I am being hunted again :(

[April]

Hey @Shezbug how have things been going? Did Burt manage to snap any more of the bars?

 

[Wardy]

Sounds a nightmare wishing you the best of luck Shez

 

[Shezbug]

Hey @Shezbug how have things been going? Did Burt manage to snap any more of the bars?

He is all over the place, nice one second then not.

He has chipped through a lot more wood than usual, undone 2 EH ball skewers and dropped them (so much for them being bird proof lol), busted nearly every plastic toy he usually likes to fiddle with and throw about so they are all binned now lol, I have totally rearranged how I do things so he has absolutely no clue what to expect.

It is tiring and horrible but I try not to spend too long in one hit at his cage when I clean it because it seems to be a huge trigger so I open the and then leave the room, come back in 30 seconds with a fresh dish of water and pellets and something really random (rice cooker, hair dryer, egg beaters, kitchen chair etc) that he does not expect to see in that room, so, while he is not busy focussing on me and he is busy checking out what I have brought in and he is working out if he is still safe, I grab a dirty sheet of paper out of the cage then move the random item I brought in a few cms then I walk out of the room and return again in a few seconds (I have been doing this at least four times while emptying the cage and again while replacing paper and toys etc), he seems so unsure of what I am doing and is too busy checking that the items from the kitchen are still safe to be near when they are in his room to get a chance to fly at me ready for war.
I feel positively horrible and a bit evil but I've totally limited spending any time with him as well as his out of cage time.
He goes from calm and normal to scary insane and aggressive within a few seconds and I get very little warning so I can not trust him, he is getting peeved at me for touching my own zipper on my jacket or brushing my hair off my face- he can not be trusted at all right now.
I have a very short time frame of interacting with him where it is safe, I was able to shove him in his bag and take him outside yesterday for a little walk about to pass some time and give his brain a break from being mad at me and also from just being in the cage for so long it went well so I might give that a go again later today.

 

[April]

He is all over the place, nice one second then not.

He has chipped through a lot more wood than usual, undone 2 EH ball skewers and dropped them (so much for them being bird proof lol), busted nearly every plastic toy he usually likes to fiddle with and throw about so they are all binned now lol, I have totally rearranged how I do things so he has absolutely no clue what to expect.

It is tiring and horrible but I try not to spend too long in one hit at his cage when I clean it because it seems to be a huge trigger so I open the and then leave the room, come back in 30 seconds with a fresh dish of water and pellets and something really random (rice cooker, hair dryer, egg beaters, kitchen chair etc) that he does not expect to see in that room, so, while he is not busy focussing on me and he is busy checking out what I have brought in and he is working out if he is still safe, I grab a dirty sheet of paper out of the cage then move the random item I brought in a few cms then I walk out of the room and return again in a few seconds (I have been doing this at least four times while emptying the cage and again while replacing paper and toys etc), he seems so unsure of what I am doing and is too busy checking that the items from the kitchen are still safe to be near when they are in his room to get a chance to fly at me ready for war.
I feel positively horrible and a bit evil but I've totally limited spending any time with him as well as his out of cage time.
He goes from calm and normal to scary insane and aggressive within a few seconds and I get very little warning so I can not trust him, he is getting peeved at me for touching my own zipper on my jacket or brushing my hair off my face- he can not be trusted at all right now.
I have a very short time frame of interacting with him where it is safe, I was able to shove him in his bag and take him outside yesterday for a little walk about to pass some time and give his brain a break from being mad at me and also from just being in the cage for so long it went well so I might give that a go again later today.

Goodness this sounds like such a challenge, I'm glad you've found a strategy that seems to be working for you though that's really encouraging that he hasn't been able to nab you and inflict any damage.
I really hope that he'll start to settle down more soon and be safer to be around.

 

[Sarahmoluccan]

I get feeling guilty but honestly you're doing your best in a really difficult situation. I know this is difficult on both of you.

He just turned 5 right? Is this the second year he's been this way during the time he's really hormonal? I think it's really clever the way you distract him by bring in new and different objects. I might want keep a small dairy about his mood and what's been working for him, so just so you have something to reference next year. Its sounds exhausting so even you just jaunt down simple notes could be helpful. And maybe it could an idea of a time frame about how long he stays like this. Best of luck with it!

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Aw Shez…. Don’t feel guilty or evil. You are offering distractions so you can keep his environment clean. I once put an old belt on top of Henry’s cage where the door was so I could change his papers. He was mad and afraid at the same time so he hung on the bars outside the back of his cage. I might have only done that a couple times. The rest of the angry times I held a perch to keep him at bay. I made a grave mistake on not training him to step up onto a perch when he was young. Always by hand whether he was inside or out of his cage. To this day he doesn’t trust a perch held by hand. Burt is in his season now right? For maybe a couple months or more? I know how frightful it is but you are doing what you need to do and it won’t compromise your relationship. Be sure to drop a couple of tough nuts for him to enjoy when you leave his space to end on a good note. I was thinking about you and Burt the other day when my sister was telling me how many hickory nuts she was picking up from her trees. I googled to see if they were edible and they are… just not popular because the shell is so hard. I thought… ooo perfect for Burt!!!

 

[Clueless]

Great thought @Sarahmoluccan

Notes about what helped this year could help next.

 

[Shezbug]

I get feeling guilty but honestly you're doing your best in a really difficult situation. I know this is difficult on both of you.

He just turned 5 right? Is this the second year he's been this way during the time he's really hormonal? I think it's really clever the way you distract him by bring in new and different objects. I might want keep a small dairy about his mood and what's been working for him, so just so you have something to reference next year. Its sounds exhausting so even you just jaunt down simple notes could be helpful. And maybe it could an idea of a time frame about how long he stays like this. Best of luck with it!

He did just turn 5 and yes this is the second year in summer that he changed to a bird I don't feel I can trust or predict.

I have this awesome place to keep some records I can easily look back here if I feel I need a reminder how I dealt with it.

He is molting pretty heavy too and he is always a bit tetchy when he has lots of new large feathers growing back in, he just dropped another tail feather today.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

He did just turn 5 and yes this is the second year in summer that he changed to a bird I don't feel I can trust or predict.

I have this awesome place to keep some records I can easily look back here if I feel I need a reminder how I dealt with it.

He is molting pretty heavy too and he is always a bit tetchy when he has lots of new large feathers growing back in, he just dropped another tail feather today.

i wasn’t sure if you were in summer now. We’ve been having semi- warm winter here so far. Some of my birds are molting. But my gosh Henry is really molting now. He’s been a very good boy, moves away when I say excuse me and will press his head to the bars when I ask to touch him. I was rubbing his chunky cheeks and under is chin last night…. I can feel a bunch of new pins. I’m surprised he’s not testy. I wanna hug him, scratch that big head, rub those fat toes and kiss him on the beak! I ordered him two pounds of pine nuts ( a couple a day only)…. Will share with Lola!

 

[flyzipper]

I was playing with AI-generated images and came up with these...

A Blue and Gold Macaw fighting its human owner in the style of Frank Frazetta...

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A Blue and Gold Macaw wearing armour in the style of Frank Frazetta...

​

 

[tka]

I think it's Shezbug who needs to be wearing armour!

 

[Shezbug]

I think it's Shezbug who needs to be wearing armour!

I think you hit the nail on the head lol.
I have been making the washing trolley follow me everywhere with odd things in it such as the wok when Burt is out- he still thinks it might try to eat him so he is too busy sussing the trolley out to bother me lol.

I was playing with AI-generated images and came up with these...

A Blue and Gold Macaw fighting its human owner in the style of Frank Frazetta...

View attachment 418982​

A Blue and Gold Macaw wearing armour in the style of Frank Frazetta...

View attachment 418983​

Have no clue who Frank F is but the pics are pretty groovy!

 

[Dona]

lol, Shez, a teeny version of this is my Linnie Gigi who loves to confront me most mornings at every food dish entrance. Now I deliver her food with a mini American Girl doll in the same hand and she scoots off.