murfchck Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 I am pretty sure he cracked a bone in my hand on his last bite so this better calm down soon! He wants me to pick him up all the time but then his feathers are puffed at me 98% of the time so i don't. I will stay and talk with him but not willing to lose a finger for him. This is pretty hard since i am the last to leave the house and the first to come home and get them out of their cages. He lets me bring him out to his stand most of the time, but i have to wait for him to calm down. I am wondering if this change happened when Pat let me sleep in last weekend and he got everyone out, but in a different order. I get Oliver out before Bubba, he takes Bubba first. It sounds like a small thing but who knows, thats really the only thing that has changed. On a happy note, his breast feathers are starting to come back in, but he has started chewing his other wing now. I have figured out photo bucket to share one of his flight sessions, now i just have to figure out how to post the link for it! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOT A GREY Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I try to make sure everyone in my home handles our macaw daily....... he would quickly bond to my 11 year old daughter given half a chance! my 9 year old wants to love him........ but she is probably 3rd on his favorite list. I myself am in second lol!...... and I am the one who cooks for him ! darn bird! mine will try to get snippy from time to time....I give the step up and he growls and moves away..... I follow with step up and if he goes to bite I grab his beak with my free hand lol! then he thinks it is some sort of game.....however he respects me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 We both handle him, he just uses me though as his food source and his personal transporter. He yelled at me the other day which still has me laughing. Up until his change of heart towards me every morning he would tell me bye. One morning he wouldn't answer me so i just called his name... No reply, did it again, nothing. Couple more times i called "Bubba?", he finally yelled " What?" Still wouldn't tell me bye though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 LOL Bubba sounds like my kids when they were teenagers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 I am going to have to test this act of aggression towrd me. I was in the hall putting the baby gate up and he came down that cage wings spread, mouth open just inches from my head. His action didn't scare me, just him being there scared me bc i didn't expect that and i went flat againt the wall. Well that didn't help things between us because my fast movement scared him! But then i thought, he had every chance to hurt me because i didn't even know he was there, but he didn't. Is he trying to play with me? He doesn't play that way with Pat but.... Frustrating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 It's too bad he snuck up on you. You may have lost out on an opportunity there. I don't know if this will work for you. But it does for me. The first thing I always do is laugh. Parrots "get" laughing. Meanwhile I'm barely moving far enough to be just barely out of biting range. You know I know exactly where that is for everyone For however long they continue to posture, I just stand right there & cheerfully tell them some of the many reasons why they're being silly. After a minute or two they'll usually either give ground or get it out of their system & start to power down. No matter which way it goes, I always walk away. (See, dummy...? All that over nothing.) Disclaimer, nothing normal works w/Phenix. He'll just go into a blind rage eventually. I have a feeling this is partly a trust issue, which is probably why it doesn't work w/him. Sad to think he can't truly trust after all this time. But it is what it is & most days I'm crazy enough to love him anyway. But I think there's a fine line between being sensitive to a fid's trust & control issues & being bullied. Once they learn how, fids can be such awful bullies! So this exercise is about standing my ground w/o any dominance or threat & eventually getting the fid to realize it's completely pointless to automatically go for me just because I'm there. Seems like clearing that hurdle has earned me enough trust & respect to start building a much more solid relationship from then on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Okay so tonight i picked him up to bring him into the kitchen with the rest of us (fids) and he bit me, so i rolled my arm. He did a complete 360 and laughed. I don't want to make a game of this!!, but atleast there was no blood this time. I really don't know what to do to correct this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Have you tried offering him something to hold in his beak and then picking him up? I use toys instead of food so its not a reward but more like a here you hold this kind of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 22, 2012 Author Share Posted November 22, 2012 Yeah, he just drops whatever it is i hand him. Including pecans which he adores, i guess he adores the taste of my skin even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Like some people he finds it more important to make what ever point it is he is trying to convey than to enjoy life. Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Stinker, stinker, stinker! He wanted a bite of my turkey sandwhich last night so i offered it to him. He took a bite, spit it out and tried to bite my hand holding the sandwhich. I went ahead and made them a feast of all the left overs, PAT put him in his cage and i put the bowl in for him, he went to it buried his face in and repeated yum until i walked out of the room! Oh is he spoiled! Oliver took a fall off his stand yesterday. Typical Murphys law. I have padding all under his stand, except on area that he never stands over. Guess where he fell? Yep, right there, down the wall, edge of the stand and onto the tile floor. He has scrapes over his nose and over his eye into his head feathers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Stinker is right, you just have to wonder sometimes how they ever manage in the wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 24, 2012 Author Share Posted November 24, 2012 If i were to guess about my guys in the wild i would say they all have servents. "fetch my dinner", "i'm ready for my bath now", "scratch me here, nooooo, not there", " feed me grapes, and they better be peeled this time". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Boy, if birds can smile was Oliver doing it! We got his double macaw cage yesterday, cleaned it and set it up and let him see it. He climbed to the top, cocked his head from side to side looking in it then took off and went inside. Climbed around it, sat on every perch but one then went to his dinner bowl, which was empty, ( i had been a bit busy to cook ) and smacked his beak all around the bowl! After looking at me then his empty bowl, then back at me he went to his pellets and chowed down! We may have harmony for a little bit now that the boys are on equal ground again! One not higher than the other, Bubba was even nice to me last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingy Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I'm glad Oliver likes his new house. I don't know about you but I'm always thrilled with I buy something new and my guy runs right over to it all excited. Some people swear that height is not an issue with our feather babies but I have seen the results of changing the cage height first hand. Something happens when height is altered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 I totally agree with the height thing. It has only been one day but even Bubba seems to have mellowed out, like he isn't top dog anymore and so he seems less aggressive, and Oliver, just seems content again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Bubba has been doing great. Even with Gus entering the picture. Bad thing, lol, only took him a few cockatoo screams to learn it and copy it. Good thing, the new scream is not as loud as his regular scream! Lol He is not in the same room as Gus but is telling him hello, i think he will be saying Gus's name before mine. I am resigning to the fact i will always be "pptthhhh, hahaha" to him. He was with us in the kitchen last night, Pat was holding him and he kept saying pptthhhh and Pat asked what he wanted, it hit me that he was calling me so i answered him. It was like he thought, finally lady, so he said it again and then laughed and went back to playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana600 Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 I am now trying hard not to conjure up a sound that would be worse than two cockatoos screaming. Just kidding of course, I have never heard one up close and personal. Some day Bubba is going to wake up and decide he has a fitting name for you. Before we know it I am going to start signing checks as "Lulu" as Gilbert is very convincing at telling me that is my name now. Can you imagine what life would be like if each of your parrots dubbed you a different moniker? Hahaha, that would be enough to give me some kind of complex. You have very creative ways of looking deep inside each of your flock members to find what they need, I think Bubba will come around in time and it will be magical for you to have his acceptance. Poor Oliver taking a header, that must have been scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted November 29, 2012 Author Share Posted November 29, 2012 Well Gabby calls Pat Howard so i guess my name Bubba chose isn't too bad, lol, with his potty mouth i could here it now! Oliver did scare us so we moved him to a lower stand then covered the bottom with yoga mats and put it where each side kinda hangs over the couch to deflect him if need be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 The time i have been putting off, gotta take Bubba in for his recheck. I dread having to get him in the carrier. I know i should show no fear but... Ouchie, i know its going to happen. He nips me just taking him to his stand, distraction does help but still. Lol I gotta be strong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I feel for both of you. Keeping good thoughts. Hope it's pain-free & all good news!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 (edited) Woo-hoo! Bubba has been released from the doctor! Clean bill of health. Got his toes and beak done so he wouldn't have to go back for a while! I think i got photobucket kinda figured out too. Here is Pat and Bubba playing before dinner! http://s1296.beta.photobucket.com/user/murfchck/media/VIDEO0056_zps8424384b.mp4.html Edited December 6, 2012 by murfchck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Wonderful news, will try to view later after work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOT A GREY Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 what a great little movie he looks so good and happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Woohoo! So glad to hear Bubba got a clean bill of health and really enjoyed the video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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