An update on Missy

[reggieroo]

Missy has settled in real well, like she as always known me. Anybody visiting would think she has always lived here. She is very well socialized & loves it when new men visit, she is straight over & on their shoulder........................although they are normally a little sacred at first. Funny as it's normally the other way round with a grey being scared but not Missy. She doesn't like boxes though scared to death of those, when I walk past her cage with one she looks like she has seen a ghost. The first time she went thrashing about her cage like she was being murdered.

 

We have had very little issues with her being a rehome, after all we don't know her history & what baggage should had with her. I suspect she may have had only the one home not counting the last one as that was just where she ended up after being found. Her ring has 09 on it so unlikely she has been in more than one home at 2 years old, she likes men so that tells me her owner/handler was a man, she steps up takes tickles etc so a good sign she wasn't abused.

 

The only two things I need to work on are some biting issues & her being a very fussy eater, she won't eat anything but her seed mix & even that she is fussy about. We give her tidymix but she chucks out anything that is remotely good for her like the fruit bits & only snacks on the seed. If I try & put another dish in there with anything else she trys to bite me & then grabs the dish & chucks it across the cage. If I do manage to get a dish in there she gets everything out instantly & takes it out of the dish & chucks it on the floor.

 

The biting has got better over time as it's something I'm really working hard on but also something new to me, I've never had a biter before. I wouldn't say she is a bad biter at all, more that she is strong willed & if she doesn't want to do something like step up or take a piece of food from you she will bite if you persist. Murphy on the other hand would just fly off rather than bite, that's where they differ, her fight or flight is fight & Murphy's was flight. When I'm asking her to step up & she bites me I just ignore it & persist till she steps up, that seems to be working more often than not, she will just threaten a bite but won't & will step up most of the time. Again though it is when she doesn't want to do something, if I offer my hand in the cage for step ups to come out.....................no problem at all but if I do it when taking her off the stand at night for bed then that is when she will try it on, they never want to go to bed do they?

 

There has also been some other instances of biting but more so when I first got her, I went to adjust the perch one day, put my hand in the cage & she savaged my hand pretty bad. Tried my best to ignore it but it was ****** painful I can tell you. I left her alone for 15min than went back & popped my hand in for step ups, she threatened to bite but stepped up instead. I'm guessing that time she just got a little uneasy with me putting my hand in her new home only knowing me for a few days so I put that down to her just needing to trust me. She also seems to go crazy for newspaper, when I first started to change her paper in the bottom of the cage, she would attack me by biting my arm with hard sharp nips..........ouch! I've cottoned on to this & work round it, but she seems to have got better over time. She does actually seem to enjoy attacking the paper & can see her getting pleasure bitting & ripping at it, so now I sometimes give her some to shred, if I don't she just goes down to the bottom of the cage & shreds that instead. The only other time she bites is when giving tickles through that bars of the cage, she will happily take a tickle but while doing so she nibbles gently on my finger, this is sweet but then she starts to exert more pressure till she is actually biting me hard & wont let go. I feel as if she is pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. When she does this I tell her "naughty, no biting" while pointing my finger at her (risky I know in case she bites it!), it feels like a little stand off between us with her eyes slightly pinpointing & you can tell she is thinking about it. I then offer tickles again, if she doesn't it one more time I tell her "naughty" again & cover her up for 5 minutes. Only ever for 5 mins, I then remove the cover & offer tickles which she takes without biting. I don't usually think that covering a bird really works for most stuff but in this case it seems to be doing the trick as this little problem is slowly going away.

 

Missy is also very vocal which is a good sign she is a happy birdie, I can't even remember some of the things that she come out with but I do remember the naughty one she came out with yesterday which was "oh sh*t!" She also says "alright" when you walk past, "kiss kiss" & " tickle", "good girl", "Oi" & lots of other stuff. You get the picture, if I was to type it all I'd be here all day, she also say lot's of stuff I can't quite work out yet.

 

Well there you go guys a little update on how things have been going in our household since having Missy come live with us.

 

Oh & Murphy I haven't forgot you my friend, hopefully your ok out there & somebody nice is looking after you. xx

[pikachu]

Sounds to me like things are going great!

 

One thing I have heard is that positive reinforcement works the best. So when I have interacted with my sweet girl I always say "gentle" when she is acting the correct way instead of saying "no bite" when she gets nippy. Maui likes to mouth my fingers and does bite a little harder sometimes. All I have to do is say "gentle" and she understands what that means. The same goes for when one of the kids is interacting with her.

 

That way, the good behavior is reinforced rather than telling them 'no' and they have figure out how they should act.

 

I am so glad that things are going well for the two of you!

[birdhouse]

Nice to hear from you, Paul. Great to hear you & Missy sound like you're happy. Although you didn't mention anything about Missy w/Kate or Ella Rose...?

 

Missy sounds like Phenix when I started w/him. Acted like he thought I was trying to poison him w/anything that wasn't seed. Same angry type reactions. It took him a long time to come around. The saying never would have been "Stubborn as a mule." if more people lived w/a grey. lol But Phenix & I didn't have a forum full of ideas, either. Hopefully, Missy will be a lot easier.

 

Have you tried the social eating experiments? Maybe Missy will take a different attitude if new food were offered from a cup, plate or spoon. It turned out Phenix gets a big kick out of drinking from a cup & it finally got him to try some things.

 

It does sound like she's got a feisty streak. But that may actually be a good thing. She seems to be a very resilient little girl. She could have ended up afraid of a lot more than boxes after her adventures.

 

As great as this transition seems to have been she is probably still settling in. Hopefully some of the biting is because of it. With all your greyt work, she'll get even better (about most things). But I'm really glad that overall, it sounds like you found yourself such a little peach & you're doing so well.

Edited December 11, 2011 by birdhouse

[judygram]

I am glad to hear that Missy is settling in, as you well know when bringing in a new grey it takes lots of time and much patience on your part but she sounds like a real sweetheart in the making.

I do hope Murphy has found a new home and is happy even if it isn't with you.

[Gwen]

So happy to hear from you Paul!!! Thanks for the update on Missy. She sounds a bit like a strong-willed little girl with an attitude.... LOL Also, that she's a little cage aggressive. I'm sure it's a wonderful & blissfully happy journey your on with her !!!! How are your wife and Ella Rose getting on with her??

Please keep updating on her and let us know how everyone is...

 

 

I always carry a prayer in my heart for your Murphy and know that I hope he's doing well

[Luvparrots]

Paul, thank you for the update on sweet Misty. She is lucky to have found such a caring and loving new family.

[reggieroo]

Hi Guys, your right I haven't mentioned Kate or Ella-Rose in the update...........slap on the wrists for myself! Kate's is a bit nervous around Missy as she bit Kate a couple of times quite hard, so she has gave her plenty of space since. Kate isn't like me, if I get bit I tend to just take it in my stride & keep on going without fear but Kate gets scared by it which then affects their relationship, Kate will then be too afraid to handle her for fear of more bites. At the moment Kate is just sitting back letting me work with Missy on the biting issue & I must say I'm making good progress. I haven't had any bites in a few day but my mum got a bite earlier this evening, I think Missy prefers men to be fair.

 

Ella-Rose on the other hand is without fear but as she is only just turned two years old I don't let her touch Missy as a rule, just in case! What I did do the other day, is while Missy was on my hand I held my hand over her Missy's head & let Ella-Rose stroke her back gently for a few seconds, that was the first time. I'm trying to teach Ella-rose about handling Missy for when she is older & also show Missy that little Ella-Rose isn't going to harm her. Trust between a human & a parrot is definitely a two way street & if I start the two of them early it can only be a good thing, especially as Ella-Rose will be the one who takes care of her in years to come when me & Kate have passed on to the place we call heaven.

 

Missy also enjoys bobbing her head for Ella-Rose's amusement. What was real sweet the other day, Missy was sat on the edge of the seed catcher skirt that goes round the bottom of the cage & I heard Ella-Rose talking about picnics, looked over & she was asking Missy if she wanted to join her for a picnic, it was so funny. Ella-rose then went & got her tea set & layed all the cups, saucers & tea pot at the bottom of Missy's cage so they could enjoy a cup of tea together. Ella-Rose also joins me every morning in the morning wake up ritual, as I'm uncovering Missy's cage Ella-Rose say's "wakey wakey Missy" I then spend a few minutes giving Missy tickles & I have noticed that I never get any bites at that time.

Edited December 12, 2011 by reggieroo

[chezron]

Thanks so much for the update! i have been hoping that Missy will work out for you. i know she is not Murphy, but hopefully your relationship will develop well.

[katana600]

It is so good to catch up with your update. I attribute Missy's fight instead flight to be a girl with attitude and I love that fiesty side of her. Of course it isn't my finger getting savaged. LOL. You and your family are clearly loving the whole gamut of parrot experience. Kate is a wise woman to allow you to work things through with Missy and be on the support team until the biting is no longer a regular occurance. That is the stance my husband takes as well. It does warm my heart though that months in, Gilbert is allowing a head scratch on occasion from David. You and Missy are a perfect match. It is wonderful to hear how she is adaptive and taking the new things in her life in stride. There are many days when I sit quietly and think about Murphy. I think there is a reason that Missy found her way to you because of who you are and your life experience with Murphy. I also believe in those quiet moments that Murphy found a space to fill in someone else's life and he is living the life of a king with someone doting on his every antic. He is who he is from your love and care and I know he is in good hands. There will be a day when the mystery is revealed, I will be tuned in to hear about it from you.

[MarcusCAG]

^^ I think all of us who know of everything you went through with Murphy, Paul, are so happy to hear how things are working out with you and Missy and your family now. She sounds like a fighter, which again is probably what helped her get as far as she did while she was out on her own. I, too, think of Murphy at odd moments and I just pray that he's doing well somewhere. Sometimes things just happen in life, there's no particular reason for it but those twists and turns can bring happiness in the end nevertheless. I would very much like to check in here someday and read that you have finally discovered Murphy's whereabouts, and learn that he is well and contented with a caring family, too. In the meanwhile, I am just so glad that you and your family and Missy are sharing this new and exciting journey together. E-hugs to all of you.