I Feel Sooo Bad

[Jazzysmama]

I'm so confused, I hope I've done the right thing. I'm extremely mixed on having birds flighted. I believe they are meant to fly for happiness and exercise, yet you really risk losing them which happened to me many years ago. My gcc turned one yr. old this past march 1st. We let her become flighted and she got very good at flying. Since we've let her be flighted, we've developed problems with her. Once she began flying, the bird gym I made became a dust collector. She stopped playing with the toys on it, we became the toy, she'd fly to everyone's head and play with their hair. Then came more problems. She'd scream every time I went to the kitchen because she couldn't fly out to it and be with me. These past couple of days have been horrible, she has started screeching at the top of her little lungs every second she has to be confined to her cage. I don't allow her out when I'm baking, cooking and such for safety reasons. She thinks, If I scream, mom will let me out. My hubby did that which reinforced it. When I caught him doing that I told him to stop and ignore her. Ignoring her does NOT work. She can get quite loud. She acts extremely hormonal, has for awhile now. When she is on me, all she wants to do is raise her tail and rub her back side on me making soft noises. Come time to put her in her cage, she hides where she knows I can't reach her, she'll fly off. She out smarts me every time. When I try to get her to step up, she nails us with her beak as if to say, "I don't have to!" She has always had a pushy and bossy personality. She loves to bully my senegal. She'll take on any bird, no matter how big, she doesn't back off from another, she isn't afraid of anything. Finally, I made the decision to clip her wings today thinking it would help. She was so mad, she tried to bite me as hard as she could, she won't come to us at all, she'd rather bite us now. She's not the same bird since we let her be flighted. It's only made her even more bossy. She loves flying cage to cage to torment and fight with the others. She is soooo mad at me since I clipped her wings, she won't have anything to do with me. I had to pull out a towel to do it, and she bit me hard through the towel as well. Is it possible that a bird with such a pushy and bossy attitude should remain clipped for behavior purposes? I feel bad, I took her flighted freedom from her and she acts like it's the end of the world. I'm not sure if I did the right thing, I've never endured this problem before. thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[Lokums]

Well, there are several behavioral issues going on. One is the screaming while in the cage, two is the nipping/biting when stepping up, and three is the "affection" (four is the feeling she can be on whomever she wants, whenever she wants, but that may or may not be a problem depending on the person).

I recommend focusing on one at a time. The key is reward positive behavior with treats and/or affection, and 'punishing' un-wanted behavior by removing of their favorite stimulus, you. The biting/nipping is the easiest actually, put a treat in your hand practice step up. When she steps up without biting (or moving to bite, both actions must be treated the same), she gets a treat and praise. She bites, nips, etc, she gets no treat, a stern remark from you and you turn your back on her for around 20 seconds or so (don't let her see your hands even). If she flies to your shoulder you can do this by door and instead of turning your back, go through the door and shut it.

Once that is done, then work on her screaming using very similar technique, screaming is harder (IMO) because the key is immediate reward when they become quiet, which requires much vigilance. The important thing is positive reinforcement almost exclusively.

The tormenting of other birds I can't help with because I don't have any experience with that.

Removing undesirable behavior from a bird is a time consuming task for sure, but if you google positive reinforcement birds, you will come up with many pages of assistance. Another bit of free advice, if you aren't comfortable with a technique, then it will show in your training. Make sure that you understand and agree with the technique you are using (again IMO).

Mike

 

[Allessa]

I can relate to this on so many levels.
All of my birds are fully flighted. I, like you, believe a fully flighted bird is a happy bird! There have been several occasions..however..where i felt clipping was necessary.

My quakers tend to get VERY nasty when fully flighted. Especially Cloud, my blue one. Sometimes, itll just draw the line. If i am trying to put him in (and he knows it) it turns in the chasing game..if i get close enough, hes ready to attack and draw blood. When ive finally had it, ill give him a good clip..and you wont BELIEVE the difference in behavior when i do. Once he realizes he cant get away, he turns into an incredibly sweet bird. Ive had to do this roughly once a year to twice a year with him, sometimes Mika, sometimes my lovebirds. I actually just had to clip Clover and Lucky for the first time in their lives today because they thought it was fun to fly over to Tequilas cage (whos like..3 times their size) and torment him. He is out to kill them, and i couldnt let that happen. So i had to clip them for their safety and they now stay to their cage (or close by it )

So for the most part, mine are flighted, but any time they push their limits or boundaries, they know a wing clip is in order. I find MOST of the time, its around hormone season. It helps attitudes tremendously. So dont feel so bad. She may be mad now, but shell soon get over it im sure.

 

[Jazzysmama]

Thanks for the positive reinforcement ideas. She was NEVER this nippy til she became flighted. She does fly over the other bird cages to torment the others. She acts like she gets a thrill out of bullying my senegal. My sennie is overly skittish due to living a very bad life in a nasty pet store for a year. Jazzy lands on her cage top and goes after her never backing off for a second. She has such a gutsy personality. She also acts quite jealous of my holding my other birds. Do you ever feel like you are dealing with 2 yr. olds? She is normally very good with flying, but we've had several occassions where she flew into our front door and our wall. I'm afraid she is going to get seriously hurt as well. I don't know at what age they become sexually mature. I know hormones can make a bird moody, that happen to my third bird. She only bites to get out of having to go to her cage, she thinks SHE is the head of the flock and sets the rules. A wall seperates my living room and my kitchen. As soon as I leave the room, she starts the screaming, then gets everyone screaming. I was walking back into the livingroom just to get her to quit, I know, thats a no no. It reinforces it, but I get desperate for the shrills to stop. I have meniere's disease and it's getting to the point where noise that loud bothers my ears. She'll eventually get over being mad at me, ... i hope. They are so smart, you have to stay a step ahead of them. When she gets out of control, I've put her in a cage upstairs for quiet time to calm back down and she quickly quiets down cause there is no one around for her to push around then. LOL. She is the most hyper bird I've ever seen, she never stops bouncing til she's sleeping. She gets over stimulated so easily. That has caused a little nippiness when she gets overstimulated. She thinks life is all about HER and the other two birds are chopped liver in her eyes. I know I've read where they go through a terrible two stage, I wondered if she might be going through it earlier than normal. I'm anxious to see if the wing clipping helps. I know the other two birds will greatly appreciate her no longer being able to zoom over their cages and getting bullied when she lands on their cage. She loved her toys so much, played for hours daily playing, when the wings grow out, she acts like toys don't exist now. We are her toys now. I feel a bird should be flighted as well, but I also agree wtih you in the fact that there are times when it's better to have a wing clip. Every bird is different imo. I hope what I did was the right solution. Time will tell I guess. I will read up on that info though! Thanks for your help, I truly appreciate it!

 

[Allessa]

Ive always heard conures are very very active little birds. My BCC Riley (who is JUST like a GCC to me just different colors) is that same way. Shes always moving, always bullying. As a matter of fact its because of her that in my birdroom, i have to alternate when her and the quakers are out, because she will run, climb, walk, crawl...whatEVER it takes to get to their cage and attack them. Clipping just doesnt work for a determined bird like her. Jaden used to scream like that. I enforced it so much as a baby with him that there isnt much hope for him lol. Ive found having a stand in almost all the rooms helped alot..or a small spare cage. But i understand not wanting him in the kitchen. Every night he has a scream-a-thon when im cooking because he wants it NOW and doesnt realize it takes me time to cook it! So i feel your pain there. I just try and cook as fast as i can for him, give him his share, then he quiets up lol. And yes, i swear its like dealing with children. They are too dang smart!!

 

[Jazzysmama]

Allessa, your bird sounds identical to jazzy. She isn't screaming today, but she is still mad at me. She runs from me. It doesn't help when my hubby is home on the weekends, she is turning into a man's bird so quickly. She's obsessed with him, she'll go to him today, but not me, cause I clipped off her fun. lol.

 

[TextsFromParrots]

Ohhhh I feel your pain so much. I have a bird that won't leave me alone for anything. I feel like I can't even move across the room without the sound of wingbeats coming after me.

 

[Allessa]

Allessa, your bird sounds identical to jazzy. She isn't screaming today, but she is still mad at me. She runs from me. It doesn't help when my hubby is home on the weekends, she is turning into a man's bird so quickly. She's obsessed with him, she'll go to him today, but not me, cause I clipped off her fun. lol.

Yeah i hate being the bad guy =/ Nail clipping day is "run like heck from mom" day. They usually avoid me at least a couple days after that. Except Jaden..nothing keeps that bird away from me for long!

 

[Bokkapooh]

How long has your bird been flighted?

 

[dragonlady2]

I have the same problem with my Crimson Bellied Conure. He will take on any bird I have so if I leave the room he either comes with me or goes back into his cage until I return. I have clipped him just enough so that he has to exert all his energy getting from one place to the other and hasn't got time to plan an attack! lol

 

[Jazzysmama]

She's only been flighted for approx. two months.

 

[dmiller91]

This is an interesting thread, I just happened to drop in. Most of my birds are flighted too. My cape was never clipped from day one, she's a beautiful, fiesty handful, but she is generally well behaved and will play by herself. My male timneh is a handful. He screams to get out of his cage, then he either has to be on my shoulder, or into anything I'm working on. When he's on my shoulder he will bite me if I am not paying attention to him. His bites aren't aggressive, it's a nip, but it hurts! Then, he will rip the keys off a keyboard in seconds flat, or shred papers, or steal food, etc. I think he was a crow in a past life. He is naughty!!! He will grab something and RUN with it, just like a child.

Anyway, I've had to light clip him twice now. I clip him so he can get around a bit, but it's mostly an "attitude" adjustment. He is a completely different bird, and as such, he can be out more and not locked up in his cage.

I hate doing it, it feels so wrong to clip a bird, but I really think it helps his quality of life. He just wants to be near us, and we can manage that when he isn't chewing through our electrical cords or stealing our food!!!