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Please help me figure this out, teach me, slap me, whatever it takes


jbsmomto1

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.....So I was here the other day after being bitten by my boy and not sure why as well as he is chasing after people in my house, (always males, except for the time he bit me a few days ago, than it was males and me)...It's really hard to accept that my boy could go from this : sweet%20love_zpshzzzkvox.jpg ...this is normal for him, so sweet, so loving, so gentle, but then this happened : almost%2048%20hrs_zpsewpehbra.jpg

 

I admit it made me kinda nervous to hold him but I did anyway and he has been fine since that moment in time, he is back to his sweet self (with me) but he still isn't thrilled with males, but isn't chasing them either but he was also handfed by a woman and its only myself and daughter that live here so exposure to men is NOT something he has had a lot of, so I guess his dislike for males might be normal?

 

 

Today he started doing something new as well, when I pick him up his wings are droopy, I mean they are not dropping bc they are hurt I am certain they are not but they droop and it kinda sounds like he is whining or squeeking, its hard to describe the sound. ...I know he isn't sick because he only seems to be doing this intermittently and only when I am close to him, if I am not in the room he is fine, plays, whistles, hollers for me to "come see me" lol.....so I don't think he is sick, I thought maybe hormones but A) he is barely 3 years old and I have done everything possible to try and prevent breeding behaviours. He only gets light for 12 hrs, 7pm-7am. He gets NO soft warm foods but I still do feed him the healthy foods but mostly pasta and crunchy harder foods, his pellets, parrot cookies, nutriberries, etc etc ....so I don't think it can be hormones, or if it is than what else do I need to do so I don't ruin a perfectly amazing parrot and cause him any harm emotional or other .....help me please

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You have a possessive horn-dog on your hands. Grey's will punish you when you're not doing what they wish, which in this case is not keeping far enough away from the perceived competition. I get a nice beak-lashing when I come to close to Toby whom GreycieMae can't stand. If I'm not taking care of business (i.e. keeping Toby at a distance) as she insists I can and do sometimes get a nasty bite. At first I had a hard time 'seeing' what was going on. My wife said something one day that made it click and now it's clear as day - she will punish me for not towing her line. I'm allowed to mess with Rio (our Jardines) a bit more before getting bit and I can mess with the wifey too a bit more but there are limits there as well.

 

Greys....

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Maalik does the same thing. He harasses certain male family members, dive bombing them whenever they enter a room where I'm present. As with your grey, one moment Maalik can be the sweetest little love bug ever one minute, but then become a Mr. Hyde if he's not on the same page as I'm on. I never take it personally though. It's part of grey ownership. :-)

 

Greys are complicated birds; very intricate on so many levels. But I love that about them!

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Parronts may think we're being funny whenever we refer to "belonging" to a fid. This is the not so funny side. "Mine!!" is very big motivation in grey behavior & this type of possessive bonding amps it to a whole other level.

 

Greys tend to be control freaks & can have a pretty dark sense of humor. If Storm learns being aggressive can be used to control people, it can cause a whole bunch of bad behavior.

 

Even though it's kind of hard w/these attacks, it's important not to seem to take it seriously & never personally. If he rattles you, step away like you just can't be bothered w/his attitude & don't come back until you really aren't (he will know if you're faking it btw). Also, any male you can find who can stand up to Storm in a non-hostile way could eventually help to defuse at least some of this, too.

 

And no, you don't need a "slap". Just a reminder whenever your fid has you outnumbered, we're always here for reinforcement & E-hugs!

Edited by birdhouse
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They kind of steer us in their preferred direction and sometimes we just don't take direction well enough to suit our little dino tyrant overlords. Then they wear that velvet love glove and rope us back into their little heart strings.

 

 

Just so you know, I'm stealing that phrase. I'm thinking a nice wall mounted placard for the entrance to their aviary or their bird room "Sterling Ranch Dino Tyrant Overlords". And for our fence "Beware of the Dino Tyrant Overlords".

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Just so you know, I'm stealing that phrase. I'm thinking a nice wall mounted placard for the entrance to their aviary or their bird room "Sterling Ranch Dino Tyrant Overlords". And for our fence "Beware of the Dino Tyrant Overlords".

 

lol accurate description

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.....

 

Today he started doing something new as well, when I pick him up his wings are droopy, I mean they are not dropping bc they are hurt I am certain they are not but they droop and it kinda sounds like he is whining or squeeking, its hard to describe the sound. ...I know he isn't sick because he only seems to be doing this intermittently and only when I am close to him, if I am not in the room he is fine, plays, whistles, hollers for me to "come see me" lol.....so I don't think he is sick, I thought maybe hormones but A) he is barely 3 years old and I have done everything possible to try and prevent breeding behaviours. He only gets light for 12 hrs, 7pm-7am. He gets NO soft warm foods but I still do feed him the healthy foods but mostly pasta and crunchy harder foods, his pellets, parrot cookies, nutriberries, etc etc ....so I don't think it can be hormones, or if it is than what else do I need to do so I don't ruin a perfectly amazing parrot and cause him any harm emotional or other .....help me please

 

I know the sound you're talking about and every grey does that frequently during times of affection. They wanna be touched, rubbed. They turn their heads upside down. Their eyes squint, almost like they're just about ready to sleep. What's more important about this behavior is that the bird really wants you also rub other areas of the body which isn't a good idea. These areas all have to do with a bit of sexual excitement. Many times, rubbing like you're doing will cause a bird to nip when you wanna stop. He doesn't wanna let you stop.

Your bird is in that age category where he's not sexually mature but he is sexually aware. Adolscence is present. Compare it to a 12/13 yr old boy.

After the age of 5/6 yrs old, they then become sexually mature and show more intense interest when rubbed in the wrong place. Heavy duty biting can occur.

When you're rubbing him like that, finish your rub and walk away. Don't keep sticking your hands in his face. You have no idea how he feels about concerning that first rub(should have continued--shouldn't have continued). When you walk away he'll immediately go back to doing other things. Be very aware of your bird. All of this is spoken about in Body Language Room.

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I know the sound you're talking about and every grey does that frequently during times of affection. They wanna be touched, rubbed. They turn their heads upside down. Their eyes squint, almost like they're just about ready to sleep. What's more important about this behavior is that the bird really wants you also rub other areas of the body which isn't a good idea. These areas all have to do with a bit of sexual excitement. Many times, rubbing like you're doing will cause a bird to nip when you wanna stop. He doesn't wanna let you stop.

Your bird is in that age category where he's not sexually mature but he is sexually aware. Adolscence is present. Compare it to a 12/13 yr old boy.

After the age of 5/6 yrs old, they then become sexually mature and show more intense interest when rubbed in the wrong place. Heavy duty biting can occur.

When you're rubbing him like that, finish your rub and walk away. Don't keep sticking your hands in his face. You have no idea how he feels about concerning that first rub(should have continued--shouldn't have continued). When you walk away he'll immediately go back to doing other things. Be very aware of your bird. All of this is spoken about in Body Language Room.

 

I only rub his neck, beak, cheeks, and just under the bottom beak close to the hole or whatever you call that thing, once in a while I will rub his little tiny birdie feet, but he doesn't usually let me touch them i dont often go past the ear holes (not sure what they are called, but ears work for me lol), I thought it was his butt, back and wings that I shouldnt be touching?

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I'm not saying anyone is wrong about our birds "punishing" us for perceived misbehavior, but, in the Avian mind, if they cannot drive an intruder away, they will turn on their mate to drive them away from the situation. It's not actual punishment, in the Human sense of the word, but, a reaction to make you stop being where they don't want you to be, or doing what they don't want you to be doing. Which, in a way, is redirection, more than punishment. Is that splitting hairs? I guess either way, the desired result is the same.

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^^^ I don't think it's splitting hairs. I would say it was more like an additional consideration that might help to solve this problem. It seems like a very likely explanation for that one attack on OP when the rest were on the men.

 

 

Dave, could you maybe add the link for everyone...?

 

Be very aware of your bird. All of this is spoken about in Body Language Room.
Edited by birdhouse
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^^^ I don't think it's splitting hairs. I would say it was more like an additional consideration that might help to solve this problem. It seems like a very likely explanation for that one attack on OP when the rest were on the men.

 

 

Dave, could you maybe add the link for everyone...?

 

 

I'm not exactly sure concerning what you want so I'll just give this info out. It's in the Training Room. Maybe this is what you were referring to?

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/showthread.php?109373-Body-language-most-frequently-seen

 

 

 

Hope it helps.

 

It's what and why I was referring to when I said it was in Body Language Room

Edited by Dave007
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