tears this time
Moderator: Mods
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daisy chain
tears this time
I thought I had been making progress with my 2 year old female. She had become very friendly towards me. Coming out to the living room sitting on my leg, letting me pet her. Then last night she climbed up on my shoulder and out of the clear blue bit my ear. The pain was unbelieveable. My reaction was that I swatted her to the floor. Not hard but enough to get her down. I could not hold back the tears from the pain. I made her go back to her cage and locked her up. I think the one thing that frustrates me about birds in general is their unpredictablity. Today my ear is still red. She has drawn blood on me before but I always forgive her. However, now I am sure she can sense my nerviousness when she is near me. Has she won the control over me that she wants? Oh well, any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Jodie
question
Hi,
I am not for sure how long you have had your bird, but it sounds like you haven't had her the entire time. Do you have a perch for her in the living room? Perhaps it might be a good idea to have her spend time with you on her own perch with toys, this way she doesn't decide to bite your ear. She will still be handled and talked to, but at a distance. Pet and love on her while you put her on and off her perch. A wooden chair would do. She might eat on it and definately poop on it, but it could work. Perhaps you moved and your ear scared her. I don't know if you wear earrings or not, but earrings could have set her off. I am sure she has forgotten the incident. Birds are great, but have short attention spans. If this is the first time she has biten you, I would not worry too much. My final suggetion is to have her on the other shoulder with the uneffected ear. This will make you less nervous. If she bit you, it would hurt, but not as much as the already biten ear! Hope this helps!
I am not for sure how long you have had your bird, but it sounds like you haven't had her the entire time. Do you have a perch for her in the living room? Perhaps it might be a good idea to have her spend time with you on her own perch with toys, this way she doesn't decide to bite your ear. She will still be handled and talked to, but at a distance. Pet and love on her while you put her on and off her perch. A wooden chair would do. She might eat on it and definately poop on it, but it could work. Perhaps you moved and your ear scared her. I don't know if you wear earrings or not, but earrings could have set her off. I am sure she has forgotten the incident. Birds are great, but have short attention spans. If this is the first time she has biten you, I would not worry too much. My final suggetion is to have her on the other shoulder with the uneffected ear. This will make you less nervous. If she bit you, it would hurt, but not as much as the already biten ear! Hope this helps!
I would suggest you don't let her back on your shoulder (for now) and as soon as she tries to go up... get her off immediately - a bit like punishment for what she did.
Keep giving her positive attention and keep talking and playing with her as you do not want it to get worse.. It is very important that you stay on good terms even though you are nervous. You are the master and decide on what she's allowed to do. I agree with Jodie that she might have been frightened by something and reacted. And I think your reaction told your IRN that what she did was wrong, but it is important to get back on good terms (I'm repeating myself
)
I try to over handle my bird, try not to be 'extremely delicate' but more like an experienced grand mother picking up a new born - did that make sense - I watch my older aunty picking up a new born baby so confidently and get straight into it, where I am really careful and gentle - what I'm saying is don't be too gentle because anything will scare it, let it know that it can be handled and it will start to understand that little things will not set her off.
Keep giving her positive attention and keep talking and playing with her as you do not want it to get worse.. It is very important that you stay on good terms even though you are nervous. You are the master and decide on what she's allowed to do. I agree with Jodie that she might have been frightened by something and reacted. And I think your reaction told your IRN that what she did was wrong, but it is important to get back on good terms (I'm repeating myself
)
I try to over handle my bird, try not to be 'extremely delicate' but more like an experienced grand mother picking up a new born - did that make sense - I watch my older aunty picking up a new born baby so confidently and get straight into it, where I am really careful and gentle - what I'm saying is don't be too gentle because anything will scare it, let it know that it can be handled and it will start to understand that little things will not set her off.
Hi! I have seen on this forum that a lot of people tend to let their bird on the shoulder. I have read books and they all suggest that it is better not to let them on the shoulder as it will eventually become hard to handle them. Of course, there are always exceptions, but once you notice a change in behaviour (such as biting, won't get off shoulder), you should really stop letting them on the shoulder. They should learn that they can only get up when you put them on and not them going up at will.
I have a baby IRN and he also tends to want to go up my shoulder. I always place my hands at chest level and that is the furthest he can go. After trying a couple of times without success, he will stay on my chest and I can pat him, etc which is so much easier. This has to be repeated until it became a routine.
I also built him a playgym so that he can have time off playing his toy in the lounge and can free me up to do other things.
Regards
Doremon
I have a baby IRN and he also tends to want to go up my shoulder. I always place my hands at chest level and that is the furthest he can go. After trying a couple of times without success, he will stay on my chest and I can pat him, etc which is so much easier. This has to be repeated until it became a routine.
I also built him a playgym so that he can have time off playing his toy in the lounge and can free me up to do other things.
Regards
Doremon