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Post by biteybird on Jun 20, 2015 3:36:38 GMT -5
This is causing us a LOT of worry.
The last 2 weeks or so Bonnie has been targeting my husband's hand/s and face. Seemingly it's out of the blue...she will be calmly sitting on his knee (he is just sitting there, not moving at all), then suddenly she darts at his hand and bites hard. Sometimes she draws blood and sometimes there are just beak imprints on his skin. A couple of times, when he pulls his hand away, she has flown right at his face.
She doesn't do this to me, but the weird thing is that she seems more bonded to him (she screams up a storm whenever he goes outside, but doesn't for me).
I'm guessing it's hormones - 18 months old or so - but we are going to Central Australia in one week. We'll be away for 2 weeks and are taking Bonnie with us. We were planning on letting her out inside the car. But if she attacks hubby while he's driving....?
Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 20, 2015 4:41:39 GMT -5
Maybe don't let her out in the car or let her out when the car isn't moving to see what she does. Can you take a couple of short trips to see how she behaves? She may act differently being out of her usual environment. Central Australia? Hot, hot, hot. Gotta be better than Sydney weather - it is freezing. Every night when I go to bed and say goodnight to Shah, he hops up on my hand - he has one warm foot and one cold foot. Cant figure out why this is happening as he sleeps in his happy hutch.
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Post by easttex on Jun 20, 2015 5:41:57 GMT -5
Biteybird, I don't think I would plan on letting her loose in the car this trip. With her being so unpredictable, the potential for disaster would be just too much for me. I'm sure you've run through all the usual things. My suggestion would be for your husband to focus on working with her in a training mode. Get her to expend some energy in a productive manner. That one on one attention and positive reinforcement can really help to regain the upper hand a little. Just be sure to take her out of her normal environment.
Jan, it's pretty typical for a settled-in bird to draw one foot up, close to the body. It's hard to see because their feathers are relaxed, and they are hunkered down. Could that be what Shah is doing?
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 20, 2015 8:04:09 GMT -5
Hi Easttex, he doesn't seem to draw one foot up when he is napping on a branch but he may be doing it in the hutch. It happened last winter as well. I massage his cold leg which he loves. He has taken to "helping" me put the cockatiels to bed - I don't trust his newfound eagerness in doing this as he managed to grab Pippin's tail briefly tonight and he was dreadfully excited about it.
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Post by aaron on Jun 20, 2015 21:18:48 GMT -5
Uh oh. That's not fun.  I agree, letting her out in the car seems like a bad idea when this kind of behavior is prevalent. You are right that it is likely hormonal in nature. Make sure she is getting 12 uninterrupted hours of darkness every day, and if she has nesty places, including happy huts, I'd take them away. I agree with what Easttex is saying about your husband working with Bonnie one on one-- I think that could help a lot. |
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Post by biteybird on Jun 20, 2015 21:30:50 GMT -5
Hi again, 'guys'. Jan, Shah seems to be more affectionate towards you these days (?). Maybe his aggression has transferred itself to Bonnie...this morning was horrendous.  I let Bonnie out of her cage and she was as nice as pie with me (just some token nips as I was scratching her head). As soon as my hubby came in and sat down on the couch she flew over to his knee, bobbed her head and lunged for his hand (beak imprints and minor bleeding). So she got 'thrown' back in the cage quick smart.
I guess we'll just have to keep her in the cage while we are away (2 weeks...!). Or else, if we let her out it will have to be just me, while we are stopped overnight & hubby is out of the 'room' (camper trailer canvas annexe). We don't have any relatives or friends capable of looking after her, let alone any bird. 
Meanwhile we have discussed putting her in a different room and cage (a familiar one) to sleep. Her normal cage is in the loungeroom next to the TV. I've been wondering if she isn't getting enough sleep. We cover her cage between 7-8pm, but the loungeroom light is still on and so is the TV. So I think that she may not be getting quality rest and is therefore going cranky, along with hormonal behaviour. I'm just guessing at this point.
Thank you, Easttex & Jan for your input. Wish us luck!...
EDIT: Thank you too, Aaron, I literally just posted this and saw your reply...we've crossed posts!  Tonight we are going to put her in the sleeping cage in a separate room and take her happy hut out of the day cage. Now that you mention it, she does seem to spend a LOT of time in it, rather than on her perches. And we also noticed that she is not playing with ANY of her toys. I tried to engage her in playing with some different things on the floor this morning...she couldn't have been less interested.  |
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Post by aaron on Jun 20, 2015 23:22:08 GMT -5
I think this sounds like hormones. I would wager that the changes you are making will have a really positive effect. Cupcake, while never so overtly aggressive as Bonnie, went through some really hormonal periods when we allowed her to build nests and have a little tent, and slept in the living room with her cage covered but while we still talked or watched tv. She too was not interested in toys, or even us when it got really bad... upon waking she would immediately start building, and that would be her focus all day. At first we thought it was cool and cute, and possibly even good for her, but it became more and more prevalent, and it was soon clear that it was obsessive in nature and was not healthy. Some birds can do building without it getting to them, from what I understand, but Cupcake is not one of them. Personally I wouldn't allow it for any female bird, but I digress.
When we started putting her in the studio with the door closed at night when she sleeps, and took away all building materials and eliminated all nest-like locations, it was like night and day. We got our bird back.
She was amazingly not even upset with us when we made these changes. She did freak out a little bit when I put her in the studio the first few times, but I think the darkness and peace and quiet of the room quickly outweighed her concern of being in a new place and it became clear, very fast, that she had been chronically sleep deprived as well.
You should try to let Bonnie out as much as you can while stopped... and consider seeing if she is different toward hubby in a different environment.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 21, 2015 3:41:55 GMT -5
Well, Shah's newfound niceness finished tonight when I got severely beak bashed and I don't know what I did Where are you going to in Central Australia? I went on a coach tour many, many, many years ago and I loved NT - especially Mataranka but I think it is a bit touristy now. They had one hot spring for humans which was divine. Found another hot spring where the crocs hung out - didn't go into that one At night we would hang out by a huge campfire telling stories and just generally having a great time. Don't worry about Bonnie too much - think she will be fine once her surroundings change and she gets on the road! |
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Post by easttex on Jun 21, 2015 6:26:29 GMT -5
It rather sounds like you are the chosen one, biteybird, and she is trying to drive your husband away. I do think you'll find improvement with a better sleep schedule and no nest-like facilities. It's not foolproof. My grey still gets hormonal every year, regardless of my precautions, but it's definitely better with them.
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Post by biteybird on Jun 22, 2015 4:13:10 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice, everyone! Last night I took Bonnie into her new sleep room. She didn't look very impressed, but she didn't really object either. And this morning...blessed silence until I was about to leave and uncovered her. She was still a bit sleepy and when I opened the front of the cage she didn't come down, just poked her head out of her happy hut. I stuck my finger in front of her (half expecting to get bitten) and she just stepped up calmly. Then I carried her out of the cage and into the main cage. The first place she went to was where her happy hut normally is (I'd removed it the night before), but she didn't seem too fussed.
The funny thing was - when my hubby got home today he noticed one of the side feeder doors was open and Bonnie was out. We don't know how long she'd been out. I promptly did a 'recce' and didn't find anything chewed or destroyed. Until I arrived, hubby said she'd been very well behaved. About 5 minutes after I got home she went for his hand and got put in the 'slammer' for a couple of minutes, then came out & did it again, even worse. At that point I decided it was bedtime, as it was getting dark. So it was "Goodnight". But it seems like it wasn't as persistent as it had been. We'll keep doing the separate sleeping cage and room and I won't put her day cage happy hut back...and we'll see.
Jan, we're going to Alice Springs during the school holiday break. Given that we only have 2 weeks, we won't get to the Northern Territory. I've never seen Central Australia and I want to see Ayers Rock (sorry, I mean Uluru - keep forgetting it's been renamed), even if I'm not allowed to climb it. It'll take at least 3 days to drive there from Melbourne, and another 3 to get back of course, so that'll give us about a week to relax and look around a few places. We are doing a loop called the 'Mereenie Loop', which includes Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Alice Springs, Kings Canyon and the West MacDonnell Ranges.
We had to get a special permit because Bonnie is a 'prohibited species' - and she has to stay in the cage at all times in many of the special Aboriginal areas.
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Post by aaron on Jun 22, 2015 15:51:48 GMT -5
I think that sounds promising... It may take some time for the benefits of the changes to present themselves fully, especially if she's made a behavioral habit out of biting hubby. And as Easttex noted, it's not foolproof.. But hopefully it will help greatly. Do you ever try jointly rubbing Bonnie? Sometimes it seems like Cupcake's understanding of the relationship we all have with each other is greatly improved by things like one of us holding her and the other rubbing her head, or we give her a double kiss, one person on each wing, and gently squeeze her between our faces (obviously if she is being aggresive toward hubby this is probably not a safe move at the moment) ... But I think it helps her see that there are no rivalries between the members of our flock, and it seems to make her feel special |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 22, 2015 17:14:56 GMT -5
Biteybird, I climbed Ayers Rock (as it was known then) - it was quite an experience. Kings Canyon was pretty spectacular as well. You will have a great time. The people are amazing once you realise they dont go at the speed of city folk. They are welcoming and very chatty - like they have known you for years. I wasnt aware you had to get a special permit for Bonnie - how did you find out about it? It's good to know if I ever travel with Shah - like that's going to happen - not I expect to see plenty of photos of Bonnie at Ayers Rock, Kings Canyon, Alice Springs, etc. I know you will have a great time and meet lots of interesting people along the way. |
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Post by biteybird on Jun 23, 2015 3:28:11 GMT -5
OK, update - one step forward, two steps back... Tonight I got home to find that hubby had let Bonnie out and the first thing she did was go and eat from her special food tray (one must have priorities, after all), then she landed on his knee and lunged straight for his hand. So she went straight back in her cage. He is actually scared of her now, which isn't a great feeling, as we all know. :|So now she has spent the best part of 2 days in her cage, coming out briefly & going back in when she bites...not great, but as we're going away on Sat morning maybe getting used to the cage isn't so bad. Jan, now I feel kind of stupid. We ARE going to the Northern Territory (I had been thinking Central Australia was different, but it's all part of NT, dumb me). My husband contacted the Parks & Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory after just stumbling across something online about pet rules there. There are 2 forms we had to fill in: One was "By-Law 22 - Introduction of Animals Permit DABL 15/285", a form that must be filled in for any animal being taken in there...yep, exciting stuff... and the other was "Permit to Import Prohibited Entrant". If you need to find out more, the email address is pwpermits@nt.gov.au (they will send you the paperwork). Also hubby found a great website called traveloutbackaustralia.com, which has been done by Gary & Amanda, a married couple who live up there. It tells you where to drive, places to stay (cheap and expensive) and has descriptions of what you'll see along the way. At the last update (2014) it even had petrol prices! Aaron, I think we could try the joint head rub thing - we already pass her from one person to the other regularly and give her kisses. I think it will become easier when we are not leaving in the dark and getting home in the dark.  |
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jun 23, 2015 16:16:27 GMT -5
Ummmmm, I didnt want to say anything about Central Australia and Northern Territory. Isnt getting old fun? That is really interesting about the permits - I had no idea. As to Bonnie, make sure no one is stressed when they are near her otherwise she will pick it up and act accordingly. Shah has hand hating days. It is usually my right hand that he attacks. I cannot play with him using that hand when he is in a hand-hating mood. I have no idea why he does it and there is no warning of the attack. And he is like it for the rest of play time - put that right hand near him and he launches himself at it with beak open, ready for action |
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I let Bonnie out of her cage and she was as nice as pie with me (just some token nips as I was scratching her head). As soon as my hubby came in and sat down on the couch she flew over to his knee, bobbed her head and lunged for his hand (beak imprints and minor bleeding). So she got 'thrown' back in the cage quick smart.
