Post by gumball on Sept 27, 2018 10:59:45 GMT -5
Hi all! I am new to the forum. We got our baby Gumball about one month ago, so he is now about four months old and he is clipped. We have not had any issues with coming out of his cage and he is social and usually likes to likes to cuddle. In the morning, we take him out of the cage and put him in his play stand area and he has fresh food and water. He seems more interested in walking around on the floor. And he seems to be cranky in the mornings, at times trying to bite with step-ups and he is obsessed with biting our shoes! We are afraid we will step in him...we are keeping him below eye level at the suggestion of breeder to help minimize any future dominance or aggressive behaviors, and we have a seven year old so I am not able to have his play stand high for him to perch and not walk around the floor...Any suggestions for thiese negative behaviors?
Height dominance usually isn't as big a problem as it's often made out to be. With most parrots, it's perfectly fine to allow them to be above eye level. It's a simple matter of finding out how your parrot behaves when he's placed higher up and deciding whether or not he can be allowed to perch higher. It can be difficult to keep a determined parrot off the floor. One method that worked for someone I know of was to repeatedly pick the parrot up from the floor and set him back on his playstand. After a few hundred times, the parrot finally caught on that he wouldn't be allowed on the floor any more. My QP Ralph isn't allowed on the floor unless I'm down there with him, and doesn't really want to be down there alone. Possibly someone else here will have an easier way to approach the problem you have with Gumball. QPs are noted for being obsessed with feet and will chase or attack them. Distracting them with something else can work; keeping them off the floor is the most recommended remedy.