you very much Judy.

I do praise him immediately when he does poop... and he does associate the word with the action and responds to it. But if I don't predict when to ask him to poop, he would just do it any where. Also he stands on his cage and sometimes he poops outside, sometimes in his food or water too... which surprises me.

 

Right now our problem is with loudness. When we have guests, they get really annoyed by his nonstop loud noise. Also we have a big lake in front of us and there about 30 other apartments overlooking that lake. Sometimes he likes the echo his whistles make and becomes annoying to everyone (I guess)... nobody complained yet, but I'm worried. What should I do?

[judygram]

Is he where he is with the family when you are home? Is he there close by when guests are there? They like to be a part of the flock and be in the middle of everything, maybe he feels left out and so he is vocal about it.

[Sindbad]

His cage is in the living room by the patio/lake. He can watch TV with us. We sit like 10 feet away from him. but we are busy talking to each other. He also whistles when I'm on the phone or watching TV (on and off of course)

[judygram]

He wants your attention, to be the center of attention, that is why he makes the noises, why don't you try taking him out of his cage and sit with you, they tend to be quiet when they are near us like that.

[Luvparrots]

My grey is quiet when I am in the room with her and noisy when I leave it. I have gotten into the habit of telling her "I'll be right back" and she will be quiet until I return. If she does call out to me I just call back so she knows I'm around. If you had a playstand closer to where you and our guests are that might help your grey feel like part of the family. I believe he only wants some attention. I have a perch hanging from the ceiling that my fids love to sit on. There are foraging toys on it and they are quite content there when I am watching TV.

[danmcq]

Judy's itemized list of responses was right on.

 

Everything you listed is normal Grey behaviour.

 

Looking in your previous posts, your Grey is now approximately 16 Months old and is testing boundaries and consistency in feedback he is receiving from his flock to determine what he can get away with.

 

From your list, I don't see any bad behaviour at all, in reality.

 

If your friends get upset due to your Grey deciding it's "Practice Time", change friends, turn the TV up or whatever. Greys vocalize constantly through out the day when and where they have the urge to go through their repertoire of sounds, whistles and words.

 

One thing you could do, is have your Grey out with you when watching TV. Most times they will just sit and chill on you or behind you.

 

When in the cage, even though he can see you, he is not with you. Those bars are in reality a separation to him. He will make noises to get your attention to let him out. Unless he behaves badly with guests over. Why not let him be with you?

 

In regards his noise level bothering people across the way in another building. I doubt it. Greys are not nearly as loud as other Parrots. I doubt a loud whistle to you in the apartment is actually that annoying to people across the way. The other people are probably as loud as your Grey, if not more so. Unless you live in a retirement complex.

 

Normally the largest portion of downy feathers are found in the bottom of the cage. You can stop them from flying around when you remove the bottom tray by simply spraying it with a squirt bottle of water before removing it.

 

The few downy feathers that fly away when they preen outside the cage is not that big a deal to vacuum up.

 

Everything you have listed is just normal life with a Parrot. Heck even a dog has all the annoyances you list. They just have fur shedding instead of feathers, they smell if not bathed enough and their barks are ear piercing.

 

In regards potty training. You need to work on that everyday and with consistancy. Otherwise, he will not find it as something important. You must constantly be watching for the normal signs that he is about to poop and immediately move him to the potty station. If you don't he will just let go where he is.

 

If you can find the time. It would be easier for you to address each issue as they come up here on the forum to get help and work on that issue one at a time so you are focused on it and do so until it is corrected. Then move to the next one. :-)

 

Looking forward to hearing updates on the progress with these things.

[Char]

The others have given very good advice. I will just add my experience with Whisper. She can be very hard to figure out sometimes. Today for instance she was in a bad mood from the moment she woke up this morning. Acting nippy and skittish. After watching her for a while I decided she may not have gotten enough sleep last night since we stayed up late even though we put the birds to bed at 8:00 the t.v. may have been too loud. I put her in the bird room and turned the lights off for her to have a good nap. Hopefully when I get her up later she will be in a better mood.

 

How much sleep does your bird get each night? This can really affect their mood.

[she]

Dan wrote [The other people are probably as loud as your Grey, if not more so. Unless you live in a retirement complex. p

 

Dan my mum and dad live in a retirement complex and when those tv sets go on the noise is far louder than my grey,lol

 

Post edited by: she, at: 2009/10/11 20:28<br><br>Post edited by: she, at: 2009/10/11 20:29

[lovethatgrey]

Your parrot is perfectly normal. You need to do a lot more reading about greys in order to understand him and his behaviour better. Ditto to what everyone else has posted and

 

Being a parrot owner alsoe means being prepared to see and accept feathers every day and all year round. Why would you expect differently?

 

<br><br>Post edited by: lovethatgrey, at: 2009/10/11 21:07

[Sindbad]

Well, thank you every one for sharing your thoughts and giving feedback.

 

Just to let you all know, I'm not wining, nor am I annoyed in any way by my bird. I just wanted to make sure every thing is ok.

 

The minute we walk inside our apartment, we take him our of his cage and he sits on the perch on the top. and when we sit to watch TV, we take him and give him neck rub for some time.

 

As far as the noise goes, I'm just worried someone may complain. And yes, he likes the echo of his loudest whistle when he on the patio. His cage is beside the patio. We mean to place his cage there since it is entertaining for him during the day to see all those birds handing on the paddle boats in the middle of the lake. That is in addition to his toys and the TV/music we leave on during the day.

When friends are over, It's usually after 8:00 PM. We just have to either put him in his cage and cover him or just live with his whistling and try to say things loud enough. He was not so loud until I made the mistake of teaching him a specific whistle, and we surprised he picked. We laughed at it, and he would whistle it very frequently!!!

 

I hope you guys understand I'm not complaining about him. I'm just learning form you what is normal and what needs special attention from me.

 

Thank you again every one.