Saying "no" to a bird, and not getting murdered.

[Grenage]

Hi guys,

Aizen my GCC is generally a very lovable if maybe sometimes a little beak-friendly; we get on well and I can read his moods easily enough - except....

Once, long ago, he discovered my T-shirt had openings at the sleeves and neck; I made the mistake of allowing it just that once, and he has never forgotten! Once he is in the mood for T-shirt exploration, no force on earth will distract him, in fact any hands that attempt to do so will be devastated.

I'd let him in there, but I know that due to his nature, it's going to eventually result in the loss of a nipple. It's not his fault, he has no idea what hurts me - I trust him to preen my eyelids any time, he knows that my face is... well, me.

Any tips on behavioural modification, short of putting him in the cage when he tries it on. I generally do not use the cage as a punishment, and he doesn't mind the floor (he's flighted anyhow).

 

[BoomBoom]

Hi Grenage,

I can relate to this. My sun conure also loves diving inside my shirt and chew on it from the inside out. He will not only make holes, he will shred the entire thing, with whole chunks falling on the floor. He can decimate a shirt in 1 day if I let him. A few months ago, I just gave up and let him do as he pleased (it seemed to make him so happy). I had a change of heart recently because of stories I read about the possibility of fibers clogging up their crop or digestive track overtime.

So I am now back to actively training this behavior out of him. It is much harder now because I allowed him to do it for a while. When he starts to pick on my shirt, I say 'NO' and distract him with one of his foot toys. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If he still goes for the shirt, I would shift my shirt gently around until he has no choice but to pop back out. If he still continues after that, I let him step up and I take him to another room and set him on one of his tree stands, hoping I will change his train of thought. I may also open of his favorite drawers and let him explore it (he loves my utility bills drawer). I may run water in the kitchen sink incase he'd like to bath himself. Things like that. This is what they mean about redirection I guess. It does help a lot because he forgets that he wanted to destroy my shirt just a few minutes ago.

It's still an ongoing struggle though but I haven't had to throw away a shirt in about 2 weeks now. That's an improvement as far as Boomer's concerned lol! Hope this helps.

 

[Jayyj]

Have you tried target training? It's a good way of getting a bird's attention focused away from where you don't want it to be and you can use it for other learned behaviours further down the line.

I've experienced a beak / nipple incident. Even through a t shirt (she's obsessed with silk screened logos on t shirts, and they're often unfortunately placed) it's not something I ever want to happen again!

 

[Grenage]

Hi guys, thanks for your feedback.

I guess I'll just have to try and distract him with things when he's hell bent on getting down there. Ideally before he gets to the hand murder stage.

 

[BirdyMomma]

Turtlenecks!!!!

 

[Julianna]

Distractions! Like Jayyj said, it's not an immediate or perfect solution, but I think it works best. Pippi also loves burrowing into my clothing, and I try to discourage it as much as possible. I've also used target training as a distraction to direct Pippi to another area. I think the most important thing in situations like this is to be consistent. Just keep refusing to let them in, and keep on providing more interesting things as substitute play items.

 

[amanda6989moss]

Good information!