Megamacawlove
Meeting neighbors
- Joined
- 9/5/18
- Messages
- 24
- Real Name
- Megan
Hello!
I'm hoping for some behavior analysis as well as tips on a rescued greenwing my husband and I got around four months ago. He's settling in well and is now ending the honeymoon phase and also hormones are hitting at the same time. Thankfully he adores my husband, and they have bonded (perhaps too much?) very well, so overall our new fid B. is adjusting great to his new home.
His history is a bit spotty, we knew when we got him he prefers men. I'm his primary caretaker however and the bird lover in the family. We fell in love with B. when we went to meet another bird at a family's house. He was on the fence about a bird so B. is our only and we liked the thought that since B prefered men my husband might not need to work as much at bonding. It was a bad situation where he was clearly pretty unhappy. Too many birds, and we found out a flip situation. He had a completely uncared for scissor beak. Feathers were a wreck. He was in general fearful but more specificly of the woman handling him. We interacted for a bit and he stepped right up for both of us great and surprisingly was letting my husband pet him right away. We took him home knowing it might be a tough situation but that we didn't want him staying there.
Now, he's deeply bonded to my husband. He will call "come back, bubba" or squawk a bit to him when he leaves the room. Will crawl across furniture for pets. I can't be affectionate with my husband in the room or he will lunge at me. Hes trying to throw up on my husband but we always stop him before anything comes up. We limit full body cuddles and back pets and burrowing behavior to try to deter the excessive bonding.
At first B would step up for me great. We started clicker training and he was doing great with target training. He shied away from my hands a LOT, so I tried not to push that and we focused on just talking to each other and the clicker work. Because of this in the 4 months hes been with us he's become super talkative especially with me. That strengthed his physical bond with my husband. He went through a heavy molt with the new diet so showering and help with difficult pin feathers was all the husband.
Then he began to bite my arm in the mornings when I got him out of his cage. I didn't react, but rather set him on the floor for a moment and looked at him sternly and said no bite. Then they started to get harder. To the point where to get him out of the cage without a bone crushing bite to my forearm that he would hold until I moved him to the floor; I have to now use a step up stick now or my husband gets him.
He started chasing me across the couch and floor when agitated attempting to and sometimes biting me around the same time I became unable to get him out of his cage. I don't react as much as possible, but it's difficult. My husband gets frustrated but I try to keep him as calm because I know any reaction will be rewarding to B.
But here's where I get confused. B. will follow me around his tree stand, furniture, and cage talking to me and engaging me with dancing, toys to play? He doesn't seem aggressive here, instead more engaged. When I approach - bam! For my face! Sometimes I can see it coming... if he is near my husband and he puts his wings out wide, or does his angry puff or the different kind of dance... but how can he act like me and then bite me so hard he's close to causing nerve damage? Is he luring me in, haha? We also sometimes have really positive interactions where he will dance with me to music and play with toys and talk to me but will no longer interact with me physically at all to the point where I have to say "be nice" before I offer a treat, and even then sometimes have to give it with a flat hand or he will go for my fingers.
Please help. I adore my fid. I've talked to a few people who claim he's just a one person bird and it's not me... but I wonder if perhaps there's more I could be doing here and I'm missing something?? I know this is a novel, if you made it through THANK YOU! Debating getting a behaviorist at this point.
-Meg
I'm hoping for some behavior analysis as well as tips on a rescued greenwing my husband and I got around four months ago. He's settling in well and is now ending the honeymoon phase and also hormones are hitting at the same time. Thankfully he adores my husband, and they have bonded (perhaps too much?) very well, so overall our new fid B. is adjusting great to his new home.
His history is a bit spotty, we knew when we got him he prefers men. I'm his primary caretaker however and the bird lover in the family. We fell in love with B. when we went to meet another bird at a family's house. He was on the fence about a bird so B. is our only and we liked the thought that since B prefered men my husband might not need to work as much at bonding. It was a bad situation where he was clearly pretty unhappy. Too many birds, and we found out a flip situation. He had a completely uncared for scissor beak. Feathers were a wreck. He was in general fearful but more specificly of the woman handling him. We interacted for a bit and he stepped right up for both of us great and surprisingly was letting my husband pet him right away. We took him home knowing it might be a tough situation but that we didn't want him staying there.
Now, he's deeply bonded to my husband. He will call "come back, bubba" or squawk a bit to him when he leaves the room. Will crawl across furniture for pets. I can't be affectionate with my husband in the room or he will lunge at me. Hes trying to throw up on my husband but we always stop him before anything comes up. We limit full body cuddles and back pets and burrowing behavior to try to deter the excessive bonding.
At first B would step up for me great. We started clicker training and he was doing great with target training. He shied away from my hands a LOT, so I tried not to push that and we focused on just talking to each other and the clicker work. Because of this in the 4 months hes been with us he's become super talkative especially with me. That strengthed his physical bond with my husband. He went through a heavy molt with the new diet so showering and help with difficult pin feathers was all the husband.
Then he began to bite my arm in the mornings when I got him out of his cage. I didn't react, but rather set him on the floor for a moment and looked at him sternly and said no bite. Then they started to get harder. To the point where to get him out of the cage without a bone crushing bite to my forearm that he would hold until I moved him to the floor; I have to now use a step up stick now or my husband gets him.
He started chasing me across the couch and floor when agitated attempting to and sometimes biting me around the same time I became unable to get him out of his cage. I don't react as much as possible, but it's difficult. My husband gets frustrated but I try to keep him as calm because I know any reaction will be rewarding to B.
But here's where I get confused. B. will follow me around his tree stand, furniture, and cage talking to me and engaging me with dancing, toys to play? He doesn't seem aggressive here, instead more engaged. When I approach - bam! For my face! Sometimes I can see it coming... if he is near my husband and he puts his wings out wide, or does his angry puff or the different kind of dance... but how can he act like me and then bite me so hard he's close to causing nerve damage? Is he luring me in, haha? We also sometimes have really positive interactions where he will dance with me to music and play with toys and talk to me but will no longer interact with me physically at all to the point where I have to say "be nice" before I offer a treat, and even then sometimes have to give it with a flat hand or he will go for my fingers.
Please help. I adore my fid. I've talked to a few people who claim he's just a one person bird and it's not me... but I wonder if perhaps there's more I could be doing here and I'm missing something?? I know this is a novel, if you made it through THANK YOU! Debating getting a behaviorist at this point.
-Meg