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I think I may be in trouble…

April

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April

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Thank you! I think I found my soulmate. Who knew it would be a bird?
Mine was as well. My sweet Nala,she was everything to me and a part of me died when she did. I'll always miss her and think of her everyday until we meet again at the rainbow Bridge.
 

animalvr

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Mine was as well. My sweet Nala,she was everything to me and a part of me died when she did. I'll always miss her and think of her everyday until we meet again at the rainbow Bridge.
Qué terrible!

Mango will NOT die b4 me.
 

rocky'smom

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You talk about tricks. This not trick but good training idea: once in the travel crate and settled. After you arrive at your destination open the door to crate with 'WAIT'.
I worked a volunteer job at Veterinarian Clinic and alot birds came to work with their parrnets (owners). Rather having them flying out of their crate and possibly getting into trouble. They were taught WAIT until told to step up that way they could be easily transferred from their crate to their office cage or java tree. Some birds learned it quickly others not at all. But it worth the time try to teach them.
 

Clueless

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Beautiful
 

zoo mom

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He is adorable.
 

animalvr

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You have had such great advice from the community! Sometimes I think it can be helpful to print and organize .

On toys, often needed to be taught to interact with. With my neglected abused rescue, I target her to toys at first. If she touched it she got a treat and praise. And also I stuffed treats in all toys , millet spray wrapped around them, pumpkin seeds or nuts stuffed in different places. Or I fill balls with popcorn * popped) And foraging which also is a taught behavior, and even fun you can do together. Foraging is a big part of mines lives keeps tgrm engaged for hours.

I really like this video on foraging.
Thx for the video. Bookmarking.
 

Tyrion

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He is beautiful :)
 

animalvr

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Day 5 - Setback

I had an event to go to today so Mango was in his cage for most of the day. When I got home he was quiet. Took him out, interacted w him for quite a while. Put him on his perch and he probably had one of the worse screaming tantrums ever. Hitting the Mariah Carrey octove with vol on 10. It was twice as loud and high as the separation scream…ear splitting. This is the type of scream that’s a deal breaker. Not sure what set him off. My mom was there. He wasn’t hungry. I tried to ignore it but it didn’t work and the defening sound was intolerable. I finally had to give him time out in his covered cage. That seemed to work or maybe it did becuase it was near roosting time. Anyway, very concerning.

He does not say or respond to his name. At night he says “good night bird”. I asked the prev owner if Mango is his original name. He said no. I asked what it was, he said he doesn’t know. They had him for 6 mos. How could they not get his name or records? Sketchy. Now I feel weird using his name.

Between the tantrum and the name situation it was not a good day at Mangoworld…or Whoeverworld.
 

Shezbug

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Time out? Did you put the bird into a covered cage as a kind of punishment?
If so, I strongly suggest you do not ever use the cage as a tool for punishment, it is the same with covering a bird (unless it is actually sleep time at night and they like to be covered)- putting your bird in the cage should always be a positive and enjoyable thing or you will cause many problems for you both when it comes to being returned to the cage and spending any time in the cage- you want the bird to love the cage and always feel safe in there, using sensory deprivation to "punish" or fix a problem is unfair and will also come with many more unwanted problems.

I really hope I have misinterpreted your last post.

Please remember you are still in the honeymoon phase with this bird and whatever behaviours you are seeing now will likely increase significantly once your bird knows you and the environment well.

Your birds appearance and the things you have mentioned he says tells me he was well loved and cared for - he is not swearing or saying things like shut up etc he does not look a mess or poorly fed- he says sweet things like birds who are treated well tend to hear a lot of (ie: night night) - I am so happy to hear this and that he was sent home to you with pellets- someone has made sure to give him the correct food and treatment which is more than can be said for many rehomed birds.

Regarding his original name and the information you are asking about from the last owner... If he does not know his name and you do not like the one he came with then change it to something he seems to respond to that you do like- changing it is only a hassle if he knows and responds to it. Many times people who are uninterested in the bird are the ones left to rehome it after the owner dies- if this happens many things about the bird will go un-answered, same goes for confiscated animals.

As for not getting given past vet records or the original name- he could have come from any number of situations where this stuff was not offered up to the last owners but if you feel it is sketchy then get him to a vet and see if he has a chip that can give some details on his history.

I do not believe it is that unusual to not be given records- I can not even get a full copy of my pets records handed to me- if I change vet clinics the new vet can request them from the old vet though.
 

animalvr

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Time out? Did you put the bird into a covered cage as a kind of punishment?
If so, I strongly suggest you do not ever use the cage as a tool for punishment, it is the same with covering a bird (unless it is actually sleep time at night and they like to be covered)- putting your bird in the cage should always be a positive and enjoyable thing or you will cause many problems for you both when it comes to being returned to the cage and spending any time in the cage- you want the bird to love the cage and always feel safe in there, using sensory deprivation to "punish" or fix a problem is unfair and will also come with many more unwanted problems.

I really hope I have misinterpreted your last post.

Please remember you are still in the honeymoon phase with this bird and whatever behaviours you are seeing now will likely increase significantly once your bird knows you and the environment well.

Your birds appearance and the things you have mentioned he says tells me he was well loved and cared for - he is not swearing or saying things like shut up etc he does not look a mess or poorly fed- he says sweet things like birds who are treated well tend to hear a lot of (ie: night night) - I am so happy to hear this and that he was sent home to you with pellets- someone has made sure to give him the correct food and treatment which is more than can be said for many rehomed birds.

Regarding his original name and the information you are asking about from the last owner... If he does not know his name and you do not like the one he came with then change it to something he seems to respond to that you do like- changing it is only a hassle if he knows and responds to it. Many times people who are uninterested in the bird are the ones left to rehome it after the owner dies- if this happens many things about the bird will go un-answered, same goes for confiscated animals.

As for not getting given past vet records or the original name- he could have come from any number of situations where this stuff was not offered up to the last owners but if you feel it is sketchy then get him to a vet and see if he has a chip that can give some details on his history.

I do not believe it is that unusual to not be given records- I can not even get a full copy of my pets records handed to me- if I change vet clinics the new vet can request them from the old vet though.
Thx for the time out advice. Seller said there were issues caging him. I certainly don’t want to create cage aversion again…or other issues.

I’ve read that time out was recommended. I asked the clerk, who seemed very knowledgeable, at the bird store about it today. She said it was fine for 10-15 min. I did 5 min set to a timer. When he goes into full tantrum (max decibal and octave, rapid and constant) that can’t be ignored, how do I stop and discourage it?

You’re right about the honeymoon phase. It’s waning. In addition to the tantrum screams, he’s getting bolder…using more beak pressure. He’s not drawing blood but he’s hurting me the last cpl of days…welts, punctures and bruises. It might be because of me being gone (event yesterday, all day cage shopping today), my Mom being here and upsetting the routine and environment that I worked to establish or the honeymoon is over. Im hoping things will improve when my Mom leaves.

I agree with your thoughts that he previously had a good home but I think it was the home before last.

Vet appointment tomorrow…
 

Shezbug

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The clerk advised you very poorly- it’s extremely outdated advice that doesn’t work as humans would like it to. The cage has to be your friend and his friend at all times- you never know when you’ll need to lock him in there with less than a minutes warning and the last thing you want is biting, screaming, avoiding or refusing to go back in.
Please don’t ever use the cage for time out- he won’t understand that you’ve put him in there for time out, heck- most kids don’t even get what the point to time out is.. if you look further into time out it’s really only for giving the adult who’s lost control a bit of breathing room from the situation to gather thoughts and start again but you’ll only cause further issues using this technique. Learn to work with him at all times rather than against.
I don’t mean to be rude in contradicting you but you are nowhere near being out of honeymoon phase yet- what you’ve seen so far will not even be 10% of what your bird is capable of doing behaving like and maintaining long term.
He will be learning everything about you so much faster than you learn even a tiny bit of him though and he will use what he learns to get what he wants- they’re smart and they’re manipulative lol.

Have you read any of the articles and threads others have advised you read?

Check out the training court for correct ways to change behaviours and deal with your problems as they arise- bird/pet stores are well known for giving, incorrect, dangerous, outdated and uneducated advice- they try but they usually miss the mark by miles, you were advised to chuck out the pellets and feed a high seed diet by a pet or bird store weren’t you?
 

MommyBird

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When he goes into full tantrum (max decibal and octave, rapid and constant) that can’t be ignored, how do I stop and discourage it?
yes you ARE still in the honeymoon phase
looks like it is time for you to start learning your ABCs (Antecedents, Behavior, Consequences)
yet more- must reads:
https://www.behaviorworks.org/htm/articles_behavior_change.html
otherwise your bird knows all about it already and will manipulate you quite handily.
 

Pat H

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Thx for the time out advice. Seller said there were issues caging him. I certainly don’t want to create cage aversion again…or other issues.

I’ve read that time out was recommended. I asked the clerk, who seemed very knowledgeable, at the bird store about it today. She said it was fine for 10-15 min. I did 5 min set to a timer. When he goes into full tantrum (max decibal and octave, rapid and constant) that can’t be ignored, how do I stop and discourage it?

You’re right about the honeymoon phase. It’s waning. In addition to the tantrum screams, he’s getting bolder…using more beak pressure. He’s not drawing blood but he’s hurting me the last cpl of days…welts, punctures and bruises. It might be because of me being gone (event yesterday, all day cage shopping today), my Mom being here and upsetting the routine and environment that I worked to establish or the honeymoon is over. Im hoping things will improve when my Mom leaves.

I agree with your thoughts that he previously had a good home but I think it was the home before last.

Vet appointment tomorrow…
I wrote in a [while ago] post, about how our sweet Umbrella Cockatoo would suddenly bite me.. took me awhile to put the 'facts' together of what would trigger her.

She came to us as a rehome from an older couple who could no longer care for her. I finally realized that Abby would bite me in the face because I had my eyeglasses off [I wore contacts when we 1st got her]. I think the 'old lady' died w/ the cockatoo sitting on her and bird was trying to revive her. [Abby gets VERY upset when I take my glasses off]. And when my husband takes off his glasses to wipe his eyes, she is TOTALLY DIFFERENT, very concerned and loving... So the 'old guy' was weeping for his wife, and bird went to comfort him.
She is very afraid of anything elongated, like sticks, ladders... I think the grown children didn't know how to handle a bird, and used sticks to force her up or away from them. Abby also 'kills' pop cans-- which kids probably threw at her to get her away.

I know all of my comments are just my thoughts, but if I hadn't figured out our Cockatoo was biting me because I had my glasses off, then.... ? So thankful you are giving the situation time, thought, and patience!
 
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