Hello and Request for Help :)

[mikella]

Probably no, and no. Please explain! I need this info.

[mikella]

Pretty please? that info will help.


Husband's getting bloody bites... I just get bites.

Husband is the fav, which is weird given his worse bites. I am glad tho that Quigley goes easier on me for whatever reason...

MOST of my bites are not the raging aggression bites, they are him just being a meany or being bad.

The hair aggression is going to be quite the process I'm realizing..... He is dead set on killing it. It makes him enraged. I think it's going to be a long while before he stops.

[Pajarita]

Probably no, and no. Please explain! I need this info.

Oh, sorry, I did not see this answer. Well, the concept is that it's always better with birds to interact with them at the same time the wild birds interact with their flock and/or mates - kind of like following their natural biorhythms. So the best times to interact with them is after breakfast and before dinner or after they 'wake up' after their mid-day nap (they don't necessarily have to actually take a nap, but they all rest).

The other one is to make sure the bird is not overly excited over the prospect of been with his beloved -some of them get real strung out because they want to be with their chosen one all day long and the time they actually spend is so short that they get all worked up over it and, as we all know, excitement is good but, with birds that tend to bite, it usually ends up in us 'getting it'. So, talking, doing a bit of training or playing (doesn't have to be actual training, it can be something like stepping up, swinging him while saying WEEEEEEE, putting music with a distinct beat on and dancing with him, running around with him to make him flap his wings, playing peekaboo, flying him (you can't do this one yet but it's very effective at calming them down), giving them a bath, etc - basically, doing something that will distract him and calm him down a bit BEFORE you allow him to climb on you.

[mikella]

We tried these things last night..... Will keep at it. After a few hrs, he was able to be on his shoulder/by face without immediately attacking... But then out of the blue would bite his ear. He's a tough little guy to figure out. He needs more time with him........... And it's really difficult. My husband works full time, has side businesses, we go to the gym... So his relax time isn't typically until late, and Quigley needs more time than that. Quigley needs totally undivided attention for him to calm down. Him being home and doing stuff WITH Quigley just doesn't cut it - it irritates him more.

Been feeding him supper a little earlier bc I find he eats more that way (not too much, but enough... Because we'll take him back to it a few times. Otherwise he eats a few 'bites' then is entirely focused on coming out, but it is too late). My husband gets really frustrated when he goes to bring him out and he immediately CHOMPS on his hand, even if my husband is trying to be patient/slow/calm, talk to him before. (Although if you ask me, he should be even more patient and wait and talk longer before trying.) Yet he has no issue hopping up on my hand. I am little slow with him too tho, I stand for a few seconds and watch him, etc. and hold my hand there and he'll watch me, and look at me, and then slowwwwly (sometimes) step up, one foot at a time - it's the cutest thing haha, it's like he's trying to be polite. Other times he quickly hops right up, both feet. Other times he will beak a little, being a little grumpy, but he contains it, and steps up.

Just rambling...

[Pajarita]

Well, I can't share 'husband experiences' when it comes to birds with issues because my husband is afraid of all of them (old wuss that he is ) but you are right that, most likely, the problem is that Quigley gets upset at having to wait all day long for him to get home and then he doesn't get what he considers his undivided attention. And this will be a real problem once winter comes and the days are so short... But, eventually, he will switch some of his allegiance to you and this will take care of that problem. I have a TAG that loves my husband to the point that she will bite me if I even try to make her leave him (which, needless to say, I never do to my husband's great chagrin) but you should see her kissing me and rubbing her face all over mine in the mornings - it took years to achieve this but persistence and love always wins the day with them.

[mikella]

Hearing those things makes me feel better.

As I've said all along, I don't want Quigley to be miserable bc of this... That is my concern. I do think though that he's enjoying his time more with me, I can tell. And that is making me feel much better..... I just need to hang in there, I know.... There will come a day when he won't abuse me (funny but not funny!) and I can have a LIFE again in my home. I hope this for my husband, too... He was bleeding again last night... Ugh.

So today Quigley has taken to trotting right up to my shoulder or up my back to get to my hair and attack it. Bugger..... Before, he would pretty much stay off my shoulder bc that's the way it's just always been. And if he HAPPENED to be near enough to it or got on my shoulder for some reason, he would attack it. Now he's hunting it down. Haha Yet he very willingly steps up on the stick for me to take him away. Odd little boy. With my hair, I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't.... My hair is all down my back, so even if I put it back it's "there," and even if I put it in a bun, it's "there" - either way he gets at it. He just hates it. What makes me nervous is thinking he will go at my neck/face when he's in that mode. He hasn't gotten me good there yet, doing this, but nips and bonks, which make me nervous. So I try to get him off as soon as he starts. I wonder though what would happen if I just let him do it, maybe he would get bored. (???)

[Pajarita]

He is not miserable. Not at all. He might not be as happy as he could be but, in reality, there are practically no pet parrots that are because, for that, they need a mate they choose themselves from a pool of them and a decent sized flock around them so don't worry about that. And he will learn to appreciate you more and more as time goes by.

As to his attacking your hair... well, I don't have any advice on how to solve this problem because I've never had a bird that targeted mine as an object of aggression. I've had birds that chew on it, preen it, hide in it, etc but none that actually went straight for my hair to 'kill' it. So, taking into consideration that I am just guessing, what I would suggest is that you tie it into a 'rope' -when I had long hair, I used to make a low pony tail at my nape and use three more scrungies separated by a few inches all the way down so the hair stayed together (like a rope).

[mikella]

Actually, I will try that, I'll braid it down my back. I have curly hair, so maybe the less 'intrusive' it seems the better haha (although I thought a bun would help with that). Will give it a go.

I say "kill" it - but basically, before he would get loud and snarly with it, all puffed up, grabbing it nonstop, open beak, etc....... Now, he doesn't make snarling noises anymore, he chirps angrily at it, and the rest of the behaviour is the same. He is MAD. So actually, maybe that's a good sign that the snarling sounds stopped (do you know what I mean by that?)... But now he wants at it constantly. Maybe it will be a progression like my hands though.... Aggression, then the more he had contact with them, began to accept. He was obsessed with getting at my hands and they made him so riled up... Same deal with hair now. We'll see what happens.

On another note, because I can't do work on my laptop bc he insists on being on the keyboard while I'm trying to type, pulling off keys, etc... I got him his own keyboard. ..............but of course for some reason it doesn't have the same appeal as mine


Update: I don't think it matters how I do my hair... If I have it way up, he goes at it just the same, only at my scalp.

[Wolf]

His keyboard does not have the same appeal because you aren't playing with it, he wants to play with the one you are playing with. Play with his like you do with yours and he will start playing with it more at least as long as you play with it.

[mikella]

Yes, very true Wolf. I've tried to play with it with him, but he's too smart. I even tried having it touching mine while I'm typing on mine, but he just won't have it, he wants mine. Perhaps also bc mine is warm.

Oh, the struggle.

He is molting a little more now, but still only two wing feathers, and no clipped ones unfortunately.