Is it just hands your budgie has a problem with? I'm gonna give you some anecdata on Murray because that are what ah do. *lol* Murray, my quaker parrot, came to me with a hatred of All Things Human, and most especially The Dreaded HAND!!! What I started doing was offering him my arm instead, which he happily stepped up onto. I've had him for a couple months now, and last weekend was the first time he ever stepped up onto my finger (because OMG FINGERS RAR I KEEL YOU!) and that only because I coaxed him with a bit of peanut. *lol*
And the attacking-the-towel thing sounds like typical passive-aggressive parrot behavior. If they can't bite what they want to (something scary, you, etc.) they will bite the nearest things to hand. Murray will viciously attack his toy and tell it GET AWAY FROM ME!!! when he can't maim my visitors. She's probably scared of New Towel and it will just take her a while to get used to it. :)
With the towel, we've been doing this every night for two months. Times where she DOESN'T flip out are pretty rare.I hope she does calm down, because I'm afraid she might hurt herself if the mirror smacks her in the face or something. Nikki and Skye never did this, so it was kind of a shock to me.
And mostly, yes, it's just hands. She doesn't like arms too much because that's closer to my body and she's kind of lazy as far as hopping onto things goes(she won't even fly a whole around about the room, and I have a smallish room). However, if the mood strikes her(read:whenever she wants) she will attack whatever part of you she can, usually defensively and even if you haven't moved. If she's on your shoulder, your neck and ears are in grave danger. The only thing she doesn't seem to have a huge problem with is my face-- when she's sitting on top of Nikki's cage, she'll let me lean over and kiss her back. You just have to be careful because if she decides to bite your face, she goes for your nose and eyelids
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Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have the money for that cage right now, though I would like it. It'll have to wait some time.
Mostly we cover their cages to give them some peace and quiet-- the bedroom door always stays open and more often than not my grandmother's TV across the hall will be on, which is pretty bright. It also gets a bit cold in that room for some reason at night and early morning.
Regarding the diet-- I somehow skipped over that, oops! I'm rather afraid to try that conversion, though. I'm currently job searching, and it seems really based on a secure schedule. If I happen to get a job with varying shifts where I'm not home at the times I have to feed them seeds or some such, I don't want to accidentally starve them. I can't count on my grandmother to do it for me, either. why can't birds just eat what i give them, dumb jerksThe biting page I did read, though, and I have tried the "luring" technique-- If Romeo can't reach it from her perch or reach your hand within a reasonable amount of time(about five seconds) she
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Re: diet. While it's best if you can offer them their 'meals' at approximately the same time each day - it's okay if it has to vary sometimes. In my opinion, it's more important to get them converted over to a healthy diet. As long as you make sure to offer them seeds twice a day, for the specified length of time, while the birds are awake... you're fine. If the meals come a few hours earlier or later some days, they'll be alright.
As for the biting: it may be better to go completely hands-off for a while. I have a maroon bellied conure whose aggression is off the charts. He will flying-attack my face, lunge at my hands, land on my shoulders to bite my ear and neck, etc. I work on positive reinforcement with him, teaching him to step onto a handheld perch, lifting his wings, turning in a circle, etc... He attacks less often, he takes treats from my fingers, and he's even let me gently touch his head a few times.
Also: as a general rule, budgies aren't going to like having their backs or wings touched. Most parrots don't. ;)
I think I'm going to try it-- with pellets, at least, but I'm not going to immediately jump into only letting them eat twice a day. It has to wait until I get new bowls, though, Romeo keeps pulling the bowls off the sides of the cage and spilling her food all over. I'm going to hesitate on fruits and veggies for a while, too; it's potentially a lot of wasted food since I highly doubt they'll eat it, and I'm not the one who pays for grocery shopping.
I'll try to keep away from her. It'll be hard considering if I want to talk to Nikki or something, she'll likely be in his cage, haha.
I find it weird, though-- most tamed, cuddly birds I've ever met or seen seem to enjoy having their heads or backs touched. Even my friend's cockatiel, who freaks out if you try to remove him from the cage, bows his head for scritches once you actually have him out. I've seen more birds get nervous when you touch their breast rather than their wings, so I never quite understood that.
I found it easy to switch my budgie to organic pellets. They love it.
Toweling (look it up on the internet) where you cover the bird with a towel and put it your pocket 5 or 10 minutes and it comes out tame works. I used it on my meanest biter. I haven't done it for years on her. So she is back to biting...bit my fiance very hard.
But if I only had 2 birds, I'd most definitely do it again.
My birds have an aversion to everything that isn't at least as small as a seed, and even some seeds they won't touch.
Sorry, I'm kind of suspicious about anything that recommends you put an untrained bird in your pocket. :\ It seems like a sure way to unnecessary stress and possible suffocation.
You're right to be suspicious, that's terrible advice. All you're doing is teaching your bird "learned helplessness" and adding stress to a relationship that you're trying to improve.
I could understand using a towel to hold a larger bird to clip nails or wings or something to prevent getting bitten, but with something budgie-sized I'm even hesitant just to use my hand since they struggle so much and I don't want to hurt them.
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And the attacking-the-towel thing sounds like typical passive-aggressive parrot behavior. If they can't bite what they want to (something scary, you, etc.) they will bite the nearest things to hand. Murray will viciously attack his toy and tell it GET AWAY FROM ME!!! when he can't maim my visitors. She's probably scared of New Towel and it will just take her a while to get used to it. :)
Good luck!
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And mostly, yes, it's just hands. She doesn't like arms too much because that's closer to my body and she's kind of lazy as far as hopping onto things goes(she won't even fly a whole around about the room, and I have a smallish room). However, if the mood strikes her(read:whenever she wants) she will attack whatever part of you she can, usually defensively and even if you haven't moved. If she's on your shoulder, your neck and ears are in grave danger. The only thing she doesn't seem to have a huge problem with is my face-- when she's sitting on top of Nikki's cage, she'll let me lean over and kiss her back. You just have to be careful because if she decides to bite your face, she goes for your nose and eyelids ( ... )
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A few quick links for you:
Diet -- http://www.rationalparrot.com/diet.html
Biting -- http://www.rationalparrot.com/biting.html
As far as cage covering goes, do you have to cover their cages? You might try without it for a little bit and see how that works.
If you're looking for a bigger cage, the EFC is highly recommended for small parrots -- http://www.windycityparrot.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=19302242001&Category_Code=bestcage&Product_Count=0
Welcome again!
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Mostly we cover their cages to give them some peace and quiet-- the bedroom door always stays open and more often than not my grandmother's TV across the hall will be on, which is pretty bright. It also gets a bit cold in that room for some reason at night and early morning.
Regarding the diet-- I somehow skipped over that, oops! I'm rather afraid to try that conversion, though. I'm currently job searching, and it seems really based on a secure schedule. If I happen to get a job with varying shifts where I'm not home at the times I have to feed them seeds or some such, I don't want to accidentally starve them. I can't count on my grandmother to do it for me, either. why can't birds just eat what i give them, dumb jerksThe biting page I did read, though, and I have tried the "luring" technique-- If Romeo can't reach it from her perch or reach your hand within a reasonable amount of time(about five seconds) she ( ... )
Reply
As for the biting: it may be better to go completely hands-off for a while. I have a maroon bellied conure whose aggression is off the charts. He will flying-attack my face, lunge at my hands, land on my shoulders to bite my ear and neck, etc. I work on positive reinforcement with him, teaching him to step onto a handheld perch, lifting his wings, turning in a circle, etc... He attacks less often, he takes treats from my fingers, and he's even let me gently touch his head a few times.
Also: as a general rule, budgies aren't going to like having their backs or wings touched. Most parrots don't. ;)
Reply
I'll try to keep away from her. It'll be hard considering if I want to talk to Nikki or something, she'll likely be in his cage, haha.
I find it weird, though-- most tamed, cuddly birds I've ever met or seen seem to enjoy having their heads or backs touched. Even my friend's cockatiel, who freaks out if you try to remove him from the cage, bows his head for scritches once you actually have him out. I've seen more birds get nervous when you touch their breast rather than their wings, so I never quite understood that.
Reply
Toweling (look it up on the internet) where you cover the bird with a towel and put it your pocket 5 or 10 minutes and it comes out tame works. I used it on my meanest biter. I haven't done it for years on her. So she is back to biting...bit my fiance very hard.
But if I only had 2 birds, I'd most definitely do it again.
Reply
Sorry, I'm kind of suspicious about anything that recommends you put an untrained bird in your pocket. :\ It seems like a sure way to unnecessary stress and possible suffocation.
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