How do I encourage independent behaviors?

[TinyFeathers]

Hello! My 2 year old GCC is extremely dependant on me. He will scream for me whenever I leave, even if its just for minutes. He's calm when I'm there, but the moment I get up he freaks out.

I've noticed that he doesn't seem to play with his toys when I'm gone, he tends to just sit on a perch and wait. Sometimes I wonder if he even eats while I'm gone.

So my question is, how do I encourage independent behaviors to help him rely less on me and have fun when I'm gone?

He also is quite aggressive when I come home, which isn't a great. It would be great to know how to encourage something other than calling for me or to prevent the aggression.

Any advice or help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Shezbug]

@Monica can hopefully help with information and links

 

[Wardy]

Questions for Experienced GCC Owners

I'm ashamed to talk about this and hate to bring this up on Avian Avenue because I'm admitting my struggles with Sulley the GCC. I believed that because my significant other and myself had past parrot experience with cockatiels and budgies AND did our research on GCCs, we would be prepared for...

forums.avianavenue.com

It would be worth having a look at this thread @WikiWaz is having similar issues there is some good advice on this thread.

 

[flyzipper]

He will scream for me whenever I leave, even if its just for minutes. He's calm when I'm there, but the moment I get up he freaks out.

He also is quite aggressive when I come home

How do you respond to these situations?
To modify a learned behaviour from your bird, you'll need to identify what you need to change in yourself because you're the other half of the dynamic.

My 2 year old GCC is extremely dependant on me.

Two years corresponds to Covid lockdowns. Since you acquired your little guy during the pandemic when you may have been home more than usual, has your daily routine changed recently? When did the behaviour start?

The theme here is to look at what you're doing that may be contributing to your little guy's unwanted behaviour.

RE: How do I encourage independent behaviors?

The high level approach is to reward wanted behaviours, and avoid inadvertently reinforcing unwanted behaviours.

 

[WikiWaz]

@Wardy I may not be the best person to talk about this right now. We have found our GCC would be better in a one bird home, and are looking to re-home. Sulley lashed out very aggressively to our budgies twice today. :-(

As long as Sulley stays with us, our other birds do not get attention. We were doing well training our budgies, but now since we've put Sulley on a schedule where we focus on her 2 to 3 hours a day, the other birds do not get time with us. Our target training with Sprite and Wisp has been non-existent these past three weeks, and they are becoming skittish again.

It just hurts to be making this decision.

 

[Shezbug]

@Wardy I may not be the best person to talk about this right now. We have found our GCC would be better in a one bird home, and are looking to re-home. Sulley lashed out very aggressively to our budgies twice today. :-(

As long as Sulley stays with us, our other birds do not get attention. We were doing well training our budgies, but now since we've put Sulley on a schedule where we focus on her 2 to 3 hours a day, the other birds do not get time with us. Our target training with Sprite and Wisp has been non-existent these past three weeks, and they are becoming skittish again.

It just hurts to be making this decision.

I think it was more for the OP to have a read through your thread and see if any advices you were given are helpful for them.

 

[Wardy]

I think it was more for the OP to have a read through your thread and see if any advices you were given are helpful for them.

Was sharing for the info on the thread as Shez said.

 

[WikiWaz]

I think it was more for the OP to have a read through your thread and see if any advices you were given are helpful for them.

True. Could you delete my post?

 

[WikiWaz]

Was sharing for the info on the thread as Shez said.

Sorry you are right. I'm not thinking straight.

 

[TinyFeathers]

How do you respond to these situations?
To modify a learned behaviour from your bird, you'll need to identify what you need to change in yourself because you're the other half of the dynamic.

Often I've tried to remove myself from the situation or give him no reaction. However, it never seemed to change anything. He kind of just accepted the aggression and screaming as something that's okay. So recently I tried being sterner with him and saying no, but obviously, that didn't help either.

Two years corresponds to Covid lockdowns. Since you acquired your little guy during the pandemic when you may have been home more than usual, has your daily routine changed recently? When did the behaviour start?

The theme here is to look at what you're doing that may be contributing to your little guy's unwanted behaviour.

Yes, he's a lockdown baby. I used to spend every hour with him but now that I'm in school it's difficult to maintain that time I used to give him. The behaviours were always there because he was very dependent, but yes it's been much worse now.

I'm not really sure what else I can do to change my reactions. I guess I could try being more consistent with it all.

 

[TinyFeathers]

@Wardy I may not be the best person to talk about this right now. We have found our GCC would be better in a one bird home, and are looking to re-home. Sulley lashed out very aggressively to our budgies twice today. :-(

As long as Sulley stays with us, our other birds do not get attention. We were doing well training our budgies, but now since we've put Sulley on a schedule where we focus on her 2 to 3 hours a day, the other birds do not get time with us. Our target training with Sprite and Wisp has been non-existent these past three weeks, and they are becoming skittish again.

It just hurts to be making this decision.

Oh no I'm so sorry!

 

[Shezbug]

True. Could you delete my post?

It’s fine to stay. I think it’s fairly easy to see from the following posts what the mix up was about.

 

[Bobbi]

Hello! My 2 year old GCC is extremely dependant on me. He will scream for me whenever I leave, even if its just for minutes. He's calm when I'm there, but the moment I get up he freaks out.

I've noticed that he doesn't seem to play with his toys when I'm gone, he tends to just sit on a perch and wait. Sometimes I wonder if he even eats while I'm gone.

So my question is, how do I encourage independent behaviors to help him rely less on me and have fun when I'm gone?

He also is quite aggressive when I come home, which isn't a great. It would be great to know how to encourage something other than calling for me or to prevent the aggression.

Any advice or help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hi my little Bobbi is the same he screams my name the minute I leave the room! My Bobbi is a kind of rescue bird and didn’t have a good life! So I kind of love him doing this but I do know that apparently they can over bond to much i would like some advice also on this

 

[Bobbi]

He doesn’t play with his toys either he just wants me sitting with him all day

 

[Shezbug]

Hi my little Bobbi is the same he screams my name the minute I leave the room! My Bobbi is a kind of rescue bird and didn’t have a good life! So I kind of love him doing this but I do know that apparently they can over bond to much i would like some advice also on this

You will get some help if you make a thread explaining what is happening and what you would like for your particular situation

 

[parrotcafe]

I find having a routine is very important to my girl and I try not to stray from it. She knows her out of cage time and interaction with me is from 7 am to 9 am and again from 3 pm to 6 pm. The rest of the time she is expected to play independently in her cage as I won’t give her much interaction outside of those hours. I find having a routine helps tremendously.