Screwed Up Now have a scared bird

[Virgil8320]

So it has been a rough days for my Goffin,Virgil and I. Last week Monday Virgil took off from our couch to do his usual flight of the living room, dining room, kitchen and back to the couch. This time Virgil decided to land on the kitchen window sill for a bit. The only problem with this is I had left fly tape hanging in the very corner of that window to kill off some fruit flies we had this fall. I totally forgot about it until I hear a scream of terror from Virgil.
The fly tape got caught in his wing and his feathers. Cue mass panic , bites all over my hands, my wife and I removing the tape, us rushing him to the avian vet, them spending two hours rinsing him down with this god awful bird safe solution to clean the rest of the fly tape glue. Good news was there was no wing damage or any other injuries.

It took a good two days for Virgil to even want to come back out of his cage and another day before he would even step up on me. By the weekend things were back to normal. Well Monday night I am watching TV and Virgil is walking around on our bed doing usual cockatoo things. I took off my glasses to rub my eyes and Virgil caught a glimpse of me and flew off the bed to the floor. I figured something spooked him or he was being a brat as he has flown to the floor numerous times so I went down to get him. He would not come to me and hopped as fast as he could to a corner and stood there. I was thinking he hurt his wing or something left over from the fly tape kept trying to get him to step up so I could look at him. I finally was able to get him to step up but I had to hold him with the other hand to keep him there. Noticing how stressed he was I took him to his cage and put him away. As I put him in his cage he turned and bite me and screeched and went to the corner of his cage.

Since then if I am anywhere near him he will go to the back corner perch of his cage and watch me out of the corner of his eye. If I offer my hand or a treat he wants nothing to do with me. I left his cage open for an hour and sat in a chair next to the cage and just talked to him and played on my phone. I know he is scared of me and I know I need to go slow, keep calm and quiet and just keep trying.




I am heart broken and have read the numerous threads of similar things happening with people and their birds and understand it just takes time but maybe I am missing something?


Also an update. He is normal,happy,dancing,talking coming to my kids and wife. Totally normal until he hears my voice or I come into the room then he retreats to the corner. I am in the basement now and can hear him dancing and singing with my kids as I type this

Thanks
Branden and Virgil

 

[wrench13]

Nope not missing anything. I would maybe be extra generous with the small treats every time you pass his cage or interact with him.

My little BeeBee parrot Max (RIP) got a huge glob of mayo on his neck and back once, and I had to do similar repeated washing with dilute Dawn to remove all the grease from his feathers. Took a few weeks before he forgave me my transgressions.

 

[WhiteFlight]

. . . maybe I am missing something?

Parrot and the fly strip, sounds dreadful. I don't see anything that stands out as oversight.

I'm also thinking of exploiting the reward system to overcome the distressed status. Perhaps safflower seeds, offering individual seeds unconditionally, with the exception of Virgil having to approach you to acquire the seed. Then advance to stepping up. Might use a toy of some kind, something as simple as a plastic cap to stimulate enough interest in which Virgil will approach you to retrieve.

 

[Scott]

Virgil apparently associates you exclusively with fly paper trauma. If you had a good relationship with him prior, that should be a template for eventual return to normalcy. You'll want to reduce that time by working to rebuild trust. Special treats are a good beginning even if he refuses them by hand. Approach his cage with food outstretched and place it in his bowl. He'll probably initially wait until you are out of sight. Once you know he eats them, progress to offering only from your hand. Another technique is be the sole caretaker of his food/water/cleaning of cage. Let him know you are important even as he happily interacts with other family.

 

[FrancisMom]

Virgil apparently associates you exclusively with fly paper trauma. Another technique is be the sole caretaker of his food/water/cleaning of cage. Let him know you are important even as he happily interacts with other family.

Gotta agree with Scott here. Having you be the only one to give the treats/food will raise the value of the treats given by you and create that important association.

My husband and I do this routinely with our pets. We just had a situation where one of the cats needed meds. Somehow he associated the situation with my husband, even though I'm the one who gives him the meds. He was shying away from my husband so we started having my husband give him food. It really didn't take long for the cat to gain trust in my husband again.

 

[noodles123]

It will take time. I think that eventually, your bird will trust you again, but it was a trauma.


I'd say within 1-6 months, I think things will be back to normal if you focus on associating yourself with low-stress/positive things. I bet that you get there in under 3 m if you are patient.