A note on Punishment and your Parrot

[Jayd]

Joey: Congo African Grey Parrot

Present Age: Four years old

Abuse Type: Mental and Severe Psychological (No visible sign of Physical abuse)

Background: We know the pet store that Joey had originally been purchased from. He had been weaned and clipped, never allowed to fly. For the next two years we had no record and we have not been able to speak to the previous owners. After purchasing Joey and with some help also with help from Joey himself, we have been able piece together some of his past history and his previous owners.

His previous owners were a well-established young couple. The female was never fond of any types of pets, did not fit her lifestyle. Joey had favored the male and there had been a bonding but it wasn’t a healthy bonding. Shortly after getting Joey, which brought problems to the marriage, the male was more interested in maintaining harmony than integrating Joey.

This brought about bickering over Joey between the two owners with the female getting more and more agitated, putting him in a small room by himself, being ignored by both of them except for cage cleaning, food and water. There was a lot of arguments that took place within earshot of Joey, possible marital abuse, yelling at Joey by both of them, cage being tapped, arguments about whether to keep Joey or get rid of him.

At this point, the owners decided, (not mutually) to get rid of Joey. So, at this point, Joey and his cage was taken to a pet store where the owner agreed to hold him for awhile and let Joeys owners visit him for a while (which was wrong). They only visited him three times over the next six months, arguing in his presence each time. At this point in time, we took Joey into our hearts and home.

 

The Homecoming: We didn’t know this young Grey’s name, so we called him Jim (Kirk) to go along with Spock. At this time, we had enough birds for everyone in the city. He was a quiet bird and would sit in his cage in the back and be soundless. He would let you change his water and food (he had been on seeds only diet). He would also shake if you came near the cage and would constantly head-search while chewing his toe-nails. He was extremely neurotic…he was a small bird and looked like he might have been stunted from lack of a proper diet. We introduced him to everyone and we did not attempt to hold him. We talked to him and talked to our other fids in front of him. If we saw that he was being extremely nervous, we would go out of our way to stop and talk to him with a “Hi Jim” etc, and we were slowly discovering the depth of his psychological and mental abuse. We left the cage door open whenever we were home and awake which at this stage was 24/7.

One day, Jay left the room and in the most concerned voice, Joey called out “Hello! Are you okay?” When Jay came back, Joey was standing at the open door looking down the hallway, looking for Jay to come back. He would also say “Hello”, “How are you?” at this time. He also started talking to himself…bringing up his past two years. While shaking badly, he would say things like “Are you going to feed me?” “Get a lawyer”, “You can run but you can’t hide!” “LIAR!”

He would make crying sounds…he would do this while we were not in the room (plus other things too sad to say). During this period, we were introducing him to all sorts of fresh veggies and fruits. (It has taken over a year to get him to eat veggies and fruits)

Besides his ruminations, he also started talking, calling to the other fids, calling us by name, singing but always reverting to his old self and chewing his nails and shaking. Out of nowhere, as Jay and I were walking by his cage, he looked Jay straight in the eye and said, “I’m Joey, NOT Jim”. He told us this twice (imagine us with our jaws on the ground) and we had to start changing his name on our threads.

Now and into the Future: Joey lets us hold him and play with him more each day. He is coming out of the closet so to speak…he is an ideal parrot in a number of ways but it is all from his abuse years. He has built his life on his own routines. He eats at the same time each day, he talks at the same time each day, he preens himself at the same time each day…he definitely has obsessive-compulsive tendencies. For the last two months we have not heard him say anything from his abusive past. He has a growing vocabulary and strong cognitive abilities which we believe has roots in his abusive years. He lets us hold him when he wants to. At times, he is very cage-territorial and he stays on his cage. He will perch and let you take him from his cage for a few moments only. We have a perch on the outside of his cage and he likes to spend most of his time looking out the window. He is extremely vocal and interacts with Spock and Salsa and lets both of them eat and drink from his bowls and he plays tail-chase with both of them on his cage. He is very insecure anywhere away from his cage. It is an ongoing process to try to get him comfortable enough to stay away from his cage. He has attempted to fly on four-five occasions to fly and they have been disastrous. This is definitely due to the fact that he was constantly clipped. (We have set out pillows on his common landing areas that is more often missed than hit.)

At times, he will revert to something that triggers his bad memories and will pin his eyes and draw blood out of the clear blue. Once he snaps out of it, he is very affectionate and loving.

The Future continues: On-going Progress: In the last couple of weeks, Joey has made some amazing changes. To everyone’s surprise, when you open his cage in the morning, he will hang from the top of the cage, wait for you to support him with your hand and involve you in beaky play. He will hang with one foot and grab your hand with the other (Yikes!) and play roughly while talking to you. (Non-Sexual) He’s molting and he’s also found out that a human finger is excellent for rubbing the pin feathers at the bend of the leg where it touches the body. In the few moments that he lets you hold him, he has leaned against our chest (on his own) and cuddled.

Now and Beyond: Daily, you can still see the pain that he has endured. When he thinks we are not observing him, he reverts to his shaking and nail chewing to a lesser extent. His most recent trait that the past is still current in is memory is when we have to leave, he will let out a couple of loud contact calls and puff up to almost twice his size and stare and you and call while you are leaving. It is so sad…

They NEVER forget…any abuse is a major and daily part of their lives and they live with it….it is always there to haunt them.

 

Jayd and Maggie

Edited July 7, 2010 by Jayd

[danmcq]

Great summation of Joey's life before and after meeting you two wonderful people. He could not have been more fortunate, than to land in your home.

 

It would be interesting for all to know a little about how you handled the homecoming, introduction etc.

 

Was he quarantined?

 

Did he come home in the cage previously in, toys etc?

 

How long did you just sit or stand near the cage and try to let joey know you were kind and different humans than the previous two?

 

How long was it before he began venturing out of his cage and sitting on the perch, also what did you do to possibly encourage it?

 

Did you ever try to step him up before he became comfortable enough to come out?

 

How long was it before you asked for and received a step up?

 

How long have you had him with you now?

 

I know. I'm a pain, but I believe these types of further details will help other new rescue/re-home people know what they are in for and how slow they should go in steps.

 

Thanks again for this first re-homes story. WE have all loved Jim (Joey) here since you first introduced him.

[Jayd]

Thank you very much! We've enjoyed writing this (among some tears) and we have received more than we have given...We're looking forward to telling the others stories. i will try to answer these questions in order...

 

 

Was he quarantined? Joey was in the pet store for six months and the last month before we brought him home, we had him quarantined.

Did he come home in the cage previously in, toys etc? We brought him home in his original cage with all his toys. In fact, an interesting story...One morning, shortly after we brought him home, he was standing on a different perch than his sleeping perch, wobbly, squatted down with his feathers ruffled, eyes half-closed. We panicked, our hearts stopped, and we called the vet and made an emergency appointment. Jay put his hand in and asked him to step up (first time-first sign of trust). Wobbling, he stepped up and Jay tried to set him on his main perch. Beside this perch, was one of Joey's original favorite toys, a rope and block bushy toy. Jay accidentally touched it and Joey shivered and squawked. We realized almost immediately that Joey felt the toy had turned against him and was totally afraid of it. While Jay held Joey, I took the toy and hid it out of sight. Joey stepped up onto his main perch after cautiously looking around the cage and proceeded to fall asleep. He slept for almost six hours straight and for some reason, he was afraid of this toy and had stayed awake all night and into the morning. We called and canceled the Vet appointment after Joey awoke wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

 

How long did you just sit or stand near the cage and try to let joey know you were kind and different humans than the previous two? Every available moment that we weren't with other birds and we often brought other birds over and socialized with both of them. (Group Therapy)

How long was it before he began venturing out of his cage and sitting on the perch, also what did you do to possibly encourage it? It took about three months before he would come out on his own. Whenever we were home (except for bedtime) we left the cage door open and the path to his outside cage perch open and available. Slowly, he would move one inch and go back, the next day two inches and back...sometimes we would walk by without saying anything so he wouldn't feel constantly watched...other times, we sounded like a cheer-leading squad....

 

Did you ever try to step him up before he became comfortable enough to come out? At first we would fuss around the inside of his cage to show him our hands weren't a threat and they were part of his everyday life. We would take a finger to his beak and touch his toes. We would put our finger to his chest and say "Step up" which usually resulted in a pretty good bite (Ouch)...but it took seven months before he finally stepped up.

How long was it before you asked for and received a step up? Approximately seven to eight months.(This baby was and still is afraid) Now, if he doesn't want to step up, he will take his beak and push your hand away. Not as much biting...

 

How long have you had him with you now? We have had him for just over a year. We have known him for 15 months.

 

Thank you! Love to answer questions...

Jay-d Maggie

[quilter43]

This is all great information. Thanks so much and keep it coming!

[danmcq]

Wow, now that really completes the story with plenty of specifics. Thanks for this excellent follow up!

 

One questions, you wrote: "Beside this perch, was one of Joey's original favorite toys, a rope and block bushy toy. Jay accidentally touched it and Joey shivered and squawked. We realized almost immediately that Joey felt the toy had turned against him and was totally afraid of it."

 

This is odd, I have never encountered that before with a previously liked toy. Do think he was perhaps afraid of this toy from day one it was introduced? If not, is it possible he somehow got a talon hung up in it and had to break free after much to-do in his previous home where they probably wouldn't have even notice poor Joey in there struggling?

[Janfromboone]

Thanks Dan. We can't be reminded enough about these points and not to equate our birds mentality with our dogs.

[Jayd]

One questions, you wrote: "Beside this perch, was one of Joey's original favorite toys, a rope and block bushy toy. Jay accidentally touched it and Joey shivered and squawked. We realized almost immediately that Joey felt the toy had turned against him and was totally afraid of it."

 

This is odd, I have never encountered that before with a previously liked toy. Do think he was perhaps afraid of this toy from day one it was introduced? If not, is it possible he somehow got a talon hung up in it and had to break free after much to-do in his previous home where they probably wouldn't have even notice poor Joey in there struggling?

 

This is something that we don't have a definite answer for. We understood that the toy had been with him for over a year. From the time we brought him home we never saw him actually play with any toys and we hadn't changed anything because it was his cage and we wanted him to be surrounded by his familiar things. This incident happened about three days after we brought him home. Yes, it could have happened before, like you said, or after we went to bed and he could have caught his talon in it then. We let Buddy in the other room play with it and he became violent with it so, that could have happened.

 

 

 

It looked like this only used!!!

[Jayd]

Fred: Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo

Present Age: 19 years

Abuse Type: Physically and Psychologically Abused

 

Background:

Fred is an extremely physically and mentally abused Cockatoo. He has two previous families that we know of. He is a typical ‘Too in every way. He calls at sunrise and sunset, he scatters his food and toys and at times he would scream for attention. All these factors contributed to the vile treatment he received.

From what we can gather, he’s been a plucker for the majority of his life. His second owners would pluck his white/yellow feathers to wear in their hats. They were also drug users and would slam his cage with their fists when he cried out. They also poked and prodded him and snapped his cage and his beak with their fingers. We also know for certain that he was never allowed to fly. From what we have ascertained he was caged for most of these years. Both families shoved him in a 4x4 closet in the dark, feeding him when they remembered. Luckily, Fred was able to entertain himself for the most part with the little that he had but he did pluck extensively. Most of the damage was to the follicles so he will never grow back wing feathers or some chest and back feathers. [Please see photo # 1]

The last owners had taken Fred to the pet store and sold him for $20.00. He didn’t have a cage or toys, they had brought him in a cardboard box. He was extremely skinny and bony and his wings were paper thin. For all this, he was extremely healthy and clear-eyed.

While Fred was in quarantine, they came back to the pet store and told the owner they wanted him back. We told them “Over my dead body.” At this time, his diet had consisted of nuts and seeds.

 

The Homecoming:

At the end of quarantine, and after purchasing a new cage and toys for him, we brought Fred home. When we got him, his feet was sore, you can tell he is uncomfortable on a perch. He does not know how to perch on your hand and it seems that he is more comfortable on flat surfaces. Again, we are assuming that he never was allowed to fly because he extends his wings but does not have the instinct to flap them.

He had so much fear that to get him out of the pet store cage and into the carrier to take him home, we had to dismantle the cage and towel him. That was the last time we did that. Once we got him home, he didn’t know how to step from the carrier so Jay had to pick him up and set him on his new cage in this bright lively room surrounded by his new flock.

At this time, he turned around, bent his head to the side and said “Freddy here”. From that point on, he was never Fred but Freddy.

From that moment on he let Maggie and I scritch him and pet him. He would lift his wings so Jay could rub his shoulder and arm joints on his wings. He really enjoyed that. In his cage, besides seeds, we had put a cornucopia of fruits, veggies and assorted pellets. We are firm believers in abundant feeding and treated him like a fledgling. He had never seen such a selection before.

When we stopped fawning over him, he went into his cage…(note: he totally ignored all the other birds in the house except for Spock) and proceeded with much gusto to sample everything in his cage. Some things were thrown out of the cage, some things he stared at quizzically and then he sampled the pear…it was a look of pure bliss. We don’t think he ever had fruit.

When he was done, having no feathers to obstruct the view, his crop was over-full like a baby’s…it was too cute. The next morning, we introduced him to the warm foods, smash, pasta, rice…he found out the joys of feeding.

Trial and Error

This is by far the hardest rescue we have ever worked with. In the beginning, it seemed we did more crying than anything else. It would take him at least 20 minutes at a time to gather the courage to step off the flat of the cage and onto the flat part of Maggie’s hand. To this day, it is still a process. We have to plan ahead to get him back to where he needs to go. It is no longer a test of trust but an innate fear of falling. At first, Freddy would make his calls at sunrise and Jay would have to get up and not say anything, just sit on the couch so Freddy could see him and he would go back to sleep. This was a 7 day a week process. Freddy needed the extra security of seeing him there. Freddy is definitely Maggie’s boy. He goes to Jay for security and heavy scratching and then turn around and try to bite him. When we put Freddy on the floor, he will chase Jay all over (if he sees him) and tries to bite his heel. Maggie has to pick him up and carry him back since he doesn’t step up. In the beginning, Maggie would have to spend countless hours working with him but he also required Jay’s presence for security.

On-going Progress:

Freddy has progressed to the point of being more secure. He is still unsure of his body movements but he has no fear of friend or foe. He does not cower any more and he is front and center. A warm friendship with Spock has occurred. (See Photo #2)

Some of his plumage has returned but it is an ongoing process because he still plucks and we do not believe that this will be something in the near future that we will be able to conquer. (See Photo #3)

He will not eat pellets…they will always be tossed out. Freddy needs constant attention. He is not demanding and he is very well adapted at amusing himself and his only scream time is sunrise. He has low perches because of his unsteady body movements but loves to climb down and explore.

The Future continues:

Freddy still has one serious problem…we believe it if from being alone for so long…he hasn’t adapted to the busyness and the noise that is a constant with a large flock; he is not a flock type bird. When the general flock is noisy and rambunctious, it stresses him out and increases his plucking. This seems to be getting worse on a daily basis. If we take him into the bedroom with us and shut the door, he calms down quickly but is always on the alert of any flock noise. At times when this is going on, he will call out “Freddy, pretty boy. Freddy here” and want you to come to sit with him.

When we moved Tango in, a large Blue-eyed Triton Cockatoo (her story will be in a later installment), we placed her cage near but not close to Freddy’s cage with disastrous results. There is no sexual interest and when into touching distance, they will fight. Separated by a few feet, they ignore each other and co-exist. They both ignore the rest of the flock. They have co-existed approximately 8 months. Neither is demanding of our attention any more than the other.

The Future:

To the surprise and amazement of some of you, Freddy will be one of our few re-homed rescue (among constant agonizing and tears over this decision). The reason for this decision is that we feel his present environment is detrimental to his well-being (present and future). He is constantly stressed while around all the other birds and is a totally calm and peaceful bird when by himself around us. His new life-home and “parront” will be our son who has been coming over daily for the last three months, spending time with him, feeding, cage cleaning, handling and sitting with him at sunrise when Freddy needs his security. Maggie and I have been spending less intimate time with Freddy and they have bonded extremely well. At this point in time, Freddy will go to him instead of us and is excited to see. This is one of the hardest decisions that we have ever made in our lives but we feel that it is in Freddy’s best interest for a healthy and happy future. Freddy gets along with our son’s wife and daughter. We have been taking him over to our son’s house and leaving him for a number of hours so he gets used to staying there with them. It’s just about time that we will leave him over-night and not return until the next day.

If this works the way we think it will, we will leave him for two days, then three days, and then a week, eventually stopping visiting altogether. This is for Freddy’s sanity, not ours.

 

Jayd and Maggie

 

Edited July 9, 2010 by Jayd

[danmcq]

Awwww Freddy sure blossomed under your fostering.

 

Thats always a tearjerker with rescue and then finally having them ready for permenent re-homing. Sad, yet good.

 

Thanks for another real life rescue experience.

[Jayd]

Freddy is deeply embedded in our heart, forever. Each day after working with him, it brings tears.......

[chezron]

I am so glad Joey found you guys! Touching story- Thanks!

[Jayd]

Tango: Triton Cockatoo [blue Eyed?]

Present Age: 9 years old

Abuse Type: Psychological (Unintentionally inflicted)

 

Preface: An unintentional major cause of Psychological abuse is a lack of proper research before acquiring and a lack of continual research after acquiring. Another major cause of unintentional psychological and physical abuse occurs during the process of hand-feeding.

Unintentional abuse could be as simple as wrong size cage, improper diet, improper discipline, lack of proper sleep time and hygiene, giving treats, (such as chocolate, etc) with the thoughts of being kind to your bird.

Unintentional abuse when it comes to hand-feeding; once again, lack of research resulting in improper temperatures, environmental conditions, proper techniques, proper hygiene, pride, assuming that this is the only way to bond with your bird and pride as in afraid to ask for help when needed.

Background:

Last summer we received a phone call, asking if we were the “Bird People”. We laughed and answered “yes” and they asked if we would be interested in an Eight year old ‘Too that they felt they could no longer give proper care to. Without hesitation, we said we would take care of her. We took a ride to see Tango.

These nice people lived out of town in the country and in their yard we saw caged pheasants and geese. On the patio, was a large cage with this large beautiful full-feathered Triton Cockatoo. She said “HI!” when we approached. We introduced ourselves and they introduced us to Tango from a distance away. We approached her cage and gave her a scritch on her ear as she put her head up to the bar. She was beautiful.

We asked her owners why they thought they had to get rid of Tango.

Their Story Begins:

Almost eight years ago, they had gone to a friend’s house and fell in love with their friend’s cockatoo which was just recently weaned. It perched on her hand and cuddled with her so they purchased a large cage, toys and brought the baby home. They had no experience with companion birds, especially Cockatoos. For three days, everything went very smooth and she was carrying Tango on her arm when Tango slipped. Tango grabbed her finger to catch herself which cut the woman’s finger and drew blood. She had a normal reaction, she screamed and dropped Tango. From that point on, Tango was put in his cage and for the next eight years was never held by a human again. They were both deathly afraid of this monster beak. (Note: if they would have done a little research, they would have been able to handle a situation like this when it happened.)

For the next eight years, they gave the baby the best possible care, minus the physical handling that they could. Per advice from pet stores, they fed Tango pellets, dehydrated veggies and healthy treats. (Nothing fresh) They had two cages they could place door to door and scoot her into the other cage while they did main cleaning to her cage. Every morning she was given a half slice of warm toast while they had their breakfast. Someone told them about some of the Cockatoo’s body language and when she appeared “right” to them, they would scritch her. They knew it would be best if they gave her to someone who could give her proper care but it was so hard for them and they loved her so much, they postponed giving her away. These are good people, just lack of research about large birds.

 

The Homecoming:

We brought her into the crazy, noisy bird house in a carrier and as Jay opened the carrier door, she stepped out to his hand without hesitation. We were both in fear, this was the first time this bird has been held for over eight years. Tango stepped up to his wrist, bent her head and waited patiently for a scritch. He carried her to her new cage and placed her in the door way, in she went. Boy, did she look around…here was toys and food that she had never seen in her whole life. Everything was brand-new and so much of it. She flipped up her top-notch and bounced up and down, clicking in joy. The only thing she threw out was half of her pellets and then started eating. Tango was oblivious to all. She ignored Freddy, the other ‘Too, Spock wanted her to preen him but we were afraid that she would have him for dinner. From that moment on, she stepped up on command.

 

On-going Progress:

Since bringing Tango home, she has settled in like she has always been here. She is independent from the rest of the flock. Even though she steps up on command, she is still unsure of her footing and takes a few moments to step comfortably on your arm and she is still somewhat wobbly while carrying her. I feel that part of the reason is that for eight years, she had only two immovable perches to stand on and no handling. She has been the easiest transitional rescue that we have ever had to date. The only baggage we have seen is her previous owner was a foreman in the oil fields in Texas. He would work two weeks on and then be home for two weeks. He would have numerous phone calls, speaking to the callers matter-of-factly and curtly. He used a lot of hand movements while talking. At times, Tango will get on the top of her cage and will carry on a conversation which sounds a lot like orders while using head and body movements to simulate expressions with her top notch up. We have seen no ill-effects from this.

Food: we introduced fresh vegetables to her when we brought her home. This is something she took a couple of weeks to start enjoying, often with hilarious expressions and obvious enjoyment. She eats proper food without any encouragement needed.

 

Now and into the Future:

We are looking into the purchase of a lumber yard. Her favorite toy is 1”x2” clear pine cut into 12” pieces. She makes toothpicks out of two to three of these a day and then cleans her cage twice a day, throwing all these toothpicks and slivers and anything else, loose in her cage out the door. She is a wonderful bird and she balances her time very well. She is self-sufficient and is not demanding. She will let us know when she wants attention (she will yell out “POPPA!”) but once she is done, she will go back to playing on her own. She has a small vocabulary, “Poppa, Hello, Bye-Bye, Whatcha doin?, Night-night, Pretty Bird”.

 

Edited July 10, 2010 by Jayd

[chezron]

I love reading your stories of rescues. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us.

[danmcq]

Great post on Tango Jay! What a cutie pie you have brought out in him.

[danmcq]

Breeding Season with Hormones Ruling!

 

For many who have lived with parrot companions for a while, the passed spring season is looked to with the knowledge that this can bring about changes in their beloved bird. They may still be feeling those strong desires even now in summertime.

 

For those new to living with a feathered family member it can be a surprise for which they are not prepared - especially if they have had their bird since it was a young chick who has always been sweet and, after reaching sexual maturity, has started to change. It can leave the human who loves their bird with hurt feelings and wondering why this change is taking place. So what are those potential changes and what can a human caregiver do to help everyone in the household to peacefully co-exist during this potentially challenging time?

 

Note the sign below mainly posted for visitors unfamiliar wit Parrots, especially Amazons in this season. More is continued below this photo.

 

 

 

 

Very simply, for many birds springtime and afterward into summer is when hormone levels increase, resulting in the urge to mate, protect their territory or perceived nesting grounds (which can include dark secluded areas such as boxes, under furniture, closets, and paper bags). Any intrusion by those who the bird does not perceive to be their mate can be met with biting, flying at, or running after the “intruder”.

 

This behavior can be directed towards other family members and other pets in the home. Males can be very protective during this time. Females may become protective too, or may become especially clingy and seek out nest sites, or pull feathers from the chest area where they would be laying on eggs to create a brood pouch. Some females may lay eggs without the presence of a male. It has been noted though that both sexes may try to set up a nest, chewing up furniture or other nest material. Some will hold their droppings, as in the wild they do not want to soil the nest site - so droppings may become large and may have a more diarrhea type appearance. Keep in mind that in captivity we give them the ideal conditions for breeding – a warm home, plenty of food, and safety from predators. It’s no wonder they react instinctively.

 

Here are tactics which we as their caregivers can take to help ease the effects of this time of year:

 

• Avoid petting or stroking your bird’s body in areas that can be sexually stimulating such as the back, under the wings, or tail area.
  
• Starches and sugars can increase hormonal behavior, so carefully limit foods high in starch or sugar such as grapes and corn.
  
• Be careful with visitors or other family members when they hug or hold you while your bird is out. The bird may view you as their potential mate and your visitor as a rival, and may react in a protective manner (flying at or biting the rival, or biting you to get you to move away).
  
• Remove boxes or any potential nest sites from the cage or play area.
  
• Allow your bird to get plenty of rest. This may require covering their cage or closing curtains and blinds to darken the room for sleep.
  
• Adjusting the cage set up or moving the cage may distract from breeding behavior should your birds start getting into egg-laying mode or try to breed.
  
• Stick training can be very valuable at this time, when you may need to limit handling of your bird. It allows for safely moving the bird when necessary so you can avoid an unwanted bite.
  
• Please remember – hormones and breeding are a natural occurrence for birds and they are going on instinct, so do not take it personally if you do see these changes. It does not have anything to do with your bird liking or disliking you.
  

Note: Not all birds display extreme behavior changes during breeding season. For other suggestions, or answers to questions regarding breeding behavior issues or egg laying, post questions on this board or speak with your avian veterinarian.

[Jayd]

Breeding Season with Hormones Ruling!

 

Dan, Subjects close to my heart. Right now, the home our fids let us share with them is extremely hormonal...Not only is this true, but everyone is molting. Lol

 

Captive birds, our companions, have and are continually having their natural instincts altered. What was and is their normal breeding season, is being changed, sometimes more then once a year by us, their providers…and with this post, I’ll be altering it again by giving suggestions on how to reduce natural hormonal behavior! We do behave as Kings!

 

Everything Dan has stated is more then correct, a couple of points, don’t imitate spring time, cut down on misting and bathes, cut out all egg foods, cut daylight hours down to around 10. [always leave the morning the same, real sun rise!, shorten the day instead!!]

 

What is the down side to changing Seasonal cues?

*All creatures Great and Small* run on a clock, a Biological, Clock, Circadian cycle!

When ever we attempt to alter a natural process in a human or companion bird, we can be changing things for the worst. In our companion birds, this problem usually shows up in the guise of feather problems. We need To reset this clock, this Circadian cycle, the moment we bring our bird home!

 

How do we do this? To start with: Set your room temperature to 72 degrees, year round! Set your daylight hours to 10 ½-11 starting each day at say 6 am, year round! Bathe regular, once, twice three times a week, year round!

I’ve seen to many times where people say, ”I don’t get up till 9 am, so I keep him covered till then”, Disaster, their Biological, Clock, Circadian cycle, tells them this isn’t right, the first thing affected it seems is “Feather” problems, bad molts, incomplete molts, dead feathers that won’t come out!!!! Constant molt!

 

Dan made excellent points.. If you own a Amazon, by all means, Stick train them!!! Dan’s description is more true then not!! Here’s a true story by one of our members:http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?190024-Ah-the-joys-of-parrot-mating-season!

 

Be patient: This to will pass, it’s part of these wild creatures we love so dearly…

Edited July 10, 2010 by Jayd

[msasser]

I am learning as I go with Rose my Grey that I inherited from my sister about 2 years ago. I do know that if I raise my voice about anything, she gets all worked up and excited. I need to be careful about that.

She also does this thing where if I don't give her peanuts when she thinks she should have them, she rattles her bowl. The only thing that I can think of doing to discipline her or discourage this behavior is to remove the bowl. It is much like having a toddler in the house really, you have to be thinking all the time how to react to things with them. Lots of work for sure! But well worth every bit!

[msasser]

That was a beautiful story of rescue...thanks for sharing!

[Dave007]

Much has been said about punishment and abuse. It's the main topic in this thread. Not much more can be told to people as far as avoiding it. Everyone knows it's not the way to do things and just about every form of abuse is talked about on many places but there's sub divisions of abuse and punishment which aren't as drastic but they definitely belong in this thread.

Those are

1---intentional neglect

2---unintentional neglect.

 

Intentional neglect that I speak about here is that with one, the owners are acting out of ignorance and these people have decided that a parrot is a second class citizen from the get go.

Intentional neglect has to do with a person( usually intelligent) who gets a parrot after checking out visual pictures and basic facts about a parrot. Much of what they've heard of is basivally hearsay. Those visuals usually have nothing to do with parrots and their life style. As far as they're concerned, the parrot looks attractive. Size of the bird means nothing. Cage size means nothing. Proper prime food means nothing. The people look at movies and see that a parrot is in a movie. Usually, the parrot is in an undersized cage. The potential owner sees it and decides to imitate what he/she has seen. End of further investigation.

The person has no idea about interaction with the parrot. After all, the person has never seen any interaction with people in those movies. The person has no desire to purchase any written material concerning the parrot. He simply doesn't care because he's about to feed and water the parrot.

Food---The person knows that he/she has to feed some type of food that has the word *parrot* on it. Good or bad quality food is given quite by accident. One day a person grabs a good parrot mix, the next time a bad mix. Does the person try to find out what's good or bad? Rarely. Most of the time, the person winds up in a store that has parrot mix along with a million other groceries. In other words, a supermarket. The price is right, the word *parrot* is on the package so as far as feeding, the problem is solved. Because no investigation of different things a parrot should eat hasn't been done, the parrot winds up being fed an incomplete diet. The only other types of foof that are given to the parrot other than the one described above, is when the owner is in a good mood and decides to feed scraps of his/her meal. If the bird eats, fine. If not the owner really doesn't care and won't feed the bird that item again. The very frequent thing that DOES happen is that the owner is annoyed because of the mess that's made by that food and the possible odor that the food creates. Many times, that's what will stimulate the owner to finally change the tray.

The bird is usually kept in that cage for years. The owner won't get rid of it because it's part of the decor. Friends who come over love to see a colorful parrot standing still in a wrong sized cage with no play toys or other items that the parrot may be interested in. The owner's main thing is that the parrot looks nice.

Usually, an owner like that doesn't have to worry about aggression because there's basically no physical contact with the bird. No contact, no biting.

A bird like this usually becomes cage bound and introverted. At one point it loses all desire to act like a parrot. He's in a jail cell and has accepted the fact that the sentence in that jail cell will be for a long time. This type of bird who may be given to another person more than likely will keep that personality. It takes with it what's called extreme baggage, extreme history. The new owner has very little chance of reshaping that bird into a jolly bird who will accept a new family. Many times, the family is disappointed and the bird is off to a shelter/adoption agency. It's not the new family's fault.

This is called intentional neglect.

====================================================================

 

Unintentional neglect usually has to do with a person/persons who have taken over the ownership of a bird ( usually an adult ) and is also ignorant of the many things and the lifestyles of parrots. Usually, it takes quite a while for the person/persons to see that problems exist. Usually, people will then try to find out some information about parrots but unfortunately, they run into so many different opinions by so called professionals which leaves them confused. For a while, these people will try all of these methods but many times, are unsuccessful because of conflicting information by people who say that their way is the right way. The family is basically experimenting with things that may be good. After a while these people start to hope that some of the things that were tried out but not accepted by the bird will eventually be accepted by the bird even though the people have stopped the experiments. Almost all of the time, it doesn't work. The bird has been given freedom, good food, plenty of mind distracting items, possible physical interaction, a family in which all have tried make a connection but there was little success. At that point, the owners feel that they've totally lost the battle. According to them,they've failed. They tried to change things over a long period of time, all with no luck or good results. But no matter what the problem/problems are, the owners still believe that others will have more luck with that bird. The people then investigate places ( both public shelters and private people who are hoarders)) that they've heard of which promise a better life for the bird. The bird will definitely learn how to be a bird. But really, no investigation is made because as far as the owners are concerned, they didn't know that an investigation was warranted.

There are many things that can be wrong with that type of bird when it originally arrived the homes. These are some but there's many more.

1--biting

2--unusual aggression

3--not wanting contact with people

4--not being able to fly

5--past injuries that weren't treated properly

6--being too extroverted

7 --being too introverted

8---not accepting a basic good diet

9---unusual mutilation

10--erratic changes in personality

 

Yes, this is a grey forums board, but I guarantee you that this happens lto many species of parrots. I've seen it first hand. The only difference is the intensity of these problems.

 

This is called unintentional neglect but both types of neglect can have dire effects on a parrot.

 

Actually in all of my years of dealing with all types of parrots, I really haven't seen too many cases of long term abuse by owners no matter what kind of bird was involved but what I have seen is that the abused bird becomes the abuser. A parrot doesn't forget and constantly reminds the person that it's his/her turn to have the upper hand. Again, another owner or shelter or adoption area usually is the solution be it wrong or right.

Edited July 17, 2010 by Dave007

[danmcq]

Great post Dave and very informative for people wondering what happened to a bird and how it became that way when they adopt.

 

Thanks for posting this!

[Aly~]

These stories are amazing and I just want to go home and hug my bird, even tho she hates me and will bite my head off given the chance. It doesn't seem to matter how much you think you know about your bird there is always more to learn. My bird has no problem teaching me how to properly behave!!

[Cheshire Cat]

When my bird does something naughty, I just say 'No' in a very stern manner. Whether she understands this yet, I don't know. But when I say 'no' she will move back from me. I'd certainly never smack her or leave her in her cage as punishment. I say 'no' and then move on. I don't punish the poor girl.

[reggieroo]

Breeding Season with Hormones Ruling!

 

For many who have lived with parrot companions for a while, the passed spring season is looked to with the knowledge that this can bring about changes in their beloved bird. They may still be feeling those strong desires even now in summertime.

 

Dan, do they go through the breeding season every year for the rest of their life or just a number of years?

 

Oh & very good informative post by the way.

[GoDiego]

Dan, do they go through the breeding season every year for the rest of their life or just a number of years?

 

With Amazon parrots, which I have this stage starts at around 4 years for around 4 years. Normally around 10 years of age with an Amazon they start mellowing again with age as the hormones start to dwindle away. I'm not sure if this is exactly the same for Greys?

[Mistyparrot]

I am learning as I go with Rose my Grey that I inherited from my sister about 2 years ago. I do know that if I raise my voice about anything, she gets all worked up and excited. I need to be careful about that.

She also does this thing where if I don't give her peanuts when she thinks she should have them, she rattles her bowl. The only thing that I can think of doing to discipline her or discourage this behavior is to remove the bowl. It is much like having a toddler in the house really, you have to be thinking all the time how to react to things with them. Lots of work for sure! But well worth every bit!

 

I think it is a mistake to discourage the bowl rattling by thinking in terms of discipline instead increase Roses foraging opportunities. There are special toys available that you can stuff with suitable treats like peanuts and other nuts and dried fruit.

I think it important to avoid frustrating these birds attempts to have some control of their environment. The only time I would raise my voice to Misty is when he is putting himself at risk. Other times I prefer to remove him from things or places I don't want him

messing with and providing him with suitable distractions. Misty spends most of his time out of his cage if am at home. He only goes back in to sleep or for time out if he bites in temper (very very rare) and only for a few minutes.

 

Steve n Mistyparrot