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What objects are your parrots TERRIFIED of?

Saemma

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:( With Mabel, that would be any kind of towel.:(:(:(
I haven't been very committed to introducing her to the towel. :o: I will resume tomorrow through *systematic desensitization* as Barbara Heidenreich calls it.:) I would LIKE to do this for LESS stressful Vet visits and for nail trimmings.


Has anyone on here been successful at introducing a towel to a parrot who was initially terrified by it?:huh: Please share your success story if possible.:)

 
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MollyMouse

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Well for Gus it's my dad he is super scared of him if he walks by :lol: Molly used to be terrified of anything colored red!!
 

carkam

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Lucky the vacuum, balloons, and anything big, shiny and new! Big Bird towels, paper towels, balloons, vacuum.
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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Emmie is terrified of brooms. He used to be terrified of mice until he saw one during the day, caught it by the tail and killed it himself. Pedro is afraid of towels and human hands. All the birds react when the neighborhood peregrine falcon flies down onto the deck outside the birdroom, of course. The peregrine sometimes tries to catch a bird at my feeder but I have a lot of trees in my yard and she really doesn't have any open space for her stoop so she has never caught anything as far as I know.
 

DebysFids

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all of mine are scared of the broom and Cody was scared of my snow boots but he is ok with the boots now lol still everyone runs from the broom
 

CosmoKramer

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Emmy is terrified of coconut shells....although coconut has proven to be her favorite treat! :p
Yoshi HATES hats with a burning passion. If you have a hat on she will bite you like theres no tomorow
 

hotfoot jackson

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Dusty is scared of the computer chair I'm sitting on, its OK if I cover it with a blanket though, has something to do with its black colour I think. Also a purple caboing I bought for her birthday..and I have no idea why.
 

jmfleish

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Apparently, Reggie D2 is still afraid of me without my glasses on!:) I literally just got him out and he came out of his cage ok but would not step up for me...freaked out and flew in the opposite direction...once I realized that I didn't have my glasses on and that was what was causing the problem, I put them on and he was his old self again. I really thought we were over this particular issue....he went through the first five years with me with no issues at all about whether or not I had my glasses on...weird!:)
 

Holiday

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The Hahn's are scared of any large household object they aren't used to, like a stepladder. And Sonny is terrified of strange people and towels.

Elvis isn't afraid of anything that I know of except the hawk that lands in the backyard.

Zoe is phobic of a lot of things, in a very un-macaw-like way, so new perches, new playstands, anything like that. She hates towels, too.

The p'lets are usually brave little things, but they are afraid of new people and strange hands.
 

CeddysMum

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Ceddy's still terrified of strangers and towels. She's a bit skittish anyway and will suspiciously eye anything new but those are her 'freak-out objects'
 

Saemma

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:) Thanks for sharing everybody!! Effective today, I am placing a towel and nail file in Mabel's view. Every week I will move the object closer. Hopefully systematic desensitization will work its magic.:) Then I will use both items as targets and REINFORCE until she is very comfortable with coming in close contact with them.:)
 

Shade

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Shade is scared of the purple Jollyball but since she enjoys the red one, I really think it's the colour that is the problem.
 

Harley's Mom

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Amos is afraid of round shapes, like the cat balls with bells. He doesn't really like foot toys.

Gryphon is still un-trusting of my hands, but is terrified of the large dowel perch that I sometimes have to use to get him back in his cage. The night before last I only had to touch the stick and he went in. Last night I just walked over towards the stick and he couldn't get in his cage quick enough.
I've bought a tiny dowel that I am going to try to use for target training. I know I need to get him comfortable with stick training, but that's a ways on down the road LOL
 

Laurul Feather Cat

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My original lovebirds taught themselves to go into their cage when I picked up the net I initially used to get them back into their cage. Took all three of them less than a week to figure it out! The last one of that brood died at age 24 about five years ago.
 

Wasabisaurus

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Wasabi is afraid of flashlight beams. The tiels sometimes don't like to see the outside birds.
 

samccormack

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Elima is scared of paper towel rolls. It's one of the few things she seems to want to actively fly away from.

Topper is scared of anything new and different. She just shakes like a leaf in such situations and I feel really sorry for her.
 

kathy k

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teekee my sun, HATES red. no matter what shade. dull maroon or bright red. she will NOT step up. if i forgot when still new to birds, and forced the issue, i would get a really hard bite, then she would fly to her cage, go inside and shake. now i know better, we don't have that problem.
 

kathy k

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teekee was having what i thought of as seizures in the fall. took her to the vet. who gave me some ? calcinate ? syrup. to give her every day for a week then every other week for the month, then just once a month. the seizures went away.
well my daughter does all the toweling around here. i had never done it before. this is what i wrote to my bird groups. my first time toweling. did not realize the subject line would come out so big, sorry.
the fine art of toweling a bird.

NEVER did it before, and poor teekee and i are learning together.

when colleen gets ready to towel her, teek fly's on the floor.

when i TRIED to towel her, she lands on the table as close to colleen laptop as she can get without crawling in it. makes it just a tad harder. cause there is other stuff near that area. i almost picked up a few the first time.

colleen says, ''you don't plop the towel on the bird you lay it on her.'' i said, '' ok, but she's not on the floor where i have a clear shot at her.''

so i put it on her, second try. cause she escaped the first time. up onto my shoulder she went.
out she popped and escaped the second time. i ask what i am doing wrong. colleen says basically wrap the towel around her, don't just drape it on her, with her feet loose. and put the towel over her head. so for the third time, i got her off the table and found out how wriggley they can be, but managed to get it under her belly and positioned her next to my body. pulled it off her head and she got her calcium syrup. so she is done for the night. i put a tad extra in the syringe cause i knew i would not get it all in, being the first time trying. so i figure she got about 90%.
she does pretty good about the syrup. doesn't struggle that much.
took the towel off her and up on my shoulder she went. will see how mad at me she is. but not much so far.
by the third dose, she was looking forward to it.
 

KatherinesBirds

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Well, evidently my Meyer's parrot is really scared of a wood and leather toy that looks like a crazy octopus! I took it out of his cage today in hopes of a calmer day tomorrow!

Katherine
:heart:
 
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