tylemaker
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 3/4/24
- Messages
- 2
Hi AvianAvenue,
Hoping for some help with our feathered friend.
Backstory:
My wife and I adopted a 6 year old male Cockatiel named Maru about half a year ago. In his old home, Maru was in the cage 99% of the time, on a seed-only diet, and had 24/7 access to a mirror in his cage. He was also somewhat scared of hands, and was generally not overly friendly. The family rehomed because they didn't have time for him anymore.
Since adopting Maru, my wife and I have worked very hard to improve his diet, sleep, and life, he now steps up, does some flight training, whistles "Happy and know it" and "September" and generally loves us. Maru is a solo tiel, but I work from home 95% of the time so he is rarely left alone.
Reflection Obsession:
Because Maru was living with a mirror in his cage for many years before we got him, we think he bonded to his reflection. When we got him we immediately removed his mirror, which stressed him out at first but he seemed to settle fairly quickly. Generally , if we can keep him from his reflection, he is a very good, friendly, happy bird.
Unfortunately, this has proven more and more difficult.
First, he would try flying to mirrors (bathroom mirrors etc) so we covered them up.
Then he noticed he could see his reflection in the TV screen, so we covered the TV up or kept him off of it.
Next he noticed he could see his reflection in the window by his playgym and would start singing to himself in it. So any time he was out there we pulled the blinds down.
Then it was the microwave and the metal cabinet handles. So we cover those.
Like I said above, if we kept him away from his reflection, he is a very happy, friendly bird. If he thinks he can see himself, he becomes obsessed, and will spend hours trying to fly to his reflection, sing to his reflection, and aggressively attack anyone that comes near. He won't even eat or drink, all he wants is his reflection.
Shadow Obsession:
The problem got to a breaking point in the last 1-2 weeks as Maru has discovered his shadow. in absence of his reflection, Maru has become obsessed with his shadow. And it's A LOT harder to prevent shadows than reflections. The last several days he has spent all of his 12 waking hours:
1. Perching on door frames so he can try see his shadow in the wall and sing to it (even if there's no shadow to see)
2. Flying from perch to perch so he can see his shadow on the wall as he flies
3. If he's not actively seeing his shadow he's looking at the wall trying to find it. Nothing snaps him out of this, he won't take treats, he won't eat, he won't sing, all he does is look for his shadow.
He has gotten very aggressive, if he's perched by a wall where he thinks he can see a shadow he will viciously attack anyone that comes near. He has bitten my wife and broken skin twice in the last few days, and normally he loves her and won't leave her shoulder.
Here is a picture of him perched on a doorway trying to see his shadow, he has spent most of the last few days doing this.
Solutions:
We have talked to 3 different avian vets and bird specialists and researched as much as possible. The options suggested include:
1. More darkness/sleep to reduce hormones (He already gets ~12 hours a night and we're trying to get that to 13-14)
2. Less darkness/sleep, to give him more active/awake time.
3. Getting a second bird (we are considering this, but the worry is it either won't help, or they won't get along)
4. More foraging and mental stimulation (we already give him lots of foraging and have been working on him with toys and tricks, but the last few days he won't eat, drink, or play, as he spends all day looking for his shadow)
5. Rearranging his cage (we did that a few days ago, it hasn't helped yet)
6. Increasing his cage time (he currently spends all day outside his cage, only reluctantly going in to sleep)
7. Giving him limited mirror access, or access to a small mirror on his play-gym.
So I am asking this subreddit for help, what suggestions do people have? This has gotten very bad and we want him to be happy, we also don't want him to be so aggressive. Should we give him limited mirror access? Should we get a second bird? If so, what if that doesn't help? Has anyone had success with such behaviors?
Here is a picture of Maru happily singing when he is not in his reflection-obsessed-trance:
Thank you!
Hoping for some help with our feathered friend.
Backstory:
My wife and I adopted a 6 year old male Cockatiel named Maru about half a year ago. In his old home, Maru was in the cage 99% of the time, on a seed-only diet, and had 24/7 access to a mirror in his cage. He was also somewhat scared of hands, and was generally not overly friendly. The family rehomed because they didn't have time for him anymore.
Since adopting Maru, my wife and I have worked very hard to improve his diet, sleep, and life, he now steps up, does some flight training, whistles "Happy and know it" and "September" and generally loves us. Maru is a solo tiel, but I work from home 95% of the time so he is rarely left alone.
Reflection Obsession:
Because Maru was living with a mirror in his cage for many years before we got him, we think he bonded to his reflection. When we got him we immediately removed his mirror, which stressed him out at first but he seemed to settle fairly quickly. Generally , if we can keep him from his reflection, he is a very good, friendly, happy bird.
Unfortunately, this has proven more and more difficult.
First, he would try flying to mirrors (bathroom mirrors etc) so we covered them up.
Then he noticed he could see his reflection in the TV screen, so we covered the TV up or kept him off of it.
Next he noticed he could see his reflection in the window by his playgym and would start singing to himself in it. So any time he was out there we pulled the blinds down.
Then it was the microwave and the metal cabinet handles. So we cover those.
Like I said above, if we kept him away from his reflection, he is a very happy, friendly bird. If he thinks he can see himself, he becomes obsessed, and will spend hours trying to fly to his reflection, sing to his reflection, and aggressively attack anyone that comes near. He won't even eat or drink, all he wants is his reflection.
Shadow Obsession:
The problem got to a breaking point in the last 1-2 weeks as Maru has discovered his shadow. in absence of his reflection, Maru has become obsessed with his shadow. And it's A LOT harder to prevent shadows than reflections. The last several days he has spent all of his 12 waking hours:
1. Perching on door frames so he can try see his shadow in the wall and sing to it (even if there's no shadow to see)
2. Flying from perch to perch so he can see his shadow on the wall as he flies
3. If he's not actively seeing his shadow he's looking at the wall trying to find it. Nothing snaps him out of this, he won't take treats, he won't eat, he won't sing, all he does is look for his shadow.
He has gotten very aggressive, if he's perched by a wall where he thinks he can see a shadow he will viciously attack anyone that comes near. He has bitten my wife and broken skin twice in the last few days, and normally he loves her and won't leave her shoulder.
Here is a picture of him perched on a doorway trying to see his shadow, he has spent most of the last few days doing this.
Solutions:
We have talked to 3 different avian vets and bird specialists and researched as much as possible. The options suggested include:
1. More darkness/sleep to reduce hormones (He already gets ~12 hours a night and we're trying to get that to 13-14)
2. Less darkness/sleep, to give him more active/awake time.
3. Getting a second bird (we are considering this, but the worry is it either won't help, or they won't get along)
4. More foraging and mental stimulation (we already give him lots of foraging and have been working on him with toys and tricks, but the last few days he won't eat, drink, or play, as he spends all day looking for his shadow)
5. Rearranging his cage (we did that a few days ago, it hasn't helped yet)
6. Increasing his cage time (he currently spends all day outside his cage, only reluctantly going in to sleep)
7. Giving him limited mirror access, or access to a small mirror on his play-gym.
So I am asking this subreddit for help, what suggestions do people have? This has gotten very bad and we want him to be happy, we also don't want him to be so aggressive. Should we give him limited mirror access? Should we get a second bird? If so, what if that doesn't help? Has anyone had success with such behaviors?
Here is a picture of Maru happily singing when he is not in his reflection-obsessed-trance:
Thank you!