Parrot Predicament - bird on bird agression - Advice wanted

[MTG]

Hello all,

I own two birds. A quaker parrot called Yoshi, and a grey named Zelda.
Yoshi is 3 and Zelda is just 2. I got Yoshi first and had a year with him before
I got Zelda when she was just 6 months old. For the first year or so, they
were getting on ok, they would both happily be out and for the most part,
pay no attention to each other.

Recently, Zelda has been getting more rambunctious (terrible twos). And she
would chase Yoshi off his stand causing him to fly away. Then in early March
this year, seemingly unprovoked, Zelda flew over to Yoshi and bit his back.
causing a rather bad injury and an expensive vet bill. I felt absolutely awful
for Yoshi and blame myself.

Since this incident, I have kept them separate at all times. I will only have
one bird out of their cage at a time, to mitigate any further risk of
aggression/injury.

I would like advice on how to continue to deal with this situation. Obviously,
if needs be, I will continue as I am, only one out at a time. Both birds have a
great bond with me, so each gets their own special time with me. But in an
ideal world, I would like for them to both be out and maximize their
out-of-cage time. I don't need them to be friends, this is highly unlikely in
fact, but I would like them to coexist without aggression.

Is there anything I can do to try to improve the situation?

Is anyone else in a similar situation with their birds?

Thanks

 

[chris-md]

Ugh, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I know it can be super frustrating.

There might be SOME training that can be done as far as training calm on cue in each other’s presence, but at 3 you’re likely in the throes of puberty making some behaviors unpredictable and untrainable. Aka YOU adapt, not the bird.

For the moment I think really the only thing you can do is keep them separated at all times. It’s just what multi bird homes have to do to keep birds safe. It’s a known risk of having more than one bird that we just have to accept.

 

[Laurasea]

thats very scary, Yoshi is so much smaller , the grey could have easily decapitated him....

Start out with observations. When I had aggression from my green cheek to my budgie I was a surprised to observe. What thr true cause was excess attention from my quaker to my gcc ( they are/were bonded) . He was driving her nuts and she passed it on to the budgie. So take time to do several objective observations throughout the day, to see if you discover anything. Even something outside.

Make sure not to love on one within eyesight if the other. Breeding season extra cation. Because if territory defense could be the issue, never let them out together during breeding season.

Do target training, and postive association. Station them and give lots of special treats that they only get when stationed about 5 feet apart. Very short sessions repeated a couple of times a day.

Try and have flock meals, I use my breakfast bar fir this. We are all spread out sbd enjoy our meal together. Miss behaviors get stuck back in the cage.

 

[MTG]

Ugh, I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I know it can be super frustrating.

There might be SOME training that can be done as far as training calm on cue in each other’s presence, but at 3 you’re likely in the throes of puberty making some behaviors unpredictable and untrainable. Aka YOU adapt, not the bird.

For the moment I think really the only thing you can do is keep them separated at all times. It’s just what multi bird homes have to do to keep birds safe. It’s a known risk of having more than one bird that we just have to accept.

Thank you, yes it is both unfortunate and frustrating, but I mostly just feel super bad that I let Yoshi get hurt. I understood the likely hood that I would have to keep them separate before I introduced a second bird. Of course, I will do whatever is best for them, whatever that may be.

Maybe in a few years, I can slowly start to introduce them to each other. They both respond well to training so far, so potentially could work.

 

[MTG]

thats very scary, Yoshi is so much smaller , the grey could have easily decapitated him....

Start out with observations. When I had aggression from my green cheek to my budgie I was a surprised to observe. What thr true cause was excess attention from my quaker to my gcc ( they are/were bonded) . He was driving her nuts and she passed it on to the budgie. So take time to do several objective observations throughout the day, to see if you discover anything. Even something outside.

Make sure not to love on one within eyesight if the other. Breeding season extra cation. Because if territory defense could be the issue, never let them out together during breeding season.

Do target training, and postive association. Station them and give lots of special treats that they only get when stationed about 5 feet apart. Very short sessions repeated a couple of times a day.

Try and have flock meals, I use my breakfast bar fir this. We are all spread out sbd enjoy our meal together. Miss behaviors get stuck back in the cage.

Thank you! some great suggestions there.

And yes it was very scary and I felt awful for poor yoshi.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Hi MTG..
Sorry to read about this but I had the exact same situation years ago. I had a Timneh Grey that was about six months old when I got her. I had Smokey for about a year when Amy ( Blue Front 'Zon) came home with me when he was four months old.
Amy was and still is,a very social bird...want's to be pals with all of them.
Grey's can be jealous!!!!

One afternoon both Amy and Smokes were out on the living room floor just hanging out and being groovy when Smokey snuck up behind Amy and gave his tail such a hard pull it made Amy scream and Smokey ran back to her house LAUGHING!
I thought it was just a one time deal...until..a few weeks later both were out and Smokes walked up to Amy and they went beak-to-beak making kissy sounds. I thought they made up until i heard Amy let out a blood curdling cry because Smokey had bit his tongue! I had to rush Amy to his CAV and he required five stitches ( thank God it was afternoon and the hospital was open)

After that,I never let them get close again. Even though Amy still tried to make friends with Smokey I couldn't/wouldn't trust Smokey again
Soooo..I just kept a close eye on them when out together. Sorry I know this doesn't offer you much of a solution. Good Luck


Jim

 

[noodles123]

Hi MTG..
Sorry to read about this but I had the exact same situation years ago. I had a Timneh Grey that was about six months old when I got her. I had Smokey for about a year when Amy ( Blue Front 'Zon) came home with me when he was four months old.
Amy was and still is,a very social bird...want's to be pals with all of them.
Grey's can be jealous!!!!

One afternoon both Amy and Smokes were out on the living room floor just hanging out and being groovy when Smokey snuck up behind Amy and gave his tail such a hard pull it made Amy scream and Smokey ran back to her house LAUGHING!
I thought it was just a one time deal...until..a few weeks later both were out and Smokes walked up to Amy and they went beak-to-beak making kissy sounds. I thought they made up until i heard Amy let out a blood curdling cry because Smokey had bit his tongue! I had to rush Amy to his CAV and he required five stitches ( thank God it was afternoon and the hospital was open)

After that,I never let them get close again. Even though Amy still tried to make friends with Smokey I couldn't/wouldn't trust Smokey again
Soooo..I just kept a close eye on them when out together. Sorry I know this doesn't offer you much of a solution. Good Luck


Jim

Jim-the laughing part killed me...LOL


OP- I'm sorry you are dealing with this mess! Letting them out at separate times is for the best. You are dealing with adult/teen birds now, so while they did get along as babies, that's like comparing apples to oranges. Make sure that you aren't inadvertently leading on your birds sexually-- granted, this is easy to do sometimes. Grays generally mature sexually at 3-5, but hormones could be amping up.

Both should get 10 hours quiet/dark sleep on a set schedule each night, pet on the head and neck only, avoid allowing access to shadowy spaces like boxes, under furniture etc etc (also remove mirrors if there is a lot of interest shown) etc...never partially cover the cage during the day or even evening until it is bedtime. cover on, lights off (no lag between covering and bed)


If you do work on training, I'd do out of sight of they cages (as these can be the source of aggression etc). I'm also thinking it is possible that there is jealousy going on with regard to you. You could work on station and target training, but at the end of the day, if they are more motivated to protect their mate or territory than they are to get a "treat" it could be a bit of a challenge if you are relying on treats as motivators. What works 1-on-1 may go out the window when both are out at once, as the competition would be higher for your attention.