Very Afraid of New Perch

[Kiwi's_Mom]

Hi there,

My GCC, Kiwi, is very afraid of a new perch that I bought from Pet Smart. It doesn't look any different than the toys I put in her cage; The perch is blue in color and it has colored wooden hearts all around the frame. I hung the perch from the ceiling in the kitchen. I wanted her to have a focal point where she could perch and have a view of everyone/everything. Kiwi was on my shoulder; when I walked near the perch she flew off me (she has her wings clipped). I walked near the perch the second time with Kiwi on my shoulder and she flew away the second time. I had to take the perch down and put it out of sight. She would size it up while she was in her cage, the poor thing. Does anyone have any idea why she is so scared of this perch? I am stumped.

[friend2parrots]

kiwi looks so adorable in your avatar!

in reading about kiwi's behavior, this is what i'm thinking .... she'll probably take to the perch in the long run if you introduce it gradually. for example, take it off the ceiling hooks and place it on the other side of the room, at the height of her cage. over time, bring it closer to her cage, so she gets used to looking at it. each time you move it closer, you have to double check that she looks relaxed before moving it any closer. once she looks relaxed after you've moved it closer (may take a day or so between each time you can move it) then move it a tad bit closer. over time she will see it as harmless.

i do want to mention however that even if you get her used to the sight of the perch, its going to be hard to make her sit on it comfortably while its suspended from the ceiling, if she's clipped.
i noticed in your avatar that kiwi is clipped. when clingy velcro birds like GCCs (i have one too) are clipped they act EVEN MORE velcro, so she's not going to want to leave your shoulder to go and try this new perch hanging from the ceiling, if she's used to feeling safe on your shoulder.

i am not sure why you have her clipped, but i just wanted to let you know that clipped birds routinely exhibit more fearful behaviors than unclipped birds. fully flighted birds are more confident and relaxed over all. so i would suggest that you consider letting her feathers grow out, and once she's mastered flight (its a skill she will have to learn if she didnt fledge as a baby...check out the forum owner's posts about teaching a perch potato/previously clipped bird to fly) you can target train her (if you havent already), target her to that perch, and eventually she will start to fly there and hang out there on her own. my flighted GCC likes to hang out on some long natural manzanita perches that i have suspended from the ceiling in some of the rooms in my house. he likes to go there on his own to survey his kingdom, when he's not being a velcro bird

[Kiwi's_Mom]

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply, sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I'm new to the site and I didn't realize you had replied. My apologies. Thanks for the helpful information, you were 100% right when you said she would not like to be suspended from the ceiling on the perch due to her wings being clipped. I bought Kiwi as a baby from Pet Smart and that is why her wings are clipped. If I had any say in the matter they would not have been. I am waiting now for her flight wings to grow out. She is almost 8 months old and her wings have not grown back yet. She did go through one moult and is still going through it, so I guess I just have to wait and see how long it will take for them to grow back. My hope is to teach her to fly if she does not know how. She can fly here and there, short distances of course. Would that be an indicator she knew how before she was clipped? I'm trying really hard to get her to talk. I talk to her constantly daily and repeat phrases I want her to learn like "I love you" and her name "Kiwi" for example. I know it will take time and I am patient. Every now and then she does talk but only I would be able to understand her. I bought a weigh scale on ebay to weigh her as well. I noticed since I got her she has gotten bigger in the last three months. I took her to the vet 3 months ago for a check up and she was 58 grams so she's bigger now. Thanks again!

[Andromeda]

She can fly here and there, short distances of course. Would that be an indicator she knew how before she was clipped?

GCCs seem to be pretty strong fliers even when clipped. When mine was clipped 3 1/2 years ago he would still fly around a bit, he couldn't really fly long distances and couldn't gain any height but he would actually land where he was trying to go instead of just ending up on the floor.

It's a good sign if she's flying short distances, it will help her build up the muscles she'll need to fly when she's flighted again. You can use positive reinforcement to teach her to fly a short distance on command and work on that every day while her primaries are re-growing (as long as the distance is short enough that she can land instead of falling to the floor).

How to get clipped parrot to start flying again

I'm trying really hard to get her to talk. I talk to her constantly daily and repeat phrases I want her to learn like "I love you" and her name "Kiwi" for example. I know it will take time and I am patient. Every now and then she does talk but only I would be able to understand her.

GCCs aren't really big talkers. Mine does talk but he only says about six things. They have really gravely voices and their speech can be hard to understand. I think their voices are really adorable, though. If you do a search on YouTube you can find some videos of GCCs talking and you'll find they all have that rough little bird voice.

Mine is a re-home and his previous owner told me he didn't talk and then the very first morning I uncovered his cage he said (very clearly), "Hi, baby! Hi, baby!" and then later when he heard running water he said, "Take a bath!" so he was talking but his first owner never understood it!

[friend2parrots]

Kiwi's_mom, you seem to really care about your birdie a lot, which is wonderful to read. I think youre doing everything right at this stage. Andromeda's given great advice above about how to encourage flight, etc. About Kiwi gaining weight since you had her --- i had a similar experience with my GCC, he also gained weight in the first three months I had him home - I think they keep growing and putting on muscle and bone mass during their first year.

all the best with your little cutie and I hope to hear more about her. also, theres a thread in the "Parrot Species" section of the forum called "The GCC appreciation thread." check it out - I am sure you will find it entertaining!