My red belly has become a one person bird

[elfena]

Hi everyone. I'm a very new bird owner and new to this forum. I've read the taming article several times. I've had my 6 month old Red Belly for 3 weeks and she has bonded with my mother. I do all the feeding, cleaning, and training yet she still favors my mother. I also feed my bird her favorite treats. My mom rarely gives her attention but my bird is so comfortable with her and only wants to be near her. With me, she just wants to get off my hand or be put down somewhere. She won't hesitate to bite me either. I'm not sure what to do. It's my bird yet she is only tolerating me. It kinda makes me sad. If my mom isn't around, she'll occasionally bow her head to be pet but if my mom is around, I'm the enemy. She will let any stranger pet her though. What can I do differently or is this something I just have to accept? I'm also picking up a 7 week old GCC(he will be 2 months on the 25th) this weekend and I don't want to make the same mistakes and have two birds that don't really like me. I know it has only been 3 weeks and I have to be patient but I see no progress.

[Ryan416]

I have a very similar situation happening with my parrot and live-in girlfriend, this has been going on for a year and I have been unable revert or change things. It's unfortunate because I generally have more time to spend with the bird. I often blame myself for somehow messing up in the past, it makes me sad but it could be natures way. Hope I can find a solution so the three of us can have a better life.

[Michael]

Hi everyone. I'm a very new bird owner and new to this forum. I've read the taming article several times. I've had my 6 month old Red Belly for 3 weeks and she has bonded with my mother. I do all the feeding, cleaning, and training yet she still favors my mother. I also feed my bird her favorite treats. My mom rarely gives her attention but my bird is so comfortable with her and only wants to be near her. With me, she just wants to get off my hand or be put down somewhere. She won't hesitate to bite me either. I'm not sure what to do. It's my bird yet she is only tolerating me. It kinda makes me sad. If my mom isn't around, she'll occasionally bow her head to be pet but if my mom is around, I'm the enemy. She will let any stranger pet her though. What can I do differently or is this something I just have to accept? I'm also picking up a 7 week old GCC(he will be 2 months on the 25th) this weekend and I don't want to make the same mistakes and have two birds that don't really like me. I know it has only been 3 weeks and I have to be patient but I see no progress.

First of all, this is ABSOLUTELY NOT THE TIME TO BE ADDING ANOTHER PARROT. If you haven't resolved things with the first one, this will absolutely solidify your problem. Heck you've only had that one for 3 weeks and you're already getting another? That's not even enough time to get the first one settled in, quarantined, etc. Just cause you aren't happy with how things are working with the first is not a reason to be getting another one. It is in fact very likely that the problem you had with the first will happen with the second as well and you'll feel completely left out rather than happy that the new one like you. Considering the Red Bellied is so young, I have a really hard time believing it's a "one person bird." It hasn't had enough time or age (hormones) to be getting into that kind of mindset yet. I strongly suspect it's because you're doing something wrong. Please don't get another bird until you have resolved things 100% with the first and are completely happy/confident about your relationship before even considering another.

The most common issue is that people feel entitled to a parrot's friendship just because they paid for it, clean its cage, put food in its bowl, etc. This only distracts them even further from resolving the underlying issues. None of these are reasons for a parrot to like someone because they don't understand or take all of this for granted. The kinds of things that really matter to them is how they are handled, the attitude of the handler, and what they can get out of it. On the flipside, it's often the case that the owner/cage cleaner has to do stuff the parrot doesn't like: putting parrot away, grooming, scares them with cleaning, takes food away, etc. It's important to reduce being the bad person as much as possible and find ways to make these mandatory activities rewarding as well.

[pennyandrocky]

michael is right,don't get another.i adopted a cockatoo last year i do everything for her and spend all day with her but she prefers my boyfriend who is not that interested in her,but i see it as a nice break. when he has a day off from work i get to do somthing special with our son and i get uninterupted time with my greencheek.you have to figure out what makes her happy like a favorite food,game, it could be a tone your mom uses when speaking,or it could be your attitude that the bird owes you something that she's picking up on.