Help! Scared Meyers who was never scared before

[flecktoria]

Hi everyone, I've been so stressed out the past day since my Meyers, Momo, who has been my cuddle bug for the past 3 yrs, is totally scared of me right now. Yesterday he tried to attack my boyfriend, who he hates and is very jealous of -actually Momo doesn't like anyone but me after he was attacked by my moms parrot - and I covered him with a blanket before my boyfriend got his training gloves to take him downstairs. My boyfriend has used these gloves before to get Momo to step up and down when he was being very aggressive with him, and sometimes he would be afraid but generally he would calm down after realizing that his bites werent hurting my boyfriend. So Momo freaked out a little but my bf got him to calm down and did a couple of step ups and step downs.i wasn't present in the room when he did this. Usually he is ok after a few minutes after these trainings but he was still freaked out and I tried to calm him down by holding him. Before, I could handle him owever I wanted, he was always ok with me cuddling him and he enjoyed it. But since his session with my bf yesterday morning he has been totally freakedout by especially my hands and somewhat by me. He is sitting on my shoulder right now but if I were to try and touch him he would flop off of me.

I don't know what to do to help him get over this. I've tried to hand feed him, to sit near him and just talk to him, I've even tried to talk sweetly to my red-bellied parrot Draco, who he is jealous of, while he was sitting near me. Nothing is really getting him back to his baseline behavior. I don't know what to do! I was at work all day so I've left him alone as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

[Andromeda]

Hi everyone, I've been so stressed out the past day since my Meyers, Momo, who has been my cuddle bug for the past 3 yrs, is totally scared of me right now. Yesterday he tried to attack my boyfriend, who he hates and is very jealous of -actually Momo doesn't like anyone but me after he was attacked by my moms parrot - and I covered him with a blanket before my boyfriend got his training gloves to take him downstairs. My boyfriend has used these gloves before to get Momo to step up and down when he was being very aggressive with him, and sometimes he would be afraid but generally he would calm down after realizing that his bites werent hurting my boyfriend. So Momo freaked out a little but my bf got him to calm down and did a couple of step ups and step downs.i wasn't present in the room when he did this. Usually he is ok after a few minutes after these trainings but he was still freaked out and I tried to calm him down by holding him. Before, I could handle him owever I wanted, he was always ok with me cuddling him and he enjoyed it. But since his session with my bf yesterday morning he has been totally freakedout by especially my hands and somewhat by me. He is sitting on my shoulder right now but if I were to try and touch him he would flop off of me.

I don't know what to do to help him get over this. I've tried to hand feed him, to sit near him and just talk to him, I've even tried to talk sweetly to my red-bellied parrot Draco, who he is jealous of, while he was sitting near me. Nothing is really getting him back to his baseline behavior. I don't know what to do! I was at work all day so I've left him alone as well. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!!

If he's having a fear reaction based on the gloves it could take days, weeks, or more for him to get over it.

Before I say more I just want to clarify: you believe this behavior is a result of your boyfriend handling him with gloves?

You don't have a new haircut, new hair color, new color of nail polish, or anything else of the sort? Sometimes birds who are fine with you will have a sudden fear reaction if they discover you have red polish on your nails, or are wearing a hat, etc.

[flecktoria]

Nothing about me has changed, unfortunately. Man if it did I would change it back in a heart beat.

But I do think it was a combination of my covering him with the blanket (so he wouldn't try to bite while I got him off of the floor) and my bf's handling of him with the gloves.

After I posted, I was able to get him to make his happy chirp from his favorite stand. I was feeding him almonds. He was a little less scared at that point but I had to go out so I couldn't do much more.

At this point I am just trying to hand feed him and talk softly. When I get home I will take him out and have him on my shoulder and just do my normal routine for the rest of the night.

[Andromeda]

But I do think it was a combination of my covering him with the blanket (so he wouldn't try to bite while I got him off of the floor) and my bf's handling of him with the gloves.

After I posted, I was able to get him to make his happy chirp from his favorite stand. I was feeding him almonds. He was a little less scared at that point but I had to go out so I couldn't do much more.

At this point I am just trying to hand feed him and talk softly. When I get home I will take him out and have him on my shoulder and just do my normal routine for the rest of the night.

If you're sure this is a reaction to the gloves I wouldn't use them anymore. Teach him to step-up onto a hand-held perch instead. This may take some time (most birds are afraid of hand-held perches at first) but once he will step-up onto a hand-held perch your boyfriend can use that to handle him instead of scary gloves.

This just happened yesterday so to your bird the incident is very fresh. As I mentioned, it could take anywhere from days to weeks or more for your bird to get past his fear. In the meantime, watch his body language and don't push him to do things that scare him.

Hand-feeding him and talking to him softly is a good approach. Give him his favorite treats by hand and if he will accept that it's a good start. Just do that for a few days, don't try to pet him, and see how it goes.

[pennyandrocky]

it's only been one day? it's fine sounds like he's upset about being covered with a blanket and will get over it i would't try to make him jealous with the other bird he may just be giving you his version of time out and will get over it. if your boyfriend is trying to have a better relationship with your bird it's best if you let them do this without you and let your bf give him special treats when he sees him.i had a one person bird who would go to others then if i didn't leave the room as soon as he stepped off me he would hop right back to me.i would test him try to touch him slowly you know his body language if he's not interested back off and try again, i personally don't think you should leave him alone for a couple days but what works for one might not for another.

[flecktoria]

Thanks guys you have helped calm me down, which has probably helped calm Momo down. I was so worried that I kept on holding him in both hands yesterday which probably wasn't the best idea, but I was so worried I couldn't help myself.

He's sitting with me now, pretty calmly. He's still nervous about my hands but not as bad as earlier when I posted the first time. Hopefully it'll blow over in a few days. I'm just not used to him being upset and scared for so long!

[marie83]

Agree with the others, your meyers will settle down again. My gcc became absolutely terrified of me after over a month on twice daily antibiotics desite me doing the best I could to give him a ton of fuss and treats afterwards. It's heartbreaking when your parrot becomes scared and you panic you will never get 'your' bird back. I know I got quite down and upset that I had destroyed my birds trust forever, I literally had to put him into a tiny cage to be able to catch him as I couldn't get anywhere near him, even with his favorite treats, when he was out of his cage I couldn't get him back in as he would fly off Just before I got near enough to grab him. Now for the past few weeks he is more trusting in me than ever and he only stopped the antibiotics in January, retraining him on a one to one basis has helped greatly.

[flecktoria]

Thanks everyone, all your suggestions helped calm me down. As an plate, Momo is actually much better today. Not 100% back to normal bug much better. I'm so happy!