IndianRingNeck.com

Hi all,

Its been a while since i have logged on. Turkey is 9-10 months old now and doing great. I am still pretty sure she is a female. She has never done the male posture or anything. She does let me scratch her head and when i do she fluffs her head, pins, chirps and whistles and sometimes she slightly tips her head back but most of the time she rests her beak on the pearch or lays her front half down on my hand and soaks it all in. Sometimes though she tries to nip at me or she will hold her beak open almost in an aggressive way. when she does get me she gets me hard.... I almost think maybe its a puberty thing or something. Or maybe just bluffing but i am not sure. What do you think?

She also has been doing something else strange. When she is out of her cage and i approach her she quickly runs inside her cage and does 3-4 wing flips and puffs up like she is mad. If i try to reach in she will lunge and bite hard. She has always been nippy in her cage but usually didnt run inside her cage when I came to say hi to her. She hates it when I close her cage and she is inside she has a fit lunging and screaming. I have found out to get her out of her cage I act like i am closing it and then i open it and just like that her attitude changes and she steps right up on my hand without biting or anything. Has anyone ever had an IRN like that before? she is so crazy! The past couple days she has been more noisy then normal but I try to ignore it. She does get plenty of time out of her cage and with me and for the most part she is sweet and I can tell she loves getting attention from both me and my husband.

Oh, anther thing i have noticed is that she plays with her wing feathers alot and the ends of them are all frayed from her chewing on them. Her wings are clipped and now they look like split ends but she has never hurt herself or made herself bleed or anything. The feathers on her tail and body are in perfect condition. She definately loves to chew on things and goes nuts when I give her a paper or something else to shread. I gave her the mini pumpkins that were on my table and she shreaded those and ate the seeds and loved it. Her cage is filled with toys and things but I still think she gets bored sometimes. Does anyone have any suggestions for me on her issues?

I try to do the best I can but sometimes I think should I try something else. Her cage door is open the minute we get home and she spends time with me on my hand or shoulder when I am cooking and watching tv and sometimes while I am folding laundry, sweeping the floor and that sort of stuff. I am only gone 3-4 hours in the day and she is with me on my hand or shoulder at least an hour or 2 but usually longer. When I am on the couch sometimes she climbs down herself to go back to her cage so I think she gets enough attention. What do you think?

Adreane

Hi Adreane

I have a 3 year old & a 2 year old. The behaviors you describe do remind me of Janey at that age. What I'm finding with her is that my ability to communicate with her improves as she gets older, the bites are fewer & further between. I still have problems some days with putting their morning food in the cage but I've developed strategies to handle that such as sitting them on the perch in the shower (I don't know why but they love sitting in the shower even when it's turned off). I find positive reinforcement trick training works well and, apart from that, introducing foraging for just about all their food made the biggest difference. Foraging is what birds naturally do in he wild so they find it stimulating and it makes them really grateful to get "free" food from you.

I would say it has taken years to build that bond & I'm sure when I look back in another three I'll be thinking how much more I know.

So be encouraged. With time and patience I'm confident he behaviors will improve.

Ellie.

They are always going to be 5 year olds with wings although adolescence can be a particularly trying time for anyone, including our feathered kids.

Hardest part is recognizing why certain behaviours are happening so you can deal with them properly.

Am thinking that opening up the cage as soon as you are home might be something you want to look at ... I greet my birds when I come in but never go straight to the cage but usually go and prepare a snack which they look forward to.

Closing the cage when Turkey is posturing and bluffing is a good idea but if she does this I would close the cage and walk away for a few minutes to let her know that this behaviour results in things she does not want.

Would also make her step up and out so you become the gate keeper and she knows that of she wants out she has to be gentle and nice and that birds that bite do not get to come out.

Say this because she seems like a sociable little sweetheart and that she wants to spend all her time with you and because the biting does not seem to be fear based... some of it could be over stimulation and some birds bite because they really like you. Caiques do this and a firm grab might be misinterpreted as aggression when it can really be the opposite.

Sixty Fiver wrote:Would also make her step up and out so you become the gate keeper and she knows that of she wants out she has to be gentle and nice and that birds that bite do not get to come out.

I used to have a perch I would get my guys to go to before I open the door. I'd say "on your perch" & they'd know that if they didn't go to that perch the door wouldn't be opened. It seemed to create a nice routine. Their cage is in a weird configuration at the moment so I haven't been able to do that... I must reconfigure it because it worked really well... and it was a good training mechanism... it's a little like asking students to line up outside the room or stand behind their chair when they walk into the classroom... it sort of sets the tone for the interaction although it doesn't guarantee good interactions but it's a nice start.

Ellie.

ellieelectrons wrote:

Sixty Fiver wrote:Would also make her step up and out so you become the gate keeper and she knows that of she wants out she has to be gentle and nice and that birds that bite do not get to come out.

I used to have a perch I would get my guys to go to before I open the door. I'd say "on your perch" & they'd know that if they didn't go to that perch the door wouldn't be opened. It seemed to create a nice routine. Their cage is in a weird configuration at the moment so I haven't been able to do that... I must reconfigure it because it worked really well... and it was a good training mechanism... it's a little like asking students to line up outside the room or stand behind their chair when they walk into the classroom... it sort of sets the tone for the interaction although it doesn't guarantee good interactions but it's a nice start.

Ellie.

If my female (Amore) does not step up she is usually giving me the eye of death so I know she is not in the mood but if she wants to come out she will leap to my hand from inside the cage.

I think that having a well bonded pair makes my life easier as Amore's bad moods dissipate pretty quickly when Lucce steps out and she sees him having fun or getting a treat for being such a good boy.

A good deal of her cage based grumpiness has diminished since she had her wings clipped.

I have noticed a change in Turkeys behavior over the past few days. I have been wrapping her food in paper and things like that and it keeps her busy and I have noticed she is much quieter. She has also been much better at stepping up out of her cage and she doesn't run from me as much. I had some friends over and their 2 girls 7 and 9 boh loved Turkey and gave her so much attention and she seemed to lik it. She didn't once try to nip at them and she even let them take her out of her cage. She still lunges at me when i have my hand near her cage on the other side of the bars but if i come to her when the door is open she will come right out on my hand and not try to bite or anything. She is so funny.