post vacation regression

[jonsbabykake]

i came back from a 10 day vacation on monday, it was a 7 day cruise but 4 days of travel total. my aunt petsit for all of my animals, which consists of a hamster, 3 dogs, 2 parakeets and my sun mango.

i was worried about her forgetting me completely cuz i only had her for 2 weeks before we left. the trip was planned half a year ago so i kinda had to go lol. anyway she did remember me and was calling out when we came into the house. she made a MASSIVE mess. she had shredding toys and preening toys and tore through all of them, i had to go buy her more.

her food intake though didnt look as much as it did before i left, there wasnt as much food in the tray as i thought there would be (i told the sitter not to change the tray so i could examine when i returned) and when i came up to her to say hi she looked pretty thin. but i think it was because she was so scared she sucked in all her feathers cuz now she looks fine again.

shes very skittish of me again, not quite like when i first brought her home but she runs away when i approach her and she wont take a treat from me anymore. shes not as vocal now and doesnt bounce around and do backflips for my attention now. before i left i was to a point where i could get her to step on my hand for a split second to grab a treat, and almost got her to step up. its a bit discouraging but i figured it would happen. im going to do the same things i did before and that was sit by her as much as i can and talk to her, give her treats by hand and so forth.

one positive though is she never used to come out of her cage and sit in the built in playgym ontop, but now as soon as u open the door she goes right up there and even plays with the toys, which she never did before.

i had regression with my budgies too cuz now they wont step up onto a perch like before but theyre still happy as ever, and they made a massive millet and shredding mess for me too, not to mention the younger one is molting lol.

we'll see how long things take again for me to get my velcro bird :09:

 

[triordan]

OMG the same thing happened to me, we only had our bird for about 6 weeks and we were making real progress, then i had to go away unexpectantly for 5 days and we had to start back at square one!

 

[jonsbabykake]

im sure its pretty common unless youve had them for years and left for like 2 weeks, that wouldnt make a difference.

 

[Chaos_1.0]

It all depends on the birds. I had my tiel for about 6 months before I went on vacation. After I got back, it was like nothing had changed. Some birds are wound a little tighter and get angry at their owners for leaving them.

 

[birdiemomma]

I had Bella for a little over a week and then had to leave her for a week and when I went to pick her up she happily screeched and said "hello!" for the first time. It all really depends on your bird and their personality.

 

[jonsbabykake]

shes outside of her cage on the playgym all the time now so maybe since shes out in the open all the time she will bond quicker. when i talk to her she still tilts her head to the side cutely to listen to me but its like shes a teenager giving me the cold shoulder cuz shes mad at me for leaving lol.

since i was gone for a little over a week she probably bonded a bit to the petsitter, cuz whoever gives ya the food is good in their book. so maybe shes like hey why are u feeding me again u havent fed me in week! oh well, i dont mind starting from square 2 or 3 because i luvs her. i didnt have her for very long to begin with before i left and i have many years with her to go.

 

[jonsbabykake]

welp, the situation hasnt changed much since ive been back.

before i left i was working on her getting used to my hand, and putting her favorite treat in my palm so she would have to touch my hand a bit to get it, and she would even allow me to touch her belly to try to get her to step up but she never hopped on.

she still will not take treats from my hand and is scared of my hand in general now since ive been back. the only time she doesnt immediately run away is when im giving her her ladder so she can either get up or down.

shes outside of her cage most of the day but always stays in the very back corner where i cant reach her. if i try to get my hand near her to give her a treat she either climbs down the bars or jumps off the cage. when shes inside the cage she backs away as far as she can go, and i also feel like im invading her space if i try to put my hand in her cage.

i dont know how to get passed this and get her some physical contact. from what ive read most peoples suns turned into velcro birds in like 2 weeks lol but our progress seems to be going slowly. i know she wants to be with me because everytime i walk away she comes up to the front of her cage and chirps for me. if only she new if she would come on my hand or shoulder she could come with me..

the breeder clipped her pretty severely and i dont think shes going to grow those back for a year or more. she cant even get more than 2 inches off the ground, kinda like shes hopping. when they grow back out i tend to let her be much more flighted, but maybe not fully, just a trim might do.