clarajane
Moving in
- Joined
- 4/28/20
- Messages
- 6
- Real Name
- Clara
To establish some background, my boyfriend and I share a 350sf studio and rescued an approximately one-year-old cobalt linnie in March of 2019. We rescued him from a young woman who had to move for college and couldn't keep him. He spent the first year of his life confined to a small cage in a dark room owned by the girl's boyfriend. The girl would visit him about once a day, let him out to fly briefly, give him love, etc. His name was Bear, but he's turned into Eert (pronounced ee-yurt, after the sound he constantly makes).
We were caught off guard when we first got Eert because he was very loud, doing his contact call over and over and would bite and growl at us sort of. He'd dive-bomb my boyfriend's head, bite him and generally established that he didn't like him. Fortunately for me, he ended up becoming attached to me. He'll contact call if I'm not in his sight, even if I say, "Eert!" he'll quiet down for a second but continue until I approach him, then lower his voice to very quiet little "eerts," it's so adorable how his tone changes to a loving tone when I approach him. He's almost always on my shoulder, head or by my side and he's become my best friend in the past year. He is only ever caged at night to sleep, or if we're both at work and the birds are home alone, otherwise our birds have free reign and generally like to be around us. Eert is still not a fan of my boyfriend, but he tolerates him if I'm at work. I get kisses from Eert multiple times a day while my boyfriend only gets Eert kisses if he's in the right mood
I fell so in love with Eert that we ended up rescuing another male linnie, Webu (again named after the sound he makes), in August of 2019. Sadly, the owners of Webu didn't tell us how long they'd had him, didn't even have a name for him, and he actually grew up with a cobalt brother, but the owners sold the brother first before selling us Webu. I've read online that it can be devastating to split up birds like this. Webu instantly became attached to Eert and will not leave Eert's side. Eert is much more attached to me and couldn't care less about Webu. He'll let Webu preen him sometimes, but as soon as Webu lowers his head to get his turn, Eert bites and yells at him to leave him alone (my little brat!) Eert doesn't understand the dynamics of a bird relationship.. So the problem is, Webu is extremely aggressive toward my boyfriend and I everyday. This hasn't changed but has been constant since the day we got him. We initially had a lot of hope after seeing Eert's transformation from a neglected brat to a total sweetheart after a couple of months of daily affection, but it's been eight months since we rescued Webu and he's only getting worse. I took both birds to a local avian vet last month to get them DNA sexed as well as a general wellness check and both birds are very healthy males! I was concerned that maybe Webu was a female because he's been extra aggressive & destructive in these spring months. We let both birds burrow in a designated blanket at the foot of our bed every night before carrying each to bed in their cage once they've fallen asleep (spoiled!) but Webu will seek out our legs or feet and bite us VERY hard until we bleed. I didn't know a linnie was capable of this. Even during the day, if we're sitting or lounging on the bed, Webu thinks it's his territory and will fly at us while screaming, or lurch at us with a scream before biting down on whatever skin he sees (leg, hand, arm, foot, face). He's broken skin on my face before..
We've read everything online, tried everything. We got his health checked (healthy), put him to bed earlier (helped temporarily), put him in time-outs in the cage (he just contact-calls and paces the whole cage until I place Eert in the cage with him, then calms down, but then Eert contact calls for me because he hates being caged), we don't verbally respond when he bites us, we handle him carefully, we move slowly around him, we tried to get him less hand-shy by feeding him apple, etc. (which Webu is WAY better at stepping up/being perched on a finger than Eert is!) Lately, he's been burrowing/chewing on a fabric box that we have tucked away into a shelf and if we walk by when he comes out, he'll scream and attack our feet on the ground! He's ruthless, will bite and NOT let go until we pull him off. Eert thinks nothing of this and is usually just startled by Webu's screams. Eert is constantly interacting with us as humans, mimicking us, following us, etc. but Webu has never interacted with us. He stares at us blankly with fear in his eyes and goes silent if we talk to him or make sounds for him to mimic. Recently, I've noticed that in the mornings or when I get home from work, Webu will join Eert in greeting me by simply following Eert when he approaches my face while perched on top of their cage to give me kisses while Webu stares silently. Webu has also started requesting that I share my water with him if I have a glass of water nearby. He'll tap on the glass until I tilt it for him to take a sip and I talk to him sweetly the whole time. This is the most progress in 8 months. Otherwise, the biting has not let up. Webu also loves going into the shower and will stay perched on our fingers while tilting his head into the water, but still contact-calls for Eert (who HATES water). I know there's a sweet bird deep down inside Webu. I just don't know how to stop the attacks or bites. I want to confine him to their cage for some time so that he knows that's his territory (it's a huge free-standing cage with plenty of toys and in front of a bright window), but then he'd contact-call for Eert who hates being caged and would just pace and call for me. It's a double-edged sword. I truly feel like this bird was abused in his past home and scarred from being separated from his brother. I've tried to contact the people who sold him to us to find the people who bought his brother, but without success.. What do I do about his aggression?
TL;DR I have a very aggressive rescue linnie who hasn't improved in 8 months after trying everything.
We were caught off guard when we first got Eert because he was very loud, doing his contact call over and over and would bite and growl at us sort of. He'd dive-bomb my boyfriend's head, bite him and generally established that he didn't like him. Fortunately for me, he ended up becoming attached to me. He'll contact call if I'm not in his sight, even if I say, "Eert!" he'll quiet down for a second but continue until I approach him, then lower his voice to very quiet little "eerts," it's so adorable how his tone changes to a loving tone when I approach him. He's almost always on my shoulder, head or by my side and he's become my best friend in the past year. He is only ever caged at night to sleep, or if we're both at work and the birds are home alone, otherwise our birds have free reign and generally like to be around us. Eert is still not a fan of my boyfriend, but he tolerates him if I'm at work. I get kisses from Eert multiple times a day while my boyfriend only gets Eert kisses if he's in the right mood
I fell so in love with Eert that we ended up rescuing another male linnie, Webu (again named after the sound he makes), in August of 2019. Sadly, the owners of Webu didn't tell us how long they'd had him, didn't even have a name for him, and he actually grew up with a cobalt brother, but the owners sold the brother first before selling us Webu. I've read online that it can be devastating to split up birds like this. Webu instantly became attached to Eert and will not leave Eert's side. Eert is much more attached to me and couldn't care less about Webu. He'll let Webu preen him sometimes, but as soon as Webu lowers his head to get his turn, Eert bites and yells at him to leave him alone (my little brat!) Eert doesn't understand the dynamics of a bird relationship.. So the problem is, Webu is extremely aggressive toward my boyfriend and I everyday. This hasn't changed but has been constant since the day we got him. We initially had a lot of hope after seeing Eert's transformation from a neglected brat to a total sweetheart after a couple of months of daily affection, but it's been eight months since we rescued Webu and he's only getting worse. I took both birds to a local avian vet last month to get them DNA sexed as well as a general wellness check and both birds are very healthy males! I was concerned that maybe Webu was a female because he's been extra aggressive & destructive in these spring months. We let both birds burrow in a designated blanket at the foot of our bed every night before carrying each to bed in their cage once they've fallen asleep (spoiled!) but Webu will seek out our legs or feet and bite us VERY hard until we bleed. I didn't know a linnie was capable of this. Even during the day, if we're sitting or lounging on the bed, Webu thinks it's his territory and will fly at us while screaming, or lurch at us with a scream before biting down on whatever skin he sees (leg, hand, arm, foot, face). He's broken skin on my face before..
We've read everything online, tried everything. We got his health checked (healthy), put him to bed earlier (helped temporarily), put him in time-outs in the cage (he just contact-calls and paces the whole cage until I place Eert in the cage with him, then calms down, but then Eert contact calls for me because he hates being caged), we don't verbally respond when he bites us, we handle him carefully, we move slowly around him, we tried to get him less hand-shy by feeding him apple, etc. (which Webu is WAY better at stepping up/being perched on a finger than Eert is!) Lately, he's been burrowing/chewing on a fabric box that we have tucked away into a shelf and if we walk by when he comes out, he'll scream and attack our feet on the ground! He's ruthless, will bite and NOT let go until we pull him off. Eert thinks nothing of this and is usually just startled by Webu's screams. Eert is constantly interacting with us as humans, mimicking us, following us, etc. but Webu has never interacted with us. He stares at us blankly with fear in his eyes and goes silent if we talk to him or make sounds for him to mimic. Recently, I've noticed that in the mornings or when I get home from work, Webu will join Eert in greeting me by simply following Eert when he approaches my face while perched on top of their cage to give me kisses while Webu stares silently. Webu has also started requesting that I share my water with him if I have a glass of water nearby. He'll tap on the glass until I tilt it for him to take a sip and I talk to him sweetly the whole time. This is the most progress in 8 months. Otherwise, the biting has not let up. Webu also loves going into the shower and will stay perched on our fingers while tilting his head into the water, but still contact-calls for Eert (who HATES water). I know there's a sweet bird deep down inside Webu. I just don't know how to stop the attacks or bites. I want to confine him to their cage for some time so that he knows that's his territory (it's a huge free-standing cage with plenty of toys and in front of a bright window), but then he'd contact-call for Eert who hates being caged and would just pace and call for me. It's a double-edged sword. I truly feel like this bird was abused in his past home and scarred from being separated from his brother. I've tried to contact the people who sold him to us to find the people who bought his brother, but without success.. What do I do about his aggression?
TL;DR I have a very aggressive rescue linnie who hasn't improved in 8 months after trying everything.