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Bomo08

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
9/10/17
Messages
2
My boyfriend and I recently got a bird. We both work from home so we're home all the time. I have a pet ball python but my boyfriend after a long time decided that he wanted a pet of his own and he really liked birds. After some talking, researching and looking around, he decided that he wanted a Green Cheek Conure.

We found one locally for sale and he's only about 1 inching to 2 years old. His previous owner was a smoker female who had no time left for him. We do not clip his wings. We've had him for a little over a week now and this is how it's been:

Azir is extremely loving the first day and handled the move very quickly even so much that he is extremely quick to mimic our voices and clicks and sounds. We've learned that it's not that common but not exactly rare to have such a quickly mimicking conure and my boyfriend is really glad over this.

The second day one of his friends came over as they played some computer games together. Azir was ok with the guest and didn't do much. He really likes to sit on shoulders and it can be a hassle to get him off sometimes. We told the friend that Azir is still able to fly and he's been flying between my work room and my boyfriends work room. At one point Azir flew from the bedroom to the living room and severely startled the friend leading him to be screaming and swiping at Azir when he was looking to sit on his shoulder originally. Since then Azir -hates- said friend which we are fine with. The friend doesn't come over too often if rarely at all so no worries there.

From that day Azir has been more keen to bite hard which he wasn't doing before that day at all. He's drawn blood on myself and my boyfriends hands and it has really disheartened my boyfriend but I remind him why it probably started and keep his spirits up to be patient and keep practicing with his new pet. (Side note, I do not ever have my pet ball python Andi out ever when the bird is out so no worries there)

While he works on his computer, Azir will be on his shoulder and he will treat Azir when he is being good or does good things. At seemingly random times however, Azir will climb down from the shoulder and puff up really big and climb onto the keyboard, aiming to draw blood on my boyfriend or my own hands while we are working. We've been sure to stop working every few minutes and give him positive reinforcement when he's being good on our shoulders. When the few times either one of us is not able to spend too much time with him, we give him to the other while the other focuses on work for a bit as needed until ready again.

The biggest concern is this keyboard aggression as our work focuses on using computers (myself a digital artist and my boyfriend a video game account booster). We love him terribly and if we're awake, after he eats breakfast, he's out with us and is free to fly between rooms which he does every so often to check up on either or. We don't think it's the sound of the keyboard as he'll sit calmly on our shoulders or desks or monitors for long periods of time without hassle. We also don't think it's him trying to say we're spending too much time on our computers as we do make a point to literally every few minutes talk to Azir, reinforce positive behavior, play, walk around the house with him, etc.

Is he trying to claim the keyboard as his territory perhaps when he does this? Or is he simply demanding more attention than the already frequent attention we give him?

Thanks for your help!
 

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Bomo08

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
9/10/17
Messages
2
Also my apologies if this is posted in the wrong thread ^^' new user and slightly confused
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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Lois
It is not keyboard aggression, it is jealousy. If you are giving the keyboard and the games attention, he is not getting the attention. I had the same problem with my Meyers Parrot and i took me two years to retrain him from biting when I picked up a book, magazine or the TV remote and the phone! He wants attention.
 

iamwhoiam

Ripping up the road
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Welcome to AA and congrats on getting Azir. Agree with Lois....he's jealous and wants attention.
 

Mizzely

Lil Monsters Bird Toys
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Shawna [she/her]
It is not keyboard aggression, it is jealousy. If you are giving the keyboard and the games attention, he is not getting the attention. I had the same problem with my Meyers Parrot and i took me two years to retrain him from biting when I picked up a book, magazine or the TV remote and the phone! He wants attention.

Yep lol. Jealousy for sure.

Can you keep foot toys on your desks to distract him with while you are working?
 
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