Help please. Baby Alexandrine is retarded

[Wolf]

So the bird may not be retarded, just reacting to abusive treatment by his breeder. That makes more sense to me, given the behaviors that you have described. The problem is that while he will probably improve over time with your gentle and understanding care, he may never get over it completely as the things done to them at that early of an age can cause them problems for the rest of their lives, just like with human babies.

I think that he is terrified that you are going to do the same things to him as his breeder did as biting is usually a last resort for parrots when nothing else works. I would suggest that for now you do not attempt to handle him or ask anything of him. I would limit my interactions with him to just talking and singing to him and giving him lots of "Good bird, his name'" type of praise. I would still offer him a treat, but not expect him to take it, so when he does not take it place it in his food dish and go away for a little while to give him a chance to eat it.

This is an attempt at winning his trust by showing him that you are listening to him ( his growls, saying don't touch me ) as well as to his telling you that he is terrified ( his crying ) by respecting him and not trying to handle him and that you are the bringer of good things ( the treat ) and by leaving so that he can eat it. In time he may begin to growl and cry less and perhaps quit these things. The next sign of progress would be his beginning to look forward to you visiting with him. This is going to take a lot of time and patience as he needs to see that you are his friend and that you are not going to force him so that he can begin to heal from what was done to him.

This is why I have the birds that I do. They were all abused and mistreated before coming to live with me. It takes a lot of time and effort to get some of them to the point that they can begin to heal.

[Ashleigh253]

. Thanks Wolf. You have been so wonderful. Both the breeder and the handraisers said that its all my fault the bird turned out that way and they never had any problems. That really made me think Im the wrong doer here not them.

[Chantilly]

Breeders will always say what makes them look good though, Ashleigh.

[Wolf]

Well, I try to be reasonable and fair in my assessments of things, although there are a few people here that might not agree with that statement, but Just from the fact that when this topic was opened on the 14th of Feb. 2016, you had been in possession of this 15 week old bird for only one week and could easily have lost him without the assistance of your vet, I fail to see that the breeders or his hand feeders statements could possibly be valid.

I often find myself straddling a fence without the comfort of even a cushion when it comes to breeders. As A general rule, I simply do not like them because of their approach to breeding and raising birds, not to mention their treatment of their breeding stock. And this one sounds like he is running a bird mill type operation, although, I can't honestly say for certain without further evidence.

I am often for and against the breeding of these birds, especially when I am aware of the huge demand for rescues, which are usually stocked to the maximum with abused and unwanted birds. Parrots are indeed wonderful creatures, that I dearly love and enjoy the companionship of, but they do not make good pets for most people, which is what fuels the glut in the avian rescues. But at the same time, when I look at the wild caught trade in exotic birds and the huge death toll that it takes on these birds as well as the destruction of their native habitats, I worry that captive breeding might be their only hope for survival in our world.

So much for my problems in this area. Due to the nature of these birds it is very doubtful that you could have caused such a deep seated issue with this or any other bird after only a week. I am saying this, not because I know you, because I don't, but I do understand these birds. In fact everyone of my birds are living with me because they needed better homes and all but two were victims of abuse. The reason that I say except for two of them is that the one bird only suffered a lack of time with its human when their lives changed and she started plucking, but the people were trying to do right by her and that resulted in my making a trip to New Jersey from North Carolina to pick her up, The other bird is her mate and at 4 years old he is a retired breeder bird, so his is a specialized type of abuse and for a breeder bird he was given good care, just no human interaction.

No, you are not the cause of your bird's issues, they are far too ingrained and deep rooted to have been caused by you, This was done to the bird by the breeder and/ or his hand feeders. Don't worry too much about it we will do our very best to help the two of you to get through this, but it will take time and lots of patience.

[seagoatdeb]

:). Thanks Wolf. You have been so wonderful. Both the breeder and the handraisers said that its all my fault the bird turned out that way and they never had any problems. That really made me think Im the wrong doer here not them.

i am going to second what Wolf is saying about that. This bird has been made scared of human hands and humans before finding you. It will take time, but eventually trust will start to happen. just take it slow and let the parrot guide you by its reactions.