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Post by julianna on Aug 6, 2015 14:03:51 GMT -5
Good idea easttex. I found a African grey one time and at first I just put out my hand and he crawled on my shoulder. Later I got a little nervous due to the size of the bird and when he flew into a tree I put on gloves as a safety precaution. Boy... was I wrong. He bit through those leather gloves like it was butter and even drew blood. He hated the gloves. Little did I know. It has a happy ending... the owner came around and found her bird and they all lived happily ever after.
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Post by biteybird on Aug 7, 2015 3:09:09 GMT -5
Hmm, I'll rethink the glove idea. I haven't had the chance to reorganise her cage yet, but will do it tomorrow. The whole thing is a weird mystery to us.
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Post by julianna on Aug 9, 2015 15:18:47 GMT -5
I actually took my own advice today and rearranged some of Oscar's toys on top of his cage. Boy he sure did get aggressive towards the toys... making the bells ring... lol. I think it was a good idea for sure. He must understand that he cannot always be the boss.... after all... I did manage to move the toys around.
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Post by Jan and Shah on Aug 9, 2015 16:37:05 GMT -5
Oh Julianna, how easily we fool ourselves into thinking that we are in control. Enjoy the freedom while you can. I give it 24 hours before you are captured and returned to slavery.
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Post by biteybird on Aug 10, 2015 2:35:51 GMT -5
I thoroughly cleaned and rearranged both Bonnie's cages (her sleeping and day cages) on the weekend. Her reaction? Complete disinterest. However, on a positive note, she was out of the cage just now and hubby came in and sat down. Bonnie walked up his arm to his shoulder and did not bite, so he gave her a couple of safflower seeds. Then we decided to pop her back in her cage - with lots of praise - so that short 'exposure session' ended on a positive note. Hopefully we can build on that.
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Post by easttex on Aug 10, 2015 4:39:15 GMT -5
I think that is an excellent approach, biteybird.  |
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Post by julianna on Aug 11, 2015 14:47:48 GMT -5
That is great news.
And about me being a slave... you gave me 24 hours... ha ha ha.... you should have given me 10 minutes.
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Post by biteybird on Aug 20, 2015 4:21:30 GMT -5
Well, it continues.  After several weeks of Bonnie being in her cage most of the time (apart from me letting her out when hubby was fiddling in the garage), we thought it might be worth a try for hubby to let her out without me there; the reasoning being that she would most likely fly straight to her freshly-stocked food tray and feed her face, as she usually does when let out. We were also wishing to give her a chance to re-bond to him, rather than reinforcing the bond she seems to have with me. Big mistake - I arrived home to hear lots of quaker screeching (a heart-sinking sound). She'd flown straight to my husband's beanie and attacked it, then flew straight at his face to attack again. He managed to get out the back door and close it with no physical damage (I think). Then I went in, picked her up off the window sill and put her back in the cage. I've not heard back from the Vet clinic I contacted via their online query form - I'll have to ring them during their business hours(challenging when you're a Special Ed teacher who gets 30 mins break max in the day). If I do manage to get through on the phone without being on hold for my entire lunch break, I'm tempted to give them a serve about not getting back to me. I probably won't though, but I'm a bit annoyed about it. Wish me luck... |
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Post by easttex on Aug 20, 2015 5:58:21 GMT -5
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Post by Jan and Shah on Aug 20, 2015 6:02:51 GMT -5
Good luck Biteybird. It must be very distressing for your husband.
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Post by aaron on Aug 20, 2015 14:34:39 GMT -5
Gosh, this is all really unfortunate. Sorry to hear biteybird. I hope you have some success with the vet once you can get in touch with them...
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Post by julianna on Aug 20, 2015 16:23:33 GMT -5
Sorry for the hubby... but I swear Oscar would do the same thing if he could... snip snip ... is just another thought.
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Post by biteybird on Aug 21, 2015 4:11:38 GMT -5
Funnily enough, "biteybird" was the name of my favourite pink Bourke's parrot I used to have (he lived inside the house, but died a couple of years ago). He used to nibble my fingers affectionately. I understand what you mean though - maybe my Forum user name has predicted Bonnie's behaviour!
Thanks for the link to the article, which I read with interest. I think it makes a lot of sense. I reckon my husband's negative 'signals' are always very obvious to me (and therefore just as much to Bonnie) if he's had a bad day. I mentioned to him about not looking Bonnie fully in the eyes while she's behaving this way and he thought that made sense too.
Yes, Jan, it's very hard on poor hubby. He feels quite upset about it and so do I (although it's easier for me as I'm not the one being attacked). At present the only way Bonnie can come out of the cage is if I carry her into another room and close the door, or if hubby is outside. Often by the time I get home there is only 1 hour of daylight left and I have to do some everyday tasks before I can pay attention to her...and that is no life for an intelligent bird, nor for my husband.
Julianna, Oscar really HATES your husband? Was it always this way or did it change suddenly (the way it has for us)?
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Post by easttex on Aug 21, 2015 5:20:07 GMT -5
Have you considered abandoning Bonnie yourself? I wonder if she would start to re-bond with your husband if you were no longer an option for her. Kind of an extension of the rescue ploy. He becomes the only one to feed her and give her attention. Probably the less of you she even saw at first, the better. Then when she (with any luck) starts accepting him, you ease back in to her life. It would disrupt your normal routine terribly for a while, but maybe desperate times call for desperate measures.
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Post by biteybird on Aug 21, 2015 5:59:16 GMT -5
Yes, you read my mind, Easttex...just yesterday I said to my husband "I wonder if I need to step out of the picture so she literally HAS to rebond with you". I guess the only way to do that would be to move her out of the loungeroom to a spare room, where she can't see me at all.
At the moment, each morning hubby puts her food and water in the day cage while she's in the night cage (to avoid her attacking his hands when changing the dishes), so when I bring her out each morning to the main cage the fresh food & water is already there.
Maybe she needs to be in just the main cage for a bit (to avoid transferring her back and forth each morning and evening - hubby couldn't do that unless he were to 'towel' her to avoid being pecked/bitten), but in a separate room so she can't see me...I don't really know if I'm thinking correctly about all this, but I guess it's worth a go.
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