yet another bluffing or territorial question.

[millijade]

Hi,

I've had my bird charlie for 3 months now. I love him to bits! So easy to train, so quick to learn.. its been a breeze. Lucky for me as this is my first time as an IRN owner. Not really sure if it is a he or a she as i got him off a lady who left him sitting in a cage without interaction for 3-4 months.

Charlie is roughly a year old, again the woman couldnt tell me as she was his 2nd owner, im his 3rd. I had alot of trouble with him at first, not so much biting though there was some, but more climbing all over the inside of the cage to get away but he is fine noe and doing remarkably well. Here's what i'd like to know:

Is he bluffing or being territorial?

I used to be able to play with him alot, we'd even sit on the floor with his toys/balls/bells etc but now everytime i put him on the floor he climbs back to his cage. He never goes in as the cage is only for sleeping, he is out all day even when im not at home. Lately if i touch his toys he gets angry and tries to bite then picks up the toys and throws it or attacks it to the extent it ends up on the floor and then proceeds to climb down and continue attacking it even after i have walked away.

Also.. Charlie is highly agressive to other birds by pecking them on the head and screaching. I only have one bird but i took him to visit a friend who has 2 IRNS and had to remove him as he was having ago at her birds (both male). He also attacks ANYTHING with his reflection, tv screen, laptop screen, windows, mirrors, camera, mobile phone, toy bell and yes even my saucepans. He starts screaching, making angry squarks, screams and literally smashes his beak into the object of his hatered whether the object is near his cage or in a completely separate room he will get off the cage to search for it.

Aside from that he is lovely, he doesnt bite me but he does to my visitors and he screams at anyone who comes in my door or window like my real estate had to do when i locked myself out. He is situated in the lounge room/kitchen area and has a clear veiw of both my front and back door/outside as he is in the middle of the room. I can basically do whatever i want to him like hold him upside down, touch/hold his tail, scratch under his wings/chest and get right down under the top layer of feathers with no trouble. He likes to sit on the front of my shirt by hanging off the neckline or the shoulder but if i put him down he has to follow me to be as close as possible.

Sorry for a long post but i wanted to get as much detail as possible.. Last thing. Charlie is ok with me putting him on someone else but they cant touch him or he makes angry noises and bites to the point of drawing blood. Something which he has never done to me even when i first got him and he hadnt been handled for months.

What does any of this mean? I just want to try and understand him better.

Cheers, Cara

[ellieelectrons]

I think he is attacking others because he has bonded to you and wants you to himself. Do you have someone else who can spend a lot of time with him too?

Ellie.

[millijade]

Hi Ellie,

I do have a friend who loves charlie and has asked if she can have him as he is so totall opposite to her bird but she lives half an hr away. She is the only one as my other friends and neighbours either hate birds or are too scared of him as he bites them. He seems to settle a bit better if i put him on you but he will never 'step up' for anyone, he never goes to or sits on anyone of his own free will.

I have seen him bite my neighbour on the ear when she decided to go for a walk around the yard with him on her shoulder and it took alot of coaxing to put him there, he usually tries to fly back to me but with wings clipped he just lands on the ground and will walk over to me no matter how far away i am sit on my foot or climb up my clothes if i have long pants or a dress on.

I have sent him to my friend for a slight holiday and it nearly killed me, i fretted so much! He came back with a bad habit!! He got handled by her entire family which consists of 8 people and an IRN, he bit them all and attacked her bird but settled after 4 days, he still attempted to bite everyone though even without success but would get out of his cage in the middle of the night and sit on top of the other IRNs cage where they found him/her every morning. (wish i knew what charlie was)

[ellieelectrons]

My vet suggested the way you get the birds used to other people is by getting them to give your bird treats. Don't start with handling just start with treats and see how you guy. We have a slightly different problem to you, ours don't attack other people.... are just really scared and flutter around trying to get away.

If they try to run away from the person, that's ok, just ask the person to put the treat in their food bowl. They'll start to associate new people with treats then.

I also found explaining to them what was going to happen seemed to work well. Eg. "Hi Janey & Charlie, this is Craig. He's our friend. He's going to give you a treat." Sounds silly but it worked.

Good luck.

Ellie.

[bec]

ellieelectrons has some really good ideas here
also with that get them to eat in front of charlie plus you eat too
preferably something thats ok to share with him popcorn works really well for this
while eating tell your friend to "accidently" drop some this will allow charklie to thieve those bits with out being paid attention to plus with both of you eating he will feel safer
(coz if the big featherless members of his flock eat it must be really safe here)
and just talk among yourselves
these are things we did withour guys to get them to interact with the people in our family who arnt "owned" by one of them