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Post by msdani1981 on Jul 26, 2015 10:04:11 GMT -5
I'm thinking of you today, Siobhan.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 26, 2015 16:15:34 GMT -5
Sending hugs your way.
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Post by siobhan on Jul 26, 2015 19:13:00 GMT -5
We didn't have the grit to do it today. We decided to try rearranging his cage and we took it to the car wash to give it a good cleaning. We had a talk about body language, which is something you have to look at before trying to touch a parrot. Bill didn't want to let him go either. My parrot expert swears we are doing everything right and it just takes time. The rescue says if we want to bring him, in the future, there will always be a place for him. We're out of our minds, in other words.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Jul 26, 2015 20:52:30 GMT -5
Good for you Siobhan. It is hard when you have invested so much time (and love) in an animal to hand them on. Body language is just so important with any animal - if you cant read it, then you will come to grief (as I learned with Izzie). The only way I could deal with her was to watch her body language which was very clear if you could understand it. Good luck with Rocky. I love that you took the cage to the car wash - what a brilliant idea  |
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Post by siobhan on Jul 26, 2015 21:02:12 GMT -5
Bill's idea. I would have just scrubbed with a brush.
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Post by msdani1981 on Jul 26, 2015 22:05:15 GMT -5
Awww, I wish you and Bill lots of good luck. I'm glad he's staying with you, at least for now. |
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Post by biteybird on Jul 27, 2015 5:16:24 GMT -5
Oh, wow, you can never tell how things will happen. Just as well you checked with each other first! At least you've found some more fortitude to carry on for now. I hope the situation starts to improve between Rocky and your husband soon. |
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Post by siobhan on Jul 27, 2015 11:00:08 GMT -5
Oh, we've talked this to death. Neither of us would remove a critter without talking about it first. Bill's at least as fond of Rocky as I am, and he doesn't want to give up, either. I didn't realize, because I wasn't there, what Rocky was doing the last time he bit Bill. When Bill described his body language and said how "cute" Rocky looked, I said, no, no and NO. That was not a 'too being cute. That was a 'too who was agitated and annoyed and no wonder he bit you. As usual, a parrot bite is, at the root of it, the fault of the human who did not understand the parrot's message any other way. Bill was amazed, and though he has lived with parrots as long as I have, he doesn't spend the amount of time with them, and study them, the way I do. Had I seen Rocky just before that bite, I would have warned Bill not to try to touch him. We had a crash course in Parrot this weekend. At one point, I was talking to Rocky, and Rocky flipped his crest up and held out his foot and I said to him, "NOBODY's going to offer you an arm with your crest up." I won't even try to pet him when his crest is up. Mind you, a raised crest that comes up slowly usually means he hears a new sound or sees something new or is just curious and interested. A crest that goes up FAST is an upset or frightened or defensive 'too. Best to just treat a raised crest as a warning and stay out of reach. I learned that from my cockatiel, Freddie, which is a smaller version of a 'too. Now, Freddie's crest is almost always up because he's amazed by EVERYTHING, LOL, and it usually doesn't mean he's upset. It seldom means that. However, do not try to kiss or mess with Freddie unless his crest is down or he'll nip. If it's down, you can kiss him and he'll say "pretty baby!"
When Rocky is feeling affectionate and calm and wants petting and loving, his crest is down, the feathers next to his beak are up, his other feathers are kind of fluffy, and his beak is open just a little. Usually, he's moving his tongue around, too. I showed Bill what a safe to pet Rocky looks like, and I showed him what a not safe to pet Rocky looks like, and I showed him what a seriously agitated Rocky looks like, because we see all those Rockys in an any given day. I've been nipped, but I knew it was coming because Rocky gave me warning, and because I'm his person, he didn't bite hard. I still got some nasty bruises -- and have a couple that are still healing, and will probably have more as time goes on -- but no broken skin.
We're both completely out of our depth with a 'too, and most people are from what I've read and been told, but there are some parrot behaviors that apply to all parrots, and recognizing warnings, and keeping your body parts out of beak range when you see those warnings, is a basic rule of parronthood. We didn't go over that thoroughly enough before, I guess.
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Post by aaron on Jul 27, 2015 11:35:34 GMT -5
Wow, well I'm excited to hear that you guys are going to continue giving it a shot with Rocky... So hard to know what the right move is in a situation like this, but if you guys are comfortable (maybe that's the wrong word) moving forward with him, I think that's fantastic. I have so much respect for the effort and patience you've put forth thus far.
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Post by easttex on Jul 27, 2015 13:43:02 GMT -5
I wouldn't have had the grit, either. I recently watched something that might help your husband understand better about body language. You might find it worthwhile, too. I learned quite a bit that was new to me. It is online access to a recorded version of one of Barbara Heidenreich's webinars called Solutions for Biting and Aggressive Behavior. Very practical stuff. If you have a spare $20 lying around, it was well worth it to me. It is here: www.goodbirdinc.com/goodbirdinc.com/parrot-store.html
If you want, take a look at one of her blogs. You can get an idea of her and her approach, and if it makes sense to you, get the webinar. goodbirdinc.blogspot.com/2012/12/respecting-bite.html
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Post by siobhan on Jul 27, 2015 15:13:41 GMT -5
I sort of wish Quakers had crests. Clyde never gives me much warning at all. He'll demand I scritch his head and bite me for doing it. LOL
I think what's driving Bill and me in this, in addition to the fact that poor Rocky has already been rejected so many times and we really do love him, is that when we got our Lab, Gigi, she was, as my mom would have said, "a sight." (In other words, the dog version of Rocky). She tore through the house leaving destruction in her wake. She chewed up things. She barked at everything and would not stop. She terrorized our other dog (RIP, George). When we tried to take her for walks to burn off energy, she dragged us through the neighborhood like some cartoon, with our feet flying up in the air. Nothing worked. NOTHING WORKED. We despaired of every getting this dog to have one hour of good behavior. We were stressed and exhausted and annoyed beyond words. People told us Labs are puppies in their behavior until they're 4 or 5 years old, maybe more. We didn't know how old she was because she was a stray who just showed up and demanded a home. We had her spayed and once she recovered, even that didn't make a lot of difference. But gradually, she settled down. She learned to behave. She discovered the couch and got lazy. LOL A harness recommended by a store clerk fixed the problems going for a walk. We all survived. Then we got Jack two years ago. Jack is more of "a sight" than Gigi ever dreamed of being. He plays rough. He was never taught anything by the people who had him before. Bill worked and worked and still works with him every day and while he's not a model dog in any sense of the term, he is much improved. And he also has made Bill bleed because of his rough play. Not for a while now, but he has in the past. He snarls at the vet when she's trying to give him a rabies shot. It took both of us sitting on him (and almost getting bitten ourselves) to get him through his last vet visit.
So it's not like we haven't had difficult projects (JADE!!!!) before, even avian ones. (JADE!!!! LOL) It took two or three months to convince Maggie the Pigeon Queen that I wasn't a pigeon-eating monster. Now I have to scrape her off to leave the room. Benjy was totally wild and untouchable when I brought him home from Petsmart, and I coaxed and coaxed and one day he just hopped on my hand and was instantly tame. I also have to scrape him off to leave the room. When I go in the birds' room, I have those two and Clyde attached to me the entire time I'm in there. Even Jade is getting better with every passing day and she gave me nice kisses last night when I tucked them in. I think we not only have a hobo mark on the house or on our foreheads but it must read "Need a home? Are you a brat nobody else will take in? This is the place!"
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Post by aaron on Jul 27, 2015 22:00:24 GMT -5
My parents' cockatiel is like Clyde... Insists on getting his head rubbed only to bite the person trying to do it. But he's a bit of a nut. His body language, if one is nearby, and not my mother, is usually either "i'm going to bite you" or "i'm afraid of you". He has always been plagued with hormones. I have this silly picture of Cupcake with a crest in my head right now. I'm not sure it's the best look for them but it sure would be useful. You and Bill are so good to all of these animals. I continue to be impressed by your patience |
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Post by biteybird on Jul 28, 2015 2:22:24 GMT -5
Siobhan, I'm sure I've said this before...I'm AMAZED you have any time left for work. The home life sounds time-consuming enough!
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Post by siobhan on Jul 28, 2015 10:28:18 GMT -5
I not only have time for work, with my crazy hours I have days when I feel like that's ALL I do, is work. The flock has learned that they might not get much time with me some days. Rocky's going to have to learn that, too. I try to make it up to them on days off and on work days that are less crazy. What I don't have time for is me. I haven't touched my piano in a couple of weeks. I don't remember the last time I had a workout, even a hurried one. I have a library book I want to read but it'll probably go back when it's due without having been opened.
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Post by biteybird on Jul 29, 2015 2:19:59 GMT -5
I feel like all I do is work too...but I only have two children to worry about (my hubby & Bonnie  |
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