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Post by beccilouise on Apr 9, 2016 4:15:47 GMT -5
Maya is nine months old now, a little early for full-blown puberty, but there are little signs which suggest it's coming! Usually, she's totally ok with my hands in the cage. Thursday morning, however, I replaced the food in her food bowl with more dry pellet and it was as if I'd been scrolling through the messages on her phone. What a reaction! Feathers erect, beak open, proper attack mode. I ignored it, obviously, despite the many nips I was getting. None drew blood, but I've read the best thing to do with this is to just pretend the behaviour isn't happening, (particularly when it comes to really important tasks like cleaning and changing food), that way the bird learns she can't scare you away. Even after I'd finished, she continued to patrol the edges of her cage, shouting away at me. Eventually, she calmed down and scurried out onto my shoulder as if nothing had happened! She's also decided that my breakfast is her breakfast (I knew it would only be a matter of time!) I have wholegrain fruit & fibre for breakfast, so it's actually fine for her to eat according to most nutrition advice. She's getting a little nippier when she doesn't immediately get what she wants. I'm working hard to turn my head away from her when she nips and remain turned away from her for 10 seconds or so. She's only drawn blood once and that wasn't a real bite, she was trying to get a sunflower seed from my hand and the tip of her beak just caught my thumb, so it doesn't count. If she gets really aggressive, I tend to put her down immediately on a perch (if I can) and do something involving my back being to her for a few minutes. This tends to calm her down and then we can go back to playing. I'm being REALLY careful about her diet, feeding her cooled boiled vegetables every day with some fruit like apple and mango every week or so. She has access to pellets whenever she wants and dried food is changed every 48 hours (unless it gets wet, in which case it's changed immediately). She has egg every week and mixes of grains like quinoa, red lentils and yellow split peas. She has pasta every so often and these egg biscuits from northern parrots which she LOOOVES. I'm also starting to introduce sprouted seeds to her diet. I'm careful to make sure she has 12 hours of light and twelve hours of darkness. She has a UV light which is on for at least 4 hours a day to help process calcium. There is calcium in her pellet mix and also apparently boiled eggs are good sources of calcium. (I read that leafy greens like kale and broccoli also contain an oxidant that binds with calcium and makes it difficult to absorb into the blood stream.) I also have calcium supplements that I will probably use during the breeding season just in case Maya produces eggs. Possibly this is just 'toddler' bird, as the changes are not dramatic and nor are they consistent. Today, for example, she was fine with me changing her food! However, it is amusing  |
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Post by biteybird on Apr 9, 2016 5:37:06 GMT -5
Sounds like it's begun, alright. Bonnie became more demanding at about this age (mainly noise-wise) and has remained so to a large extent. She is also very affectionate and well- behaved though, at least for me - not for hubby. You'd better become accustomed to the darting & pecking with the food dish...at least be prepared for the food-changing to take longer than it did. |
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Post by easttex on Apr 9, 2016 7:02:40 GMT -5
Here's where outside access to the bowls proves its worth. Personally, I've become disenchanted with the idea of plunging ahead with something even when you know a bite is the likely outcome. If they really don't want you touching their stuff, they'll probably start biting harder, and also become frustrated with your apparent disregard for their wishes. You're being the boss, and generally they don't accept that. For what it's worth, I think it would be better to create a distraction while you put your hands in the cage - another person offering a treat on the opposite side of the cage, or target training if that's not practical. |
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Post by beccilouise on Apr 9, 2016 14:48:15 GMT -5
Haha, thanks both! good in a way to know it's normal behaviour. Maya has an egg biscuit treat that she LOOOVES so I normally start by putting that in her foraging toy and she attacks that while I change the food. I also normally take her OUT of the cage first and put her on her playstand. She protests when I put my hand in her cage, but her problem is that she then has to clamber all the way back to her cage before she can bite me. She is target trained, so that could work. I don't want to stress her out by disregarding her territory, so maybe treat distractions are the way forward. Biteybird, she has got a little more vocal, but it's mainly chatty 'trying to talk' noises rather than outright screaming. I wouldn't describe her as a quiet Quaker, but I don' think she's particularly loud either. Having said that, nine months old is early days yet. She's still a very well behaved birdie and adores head and chin scritches (she actually lifts her little head back so I can scritch under her beak and she goes all fluffy, and her little eyes close!) I wouldn't say she likes 'cuddles' but she definitely likes being close to us and will sometimes snuggle up to my face. I'll have to watch out though, as I know that hormones can make them a little less patient and will need to learn her signals and boundaries before I am comfortable with an adult Quaker bird near my face!
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Post by aaron on Apr 9, 2016 23:45:34 GMT -5
Indeed, a new era begins  It sounds like you are handling things well thus far. Sounds like little Maya is growing up and trying new things out. Some hormones at play there perhaps with the cage aggression... I have no experience with that specifically, but I can say Cupcake was all over the place when she was in this phase, although I think it was more like 1 yrs of age when she got this way. If I recall, it got worse for a while and then capped out around 1.5-2 yrs old and really started to get a lot better around 3 years or so. There's no deterring Cupcake from our food when we're eating, generally. She needs to be given some sort of offerring or we will soon be eating from the same plate, and I often do not want her eating what I am eating, at least in part. So I am generally planning some sort of tactic for each meal. |
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Post by biteybird on Apr 10, 2016 0:13:21 GMT -5
Here's where outside access to the bowls proves its worth. Personally, I've become disenchanted with the idea of plunging ahead with something even when you know a bite is the likely outcome. Hmm, that's the way we think, too. My husband resorts to shameless trickery (he gets up at 5 every morning and changes the food dishes in the day cage before I transfer Bonnie into it at about 7am). When I'm the one who does the food & water I simply ignore her screeching, which she does whenever she spots me holding ANY sort of food/water dish - I tell her "move away" or "off you go" whilst hovering with the dish of fresh food/water. When she moves a little further away I say "good girl", move closer and start to put the dish in. If/when she rushes to peck I move it away again and repeat my first words…this can take some time if it's not done regularly, but when I experimented with doing this every day for 5 days it became relatively quick and easy. The little chickens are SMART! |
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Post by biteybird on Apr 10, 2016 0:33:08 GMT -5
If I recall, it got worse for a while and then capped out around 1.5-2 yrs old and really started to get a lot better around 3 years or so. There's no deterring Cupcake from our food when we're eating, generally. She needs to be given some sort of offerring or we will soon be eating from the same plate, and I often do not want her eating what I am eating, at least in part. So I am generally planning some sort of tactic for each meal. Yes, Bonnie was worse for a while, I think from about 1 year to….now, I guess.  Although I think she is a bit better than a few months ago, so maybe by the time she is 3 she might have 'mellowed' to being more like Cupcake. I hope so! Food…when we eat, Bonnie is in her cage. We wait for her to make the 'interested' noise (she now does a sound like someone licking their fingers - but she used to copy the sound of cutlery scraping on our plates). Then we take little bits off our plates and give them to her through the bars. If she really likes the food she gobbles it and manoeuvres it in her foot so as not to drop it. If she's not so keen it will get the 'foot fling' treatment; messy little creature.  |
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Post by beccilouise on Apr 10, 2016 6:22:15 GMT -5
Hahahaha, sounds like Maya's hormones are really kicking in! She was alright with her cage today, but then earlier, she got really noisy. She normally does that when she wants access to her pellets, so I went to get some. I fed her from my hand. She ate well for a bit, then I moved my hand a little (I was uncomfortable) and she gave it a nip. It was a hard nip, but not enough to break the skin. I said 'no', closed my hand and removed the food. She protested loudly and was aggressive towards the food hand, so I stood up and turned my back to her. When she had calmed down, I say down again, said 'gently' and slowly opened my hand. Cross as she was, she nipped it again, so I repeated the process a couple more times. Eventually, I sat down and said 'gently', she made a little indignant noise, but waited patiently until I'd opened my hand and ate nicely. Having said that, she's now screaming at a cartoon bird on the TV, so swings and roundabouts! She is only young yet, and I can imagine this will get significantly more challenging before she settles down, but hopefully if I can continue to condition her like this, as well as secure her diet and her hours of light and dark, I can at least guide her into adulthood as a well behaved little birdie |
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Post by Caseysmom on Apr 10, 2016 8:00:10 GMT -5
Casey is like Cupcake, she has no cage aggression, but around that time she did stop liking everyone holding her... She only let my daughter and I. She has mellowed over time, she really likes any man who comes over, and will step up for them, climb up their arm and start chatting. She is more wary of women for some reason, but can be persuaded by some guests to step up. Children are another story, she has figured out she can get fun reactions from them, so any visiting kids only get to hold her on their head for a few seconds while I snap a pic At dinner, I don't sit down to eat until she has a plate of food on top of her cage, then she is happy and relaxed.
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Post by beccilouise on Apr 10, 2016 14:31:03 GMT -5
Hahaha, it's quite hilarious listening to everyone's individual story! The other issue I'm having at the moment is that I'm trying to harness train her. I have a really good harness and we've got to the stage where Maya will put her head through it to retrieve a treat and allow me to rest the harness on her back for between 5 and 20 seconds depending on her mood. If she shows any signs of wanting it removed (sits back on her perch, struggles, plucks at it) I remove it straight away and we start again. She's been pretty good so far, and on April 8th, she repeatedly allowed the harness over her head and resting against her back for 20 seconds at a time without fussing at all. Then, yesterday and today, it's like she's forgotten it all. She will put her head through, but today I had to coax her into it as if we were starting from scratch, and we only managed a maximum of 10 seconds. Now, there were a number of distracting factors both yesterday and today, such as:
YESTERDAY:
TV on
boyfriend making noises when eating food
TODAY:
Not being able to train in usual location
distraction because rabbit was cavorting about
having to move to hallway to train
sounds from flat upstairs.
Despite all this, she DID allow the harness to be placed over her head and rested on her back for up to 10 seconds on both days. In fact, I think we managed 13 seconds today. Are hormones likely to train down any training we do? I'm going to persist with it anyway, we'll just take it at her pace. Lot of advice I've read says maintaining a good training regime should help keep birds a little calmer during puberty and can help condition their behaviour. She's been doing so well, though. I guess she was bound to have a couple of bad days, though. Any thoughts?
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Post by aaron on Apr 11, 2016 8:56:00 GMT -5
Yes, hormones will definitely override your training efforts, especially when you are trying to teach something new. Already learned behaviors, if they are strong, will generally stick... but making training progress when hormones are in full bloom is definitely harder. That said, every day is different, and tomorrow could be back to usual. You really never know |
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Post by beccilouise on Apr 11, 2016 10:05:33 GMT -5
Ok, I guess it's just important to know isn't it? She is still doing fairly alright with the harness training, we're just not progressing at the same speed that we were, but I suppose that's only to be expected. She is currently putting her head through the harness and allowing to rest against her back for between 3 and 10 seconds. She has allowed it for up to 20 seconds before, but this seems a bit much for her now! Oh well, we'll keep trying. Possibly, I just need to take this into account and not beat myself up to much when she's not willing. I keep worrying that it's something I've done, but I'm trying really hard not to push her to wear it for longer than she can deal with, to always remove it when she shows she wants it off and to reward her having it on with a sunflower seed.
She DID do better today. She accepted the harness on her back for 10 seconds at the longest, and put her head through it and allowed it against her back at least five or six times. She now looks a bit sleepy so I'm gonna put her down for her afternoon nap. It's so hard to get this right and I really don't want to bodge it up and ruin it for her, I'm trying so hard!
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Post by Angela on Apr 11, 2016 23:23:44 GMT -5
Oh dear sounds like it's all happening for you Beccilouise! I have no experience yet but then I'm in for double trouble lol!
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Post by beccilouise on Apr 12, 2016 2:32:53 GMT -5
Hahahaha, blimey! When did you get your second again? Maya's not too bad at the moment. She's a bit funny about me touching her food or changing her water, and she's got a little more vocal but I think it's only getting started yet!
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Post by Angela on Apr 12, 2016 8:07:22 GMT -5
I've had Loki for about 4 weeks now Doesn't sound like Maya's too bad... Yet.... |
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It sounds like you are handling things well thus far. Sounds like little Maya is growing up and trying new things out. Some hormones at play there perhaps with the cage aggression... I have no experience with that specifically, but I can say Cupcake was all over the place when she was in this phase, although I think it was more like 1 yrs of age when she got this way. If I recall, it got worse for a while and then capped out around 1.5-2 yrs old and really started to get a lot better around 3 years or so.
Although I think she is a bit better than a few months ago, so maybe by the time she is 3 she might have 'mellowed' to being more like Cupcake. I hope so! 
