Lullabye

[JessiMuse]

So Alex, my (still) unweaned cockatiel has picked up the habit of making a softer version "feed me" cry for practically everything. He makes it if he wants scritches, if he wants to play with something I took away from him, if he wants a snack, and he makes the loud "feed me" cry when he wants to be out of the cage, even when he was fed less than an hour ago. Sometimes, he does it for seemingly no reason at all (kind of like a human baby).

I'm probably encouraging the behavior by giving him attention, but sometimes it just drives me crazy, so I just try to pacify him in any way I can. I calmly shush him, whisper to him, and just stay calm as possible to calm him down. While the volume does go down, I was never able to silence him completely... Until now!

In the midst of trying to calm him down by cuddling him and shushing him, I decided to hum a little tune. Nothing too special, just a tune from an old video game I like. I was wondering that if he does happen to be a male, I could teach it to him before he gets to the "singing" age, so he could eventually be able to whistle it on his own (or at least the first part of the melody). I also thought that he might become quiet in order to listen to it.

Lo and behold, not only did he become completely silent, but also calmed down. I was able to close the cage door and walk away without Alex making another sound. Even when either I or my mother said anything, he didn't react to our voices (mom syringe feeds him and I handle him and give him the out of cage time). He stayed quiet up until we had a couple guests come over, but I was able to calm him back down and keep him quiet until feeding time.

It surprises me how human-like these birds can really act, sometimes.

[liz]

Each one is a little "being" with it's own personality. They do feel like children and need cared for that way.
Kudos for finding a way to calm her. That was a really good idea.

[Pajarita]

If I remember correctly, this is the one that was born off season and rejected and plucked by its parents, right? So, yes, I bet he is needier than other babies that did not get such a rough start in life, poor baby! He needs extra TLC and might need it for the rest of his life because baby birds that are stressed out when babies don't outgrow their emotional problems (there is a study about this).

[JessiMuse]

Yes, Alex is the one that was born off season. He is indeed a needy little thing. He's quite clingy as well. If I have him out on the table, or on the couch with me, he sometimes prefers to be (literally) in my hair, or just clinging to my shirt. I guess being near me isn't always enough.

He'll also fly to me, and land on my head. He's still working on his aim, so he may miss, and end up flying around the room. When he's older, I'll have to teach him to fly to me on command, and perch on my hand.

I'm hoping he at least grows out of going off when he hears the microwave regardless of being hungry or not. It's a tad annoying.

[seagoatdeb]

If I remember correctly, this is the one that was born off season and rejected and plucked by its parents, right? So, yes, I bet he is needier than other babies that did not get such a rough start in life, poor baby! He needs extra TLC and might need it for the rest of his life because baby birds that are stressed out when babies don't outgrow their emotional problems (there is a study about this).

Would you happen to have a link to that study? It contradicts all info I have ever both seen and heard of.

[seagoatdeb]

Yes, Alex is the one that was born off season. He is indeed a needy little thing. He's quite clingy as well. If I have him out on the table, or on the couch with me, he sometimes prefers to be (literally) in my hair, or just clinging to my shirt. I guess being near me isn't always enough.

He'll also fly to me, and land on my head. He's still working on his aim, so he may miss, and end up flying around the room. When he's older, I'll have to teach him to fly to me on command, and perch on my hand.

I'm hoping he at least grows out of going off when he hears the microwave regardless of being hungry or not. It's a tad annoying.

He will continue to improve. When the parrot is a baby everyone I have ever seen becomes well adjusted with the right care. My Red Belly was traumatized when she was a baby and to this day is afraid to have her cage covered. But in all other ways she is a well adjusted parrot.

[Pajarita]

If I remember correctly, this is the one that was born off season and rejected and plucked by its parents, right? So, yes, I bet he is needier than other babies that did not get such a rough start in life, poor baby! He needs extra TLC and might need it for the rest of his life because baby birds that are stressed out when babies don't outgrow their emotional problems (there is a study about this).

Would you happen to have a link to that study? It contradicts all info I have ever both seen and heard of.

Here you go: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 201137.htm

[seagoatdeb]

If I remember correctly, this is the one that was born off season and rejected and plucked by its parents, right? So, yes, I bet he is needier than other babies that did not get such a rough start in life, poor baby! He needs extra TLC and might need it for the rest of his life because baby birds that are stressed out when babies don't outgrow their emotional problems (there is a study about this).

Would you happen to have a link to that study? It contradicts all info I have ever both seen and heard of.

Here you go: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 201137.htm

The researchers took 34 12-day old sibling pairs of zebra finch chicks. They said the stress to them was conditions that cause stress during early life include inclement weather conditions, lack of food and exposure to parasites. Their finding was "Our results show an individual’s stress response can be re-programmed as a result of post-natal exposure to elevated corticosterone levels. This indicates that if a bird is exposed to stress early in life, for example through bad weather conditions or lack of food, this has implications for the way it will react to situations throughout its life. We now want to study how the observed changes in stress hormone response relate to any behavioural changes observed, and in turn to birds’ long term health and survival.”

Accoding to this article the stress they mentioned was parasites lack of food and weather conditions. They said it had effects on how some finches would react to situations throughout their life. This is a big stretch to say "because baby birds that are stressed out when babies don't outgrow their emotional problems" There were not any studies on emotional problems.

I will rely on the many articles written and my own experience with parrots and I have seen that baby parrots have a window where they can overcome most things and become well adjusted adults. Of course, they may have some effects, and just to give 17 year od Red Belly Gaugan for an example, she is a very well adjusted bird. She is very loving, playfull, but she is afraid of being covered. so I dont cover her. Sunny my baby Meyers who was so afraid of people, and change that he panted and froze in place, is now a happy, parrot who plays hard and is so tame now he can be tucked in my jacket to run next door for a visit and play while he is there. I believe Alex will grow into a very well adjusted adult parrot with the right care.

[Pajarita]

The point was that stress (and physical and emotional stress both manifest alike, namely, by elevated production of stress hormones, hormones that have all kinds of different effects on the body -see the below study link) when babies affects their reaction to stress for the rest of their lives. The baby birds in the study were not actually exposed to stressors, they were given stress hormones, the reference to bad weather and lack of food was an example given by the researchers. This is the conclusion:
"Early exposure to stress hormones is known to affect later responses to stressful situations in the adult. Using the zebra finch as a model provides us with an important tool with which to investigate the role of stress hormones on adult characteristics. Our results show an individual’s stress response can be re-programmed as a result of post-natal exposure to elevated corticosterone levels. This indicates that if a bird is exposed to stress early in life, for example through bad weather conditions or lack of food, this has implications for the way it will react to situations throughout its life. We now want to study how the observed changes in stress hormone response relate to any behavioural changes observed, and in turn to birds’ long term health and survival.”

We already knew of many different consequences to elevated stress hormones (see below studies) but we did not know that suffering it early in life affected the birds for the rest of their lives.

More studies on stress:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 084509.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 084509.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 234825.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 102025.htm

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledg ... d-23672697

But, if you have articles from reputable sources that contradict this, please, post the links to them so we can all learn/compare to what this study found.

[seagoatdeb]

I have no problems that stress affects parrots and all animals including us. It is only when you use studies out of context to say that someone's baby Parrot, will never be normal that I have to say something. It's for the benefit of the members, and not to argue.