Early Socialization Issues

[JerseyWendy]

My Sam (4.5 month old DYH) is truly THE sweetest young boy imaginable. With me, that is. And only with me. There are 4 family members in total here. One son is back in college now, the other leaves for the Army next month, and my husband is at work all day.

I've gently asked everyone to pay attention to Sam when he first arrived at 8 weeks. The "boys" didn't really pay much attention to my request, and Sam wants NOTHING to do with them. So much so that he bites ME when my oldest enters the room while Sam is perched on me. (misguided aggression at such a young age????)

He's a bit better with my husband, but not much. He's been able to pick him up once, and only once, and only because he flew to the ground. He can forget about taking him out of his cage, off his playtree, or off the top of his cage. Sam will fluff up, growl and lunge.

I've told him he needed to take the time and patience and gain his trust by spending time with him, and that spending time doesn't always mean HOLDING him physically. Am I right?

Unfortunately since my "kids" are grown, I don't have much foot traffic in the house anymore, so it's quite difficult to socialize Sam with many people.

Does anybody have any advice on how to handle this situation?

Thanks so much in advance.

On a sidenote, my 13-year old YN is the polar opposite. Anyone in the family can do anything and everything with her at all times. But then again, everyone showered her with attention when she became part of our family 13 years ago.

 

[oled]

After Ville spend a week at freinds when we ware on holiday he is more social with other people, my wife and chindren

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thank you for the suggestion, oled. Ville looks like a magnificent DYH in your avatar!

I don't think I'm ready to drop him off at anyone's house just yet, lol. But then again, in 2014 I will take a (tiny) vacation back to Germany, and it will be my hubby's responsibility to take care of my mini-zoo. Hopefully we don't have to wait until then for the 2 of them to form some type of relationship.

 

[henpecked]

Sounds like your house is pretty typical. Hubby has to go to work, only has a few minutes before and after work to spend with Sam.(time out,Jake demands "pets") Of course that is the same time of day you spend time with Sam and he choose to be with you. If hubby is serious , you need to give him a chance at those times of day. It will mean a change on your part and some begging from Sam. It would be better if it could be done during the time when Sam is not normally with you, but it is what it is. If Sam could make one more friend then the 3rd,4th and so on , each would be easier and quicker. It's getting over that "hump" that mommy's the only one. Don't give up ,it will come. I'm just making real progress with a bird who loves my wife, it's been 3yrs to get her to come to me and want to be with me, for me to be able to take her away from my wife. But now she'll make more new friends quicker, because she now knows others can be fun,trusted,etc.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Thanks a million, henpecked.

Yes, hubby is gone by 6AM, when all my birds are still sound asleep, and he doesn't get home until 6:30PM.

So I think the perfect time for HIM to spend with Sam would be after supper because that's the time I usually take them all out one last time before I tuck them in for the night. And on weekends he can do it whenever he chooses, or whenever Sam is begging to come out. Did I understand it correctly?

 

[henpecked]

When sam is begging to come out would be good, just have sam step up and then quickly to the cage top or playstand. PS poor man works too much.

 

[JerseyWendy]

LOL Henpecked. Yes, he works WAY too much. But I should have mentioned that his commute to and from work is a total of 120 minutes. (He takes the train whenever possible)