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Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

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Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Cog117 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:09 pm

My 5 year old CAG suddenly changed her attitude towards me completely. After having her for almost two weeks now she bonded rather quickly with me, and up until now has never showed any signs of aggression towards me. Few days ago, we had relatives over and my uncle picked her up no problem. However, afterwards she would go to him, but wouldn’t come anywhere near me and has given me the cold shoulder and has tried biting me. I give her hours of attention every day, even play with her a bit.


Also, she has been showing breeding behavior towards me since day 3 (the whole dancing and regurgitation deal.) she also acted this to him, which surprised me. I’m lost in what to do, but was wondering what could have caused this behavior
Cog117
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby liz » Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:12 am

You have only had her for two weeks. Do you know anything of her history? What are you feeding her? What is her lighting schedule?
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Pajarita » Fri Nov 24, 2017 11:39 am

Liz's questions are extremely relevant and, if you can answer them, we would be able to better pinpoint the problem but, going by what little we know, it sounds as if the bird is overly hormonal [always a problem not only physical -it means her endocrine system is out of whack- but also behavioral as it makes the bird aggressive]. Two weeks is nothing and I am sorry to tell you that just because she went to you and did not bite before, it doesn't mean she had bonded with you. She is in what we call the 'honeymoon period' and even aggressive birds behave during this time. Bonding takes months and months... Parrots are not like dogs which have been bred for thousands of generations to be people-oriented, they are not domesticated and, because they don't live in hierarchical societies, they couldn't care less about pleasing a 'leader', an 'alpha', or an owner. You need to win them over and that takes a loooong time. So don't give up yet and don't despair because the fat lady is not going to sing for quite some time yet :lol: But we might be able to help you with the aggression if you give us more details like what she eats, what is her daily schedule and routines, how many hours is she out of her cage, is she flighted or clipped, what is her background, etc.
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Cog117 » Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:49 am

She’s been her behaved self lately. If not a tad more independent. As I’m sure you all know, I have overreacted to this change. It just really threw me for a loop. When I first got her I put her on a bed time schedule to deal with these hormones and I’m trying to ween her off her seed and but diet her previous owners gave her. (Broccoli, bananas, greens and other types of safe to eat fruits.)

Sorry for delayed replies, but she had an older couple as her previous owners, so she may have a preference at the moment for older people.

I understand that trust is earned with these birds, that’s to be expected considering how intelligent they are. I’m more than willing to help her/gain her trust as I can see her being a very loving bird in the future.
Cog117
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby liz » Sun Nov 26, 2017 8:32 am

Give her a perch that puts her at your face level.
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Pajarita » Mon Nov 27, 2017 11:45 am

I am glad you are addressing the diet issue as well as the light schedule but, in case you are not aware of this, the light schedule only works if you follow the solar one because they need the light of dawn and dusk to turn on and off their 'internal clock'. I am explaining this because there is a lot of people out there who think that limiting the number of hours of light exposure is enough but it's not. As to the diet, first of all, arm yourself of the patience of Job because grays are super picky eaters, VERY distrustful of new things so it will take quite a long time to get her to eat a good, balanced diet. Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, I had a gray that took 5 years [FIVE!] to try blueberries even though she got them once a week every single week of the five years and all the other birds ate them. Best thing to do with them is to eat the same thing you are offering in front of them, pretending not to see them. Parrots like nothing better than 'stolen' food :lol: And try juicy things like pears, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, etc. those are mine favorites.
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Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Cog117 » Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:10 pm

liz wrote:Give her a perch that puts her at your face level.

I’m curious. What’s the importance of this? Her cage comes up to my chin level, and she spends a good part of the day preening and watching tv from there.
Cog117
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Cog117 » Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:15 pm

Pajarita wrote:I am glad you are addressing the diet issue as well as the light schedule but, in case you are not aware of this, the light schedule only works if you follow the solar one because they need the light of dawn and dusk to turn on and off their 'internal clock'. I am explaining this because there is a lot of people out there who think that limiting the number of hours of light exposure is enough but it's not. As to the diet, first of all, arm yourself of the patience of Job because grays are super picky eaters, VERY distrustful of new things so it will take quite a long time to get her to eat a good, balanced diet. Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, I had a gray that took 5 years [FIVE!] to try blueberries even though she got them once a week every single week of the five years and all the other birds ate them. Best thing to do with them is to eat the same thing you are offering in front of them, pretending not to see them. Parrots like nothing better than 'stolen' food :lol: And try juicy things like pears, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, etc. those are mine favorites.

She is a very picky eater, but I have convinced her to have some carrots, albeit only a small amount. But progress is progress I guess.

She’s been more “trusting” of me despite being new, which I think is simply the honeymoon period. Time will tell.

I have one more question regarding one peculiar part of her behavior. Sometimes she will duck down and swoop her head while quietly hissing at me while I’m holding her. She will have her wings raised half way, and then she will stand as tall as she can all the while never breaking eye contact. Her eyes do not pin nor does she bite me at all, so I’m not sure if this is aggressive or attention getting behavior.
Cog117
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Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Pajarita » Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:49 pm

In reply to your question of why it's important that her roosting perch is at your eye level is that parrots are all prey animals and they intensely dislike anybody looming over them. By putting her at your eye level, you are not only making her feel safe but also showing her respect by putting her at your own level. Parrots know that eyes are 'the windows of the soul' and feel most comfortable at their level -that's why they prefer to ride our shoulders.

Is she truly hissing at you or does she make like a whispering sound? Because the 'whispering' sound is a good one. It's the noise pairs make to each other or a single parrot to a beloved human so it might be a noise she learned to make in her previous home. The lowering of the head usually means they want you to give them scritches. Non-hormonal grays are not touchy-feely birds [could she be hormonal? was she kept to a solar schedule in her previous home?]... they do not like their body touched and they only like their heads scratched or petted when they feel like it and at no other time.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
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Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Parrot suddenly gives me the cold shoulder

Postby Cog117 » Tue Nov 28, 2017 1:32 pm

Not gonna lie it’s awesome they’re that perceptive. I’ll invest in a stand ASAP.

This hissing isn’t an aggressive growl kind of noise. Pressing your tongue against the back of your front teeth and blowing out air is the best way to describe it. She does ask for head scratches, But if I turn my attention away she will hiss and dip her body down and sway back and forth. Can’t find any info on that behavior anywhere ._.

As I mentioned earlier, she is all broody so I think she is clouded/confused from her hormones. that would explain why she’s making those hissing sounds to someone she hardly knows yet.
Cog117
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Gender: This parrot forum member is male
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