Hello and Request for Help :)

[mikella]

Yes, maybe you're right Liz, to just keep trying.

[Pajarita]

Liz is right. We have an expression in Spanish: ganar por cansancio, literally, it means to win through exhaustion so, yes, just keep at it and one day, he will be tired of fighting it and will give up. But, on another level, you are ALMOST over the hump because he will stop producing sexual hormones as well as be over his molt in another two to three months and that's when you will see the change -if he hasn't been too abused in which case, it will take a little longer.

[mikella]

You guys really are what has kept me going throughout this. Huge love to you.

I'm constantly wondering about the solar schedule topic - I REALLY hope I'm doing it well enough. I was reading about twilight quite a while back, and there are different phases. I cover him when it is dark (well, as dark as it will get with the artificial light that comes in - usually about 30 mins after "sunset," sun below horizon) - but in the morning, I've been uncovering at 5 am, and "sunrise" (sun above horizon) comes at 5:30... There is already light in the sky at 5 am. Sometimes if I'm up around 4 or 4:30 I will uncover, but then we get the issue of artificial light from outside again - faint, but there. I have this big fear that I won't have done this properly and his hormones won't go to rights - after ALL this hard work hahaha

Is it the exact moment of sunrise and set that triggers their brain? If that is the case, then I should be ok and the variance in time that I uncover and cover would be ok because he always gets at least 30 mins of twilight.

Does this make any sense? I guess I've just been trying to really understand the mechanics of it better to ensure I'm doing it 'properly' (or as well as possible given the artificial light that I can't take away from outside).

[liz]

At 6 am this morning while it was still dark, two of my cockatiels were having a sing off.
Even in the winter Lola would call me at 6:30. Her previous human must have been an early riser.
Rambo will climb down from his "nite nite' cage to the big cage and I can hear him eating in the dark.
Sometimes dark does not mean a thing to them.

[Wolf]

I don't know that the research was clear on the issue of how much exposure to the twilight period was required to reset the biological clock. But I am thinking that you should be in good shape on this front.

[mikella]

It's interesting to me that each day is so different, hormone-wise, with him... He must be going through some big fluctuations. He seems more hormonal again lately. It makes him very unpredictable and mean. And even within the same day ups and downs. I am, funny enough, the exact same way though... I am incredibly sensitive to hormonal fluctuations. So I can sympathize haha

The bites he gives my husband are still worse than the ones he gives me - is this in keeping with the 'chosen person' idea? (Husband is the fav as of now... I have a teenie inkling that he may surprise us all and change that though, based on how he was with me when his hormones seemed to be on a downswing a little while back... But I still think it will be unlikely. Maybe that was just a preview of how fantastic he will be one day ) For the bad ones husband gets, I am never the precipitating factor however - not around/etc. I get more bites, but husband gets worse bites. Or so it seems.

Quigley is VERY sensitive to sounds/noise. He gets VERY over-stimulated by noises especially when he is inside a shirt and he goes nutty and bitey. I remember beginning months ago, even me talking to him would irritate him so much..... Overall, he is better with that. But there are lots of times still, each day even, that if I say so much as a word to him, he gets angry at me and does his mad/"pissy" chirp and lunges forward at me with each chirp. If I keep talking, he keeps doing that - if I stop talking and ignore him, he stops. This was what really made me believe he hated me for the longest time.... Now I don't necessarily think he hates me, I think he just doesn't fully like me/like me all the time - for whatever reason.

Ok, question for the day - I've still been taking Quigley outside each nice day. I need advice about sun exposure. For the first couple times, or if he really was not happy in the beginning, I would only stay out for ten minutes. Then times when he was more settled, we would stay out for 15 mins. Now sometimes we will stay out for 20. What would you suggest for a time-frame? And how many minutes in direct sun? I can't imagine he should be in direct sun for very long - and wouldn't indirect/even shade still be adequate for vit d given how sensitive their bodies are to light? This is just what makes sense to me. So, what I've been doing is putting his little cage (I just use a budgie cage for this time) half in the sun, half in the shade (and I try to put it in a spot where even the sun is a little broken up from overhead trees). 15-20 mins. Thoughts?

Just yesterday he decided to take a bath outside and that worked out great because he was happy/occupied for half the time and not wanting to be out on me. Also what helps is if I have a shower with him right before, or let him bath, so that he's relaxed out there and preening and drying off. Rainy today, but tomorrow I will try putting a bigger thing of water in the bottom to see if he'll actually go down and bath in it (yesterday he was cramming himself into the dish - not ideal haha).

Quigley's a funny boy - he is very apprehensive about things/doing different things/moving on his own/ETC. He IS getting better, however. I always praise him and call him such a brave boy when he works up the guts to do something. Hopefully one day, when he is able to fly, he will no longer feel so constrained and will be confident. It would make me unbelievably happy to see and would make this all worth it. Clipping him has just destroyed his little spirit. My two past birds would dart all over, they were so skilled (especially our first guy). Quigley didn't even like to walk on an open space on his own in the beginning. When he fluttered to the floor, he IMMEDIATELY would beg to be picked up. Now, he will trot along for a minute until he makes his way to you haha He is much more comfortable. His old owner would have immediately scooped him up in a panic because of the cat - this is where this comes from. No cat here and he can move freely (as freely as he wants/can). I always made sure to not make a big deal out of him being startled and fluttering to the floor because I didn't want him to be afraid of it/want to be rescued. I just say 'oh big fly!' haha and 's'ok' if he was startled. He says s'ok now and it's the sweetest thing........ He also bites and immediately squawks 'HEY!' which is much less endearing (learned from my reaction), but I (secretly) find it hilarious at the same time.....

[Wolf]

You e doing fine and overall things are improving. Yes his hormones are fluctuating by now and will probably continue to do so for a while longer until they stabilize at a non breeding state. He is also sensitive to you moods and emotional states throughout the day. My Grey is aware of and reacts to my emotions almost before I am aware of them myself. She is so in touch with my emotional state that it is at times downright spooky.
Quigley doesn't actually need direct sunshine although on cooler days a little would probably feel good to him, otherwise 15 to 20 minutes each day, weather permitting, of indirect or partially shaded would be all his body actually needs for D-3 production.

[Pajarita]

OK, let's see: photoperiodism: it's not the actual action of the sun finally peeping over the horizon or finally 'hiding' beneath it, it's the change in light spectrum that does it and what you are doing is perfect because that is exactly what I do and my birds are fine.

Hormonal surges: I don't think the problem now is actual spikes in his hormone production because their sexual glands don't even work that way. I think the problem now with his moodiness is his molt. Molting is physically stressful to them because, although it's a natural process, it's very uncomfortable for them and this is when it's a normal one which, in his case, I am sure it's hard instead of normal.

Bites: No, the chosen one does not get harder bites, quite the contrary, he/she gets no bites or just hard nips and only as warnings.

Sunshine: as far as I know, there are no studies done on birds but humans require 20 minutes a day of sun exposure to maintain adequate levels of D3 so this is what I always recommend even though I don't know if it's correct. Personally, I would think that they can be exposed to sun directly as long as it's the morning or late afternoon sun and it's not sweltering.

"HEY!" Sweetpea also says "HEY!" in an deeply offended tone of voice to Zoey when she tries to bite his toes as he perches on the outside of her cage trying to woo her - and it cracks me up every time because he sounds just like a person would.

[mikella]

That's hilarious! Quigley just sounds pissed, like he's shouting hahaha He also says it if I put him on his cage and leave the room. There's no question he says words based on how he feels and uses them purposefully.

Husband is having a rough time with Quigley... He keeps getting hard bites. Yet Quigley is DESPERATE to be on him and be with him when he's home.... If he leaves his sight, Quigley screams and screams and trembles and flits his wings in a panic like he wants so badly to follow but knows he can't

I think part of it is that husband isn't as perceptive with him and needs to consider Quigley first, not just what he wants to do (scratch him, have him come up on hand)... There may be something Quigley doesn't like about how he approaches when he says 'up up' because he often lately bites as soon as he puts his hand near... Also, Quigley gets REALLY riled up being on him, excited, but it leads to aggression, he can't control himself well and goes in for hard bites under his neck. He's back to being crazy with my husband, like he will jump towards his neck/face in excitement (and Quigley is not a jumper, he's much too cautious for that haha) to be near it, but then will pretty immediately become aggressive. This is how he used to be with my hands. It's really tough to deal with, I understand that. And I know how it makes you feel, the trust totally goes away and you get so nervous, etc... But I also need him to relax about it and give it time.

Anyways, be back later, he's telling me my time is up haha

[Pajarita]

Is your husband interacting with him at the right times? Has he tried establishing a protocol BEFORE he asks him to step up to ensure that the edge of desperation is gone from him before he has access to his hand?