Help us keep our birds

[Jally]

Hubby got a great job that he is happy with. Me, not so much. I'm happy that he's happy, but his hours are horrible due to travelling so far for this job. He leaves here at 4:30AM and doesn't get home until 6:45-7:30PM depending on traffic.

The Suns, specifically Gibby our male Sun Conure is having a tough time with this new schedule. My husband is Gibby's chosen. I can not do anything with him without him charging and biting the snot out of me.

Monday, all I did was get him out of his night time cage by using a perch like I always do when I need to transport them to a different area of the house, and he ran down that perch as fast as he could and bit me 6 times on my hands. Monday night he put them in their daytime cage to sleep and that's where they've been since.

We are stressed. I'm stressed, Gibby is stressed, hubby is being unrealistic. Not to air our dirty laundry here, but he says that I'm not doing enough in this house and I need to take our daughter out to feed her horse after the daycare children leave at 5:30. I told him that once the Suns are out, I can't get them back in their cage so that I can leave the house. He says not to let them out until I am back. So, the birds need to stay in their cages from 11:00 til 6:30 or so when they are used to being out for most of the day??

He says they'll get used to it. I have 3 birds that were kept in their cages 24/7 and now throw fits to be let out. Buddy is letting feathers come in! This change may start him to pluck again.

That's not the biggest issue. The biggest issue for me to deal with is the fact that Gibby absolutely positively hates me and I swear on a stack of Bibles that I have never done anything to him!!!!! I'm the one that buys him toys, cooks him yummy things, etc etc yet I can't reach into his cage to give him those cool toys or yummy food. I can't pick him up, I can't clean his cage, I can't rearrange his toys, I can't do anything without him charging and biting me. He loves hubby but hubby is not here anymore when Gibby is awake except for a half an hour in the evening.

Gibby loves to bathe in the sink. I can't take him to the sink to bathe him.

Is there a way to change this? I refuse to wear gloves around him. I am willing to try anything but please keep in mind of my sore fingers and hands...

In the evening it is the worse because we are all waiting for him to come home and I know they feel my anxiety. I've started to turn down lights and turn off all noise makers (tv/radio) and last night we had some warm oatmeal.

Daisy isn't a problem, but when Gibby starts, as I am sure you all can guess, that starts them ALL!!

 

[Billie Faye]

Understand about the change in routine....all I can tell you is to take one day at a time....IF you are stressed, this will effect your birds...YOU have to change your way of dealing with this....not to sound uncaring and it's not meant that way....if you ware a long sleeve shirt, pull that over your hand as you are taking him out....or put a towel over that area..something different that he will think about before running down...
We all goes through this in one way or the other and just need to find what works for us...I have birds going into hormonal over load right now..so some of them and I aren't on the best of terms either....but I work around them......Others will be on to help you also...Relax, take a deep breath...this too shall work its self out with time...

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

I have a bird Rocky that hates everyone and just as soon bite you I taught Rocky to station with a large treat while working in his cage he does not stepup and gets out on his own and returns when told for another large treat he is never handled by anyone because that is what he likes I have a playtop on top his cage and do not have a night cage I hope this gives you some ideas

 

[Thugluvgrl187]

I'm sorry that the changes have been stressing you and your birds out. I hope you and your DH can come up with a resolution that will make everyone happy.

 

[birdlover82]

Could you make/get a T perch so then he wouldn't be able to reach your hand when you have him on the perch. I'm sorry you are going through this difficult time. Hope things get settled down for you and you get used to the new schedule.

 

[Jally]

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions!! BF, I do pull my sleeve down over my hands when I need to pick him up. But, they it still hurts. Those beaks are amazingly strong, especially when mad LOL I know I need to change my attitude about this. That is one thing that I can't control most days. In the AM, I am OK. I am ready to deal with this new challenge. In the PM, I am ready to call it quits. I am a bundle of nerves and usually burst out crying

I was just sitting here thinking...I have some PVC and T joints or whatever they are called, I can make a Tperch!!!

New plan of action... I knew if I posted my woes on here, someone would have some new ideas! I can't thank you guys enough!! Keep coming with the ideas, though!

 

[suncoast]

Is he bonded to Daisy? Can you handle her? Will he follow her in and out of the cage?

Ginger

 

[GG.]

you can also make a cone to slide on the end of the step up stick closest to your hand (similar to the guard on a sword):

to protect it as well, sometimes what is not seen is ignored.

This is a particularly stressful time for you as well, try to take a little time out for yourself every day

 

[Bokkapooh]

I cannot, absolutely not handle my mom's quakers if they are inside their cage. But once theyre ontop of the cage with treats I can get them in a sweeter mood so that they wont chase around the room. Sice your Hubby is gone all day I think this gives you perfect time to gain his trust through positive reinforcement and clicker training. It may take a while but it can get done. If they have a big enough cage(and since they are spending a great deal of time in the cage I recommend making sure they have the biggest cage you can get them and make sure they have plenty of foraging opportunities and many toys and perches.) then they will be OK for now. I recommend TARGET TRAINING as they are cage territorial and it may be more benenificia than regular clicker traiining.

 

[JLcribber]

The T stick is a solution for avoiding that bite so he can't just shimmy along that dowel and get a bite. Even with a guard over that kind of stick doesn't always work. They just hop over it to get you. Using a T stick keeps you flesh out of harms way. You also have more control over him when he's on it. You can spin him around whenever he starts to face you with menace in his eyes to keep him faced the other way.

I don't know how much space you have but if you have a room you can give up for them you can provide a larger safe space where they don't have to spend all that time in their cage and still be secure. If they don't get along you can divide the room up with barriers (netting, curtains, mesh etc) to keep them away from each other.

 

[Cory]

I cannot, absolutely not handle my mom's quakers if they are inside their cage. But once theyre ontop of the cage with treats I can get them in a sweeter mood so that they wont chase around the room. Sice your Hubby is gone all day I think this gives you perfect time to gain his trust through positive reinforcement and clicker training. It may take a while but it can get done. If they have a big enough cage(and since they are spending a great deal of time in the cage I recommend making sure they have the biggest cage you can get them and make sure they have plenty of foraging opportunities and many toys and perches.) then they will be OK for now. I recommend TARGET TRAINING as they are cage territorial and it may be more benenificia than regular clicker traiining.

Right on Mercedez!

What I would do is begin target training with him. It's the first thing that I teach all of my birds. Basically what target training is, is teaching the bird to orient itself towards an object. This object can be a chopstick if you like. The amazing thing about this type of training is that you can start the training inside the cage and you never have to touch the bird.

For example, I have two amazons that won't step up and can be very aggressive. I move them around with the help of this training. Here Rocky my wild caught Blue Fronted Amazon parrot demonstrates targeting to my fist (please ignore this yucky cage, it's an upgrade for him and he will be upgraded again into a more suitable size shortly):


It's pretty simple to teach an animal to target. Here's a basic step by step guide to targeting:

1. Pick a target (chopstick or other item), a reward (can be a favorite treat), a way to deliver the reward (on a long spoon maybe?), and a bridge. A bridge is what mark the desired behaviour and it tells the bird it will be rewarded. I either use a clicker for this or the word "good"

2. Condition the bridge. Basically what this means if you have to teach the bird that the bridge means it did something desirable and that a reward will follow. To do this simple use the bridge (a click or "good") and then deliver a reward. Once you do this a few times the bird should catch on.

3. If you're bird is afraid of the target, you slowly have to desensitize him to it. First you could leave it across the room in view and over time you can move it closer to him. Make sure he seems comfortable with it coming a little bit closer. If he isn't afraid of it, then you can just skip this step.

4. Hold the target close to his face. If he accidentally (or purposefully) touches it with his beak, give the bridge and then a reward. Repeat this several times.

5. Once your bird understands that touching the target is desirable to you, you can begin to move it further away. You can see if he'll reach over left, right, up, and down a few inches to touch the target. Always bridge and give a treat. At anytime these approximations (steps) are too much for him, you can lower your criteria.

6. Try to get him to target from a foot away. If he does that then you can start asking him to follow it around the cage.

7. Eventually you can ask him to target with the cage door open and then target him out of and into the cage. It's possible to have a set back here but stay positive and take a few steps back to build confidence again.


So there you have it! A very simple guide to targeting! This method will work as long as your bird is more motivated to target than to bite you. (This is called the matching law). Just keep the behaviour very strong through repetition and positive reinforcement!

Stay strong and take it one step at a time. We are here for you if you need support and help!

Please anyone fill something in if I missed something!

 

[The Wooden Parrot]

HI. My only advise is to destress - live is full of changes and you need to learn to adapt to them. Your husband being away more might even cause Gibby to start to look a bit more fondly toward you. My G2 would only let me handle him for a long time. When I started sharing my time, with other new birds we got, and was busy enough that I wasn't giving him as much attention he learned to let my husband touch him. Now he loves both of us equally. If the cage time is a problem I would go with a stick with a gaurd on it or get a bigger cage if he has to spend more time in it. Most husbands don't think thier wifes do enough around the house, don't worry about it. Do what needs to be done and don't stress the rest. Be sure to make some time for just you and him to do something together at least once a week even if it means letting other stuff not get done.

 

[Danita]

I don't have much to add. I just want to say, life isn't always perfect, even for our pets. They go through good times and bad times just like us. They do adapt.
My bg is very bonded to my husband, sure she mopes when she can't spend much time with him, like your husband it may only be a half an hour before bed. She adjusts, I feel terrible for her some days, my husband says I am projecting human emotions on to her. Anyway Kiwi is happy, she loves my husband so much, she is grateful for any time she gets with him.

 

[Jally]

Wow! Thank you Cory! I'm going to print all these tips out, especially yours! If that works for you and your wild caught parrot, hopefully it will work for us. At this point, if I tried to do that with Gibby, I would have a pierced thumb nail!

Gibby and Daisy are bonded, but only to Gibby. Daisy could live with him or without.

I took Daisy downtown to get her wings clipped this morning and the lady who clips our birds told me that she'd help me work with Gibby as well.

I think we will be OK. My absolute last choice was to rehome Gibby or both of them, but as I was talking to the lady at the birdstore, she had a phone call for someone to take their bird. She said that her phone has been ringing off the hook with requests like that since Christmas. It was like an epiphany for me.

 

[Cory]

Wow! Thank you Cory! I'm going to print all these tips out, especially yours! If that works for you and your wild caught parrot, hopefully it will work for us.

My Pleasure! If you have any questions about target training, training in general, or have any issues while working with your bird, feel free to get in touch with me and I would be happy to help you through the process.

It's a bad habit of mine to look through Kijiji advertisements of bird in my area. There are so many birds being re-homed because of their issues, so thumbs up for you for trying to work with your birds! I'm taking a deep breathe because I'm sure they'll be many more posted after the holidays and I hate seeing things like that .

 

[Jally]

Same here. That is how we got our Jenday and Dusky conures and our newest lovebird. I'm a sucker for a bird in need. I find birds to give homes to, not find homes for my birds.

Thanks for the offer. I'm sure I'll be taking you up on it very soon!

 

[J*M*L]

hubby is being unrealistic. Not to air our dirty laundry here, but he says that I'm not doing enough in this house

You're husband should be very grateful for all that you do. You sound like an amazing wife. I'm sending you a cyber spa day, but take a real one if you can make the time!

 

[Jally]

Thank you Kristen! I was able to transport him from the living room to the kitchen yesterday because he wanted to be with Daisy who was already in the kitchen with me. When he nicely came with me, I held him as close as I could to my body without him freaking out and didn't talk to him at all. But, when he got to the kitchen boing, I praised him with lots of good boys and some oatmeal!

Thanks Julie!! He has since apologized after I explained that I only have 24 hours in a day, same as everyone else and I reminded him of all that I do in this house for him and the children plus all the animals plus having the daycare children here... if I get any time for myself I feel so guilty and reckless LOL I feel as if I should be doing something.

I might be on the computer, but I'm also paying bills or cooking dinner, etc etc. Anyway, he knows that he made a big booboo and I'm going to play it up big time! I want a pair of Yoga pants And if I play my cards right, I just may get a pair!

 

[waterfaller1]

I hope everything works out and settles down for you into a workable routine. I like the target training and T-stand ideas.