Trouble in Paradise

[JudiNh]

Oh dear, trouble in paradise. Ben is becoming somewhat discouraged by his little friend Jitterbug's increasingly bitey behavior. I know that it is hormonal for Jitterbug, he is ALWAYS hormonal, and he is trying to feed Ben's toes or finger nails...trying to rub his vent on anything and everything he can find that is soft...including Ben's stuffed animals, and blankets, and when Ben attempts to intervene and pick him up, Jitterbug bites him. Ben is so sad....isnt handling JB as much, and is feeling left out and snubbed by his buddy. Playing with Jitterbug isnt nearly as fun, when you keep getting bitten, and Ben is quite discouraged. Any suggestions on how to help them stay close and keep the relationship healthy and satisfying? Jitterbug is frustrated, and Ben's feelings (and fingers) are getting hurt. Not sure what to do to help them. :( (by the way, Jitterbug is 2.5 years old...he has been hormonal for a long time, but the real bitey stuff has gotten a lot worse over the last few months....)

[Pips mom]

Awww.........I never really went through this kind of thing with Pip. Pip taught us from day one....hey! don't do that or you get a bite! We've always been able to understand his bold lil lovie behavior and take it as something that's just normal and that he's just my lil monster and can't help it sometimes! Of course......I would never interrupt him humping Ivy's swing with my hands.....I know better! Maybe in a situation like that he could try to offer his arm.....and if Jitterbug doesn't want to go with him at that time, then Ben just needs to learn that sometimes we all just need a little time to ourselves. Pip's bites in the face were always the hard ones for me to take! the others don't hurt quite as much! It's easier in my situation because Pip is Pip and he doesn't get close to you without biting and then suddenly start....he's always bitten and taught us right from the start.....this is how it is.....don't like it, ok, then here's a bite! maybe someday you'll learn!! :rofl: He's always been the same, he never seems to act hormonal and you always know what to expect from him, that never changes with Pip.....he's very consistent!
I hope that Ben is able to learn at his young age that this little bird is just still acting out his wild behaviors and that this is something in him that's there to protect him in the wild so that he can survive. He's not in the wild now, but it's his instinct and something that we can't take away or change. In every relationship there will always be situations where you have to learn how to take the bad with the good because people are not perfect either! so maybe this will be a good learning experience for Ben.....good luck!

[Chickobee]

It may help are to rearrange Jitterbug's cage and move it to a different location.

Reducing the hours of daylight may help too. If you have a dark cloth to cover his cage at night so he isn't affected by the lights in the house may help to curb his hormones.

You can reassure Ben that this behavior will be temporary and he will have his old friend back again in a couple of months.

What he/you will want to be careful about now is "teaching" Jitterbug to bite. What I mean by this is letting him get his way by biting. At this time it is very important to not reinforce the biting. Teaching Ben to distract Jitterbug with a toy, food, or something else and to get him to step up onto something other than his hand will help.

Has Ben taught Jitterbug to step up onto a perch or to do any tricks? Maybe doing this would provide a distraction for Jitterbug from his frisky behaviors.

Have you explained to Ben about why Jitterbug is acting this way? This may provide an opportunity for a small lesson on the birds and the bees... There could be something positive from this. :whistle:

[JudiNh]

Thanks for the ideas. I guess you're right..this could/should be a learning experience for Ben. Hee hee. He's pretty patient with Jitterbug, but the nipping and feisty behavior is getting hard for him to deal with...JB is just SO determined, and unstoppable...its frustrating, even for me! Thanks for the tips...those are some really good ideas....

[bird-brain]

Oh No not Jitterbug and Ben!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are like my idols. Yo tell Jitterbug I am very disappointed in his attitude..........when that doesn't help, I have found that as others have said, limiting exposure to daylight and the complete rearrangement of everything they own, to be helpful. No soft toys in the cage, or where he can get to them to do any rubbing. I hope Ben can understand the reasons for all of this. I'd love to hear his reaction when you explain WHY Jb is trying to feed his toes. ;)

[JudiNh]

LOL...okay, I'll give JB a stern talking to. LOL
He is fine in his cage...nothing soft in there and he behaves perfectly. But the SECOND he is let out of the cage, he goes right to something he can rub himself on....like the couch, a pillow, a blanket, Ben's slippers, anything. Its horrible. It is CONSTANT when he is out. Ben gets so annoyed. And so do I. But we cant just keep him in the cage all the time. That would be sad. I try to have Ben keep JB occupied with a toy, or carry him around on his shoulder, or even give him a bath in the sink.. Those things work for a short time, but then, he's right back at it. Sigh.....I hope this is just "seasonal" and comes to an end soon. It is very frustrating, for ALL of us....:omg:

[thebubbleking]

lol i can imagine jb grumbling when you put him back in the cage " gawd mom is such a c**k blocker! lol

[Enko_chan]

I am perhaps going to offer some opposing advice here.

It may be helpful to provide something soft inside the cage. I know he is your little boy's friend and it may be unseemly, but unless Jitter is harming himself doing this- forcing him to stop is not going to change his natural behavior its only going to divert it in ways that no one is going to be happy with. I may be off the mark here, so please someone correct me if I'm wrong, when Odie stopped humping his feathers off his poor little crotch from humping too frequently and began doing it at a more reasonable amount, and it was not an issue for actual worry- I returned the soft items he liked to hump to his cage. He now humps in his cage and uses his time for visiting us human people for social things that we ALL enjoy. Every bird is different and you never know with these wild animals, that's for sure, and Jitter is not Odie- but I did want to share my experience and its outcome in case it may be of help.

I do hope that this can be worked out, it would break my heart to see too much trouble between the two of them!

[JudiNh]

You know, Im so glad you said that, because I was just thinking today, I wonder if I should just give him something for INSIDE the cage, so he can get it out of his system when he's in, and not be so obsessed with doing it when he gets OUT. Makes total sense to me. I think I'll try that and see if it helps. Thank you so much.....

[linda040899]

I may be off the mark here, so please someone correct me if I'm wrong, when Odie stopped humping his feathers off his poor little crotch from humping too frequently and began doing it at a more reasonable amount, and it was not an issue for actual worry- I returned the soft items he liked to hump to his cage. He now humps in his cage and uses his time for visiting us human people for social things that we ALL enjoy. Every bird is different and you never know with these wild animals, that's for sure, and Jitter is not Odie- but I did want to share my experience and its outcome in case it may be of help.
Accepting the behavior you can't change is always the first step to finding a solution, or at least an acceptable compromise. :) This sounds very reasonable to me and I'm glad it's working with Odie! It's very similar to how I handle chewing with several of my large parrots (Harley and Ginger). If I give them things that they are allowed to destroy, they will leave things that would get them in trouble alone!!

I agree. Each bird is different and you don't know what will happen unless you try it!