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Turquoise Hellcat

Lexipoodle

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Alexa
hey everyone!

I’m a new bird owner, longtime animal lover and I adopted a 9 month old Linnie. I’ve had Tulum for about 3 weeks and he’s as cute as he is mean. I adopted him from an elderly lady who said he was being picked on by her older Linnie. I’ve quickly come to the conclusion that it was probably the opposite as he’s feisty af. I’m looking for some guidance as far as behaviours I’ve noticed

1) viciously bites when in the presence of millet. He’s starts SHRIEKING when you take it away. He also does this when I touch his seed/pellet bowl. Oddly enough, happily munches on fruit and veg from my hand.

2) he has a bad pet store clip and plummets to the ground. This is the ONLY time he’ll step up and is otherwise impossible to put back in the cage.

3) major yeller. Short, sharp calls often

4) has come onto my shoulder but again, bites when I try to move him

5) shivers in the morning. AC is set to 25 degrees Celsius. Shivers occasionally during the day but mostly active and chirpy.

his environment:

1) large flight cage

2) house mates: sweet Angel budgie ( Cleo) who sings to him all day, mastiff dog who is curious but gentle and is NEVER allowed close to him. ( lady had a dog too)

3)I’m a bartender so I leave around 3:00pm and come in late. At first I startled him but now I come in and quietly cover the cages and he doesn’t move

4)eat a homemade organic seed mix ( BirdTricks recipe) and pellets as well as fresh veg and a bit of fruit in the morning

I’m looking for tricks to bond with him while reducing biting behaviour as well as ways to get him back into his cage without upsetting him.

thanks!
 

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Lady Jane

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I am going to advise you to have an avian vet check him over before you go any further since he was a re homed bird. FYI linnies do much better with a cage mate and this could be part of the issues. They are also good eaters. He is most likely frustrated because he cannot fly. He may not be used to other predatory pets in the home. Biting behaviors can be avoided if you dont give him opportunities as shoulder sitting. Birds natural sleep cycle is dusk to dawn. Is he getting a quality sleep? What temperature is he used to? If shivers continue another reason for a check up. He could be flock calling. Was he with another Linnie?
 

Lexipoodle

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The idea was to put him with the budgie but hes much bigger than her and I’m concerned he’ll bite her. He was with another male Linnie but apparently they didn’t get along ( reason he was reHomed). vet check is definitely on my mind but I need to be able to get him there and at this point, I can’t unless I grab him.

the biting is usually in the presence of seeds or millet. It comes with angry shrieking.

he lived with a dog at his first home but mines much bigger.

He gets a long of sleep but he came very attached to a snuggle hut but I’ve read horrible things about them so I threw it out. Could he be adjusting to sleeping perched?

I definitely feel like he’s frustrated that he can’t fly. From what I understand, he’ll probably get his flight feathers after his first adult molt but I’ve been told it’s weird that he hasn’t had flight feathers since the initial clip.
 

Lady Jane

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8 to 12 months for flights to grow back. Try to get him interested in a small towel so that you can hold him without a bite.

 

NorthernGannet

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Time! Love and time. That's all I can suggest :)

Three of my boys seem to really like the small sized Cozy Corner fleece things, as an alternative to those huts. I just tie it onto the side of the cage wherever their sleep perch is, doesn't have to be in a corner. Sometimes they snooze next to it during the day too.

Yeah, flight feathers take forever to molt out. He is only 9 months so it could be quite awhile. The biting I don't know, it hasn't been an issue here with my boys. If you like to teach stuff like targeting (clicker training, with or without the clicker), that is a fun thing to do with them.

25 degrees C is fine, that's a couple degrees warmer than my living space. When you say "shiver", are his feathers puffed out, or are his feathers laying normally but he's shaking/vibrating his wings? If the latter, it's probably a behavioral thing rather than cold/hot thing. I have seen a couple of mine shake/vibrate their wings on occasion, sometimes at one of the other linnies but sometimes just on their own when out. They are all adults, I am not sure what it means.

-NG
 

Lexipoodle

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Time! Love and time. That's all I can suggest :)

Three of my boys seem to really like the small sized Cozy Corner fleece things, as an alternative to those huts. I just tie it onto the side of the cage wherever their sleep perch is, doesn't have to be in a corner. Sometimes they snooze next to it during the day too.

Yeah, flight feathers take forever to molt out. He is only 9 months so it could be quite awhile. The biting I don't know, it hasn't been an issue here with my boys. If you like to teach stuff like targeting (clicker training, with or without the clicker), that is a fun thing to do with them.

25 degrees C is fine, that's a couple degrees warmer than my living space. When you say "shiver", are his feathers puffed out, or are his feathers laying normally but he's shaking/vibrating his wings? If the latter, it's probably a behavioral thing rather than cold/hot thing. I have seen a couple of mine shake/vibrate their wings on occasion, sometimes at one of the other linnies but sometimes just on their own when out. They are all adults, I am not sure what it means.

-NG
thank you so much! This is all super helpful! I will definitely look into the cozy corner.
I’m super stumped over the biting. He becomes so violent around treats it’s crazy. Even his seed bowl. I was wondering if you had any non-millet suggestions for high value treats. I want to start training to bond with him but he turns into a honey badger at the mere sight of millet
 

NorthernGannet

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Lol! Anything he really likes, take it out of his regular routine and use that. There doesn't seem to be one thing across the board that all 4 of mine like. Three do anything for hemp seeds, one won't touch them. Two love safflower seeds but the other two don't. Same with various fruits. Only one of mine will eat veggies. You might have to experiment and find something he likes. Not sure what the deal is with millet! Will he eat anything out of your fingers aside from fruit/veg? Try to teach him that yummy things come from your fingers. I say "wanna seed?" before showing it and of course now they come running. I started by dropping it front of them (nearby) when they were out, or holding something large like an avi-cake to the outside of the bars to get them used to eating from my hands. Then graduated to smaller things. Almost none of mine were into eating millet from my hand, which I thought was odd. But, they also didn't go crazy like yours, they just ignored it :)

Will he let you touch his beak at all with your finger? no food involved, just barely touching it? You could teach 'gentle' or whatever word you want as you gently touch his beak, then try to transfer that to holding something else up (like a treat that makes him bite) and using your word. I don't really know, just an idea.

3 weeks isn't really very long yet. My boys were all rehomes one at a time. With the exception of one who took much longer, there seemed to be a 4-5 week mark where you could sense an initial change going on. Kind of like they'd figured out this was their new life.
 

Lexipoodle

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Lol! Anything he really likes, take it out of his regular routine and use that. There doesn't seem to be one thing across the board that all 4 of mine like. Three do anything for hemp seeds, one won't touch them. Two love safflower seeds but the other two don't. Same with various fruits. Only one of mine will eat veggies. You might have to experiment and find something he likes. Not sure what the deal is with millet! Will he eat anything out of your fingers aside from fruit/veg? Try to teach him that yummy things come from your fingers. I say "wanna seed?" before showing it and of course now they come running. I started by dropping it front of them (nearby) when they were out, or holding something large like an avi-cake to the outside of the bars to get them used to eating from my hands. Then graduated to smaller things. Almost none of mine were into eating millet from my hand, which I thought was odd. But, they also didn't go crazy like yours, they just ignored it :)

Will he let you touch his beak at all with your finger? no food involved, just barely touching it? You could teach 'gentle' or whatever word you want as you gently touch his beak, then try to transfer that to holding something else up (like a treat that makes him bite) and using your word. I don't really know, just an idea.

3 weeks isn't really very long yet. My boys were all rehomes one at a time. With the exception of one who took much longer, there seemed to be a 4-5 week mark where you could sense an initial change going on. Kind of like they'd figured out this was their new life.
Ok interesting! He’s definitely keen on fruit and I started through the cage trying to clocker train him “gentle” when he takes the millet nicely. It’s only day one and I did a couple of rounds but a lot less manic lunging and squawking.

i can’t touch him at all unless he’s fallen to the ground so I haven’t attempted to touch his beak but I’ll work towards it. I know with rescue dogs, there’s definitely a turning point to look forward to but I’m still getting used to bird life. Thank you so so much for your insight, it’s really helpful!
 

NorthernGannet

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Peaches!! All of mine like peaches :) I forgot that before. So that's great, noticing a difference after one day. There's hope for him :) Hopefully his loud chirping will subside once he really settles in. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I really don't know what went on at former homes of these birds, so effectively I've been asking each one to start a brand new life here. I imagine the change might be mentally/emotionally difficut, depending on how massive a difference it is. Probably the same with the dogs!
 

Lexipoodle

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Peaches!! All of mine like peaches :) I forgot that before. So that's great, noticing a difference after one day. There's hope for him :) Hopefully his loud chirping will subside once he really settles in. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I really don't know what went on at former homes of these birds, so effectively I've been asking each one to start a brand new life here. I imagine the change might be mentally/emotionally difficut, depending on how massive a difference it is. Probably the same with the dogs!
I will definitely try peaches! He’s quite fond of cherries but I often forget and panic as to why he looks like he’s been through a massacre.
I have to be patient for sure. He’s loving the budgie so at least he has a friend!
 
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