Trained Parrot BlogParrot Wizard Online Parrot Toy StoreThe Parrot Forum

Problems with my eclectic Parrot & a mirror

Chat about general parrot care and parrot owner lifestyle. Bird psychology, activities, trimming, clipping, breeding etc.

Problems with my eclectic Parrot & a mirror

Postby TurtleLover25 » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:06 pm

My husband & I have a female eclectic parrot who's about 3 years old. When we bought her I thought she was a bit aggressive but my husband really wanted her. It's taken a while for her to warm up to me but this last year we've made some serious progress together. About 6 months ago I noticed that she seemed interested in the bird in our bathroom mirror. We encouraged this behavior, even buying her a special mirror that I would put into her cage when I went out for long periods of time. Everything seemed to be going well until about 2 months ago. I took her out of her cage for some outside time and she bit my thumb hard enough that I thought I was going to have to get stitches (I didn't). My husband thought that maybe she didn't mean to bite me; that she got spooked and bit down too hard.
I thought that too until I tried to pick her up from in front of her mirror. She again bit me hard enough that I thought I was going to need stitches. Fast forward to two more instances of this occurring. All 4 times I had been trying to get her from in front of her mirror. Then 3 weeks ago I picked her up (mirror again) and she bit me through my lip. 10 stitches later I'm more than hesitant to touch her with my bare hands. As for my husband, he has no problems with her at all. She loves being with him and will sometimes move as if to attack me while she's on his shoulder.
Doing searches on the internet it seemed like she had bonded to the mirror bird. My husband is the bird that comes and visits every once in a while. And I'm the bird that overstayed her welcome, causing my Parrot to try and chase me off.
So we've covered all the big mirrors and removed the mirror from her cage. We also clipped her wings (we had been flight training her before). But these solutions don't seem to solve the problem. She's definitely a lot less aggressive but now she's obsessed with trying to find her mirror friend and will spend most of the day begging to go to the spot in front of the mirror. And she still tries to bite me.
Does anyone have any ideas on how we can "reset" our parrot? Make her believe that her mirror friend is gone and to bond with one of us instead? Searching on the internet hasn't found any solutions.
Thanks.
TurtleLover25
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1
Location: Vancouver, BC
Number of Birds Owned: 8
Types of Birds Owned: Budgies, Parrolets, Green Cheek Conures, Eclectic Parrot
Flight: No

Re: Problems with my eclectic Parrot & a mirror

Postby GlassOnion » Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:44 pm

Okay, good that you've taken out the mirror. Mirrors are NEVER recommended in a bird cage due to bonding problems as you've experienced with your Eclectus.

I would train her to step up on a hand held perch and have no-contact training sessions to get her out of the hormonal mode. Respect her boundaries and don't try to push anything if she doesn't want to cooperate.

One thing, clipping does NOT solve ANY problems. A clipped bird has less confidence and is more likely to bite as a defense mechanism in comparison to a flighted bird. Giving her no choice but to stay with you because she can't escape, is not a way to build a positive relationship.
GlassOnion
African Grey
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 1305
Location: Canada
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiels, Ruppell's Parorot
Flight: Yes


Return to General Parrot Care

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests

Parrot ForumArticles IndexTraining Step UpParrot Training BlogPoicephalus Parrot InformationParrot Wizard Store