Nikko tried to give my parents heart attacks

[spookyhurst]

Nikko has gotten into a kick where she likes to stand beak first inside her toy bucket for extended periods of time. Her little rump sticks straight up in the air and is the only thing visible. Today, my mom decided it had been quite awhile since Nikko had moved, so she called out to her. Nikko didn't respond. She kept calling to her...nothing. She reached out and touched Nikko's foot (she hates her feet being played with, and will usually bite), but it was limp. She started to panic, saying, "Nikko! Nikko! Wake up!", while pulling on her limp legs and toes. At this point, my dad started to panic too, and began banging on Nikko's toys in an attempt to get her to jealously run over to stop him...nothing. Finally, her limp little foot clutched onto the edge of the bucket, but my mom had to turn the bucket upside down to gently plop her back onto a perch. They said she looked kind of dazed . What do you think got into this bird? Has she finally cracked?

 

Here's a picture of what she does. At the time I took this, the bucket was temporarily broken (she chewed through the wood that held the chain), but my dad fixed it this morning. She is actually sideways, but I inverted it so you could see how she normally stands beak down / tail up.

 

[Guest briansmum]

thats really unusual. is she her normal self the rest of the time? i get your comment about the meth lab now. it might feel safe to her, does she have a birdy hideaway thing? she might enjoy one of those

[lovemyGreys]

spookyhurst I am so pleased you have posted this, one of my greys Freddie is doing the same strange behaviour every night i return him to his cage, he dives head first into his food pot with his feet sticking up in the air, he remains there for what seems like forever !

i have searched the Internet to find out what this behaviour may suggest but as yet i am unable to find any answers :unsure:

 

i too would be very interested if anyone could enlighten us on this.

[Talon]

That is the cutest picture I have ever seen. I hope there is a contest soon that you could enter it into.

 

Your poor parents, they must have absolutely been besides themselves when she was playing dead. What a scare!

I have a hideaway for Talon, you might want to consider one for Niko.

[danmcq]

Very interesting behaviour and photo SpookyHurst.

 

Do your parents think that Nikko was actually passed out? Your discription of this incident seems to indicate that.

[lovemyGreys]

good point Dan ,

if your head is lower than your heart for a period of time this can cause you to pass out,i presume the same can apply to our birds ?

[spookyhurst]

We actually were wondering if a bird's blood rushes to it's head when it hangs upside down for extended periods of time, and if it can have an adverse affect. Whether Nikko simply was asleep (a very deep sleep) or passed out is unknown.

 

This morning, Nikko climbed inside a box and wouldn't come out. It's actually 2 boxes connected together, and the entrance to the one box is within the 2nd box. She was very quiet for a long time, and all the tapping and shaking of the boxes wouldn't stir her. My mom finally had to shake her out when it became obvious she wouldn't come out on her own. I have no idea what has gotten into this bird :dry:. However, once dislodged from her box, she became active and wanted to play and eat.

 

Right now, Nikko is playing in her bucket. She has tossed out all the toys, and is attempting to climb inside. At least she is actively playing and not comatose.

[danmcq]

I am not certain lovemygreys, infact, I don't know how long a person can hang upside down before passing out?

[dblhelix]

How old is Nikko? Is Nikko female? Could this be mating/egg laying behavior? I know the females will seek dark places, boxes etc for "nesting". To discourage egg production I have heard it is best not to provide them dark places etc to hide in. Maybe in absence of a box or something like that she is trying to borrow into her food bowl? Just some thoughts. B)

[lovemyGreys]

dblhelix wrote:

Maybe in absence of a box or something like that she is trying to borrow into her food bowl? Just some thoughts. B)

 

That's Freddie my boy who's displaying a similar behaviour to Nikko & resting head down in his food bowl.

If nikko is at a mature age she may well be displaying nesting behaviour.

Maybe take the bucket & boxes away for a while & see if she displays this behaviour towards anything else.:unsure:

[judygram]

I was kind of thinking the same thing, Tracy, sounds like some kind of nesting behavior.

 

But the picture is priceless, Spooky, you have another contest winner in that one, and I would probably be passed out myself if that had been Josey. LOL.

 

Thanks so much for sharing this picture and story with us, after the initial fright, it was just too funny.

[spookyhurst]

Nikko is a 6 year old female. I guess we'll have to take away the box. She is going to be VERY ticked off, because she just loves chewing them up.

 

What about her Jolly Ball? She just got it recently, and hasn't climbed inside yet, but she's very interested in it. She peers inside and puts her foot up on it. I suppose it's just as bad as a box for encouraging nesting behavior .

[Guest briansmum]

a jolly balls not as enclosed though, arent there several holes in it? she can't get in there and feel unseen. maybe this will be different

[Talon]

Spooky, just give her a section of the cardboard from the box. You can poke it through her cage, and she can still chew on it. It's worth a try, to satisfy her need to chew up the boxes.:silly:

[judygram]

Good idea, Talon, she seems to enjoy the tearing up of boxes, so that way she can still do that but not feel like it is a place to hide.

[spookyhurst]

Nikko was very disgruntled over the lack of a box to play with this morning. She peeped and fussed, and nothing would pacify her, not even an almond. My mom finally took the flaps off a box so that it was completely open on one side, and let her play with it. She was quite happy to be ripping and tearing again, but there was no darkness to hide in, so hopefully she wasn't thinking about nesting.

 

Nikko's main hobby is shredding, whether it be cardboard, newspaper, or a pinata. She thinks that all 3 of these items are EEEVVIILLLLLL and must die horrible deaths :angry:. Silly bird :silly:. We do hang strips of cardboard on her gym for her to tear apart, and tear she does.

[danmcq]

LOL - All Boxes, Newspaper and Pinatas must be destroyed!! :woohoo: :side: :lol:

 

It sounds like Nikko is doing fine and getting her way. :-)

 

Thanks for the update!

[lovemyGreys]

spookyhurst wrote:

Nikko's main hobby is shredding, whether it be cardboard, newspaper, or a pinata. She thinks that all 3 of these items are EEEVVIILLLLLL and must die horrible deaths :angry:. Silly bird :silly:.

 

 

Way to go Nikko :laugh:

A good idea to tear the flaps off the box <br><br>Post edited by: lovemyGreys, at: 2007/08/29 13:03

[judygram]

Nikko, the grey shredder, and we should have known that, just look at the front page and you will see where she has made that hole in the funny pages.:laugh:

[Guest briansmum]

:lol: way to get your way nikko!

[Guest Monique]

How old is Nikko? She may be displaying nesting behavior. Some birds like boxes, cozies, etc. and do fine with them. Some when sexually mature start to really nest in them and then it's not a positive thing to have (unless of course you are breeding!).

[spookyhurst]

Nikko is 6. We've done a good job of keeping her from overbonding to any one family member. It's rare for her to try to regurgitate or do the "wing drop." She also has a good 12 hours of sleep at night (she actually requests to go to bed around 7:30 PM and get up at 7:30 AM), which probably helps. We really don't want her to start laying eggs though, so dark boxes will have to remain off limits. She's so crazy about cardboard. Today I got a small box in the mail (only about 6" x 3" x 3"), and when Nikko saw it sitting on the coffee table, she went nuts. She kept leaning towards it until I put the box next to her on the couch, where she pounced on it and started ripping it apart. Of course, her overzealousness sometimes gets her in trouble. She was on the kitchen table this morning, and spotted a newspaper in one of the chairs. She ran to the edge of the table and leaned towards the paper, but the placemat she was standing on flipped off the table and took her with it. She ended up in the chair on her back, with the placemat on top of her, her little feet still clutching the edge. She just laid there, with the placemat pulled up to her "chin" like a little blanket. Too bad I didn't have the camera out B).

 

Nikko certainly does tend to get her way. In fact, whenever Nikko or the dog gets their way, someone in my family will say "Got my way, Got my way!" in a sing-song voice :side:. Spoiled animals!

[danmcq]

Lol, thanks for the morning smile Spookyhurst :-).

 

That is a mental picture that brings a smile.

 

Thanks for sharing this story of Nikko....GoT mY WaaAaAaAy...GoooOoooOoOOoT myyYYyYyYy Waaaaaay :side:

[judygram]

Darn, that would have been a Kodak moment for sure, sounds like Nikko is a lot of fun, Spookyhurst, and thanks for sharing that for us to laugh at.

[kiwibarb12]

Beckette loves ripping up boxs - I just give her a small box to rip up. I won't give her a big box because she laid an egg and became egg bound. scared me to death.