Advice please, is this normal?

[wildheart]

Firstly, it is going to 'sound' as if I am complaining but please read this knowing that I have a huge smile on my face and lots of love in my eyes.

(For those who do not know Sterretjie my ringneck arrived at my house March this year. She was badly 'abused' and had a broken leg. She used to fly towards all members in our house and bite our ears, face etc.)

Sterretjie is doing VERY well, eating well, starting to talk, bath every other day and does not bite ME at all. But, she is hopelessly obsessed with me! When my husband opens her in the morning then she simply climbs down her tree and walks to my bedroom, clime up my leg and 'help' me fix my hair!
She then goes with me to the kitchen and 'help' me make salad for my iguana and dragons. She pushes the scissors that I use away, take the leafs and tears it into small bits 'for me'. Where the salad making used to take me about 20 min in the morning it now takes almost an hour!

Luckily she behaves when she sees us leaving in the car to go to work but if she knows I am somewhere in the house then she used to scream and scream until she sees me again. I read a whole lot about that and that I should ignore that behavior which I did. But, since last week madam got one cleverer she now simply clime down her tree and goes and look for me, clime up my leg and stay with me until forever. Does not matter how many times I put her back on her cage she wants me and klaar.

Now keeping a parrot on your shoulder entertained proofs very difficult! She wants to play ALL the time, tastes absolutely everything and even prunes my eyelashes! When I put her down on a table because I just have to, then she acts as if her leg is completely off, she drags her leg and her wing while making baby sounds with eyes very small! At first we believed her and I almost had a heart attack when I saw her leg is now completely unusable, but then my hubby noticed that she walks perfectly fine (in her own way) when ever I look away! Her intelligence is absolutely shocking!

My problem is that I have other children that used to get my full attention for years every singly day and now they are screaming for attention. My dragons are sulking because they love being loved and my iguana acts as if he does not know me anymore! Sterretjie refuses to go to anybody else and still bites everybody who tries to give her attention.

I 'think' that in her mind she is clinging onto me because of her past and she is afraid of loosing what she has now?

Do you think this is a healing stage or do you think it is going to get worse?

I LOVE HER DEARLY AND ENJOYS EVERY SECOND WITH HER but, my other babies are suffering. Any advice, but please bear in mind I can not close her in her cage.

Thanks.

 

[Spiritbird]

Your carma gives of a good strong energy to every one or animal around you.. am I correct? The only thing I can think of to help you is to increase socialization of your bird. Take her to strange places she is not used to and expose her to people she does not know, slowly. Birds pick a mate and she has picked you. Perhaps a mirror in her cage so she can see the other bird.

 

[wildheart]

Your carma gives of a good strong energy to every one or animal around you.. am I correct?

Only with animals, people find it hard to understand me.

The only thing I can think of to help you is to increase socialization of your bird. Take her to strange places she is not used to and expose her to people she does not know, slowly.

I have been taking her to the shops with me, to work and she even went on holiday with us the beginning of this month. She is terrified of non-European people and scatters when they come close to her. When friends come over then she starts screaming with all her might, so much that we cant even hear each other talking. She definitely knows our friends by now. She also bites my husband and my daughter gave up with her. Her cage is in the lounge where she watches tv while we are at work.

Perhaps a mirror in her cage so she can see the other bird.

She ignores my dressing table's mirror but maybe it is because I am there. I will put a big mirror up for her by her cage, good idea, thanks! Although I almost know that she will only love it till I get home.

Just a thought, will it be ok if I move her going to bed time from 7 to 8? I can spend time with her when I get home, then with the others (I will have to sneak past her though) and then exclusively with her again. I cant move the reptiles bed time because they automatically fall asleep at 7.

 

[Spiritbird]

I do not think bedtime is strict. One hour back or forward would not be a problem. I put Rosie to bed last night 1 hr. before she is used to and she settled down well. I think it has alot to do with the amt. of light or dark in the room too.

 

[wildheart]

I tried keeping her up for the past two days and I did not really get past 10 min max. She starts to get real nippy and bite harder and harder until I listen. Thanks for telling me about the lights because the snakes and dragons cages lights goes off automatically at 7 and that is maybe what caused her irritation. Maybe it will help if I move to another room.

 

[antoinette]

Hi there Wildheart, shame you poor lady, hope you are getting enough sleep.
I reckon maybe moving her cage is a great idea.
I agree with you, that she is clingy, because of her past.
Sometimes during a weekend, I try keep Mishka up a little longer, thinking I could catch 40 winks extra the next morning, no luck. I have learnt to to change her routine, but that is just Mishka being Mishka.
Hey at least you have an assist chef to help you LoL.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[wildheart]

I am glad to say that her behavior is improving day by day! She is back to screaming as load as possible when she does not see me instead of actually climbing down and searching through the house for me. I can also put her down on the kitchen table etc. without her making a fuss about it, just as long as she can see me.

But the best improvement is that she actually climbed on my husbands shoulder last night! Through trial and error I finally got my husband into a position that she is ok with. He has to wear a cap and he has to keep his hands hidden behind his back. He approached her like this and she did not run away, she actually stretched herself out, wings a bit extended and she looked at him with tiny eyes. He walked closer and closer and when he reached her, he turned around so she could jump on his shoulder AND SHE DID!

Why she likes him more with a cap, I really dont know, but I can understand why she is afraid of his big hands.

 

[wildheart]

BB There is a very good article on shoulder sitting on the thread I just posted called A Wealth of Parrot Information. It is excellent. Here is the direct link: Avoiding Problems With Parrots On Shoulders

I just read this and now I dont know if Sterretjie and my hubby took a step forward or backwards?