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Post by jenwade on Jan 6, 2017 18:59:48 GMT -5
Ok. So I have a question on something that Lady has started doing. To give a little bit of history on her, Lady and Pat had been together for most of their lives. They are both nearly 3 years old. They were a bonded pair of green quakers, and they had chosen each other. They were sold together at a pet store, and they were supposed to be a breeding pair. The person that bought them decided that they were too noisy for her to handle, so she returned them to the store. The store that I deal with is wonderful. She hand-feeds the birds that she breeds herself, and only buys from local breeders that she completely trusts to breed healthy birds and handfeed and socialize properly. She will not sell a bird to anyone that she feels cannot provide a good home for the bird, and if something comes up, she will take a bird back if it is needed. She will even temporarily house a bird if an owner falls on hard times, until they can take their bird back. Anyway, I took the pair, and I was going to breed them, but they were so tame and they just wanted to be pets and be with their human mates. So we separated them and they have been much sweeter birds and so much happier since then.
So, Lady took to me immediately. She has been on my knee and all over me since the day we brought the birds home. I haven't complained. I grew up with cockatiels and I was looking for a pet for myself, and I immediately fell in love with her too. Our daily routine is that I will get her out in the mornings while I change all of the cages and feed the birds in my house, and then put her up while I take my kids to school. Then, I get her back out for a little while after I get back home for about an hour while we have "breakfast" before I go to work. When I get home, she gets back out for quite a while. She plays with my kids, has dinner, and gets plenty of love. But here lately, she has started something new. She tries to get right up next to my neck and under my chin and it almost sounds like she is whispering to me. I have to admit that it almost makes me nervous, after a bad experience from a rescue cockatoo who left a scar on my ear. Lady has never really tried to bite me. She has left one small bite mark on me, not enough to even bruise, and that was well before I separated her and Pat. Since the separation, she hasn't even tried to bite at me, and that has been about 3 months now. She has bitten my 14 year old daughter, but she is much more animated around Lady than I am, and I think that makes a huge difference. Lady likes to play, but she likes the calm and quiet demeanor and my daughter doesn't understand that. Lady loves my daughter, but she makes it clear when she wants it quiet. But even then, her bites aren't bad. They don't bruise or break the skin.
The snuggles and whispers are new and I am just wondering what they are about. Any ideas and should they be something that I should be nervous about?
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Post by cnyguy on Jan 6, 2017 21:38:51 GMT -5
It could be that Lady is just being affectionate, or it may be that she's decided that you're the love of her life. Parrots will sometimes choose a favorite person to think of as their mate (regardless of the gender of either the human or the parrot). Lady's behavior isn't necessarily a problem, but if she starts showing stronger signs of mating behavior, then she should probably be discouraged from snuggling. Otherwise, just enjoy the attention.  |
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Post by biteybird on Jan 8, 2017 21:00:36 GMT -5
Hi Jenwade, that certainly sounds like bonding/mating behaviour to me...our Bonnie does this too - she sits on my or hubby's shoulder and tries to snuggle under our chins while making a kind of hissing/whispering noise. When she does this we immediately put her down on the couch or the floor to discourage it (as it can sometimes, in her case, lead to nipping/biting when the human can't reciprocate the mating behaviour). It's good that she likes you, though! Does she 'preen' your hair too? |
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Post by jenwade on Jan 8, 2017 21:22:10 GMT -5
She does preen my hair. I make sure that I don't have "shiny" in my ears (earrings) when she is on my shoulders, although most of the time when I forget that I have them in, she still leaves them alone. I have hair that hides my ears, and she typically doesn't see any jewelry that may be in my ears. Necklaces and bracelets aren't as safe though! And my oldest daughter isn't so lucky with her hair when Lady decides to play with hers! While she is very gentle when she plays with my hair, she will pull hers! I think she does it purposefully! I have 5 children, and 4 of them are girls. She doesn't really mess with my son much, and she does well with my oldest daughter, who is 20 years old. My 14 year old daughter is the one that really loves Lady, and Lady loves her too, but she gets pretty animated around her, and Lady nips her to tell her that she prefers to stay more calm. My twin daughters are 11, and they are pretty cautious around Lady, as they have both been bit (pre-separation). Lady is starting to reach out to them more, but there is still some reservations on both sides there. She does fine with my husband. Lady does not snuggle with me every time she is with me. Most of the time she is quite content to sit on my knee or my shoulder and watch me as I work on my computer or travel with me as I am walking around the house or whatnot. She is certainly getting closer to me every day though. No complaints here!
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Post by biteybird on Jan 8, 2017 22:06:55 GMT -5
Sounds like it's all under control, then! Glad to hear she mainly gets along with your children. Quakers are very playful and can be quite feisty and zealous on these occasions, particularly when they get 'wound up'. When Bonnie nips too much (we sometimes play the "Ow" game - I pull her beak with my fingers and say "ow", then she lightly nips my finger back and says "ow") I just say "Be nice now" or "Be gentle/careful" or simply "That's enough" and she usually stops. Regarding serious biting, Bonnie has been biting my husband badly (I mean, drawing blood) on and off for some time until last Thursday, when she went to the Vet and got injected with a hormone implant. The difference in her behaviour is actually amazing: her aggression towards hubby has almost ceased altogether. The implant is something you might consider if Lady becomes too aggressive towards your children or you, but it sounds like you don't really need it. You're doing a great job!  |
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Post by julianna on Jan 12, 2017 13:58:19 GMT -5
I agree with what the others have said... the whispers and snuggles are good signs. I still get the odd bite from Oscar but I have learned how to not respond by screaming and it usually stops immediately. Sometimes I think he sees something as a threat and attacks (like my arm) but as soon as he hears me say "it's okay", he calms down.
How is Pat doing since Lady is getting all this attention?
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Post by jenwade on Jan 13, 2017 9:20:24 GMT -5
Pat gets his attention too. We have 2 "main" rooms in our house. I am usually in the one with Lady and it is where I get most of my work done since it doesn't have a television. The other room is more of the family room and that is where Pat is. My son gets him out every morning and again in the evenings when he gets home from school, since he is home alone for a couple of hours. My oldest daughter also gets Pat out some during the day when she is home and before she goes to work. So they both get plenty of attention, just separately. I mainly talk about Lady here, as she is more of "my" bird, but Pat is just as sweet and comical. They are both individuals though, and have their own personalities and likes and dislikes. Lady has just learned to say "Hello." Pat talked first, and he came to us talking. He says "Hi Pat." Both seem to be "closet" talkers as neither one of them will talk when they know someone is listening! But we have caught them a few times. Pat seems more likely to bite than Lady, although when they were together it was the opposite. Lady rarely bites now, and when she does, it is usually a nibble when my 14 year old gets a little too loud. Pat, on the other hand, will occasionally bite for no reason. He bit my 20 year old daughter when she was putting him in his cage. Both birds are stick trained and we just do not put them in their cages with our hands. He ran down the stick and bit her hard as she was putting him up. I have no idea what that one was about. But, in general, both are doing very well. Pat does get a lot of attention and gets to get out and be played with too.
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Post by julianna on Jan 13, 2017 13:32:51 GMT -5
That is nice to hear Jenwade. My Oscar can talk quite a bit however like yours he likes to talk when he thinks no one is listening. I just love hearing his little voice.
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Post by easttex on Jan 13, 2017 13:43:13 GMT -5
As long as she seems to be socializing well with others, I wouldn't worry too much about her snuggling. You'll want to discourage that behavior if she starts focusing on just you. If she gears up for breeding and selects you as the lucky mate, those snuggles can turn into bites, especially if another person approaches while she's on you. Parrot love hurts sometimes. |
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Post by jenwade on Jan 13, 2017 16:30:49 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies. I have had various parrots for half of my life, although that was when I was younger and the larger birds were my father's. None of them ever had behavioral issues and were very well socialized. I rescued an umbrella cockatoo several months ago, and because of biting and aggression that was not disclosed to me when I took him in (and having younger children in the house), I had no other option but to rehome him again. I could not give him what he needed. I keep in contact with the person that has him and he is doing well. But before I knew about his issues, he ended up biting me really hard on my ear, drawing blood pretty badly. I should have gotten stitches, but I didn't ever see a doctor about it. But I tend to get a little nervous now when a bird is close to my face. Lady has never given me reason to think that she would bite me. She has bitten my husband and my kids, although not severely. She has never drawn blood in anyone. She has left minor bruises a couple of times. She has only nipped me once on the hand when I was taking her back to her cage, and that was not long after we got the pair. Even when they were together and were territorial of their cage, neither of them would chase me when I walked past their cage. And I could feed and water them while they were in their cage with little to no problem. But no one else could. Now I can clean her cage (my son takes care of Pat, but I can when needed)and feed and water her with no aggression from her. If I am reaching inside her cage, I will still let her out first, but she sits on top of it and lets me mess inside of it as much as I want to with no fuss at all. And my daughters can play with her too. My husband and kids can sit with me and she will not fuss. She will run between us and take her turn with whoever is beside of me. She makes it clear that I am her favorite, but she loves everyone else too. She is most reserved around my son, but will not object to being put on his arm or shoulder or him talking or playing with her. So I let her snuggle and whisper in my ear or play with my hair and try my best to remember that she does not have the issues that the u2 had.
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