K-8
08-04-2011, 12:49 PM
Hi all!
Thanks for this site, I have been reading through it and it is very helpful.
I have a little bit of a different senerio:
I need help with a 4 year old female love bird I adopted on July 31st.
She had been hand fed and grew up in a family with 2 children. Unfourtunetly the kids grew up and lost interest and she spent atleast a year with little social interaction. The mom wouldn't get involved because the lovie would bite her.
They ended up finding her a new home with a friend of theirs who was able to re-socialize her (had her for 3 months) but she ended up relocating to Vancouver and couldn't bring along the lil one :(
For the past few months the lovie was been back with the original owner where no one interacted with her and she spent most of the time in her cage on the porch.
When I met her on Sunday we bonded immediately. She chirpped friendly to me and made eye contact with lil "puppy dog" eyes. I spend 20 minutes sitting with her and eventually after talking sweetly with her had her nuzzling up to me as I pet her through the cage. I couldn't help but take her home!
I left her in the cage for the day but spent alot of time sitting beside her cage, talking to her and by the early evening she was coming to the side of the cage I was sitting on and I was able to pet her through the bars. A little while later I let her out of the cage to explore. She bit and latched onto my finger when I went close to her so I backed off and let her explore. Eventually she made her way to the couch and when I felt she was a little more relaxed I attempted to pet her again. She stretched her wings out and nuzzled into my hand, she seemed to love every minute if it. I put her in the cage a little while later and in the evening covered her cage for bedtime.
The next day (and the 3 days since) she has totally changed. She lunges at me if I put my hand close to the cage and seems to be on a rampage. Her feathers puff up she hunches over and stomps around, throwing her beak at her toys, scrapping her beak on the cage in wild ways and the noise!!! Not the sweet friendly chirps, that's for sure!
I have tried ignoring the "screaming" and not making eye contact until she settles, which happens only when she's peanning or eating. I take that opportunity to talk sweetly to her again and it seems to comfort her briefly until she starts the high pitched loud chirps again (they sound aggressive, not happy)
On the second day after 2 hours of the bizarre behavior she seemed to calm down so I sat beside the cage and tried to comfort her. She started trying to open the cage door and chirping at me, so I let her out of the cage. She went right for the couch and began pacing back and forth on it. She wasn't interested in any toys and viciously lunged at me if I tried to get close to pet her or give her a treat so I left her alone, still trying to talk sweetly but she just looked so vicious. I haven't taken her out of her cage for the past two days. I thought I would try and soothe her to the point where I could pet her through the bars again before I let her out as she is far too unpredictable in this current state.
I have tried just sitting by her cage and talking to her sweetly, trying to calm her down but she just flys wildly around the cage and bites at me if I try to come close or changed her water/food bowl.
I'm not sure what to do, but as I live in an appartment building I won't be able to keep her if she keeps her "screaming" up and I hate to think that she will have to go back to living alone on the front porch :(
Thanks for this site, I have been reading through it and it is very helpful.
I have a little bit of a different senerio:
I need help with a 4 year old female love bird I adopted on July 31st.
She had been hand fed and grew up in a family with 2 children. Unfourtunetly the kids grew up and lost interest and she spent atleast a year with little social interaction. The mom wouldn't get involved because the lovie would bite her.
They ended up finding her a new home with a friend of theirs who was able to re-socialize her (had her for 3 months) but she ended up relocating to Vancouver and couldn't bring along the lil one :(
For the past few months the lovie was been back with the original owner where no one interacted with her and she spent most of the time in her cage on the porch.
When I met her on Sunday we bonded immediately. She chirpped friendly to me and made eye contact with lil "puppy dog" eyes. I spend 20 minutes sitting with her and eventually after talking sweetly with her had her nuzzling up to me as I pet her through the cage. I couldn't help but take her home!
I left her in the cage for the day but spent alot of time sitting beside her cage, talking to her and by the early evening she was coming to the side of the cage I was sitting on and I was able to pet her through the bars. A little while later I let her out of the cage to explore. She bit and latched onto my finger when I went close to her so I backed off and let her explore. Eventually she made her way to the couch and when I felt she was a little more relaxed I attempted to pet her again. She stretched her wings out and nuzzled into my hand, she seemed to love every minute if it. I put her in the cage a little while later and in the evening covered her cage for bedtime.
The next day (and the 3 days since) she has totally changed. She lunges at me if I put my hand close to the cage and seems to be on a rampage. Her feathers puff up she hunches over and stomps around, throwing her beak at her toys, scrapping her beak on the cage in wild ways and the noise!!! Not the sweet friendly chirps, that's for sure!
I have tried ignoring the "screaming" and not making eye contact until she settles, which happens only when she's peanning or eating. I take that opportunity to talk sweetly to her again and it seems to comfort her briefly until she starts the high pitched loud chirps again (they sound aggressive, not happy)
On the second day after 2 hours of the bizarre behavior she seemed to calm down so I sat beside the cage and tried to comfort her. She started trying to open the cage door and chirping at me, so I let her out of the cage. She went right for the couch and began pacing back and forth on it. She wasn't interested in any toys and viciously lunged at me if I tried to get close to pet her or give her a treat so I left her alone, still trying to talk sweetly but she just looked so vicious. I haven't taken her out of her cage for the past two days. I thought I would try and soothe her to the point where I could pet her through the bars again before I let her out as she is far too unpredictable in this current state.
I have tried just sitting by her cage and talking to her sweetly, trying to calm her down but she just flys wildly around the cage and bites at me if I try to come close or changed her water/food bowl.
I'm not sure what to do, but as I live in an appartment building I won't be able to keep her if she keeps her "screaming" up and I hate to think that she will have to go back to living alone on the front porch :(