THE TERRIBLE 2

[ConnieLu]

:unsure: DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO? SHE HAVE CHANGE ALOT FROM A LOVING BIRD TO A DEMANDING BIRD! SHE WILL CALL ME MOMMY BOOBIELU WANT TO STEP UP SI SI ! SO I WILL GO TO AND TELL HER OK STEP UP AND SHE WILL BITE ME VERY HARD, AND SHE WILL TELL ME "IM SORY MOMMY I LOVE YOU, BOOBIELU DONT BITE OK COME, COME , VENTE" AND I WILL GO AND DO THE SAME THING AGAIN AND AGAIN AND THIS IS GOING UP TO 2 WEEKS AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO! PLEASE HELP ME! I WANT MY BABY BACK! I LOVE HER TO MUCH TO SEE HER GOING AWAY FROM ME!

[Sallas]

Sounds like she may think it is a fun game. I am sure some of the others will be able to give you better advice on this one than I could.

[Lyric]

Hi ConnieLu, sounds like your baby is growing up! They definitely will go through phases where they test you to see what they can get by with. What is your reaction to her when she bites? You need to calmly tell her " no bite" and put her right back into her cage and walk away. Make her take a "time-out" inside the cage and ignore her for 10 minutes or so, then try again. If she bites again, do the same thing. Eventually she should get the message that if she wants to be with you she will have to behave herself. Best of luck to you, going through this phase in their lives takes patience, but you will eventually get through it. She may not ever be as loving as she was as a baby though, lots of greys out grow this and become a little more aloof towards people.

[Tigerlily]

I know exactly how you feel Tigerlily seems to be going through the same stage.

She'll fly onto the sofa where she knows she's not aloud cause she chews it then bites me quite hard when i get her to step up. but she gets ready for it as soon as she's landed so she knows whats comming, which i think is the clue.

 

i think i'm guilty of getting frustrated with her at times and upset her by being rough and a teany bit rough when she doesn't step up and forcing her to by just moving my hand closer when she bites not away.

 

i've read over some books i've have again and it's just reminded me that everything we do with these amazing birds has to be gentle and calm.

and i'm going back to not letting her do the bad behaviour ie on the sofa in the first place.

As it's only really a problem when i'm doing cross stitch i'm trying her in her cage whilst i'm doing it. that way the negative interaction doesn't happen and when i'm just watching telly and she flys down i can take more time and care with teaching her she's not alowed there.

[danmcq]

Hi ConnieLu, it's great seeing you back, even though it is for an unpleasant experience your having with your Grey.

 

As Lyric said, your Grey is maturing and testing boundaries along with wanting to see what can be gotten away with.

 

They are sneaky as you write the game of calling you then taking a good bite. Your Grey thinks it is BIG FUN watching your reaction and falling for it again.

 

You need to learn his body language and watch his eyes carefully. At this point of the game, I would only offer the back of a tighten fist for him to step-up on that a bite can not take place or hurt and force the step-up.

 

Also as Lyric said, if a bite is received, give a stern No Bite and place him back in the cage and walk away out of sight.

 

It will take a few goes at it, but it will slow that game down if not stop it completely. I do want to caution you though, a mature bird will bite if it does not want to step up or do something it does not want to at that time.

 

Your baby is fading and a maturing teen that is rebellious as most is surfacing and is quite normal.

 

Hang around and keep us posted. :-)

[Talon]

Dan is right and offers great advice. I just went thru the terrible twos with both my greys. They are now 3 and 3 months, and are calming down a bit.

[judygram]

Well Josey will be 3 years old in May and she has yet to go thru the terrible twos phase, am I missing out on something here, she is still pretty much the same since I brought her home.

 

Of course she may go thru this phase later, maybe she is just slow to do things, OMG what if she starts with this stuff now, I will be watching and waiting.:blink: