Elvis is spooked~

[lupe]

Usually all he wants to do is hang out with me on the couch. I placed an old lamp I had in the bedroom into the living room, on a glass table. Since then he wont even come near the couch!! if I try to hold him he's ok until I reach the couch..then he spooks and flies right back to this cage....question is, should I leave it there and see if he adapts? or just take it down and put it away...I'm telling ya, this is SO not like him...have your birds ever spooked due to a change
in scenario? This is the first time I change anything in my apt., usually it's just plain and drab...jeeshhh~~ I hope its just the lamp & not something weirder.

 

[tozie12]

i would move the lamp to a far corner of the room in the floor. someplace he can see it, but not be forced to get near it... just in case it IS a parrot-eating lamp... ya never can tell bout these things. but seriously, i'd move it and let him get used to it being there.


poor lil guy. give lil E some nice cockatoo cuddles and maybe an extra nut or two to help him get over his frightening ordeal.

skittles did that with me with an xmas lighthouse. he was fine with it til i turned the lights on it. then it was suddenly SCARY and quite possibly a parrot-eating lighthouse.

 

[lupe]

i would move the lamp to a far corner of the room in the floor. someplace he can see it, but not be forced to get near it... just in case it IS a parrot-eating lamp... ya never can tell bout these things. but seriously, i'd move it and let him get used to it being there.

poor lil guy. give lil E some nice cockatoo cuddles and maybe an extra nut or two to help him get over his frightening ordeal.

skittles did that with me with an xmas lighthouse. he was fine with it til i turned the lights on it. then it was suddenly SCARY and quite possibly a parrot-eating lighthouse.

Will do, it's just he is genuinely scared! knowing me, I'll just put right back into the bedroom closet..

• .

 

[Birdbabe]

Those scary parrot eating things in the house must go!!!

 

[DQTimnehs]

Yes I would just move it further away and let him get used to it and gradually move it closer.

Mine notice everything! Tiki has panicked and struggled away from me (even with a double toe grip) twice and fallen to the floor over a cookie sheet or muffin pan on the stove.

They hate the babble ball and the noisy fake bird in a cage.

Yesterday I stained the deck a much lighter colour (it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb!) and Quack wouldn't go on her play stand last night at first. She was keeping an eye on it out the patio door. Tiki's stand is right in front of the patio door and deck but she didn't mind.

And of course Quack likes me better without glasses and looks at me strange if I change my hair.

 

[lupe]

Thanks for the input, thing is I'm terrible at decorating and am super simple. Things are not rearranged in my apt. until "THE LAMP"......came along...

 

[Anne & Gang]

 

[DQTimnehs]

Better he get used to a few changes here and there. Too much the same can make them less flexible and adaptable.

 

[lupe]

Better he get used to a few changes here and there. Too much the same can make them less flexible and adaptable.

After giving this some thought thru out the day here at work, I think I will do just that. After all, what would happen if I decide to move. Change is the part of life that is constantly happening, & this would be a good starter situation for Elvis...thanks Jennifer...actuall it's not so bad, afterall he gives me a much needed brake ~

 

[InTheAir]

I came home with face paint on the other day and Sapphire was terrified of me until I washed my face! She took one look, shrieked and zoomed away. I felt like the meanest parront ever!

We regularly rearrange stuff in the house or add new things and Sapphire is generally trying to eat a new object before we've finished setting it down.

 

[Lady Jane]

I would move the lamp also. There must be a good reason in his little bird brain for being in fear of the lamp. Why aggravate him more?

 

[lupe]

I would move the lamp also. There must be a good reason in his little bird brain for being in fear of the lamp. Why aggravate him more?

Oh, I know, I dont wanna torture my poor boy!!,..I am however going to give it a few days to see if he adapts. If he doesnt, and still fears it as much as he does now, I'll probably just put it in another place. As Jennifer advised, he really has to adapt to SOME change....and this is a good small step. ~~

 

[lupe]

I came home with face paint on the other day and Sapphire was terrified of me until I washed my face! She took one look, shrieked and zoomed away. I felt like the meanest parront ever!

We regularly rearrange stuff in the house or add new things and Sapphire is generally trying to eat a new object before we've finished setting it down.

You see, you guys are regularly shifting things around. So your fid is use to the changes. Since E. has come to live with me nothing has been changed in my apt. except for kitchen towels...

• ...

 

[InTheAir]

A lot of our rearrangements are brought on by the birds being bored of their play trees and looking for entertainment elsewhere, we switch everything around in the hope of getting some respite!
Nila was pretty phobic of new objects when we got him, but since most of them were training toys he has learnt new = good. Unfortunately, that extends to things like new lamps and even calendars. Between Sapphs natural and Nilas learnt confidence in new objects we have mostly limited our decor to bird toys in the main room lol
It's hard to find the right balance sometimes, isn't it?

 

[macawpower58]

If he's really nervous of it, I'd make sure it's not too close to his cage. Perhaps slide it as far away in the same room. He may not be able to relax if it's too close. Then just slowly move it around the room, and closer and closer to him.

I agree it's a good idea to introduce our birds to change. Though if you think on it, the trees that they'd normally live on, don't move about very often!

 

[Trinity23]

I know what it's like to have a bird who thinks that EVERYTHING is going to eat her. Time, patience and a shizz ton of treats that E likes to use as bribes.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

When I first moved the birdroom to the family room area, Emmie would not come out of his cage at all. He kept going to the open door and looking up at the ceiling and then backing carefully back into the cage and hiding in his sleep corner. He even pulled as many toys as he could move over to make a 'screen' in front of his sleep corner. It was obvious he was hiding from something, but what? Then I realized the ceiling fan was what was freaking him out. Since the fan also had the light for the room mounted in it, I couldn't just get rid of it, but I did take the blades off the fan and finally Emmie decided the new birdroom was safe to use.

Took me a while to figure it out. I guess it may have been a bird of prey thing?

 

[petiteoiseau]

The advice to 'get them used to changing things' is a good one. But not all birds are the same and some do not 'get used' to certain things easily and, a few, not at all. Upbringing has a lot to do with how secure the bird ends up been and, when you are dealing with a bird that is not self-assured, it's high-strung or nervous, stressing him out trying to make him 'get used' to change is more harmful than good and might even backfire and make things worse.

You have already determined that the lamp is the cause so, if I were you, I would put it on the floor, in the farthest corner and watch his body language to see if this is enough. If it's not, put it in a closet and take it out to put it in the corner for a few minutes every day and ignore until he looks relaxed with it there. Then start leaving it there longer everyday until he is fine with it for an entire week (it might be that he is fine with it in the corner from the very beginning and then you won't have to go through the first part). After a week, move it a couple of inches closer. Just a couple of inches, mind you. If he freaks out, put it back in the corner and wait another week. You see where I am going? The idea is, indeed, to desensitize him to both the lamp and to show him that change is not bad, that he can trust your judgment because you would not only never put him in danger or impose your will on him but the trick is not forcing the issue and allow him to set the pace.

 

[bygbyron3]

That's a very scary lamp that needs to be quarantined and slowly introduced to the environment. Act as if the lamp is an unusual visitor and be cautious around it for a few days then slowly bring it to fold and Elvis will catch on.

So silly how the smallest things will throw a too so off.

 

[lupe]

That's a very scary lamp that needs to be quarantined and slowly introduced to the environment. Act as if the lamp is an unusual visitor and be cautious around it for a few days then slowly bring it to fold and Elvis will catch on.

So silly how the smallest things will throw a too so off.

• I agree.....ultimately, I had to put it away. And he is still a tad spooked about flying to the couch. Last night we made a little progress. He hung out with me on the couch for a few mints. and then flew back to his cage....silly bird!!!