• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Help me, please, with my feather plucker, self mutilator, scared, and aggressive CH Conure

camelotshadow

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
11/9/11
Messages
21,494
Location
S California
Real Name
Christine
Well, it could be worse...;) Opie will get along its not the few moments of absence that matter but it's the long haul of love & care you provide.

My poor guys had to be rudely awoken as did I out of a sound sleep at 5AM because a tenant locked himself out.
The phone did not wake me but the pounding at the door did as first I thought it was a earthquake til my brain slowly came back to check my phone & to see 2 messages.

Needless to say it was hard to go back to sleep & I was a zombie today but my guys seemed to have been OK
although I'm sure the banging must have scared & awoken them...

:banghead:
 

SumitaSinh

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/6/20
Messages
2,416
I received a request for photos, so I took these just a few moments ago!

View attachment 394344
View attachment 394345
My dreamy eyed boy!

I'm afraid I've hit quite a plateau with my Opie. I'm so, so busy at work, that our training time is shorter than it has ever been. I really hope that I will eventually be able to encourage him to fly. That is my dream for him.

He is also showing signs of becoming a it hormonal again. I'm hoping this is just because he is molting, and not that I'll have to deal with spring and fall hormones! Time will tell.

For all my birds, I'm just really frustrated because I literally work, eat, take care of birds, and sleep. And the taking care of birds is often the bare-bones minimum of feeding, cleaning cages, and a bit of out of cage time. We are profoundly short staffed at work, and I'm often working until 8 or 9 at night.

Hang in there, Opie! Mom is going to make this better, I promise!!
Same here... Thank god my mom in law keeps Inca busy.
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
I received a request for photos, so I took these just a few moments ago!

View attachment 394344
View attachment 394345
Well, it could be worse...;) Opie will get along its not the few moments of absence that matter but it's the long haul of love & care you provide.

My poor guys had to be rudely awoken as did I out of a sound sleep at 5AM because a tenant locked himself out.
The phone did not wake me but the pounding at the door did as first I thought it was a earthquake til my brain slowly came back to check my phone & to see 2 messages.

Needless to say it was hard to go back to sleep & I was a zombie today but my guys seemed to have been OK
although I'm sure the banging must have scared & awoken them...

:banghead:
I'm so sorry you all had such a day!!
 

MR. Mango

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/4/20
Messages
1,774
What a handsome boy, he always reminds me of pistachio ice cream with a cherry on top :loveshower:
 

dollfish

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
12/10/19
Messages
1,000
Location
Istanbul
Real Name
Zeynep Dollfish
I wish it were actual flapping! It’s more like rapid shaking of the wings but he holds them just slightly away from his body.
I'm sorry if this has already been answered as I didn't read all 12 pages but I'm going to say yes, this could very well be hormonal. In fact it sounds very similar to what Astro does when very hormonal.

May I suggest removing the top tray of Opie's cage to make it more open and less perceivably nest like?
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
Hi @dollfish. His hormonal behavior, it turns out, is more vocal, more territorial, and the backing up to any toy on the top of his cage to masturbate on. The wing fluttering for him is more attention-seeking behavior and wanting out of his cage.

I’ve never used the top tray for his cage. When the budgies are out, I cover the top with a sheet of clear polycarbonate to keep him from getting to their toes. When he’s out, he just walks across the cage top. He doesn’t like flat surfaces so far.
 

Pat H

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
9/27/19
Messages
2,396
Location
Apple River, IL
Real Name
Pat
Opie’s new behavior is grabbing the cage bars and trying to pluck them like a guitar string. That is one I don’t understand.
Might not be the same thing, but... Our Cockatoo sometimes 'grinds' on the bars. She enjoys to bang a metal toy against them-- does Opie have any hanging on the bars?
 

faislaq

I have macaws and don't post enough pictures
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
10/25/16
Messages
16,507
Location
Texas
Real Name
Karen
Opie’s new behavior is grabbing the cage bars and trying to pluck them like a guitar string. That is one I don’t understand.
o_O Perhaps he is trying to woo you?

:serenade:
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
Might not be the same thing, but... Our Cockatoo sometimes 'grinds' on the bars. She enjoys to bang a metal toy against them-- does Opie have any hanging on the bars?
When he’s anxious to get my attention, he will hang on the bars with his beak while dangling his feet and squawking! This ‘plucking’ on the bars is something he does on the horizontal bars of the cage (on each end). He will be hanging onto the bars with his feet and just start plucking the nearest bar with his beak. It makes a very unusual sound, lol!
 

Dartman

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
10/20/12
Messages
9,254
Location
Portland Oregon
Real Name
Terry
He's probably just discovered he likes the sound and he's also trying to get your attention. Nerd used to grab his favorite tube bell outside his cage and shake the crap outa it then stop and look at me like did you hear that dad.
 

scrape

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
2,504
Opie reminds me of when I had my cockatiel. Hormonal and defensive, haha. Can't help loving them, though.:)
 

Drakitty

Meeting neighbors
Joined
1/8/22
Messages
23
Looks like you have had your Plucker for about as long as I've had mine, maybe we can compare notes sometime. I haven't read this whole thread but I plan to over the next couple of days, just to see if I can glean and helpful hints.
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
Looks like you have had your Plucker for about as long as I've had mine, maybe we can compare notes sometime. I haven't read this whole thread but I plan to over the next couple of days, just to see if I can glean and helpful hints.
If you can learn anything from this thread, that's great! At this point with Opie, if he doesn't mutilate himself again, I'll be ecstatic!
 

Kassiani

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/12/20
Messages
6,832
Location
Southeastern U.S.
I’m cautiously happy to report that it has been more than a year since I have had to put a collar in Opie!! :marlenesmile:

He will step onto a rope perch for me fairly reliably, and I have started ‘touch’ training. Kind of like at the zoo when they train the animals to be touched for when a vet needs to examine them. I can gently stroke the front of his beak, and I am working on gently stroking the very top of his head (which he grudgingly allows sometimes, lol). Progress!
 

Kiwi's Dad

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/21/21
Messages
2,380
Location
Florida
Real Name
Sebastian
Amazing to hear!:bighug:
 
Top