strangely submissive

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jimmyjack
Posts: 198
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:54 am
Location: australia

strangely submissive

Post by jimmyjack »

im not sure if its something to worry about, but i would really like some feedback from anyone about this. sorry to really only post when theres a problem!

we've been making fantastic progress with our IRN iggy, he will now fly short distances to land on our hand, loves stepping up and cruising around on our shoulder or hand, and hes recently began (attempting) to talk.

however, this moring hes been acting very strange by being very submissive, and letting us touch him all over, behind his head and wings, which he never does. hes often complacent with a beak scratch or chest rub, but never behind the head. now all of a sudden hes just sitting there letting us practically wrap our hands around him (we havent trained to towel-hold either). hes not acting flighty or jumpy but something just doesnt feel right about how subdued hes being.

he also seems a little uneasy on his feet; not really steady. nearly a week ago, we heard an "episode" in his cage after bedtime, that sounded like hed fallen off his perch or fallen somehow. he bent one of his lesser tail feathers from this (oh and is there anything that can be done about that - its not affecting his flight at all, but yeah).

hes having a healthy diet, with veg and fruit mostly, with seed only every second day or so. he is not resticted to his cage and allowed plenty of time out, though usually only spends it on the top perch above his cage, or a play-perch across the room. hes hasnt seemed unwell or anything and until now, no unusual behaviour.

i dont know what it means if anything, but some feedback would be really helpful. thanks
Lolly
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 4:18 am

Re: strangely submissive

Post by Lolly »

Seems he wants some lovin and trust you , i find it strange as well when they finally trust .

Possible another underlying problem ? I dont have a clue .
But have read ....could be foods pesticides ? rotten fruit can make birds unsteady like they are drunk ...
If you havent changed anything I would look really close at the food and seed ...maybe you got a bad bag .

when my daughter got her IRN (female) at 4 yrs old took 2 years and just one day out of the blue let her touch her everywhere and kiss her as well with no blood shed .

One thing to keep in mind weather you are a home owner or a apartment renter .....With bird feeds and nuts ....comes the mice ...yep yep yep ... esp with the cages .
My tell tale sign that i need to set up snap traps are night flapping in the cages .... we are due soon to set some up and see if we get anything this time ,when I first realized "mice" hubby told me there are mice of course i CALLED him a liar ...but then thought all the nuts and seed and middle of the night crazy flapping ... lets set traps and see and in one weekend we snapped 14 mice ...you probably dont have mice but worth checking into when a bird is spooked in the night .
thanks for reminding me to grab some more snap traps from the dollerstore :-)
(if you try that i find peanut butter in traps is the best :-) )

Good luck! hope everything works well .
julie
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Location: nsw australia

Re: strangely submissive

Post by julie »

are you sure "he" is a he?? and is it only one person that can touch him/her?
with the falling from the cage, my alexandrian Mika does it quite often but he is normally being a clown when he does it . He has fallen at night but I think because he has done it that often he has worked out how to land with out doing any damage. keep an eye on it and if he/she still doesnt seem right take to a vet asap.
pinkdevil
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Location: Central West NSW Australia
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Re: strangely submissive

Post by pinkdevil »

The crazy flapping at night could be nightfrights.
Cockatiels are big on nightfrights. When my tiel girls have a fright, they set the rest of my birds off on a flaping frenzy. I have to go into the room and settle everyone down.

Here are a couple of links on nightfrights. :)

http://www.tailfeathersnetwork.com/bird ... rights.php

http://www.redgage.com/blogs/Jennlee/ni ... birds.html
smallworld
Posts: 296
Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: strangely submissive

Post by smallworld »

I agree about the nightfrights. I've seen my birds making all sorts of noises in its sleep as well, with the eyes closed. Dont worry too much if he is being friendly. If his appetite changes, or he's puffed up the whole day and sitting on his perch, doesnt drink much water, no usual squawking etc. then get him checked. Otherwise you're doing fine :)
jimmyjack
Posts: 198
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:54 am
Location: australia

Re: strangely submissive

Post by jimmyjack »

well he doesnt move around much, but i put it down to a safety thing. he came from a home where he was (undersized) caged constantly, and ive heard its very common for birds like that to become quite attached to the cage, so i havent found it worrying that he has a preference for his perch.

but thanks for the suggestions, i hope it is a trusting thing, as i said he hasnt seemed afraid or anything. as for whether its a he or she, im not sure. ive posted photos on other posts, but hes bright blue with a light grey ring around the neck (no idea how old he is) and infront of a mirror he bows forward and puffs his face feathers up, looking very squarish, which ive heard is characteristic of male displays.

oh and lolly, just a point about mouse traps. word of caution on peanut butter - it gives rodents severe diarroea. it is also quite easy for them to consume off the traps without setting it off. i have pet rats (dont worry, theyre never allowed near the bird!) and know them quite well. for traps, a great thing is pumpkin seeds, or even everybodys favourite sunflower seed - just like birds, they find them irrisistable, and they are easier to pull off the traps.

im going to take him to the vet for a checkup anyway, so i will keep you all posted to his progress and health. thanks for the feedback
jimmyjack
Posts: 198
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:54 am
Location: australia

Re: strangely submissive

Post by jimmyjack »

so apparantly nothing to be too worried about. ive taken him to the vet, and hes in very good health - an unusual amount of a single type of pollen in his excrement, which indicates it may have just been a digestive problem from some vegetable he hasnt really had before, akin to a "meat and three veg" kind of person going out for some authentic indian. An upset stomach doesnt really make anyone want to go out and play sport now does it.

good to know hes healthy aswell, though ive now got some notorious bite marks after cleaning his tail, dirty from being in his transport box! oh well, wounds will heal :)

as to the quiteness, everybody dreams of a bird that doesnt scream his head off, and we all try to train them to do so, but when it finally happens, its really quite a scary thing, you think "hold on, he doesn't want to talk to the wild parrots all of a sudden...something must be up". funny old thing :P
pinkdevil
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Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:35 pm
Location: Central West NSW Australia
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Re: strangely submissive

Post by pinkdevil »

Great news on the health front.
At least your mind is now at ease and you can go on and enjoy your quiet baby ;)
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