Sonny: A Fresh Start!

[leezard]

As I've already written a novel in the "Intro" forum, I'll now skip all that and head onto my questions, ect.

In this video, Sonny is shown tail wagging and head bobbing -- on some forums/websites/books, it states that this is a dominant gesture, on other resources it is stated to be a breeding gesture, and the previous owner says that he simply really likes my husband. Thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qubu7tPGpSI

As for dominance, I have been told that birds are like dogs, and that dominance does not exist. While I don't really want to get into this debate, since I think it's laughable, I would appreciate some views on this in regards to the indian ringnecks. I have again read mixed reviews on dominance and aggression in the species, so am trying to find the best way to train him. Some of the basics of parrots I remember in my petstore days was to keep the birds BELOW eye level, so shoulder-sitting was always a big no-no. I've now been told that shoulder-sitting will not affect hierarchy.

My husband and I are very good at keeping routines and procedures, as one of the dogs we have was aggressive when we got her. It took us nearly two years, but she is a puppy again, and doesn't fear the world like she used to. We want to make sure Sonny has this security as well. It's just a matter of figuring out right from wrong.

The other cute little behavioral trait I've never really noticed in other birds before is his tendency to "tap" things. When asking him to "step up", he will bend down to the perch being offered (hand or otherwise) repeatedly. I feel this may be a way to test stability, but again, have not found any evidence in regards to this behavior at all.

Last (for now, as it's coming up to my OWN bedtime!) is in regards to his cage. It is much too small for him to be in on a regular basis, however it's been his home for the past 5 years. We're currently shopping for one that will fit him and our home, but when we do find one, what is the best approach to introducing him to it? Should have be switched right away, or given the option to check it out on his own?

.... I think that's about it for the time being..... I'm sure I'll have more by tomorrow!!!

PS -- when I had him out today, he loved his banana so much he shared it with me. I take this as a very good sign of the start of a healthy relationship!!!

[Michael]

In this video, Sonny is shown tail wagging and head bobbing -- on some forums/websites/books, it states that this is a dominant gesture, on other resources it is stated to be a breeding gesture, and the previous owner says that he simply really likes my husband. Thoughts?

He is raping your husband. The worst thing is that your husband is encouraging the behavior. The more he plays with the bird while that is going on, the more it goes on. The best thing to do at the onset of this behavior is to take note of what evoked it (and don't do it anymore), put the bird down, and ignore until the behavior stops. Kili has been pretty hormonal lately as well but I do everything possible to avoid it. The next step after sexual behavior and preference for one person is aggression towards other birds and people so it is not good to encourage.

The whole dominance theory in parrots (as written in earlier books) is pretty much BS. Now there is no doubt that a parrot can take advantage of someone's fear to get what it wants, however, the idea that it is doing it to be leader bird is wrong. Many species of birds have been observed to have a dominance hierarchy such as sparrows, however, all the new evidence I've read suggests against it in parrots.

As for height, most parrots just like to be high. So when given the opportunity they'll seek higher places and being brought to a lower place will to them be punishment. So the biggest reason that parrots get more bitey when up high is because they want to defend against you punishing them by putting them lower rather than to say they are more macho than you. However, if your parrot is getting something good for coming down (say a treat) or it wants to come down to be with you, this doesn't apply. I find slightly below eye level to be ideal for trick training. This is why I find my Parrot Training Perches so helpful, because I can adjust the height to that level whether I am sitting, standing, or for someone else. I use shoulder time only as a treat for good behavior (and usually a flight recall). If the bird is "bad" I usually just shake it off my shoulder. But once again the bad is not for dominance but just for bird fun such as chewing my shirt or nibbling on my ear too hard.

Most parrots that are biting are doing it because they are scared and resorting to biting as a last resort self defense. Almost always it's because the bird is clipped. Flighted parrots will almost always opt to fly away rather than bite unless they are defending territory or mate. This takes us back to why letting the parrot hump your husband's shoulder is a bad thing. For more help with training to avoid biting, check out this article about basic taming and training.

[leezard]

The worst thing is that your husband is encouraging the behavior.

LOL If you listened to the sound, you'll hear that we touched on the topic of discouraging it -- at least the height, anyways. Not much you CAN do when you're not sure it's a good or bad thing -- but now we know.

Thanks for all of the tips!

This video was literally the first time in five years he had been outside of his cage, and the first 30 minutes being in our house (his cage was getting a scrub down).

Good to know about dominance in birds. It's something I'd like to read up more on. I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding the subject, as there is on dogs, but I feel much more confident on any of my opinions that are canine related. LOL

As for biting, we haven't really had that much of a problem thus far. He has bitten each of us once, and one of those times we realized he did not like a bracelet I was wearing. The biggest problem (which really isn't a problem at this point, despite what other people might say) is the loud squawk he radiates when he wants attention. We outright ignore him until he starts making "nicer" sounds, and then will chat back with him. So far, it seems to be working to reduce the annoying sounds....

Otherwise he's actually been fantastic. He's still unsure of his surroundings at times, but seems to be getting used to us quite quickly.

[kaylayuh]

I agree with Michael about what the bird is doing. My conure has been doing something similar and I promptly put him back in the cage to take care of his business. Unfortunately, his business seems to be only done with my hand which I'm completely not okay with. When this behavior starts, just put him back in the cage to cool down and he'll learn pretty quickly that it's unacceptable.

As for the cage, I recently adopted my bird from a rescue and he was housed in a much smaller cage than what I found acceptable. Before I got him, I had the cage all set up and just put him in it when he got here. He didn't seem to mind and even went to explore all his new toys, but that's an individual cage. Some people get the cage and gradually introduce the bird to it. My birds have all seemed to be fine being put right in.

[leezard]

I had posted another reply and update the other day, and it seems to be gone.... le sigh.

Oh well.

He hasn't done the "mating dance" again since that video was taken, and he is more than happy to come out of the cage now. Today was a little exciting, as he was out of his cage RIGHT away and ran up my arm so fast I wasn't able to stop him! LOL He sat on my shoulder and was just hanging out, so decided to see how it would go. He paced back and forth for quite some time and chattered in my ear. I had to be careful of my earrings, as they're permanent and I know how they love to chew on them!!!

I think it was on Monday that I had put a bowl of water in his cage so he could have a bath, and he proceeded to attack the bowl. I had figured it was simply out of the ordinary for him, but left him with it for awhile. He took one drink out of it, but then sat in the furthest corner of the cage.

While he was on my shoulder today, I prepped a bath for the canaries and while I was walking to their cage with it he started growling and trying to bite my neck. That was the start of the interesting evening....

He took a flight around the room and landed in a tree close to the ceiling (which I'm totally fine with) and so I grabbed a wooden broom handle to try to coax him down. (DON'T PANIC!! I didn't try to push him off anything, just tried to get him to step onto it.)

But he panicked before I could even come close. Like, fully pinned eyes, screaming, running into walls panic. The only way he would calm down is when I actually put the broom outside of the room. I sat down and talked to him and his breathing visibly slowed and I was able to convince him to come down and back into his cage. He's in his cage, but pretty quiet. I don't want to say his previous owners abused him, but....