It could be related, but it could also be that there is not enough humidity to the air. If you take your bird into the bathroom after running a hot shower enough to steam it up and the bird quits sneezing, then I would consider a humidifier, but they must be kept clean so that they don't add any mold or fungal spores to the air. When in doubt a visit to the vet may be the best choice.
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rough play or really angry?
- Thread starter GCC_Quijote
- Start date
One of my green cheeks is going through her birdy puberty and she's gotten to be quite the biter. I decided to encourage and reward good behavior and I've had great luck with it. I've had her long enough to recognize her body language and when she seems to be getting "ruffled" (read aggressive), I find something to distract her with and then tell her to "step up" and I cuddle and scritch her. Then she gets a treat of her own choosing. It's been an evolving process over the span of a few months but her biting has DRAMATICALLY decreased. Now, she mostly only bites other people when they get too close (I know it's something I should discourage but it's also quite flattering to me, haha). To make sure she doesn't associate the aggression with treats, I emphasize any kind of good "step up" behavior with a treat (even it's the opportunity to drink from my water or eat off my plate). I'm not an expert, but I hope this helps in some way!
- Joined
- 4/5/15
- Messages
- 227
- Real Name
- Hannah Mosqueda
I've actually found recently that a big part of it seems to have been my attitude. I have recently taken to acting like I'm more likely to accidentally do damage to him than the other way around.
When he gets nippy at me, I'll scritch his head and speak nicely to him. When he grabs too hard, I just pull the hand away, and bring it back to scritch him some more.
He is biting a lot less, and coming over to us of his own accord to play. His rough play has gotten gentler too. He just doesn't bite us as hard.
As to the humidity.... I think we may have hit the nail on the head. We just got an air purifier and I've read that those can leech the humidity from the air. I'll try boiling some fresh water on the stove a couple times a day while I look into humidifiers.
When he gets nippy at me, I'll scritch his head and speak nicely to him. When he grabs too hard, I just pull the hand away, and bring it back to scritch him some more.
He is biting a lot less, and coming over to us of his own accord to play. His rough play has gotten gentler too. He just doesn't bite us as hard.
As to the humidity.... I think we may have hit the nail on the head. We just got an air purifier and I've read that those can leech the humidity from the air. I'll try boiling some fresh water on the stove a couple times a day while I look into humidifiers.
- Joined
- 4/5/15
- Messages
- 227
- Real Name
- Hannah Mosqueda
Just an update:
Quijote only rarely bites now, and not nearly as hard. He 'nips' during play, and to get our attention, but these are very gentle and painless and we've come to understand the difference.
So, the rough play remains, but we let him initiate the game, and it seems to me that he's learning the difference between an acceptable play bite, and a too hard bite.
Quijote only rarely bites now, and not nearly as hard. He 'nips' during play, and to get our attention, but these are very gentle and painless and we've come to understand the difference.
So, the rough play remains, but we let him initiate the game, and it seems to me that he's learning the difference between an acceptable play bite, and a too hard bite.
