Hi everyone,
My boyfriend have had our ringneck for almost 5 months or so now. She is very well behaved but has good and bad days (like most birdies I imagine). For the most part, even if she's having a crabby, nippy day, we can keep her from being aggressive with us (she just kind of puts her "teddy bear" face on as we call it, but doesn't really nip , just tries to look tough with her puffy face and makes a lot of noise).
Anyways, the one exception to her overall good behavior is that when we walk around the house in bare feet... she gets insanely aggressive towards our feet! She will just run up and bite your toe out of nowhere, just after giving you a kiss up on your hand. Even weirder is that she does not do it if you have shoes or socks on... just bare feet. We don't understand this odd behavior. She loves to walk around the house (we watch for her to make sure we never step on her when she's out), so we just don't know what the deal with this is...
Anyone else notice this weird phenomenon? Thanks...
Weird aggression towards bare feet
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Weird aggression towards bare feet
"You remain responsible, forever for what you have tamed"
Oh yep! Jibby HATES feet. Hes cornered me before with the look of death, then snap snap snap! Hes like a little pirahna! Socks are no defense, he just rips them off! I just watch where my feet are now or wear shoes around him. haha I probably don't help the situation with my screaming like a little girl and giggling all the way up the hall will a little green pirahna bird, snapping at my heels!
"Jibby aka Gilbert" Indian Ringneck 13 years "Charlie" Rex Rabbit 1 year
I have also noticed, both Jibs and Yoda if given the chance, would go for each others toes as a first defense. Jibs is especially fascinated with trying to grab other birds feet, he always has done this since he was a bub. Could it just be a 'built' in hatred/fear of feet?
"Jibby aka Gilbert" Indian Ringneck 13 years "Charlie" Rex Rabbit 1 year
Hane and Tsume both bite the dogs' feet when they want space or their rawhides. And all parrots I've seen tend to go for another bird's feet when they're annoyed. So it may be a built-in behavior.
But our IRNs won't touch human feet, they learned that at a young age. I'm extremely sensitive to touch and Hane once touched my foot when I wasn't looking, it surprised me and I didn't know what it was so my leg spasmodically kicked (more like a quick shove) and Hane went flying off the sofa with a squeal. In our house we all have a knee-jerk reaction when our feet are touched (comes from being stepped on by careless doggies) so the birds got the same reaction from everyone. I think they decided that feet aren't worth it.
The most they'll do is stand on our feet to get to the jeans to climb up to our knees.
Maybe it's because when we raised them we would sit on the floor, my sister and I making a fence of our legs with our feet touching and let them wander? Feet are normal for them, I guess.
But our IRNs won't touch human feet, they learned that at a young age. I'm extremely sensitive to touch and Hane once touched my foot when I wasn't looking, it surprised me and I didn't know what it was so my leg spasmodically kicked (more like a quick shove) and Hane went flying off the sofa with a squeal. In our house we all have a knee-jerk reaction when our feet are touched (comes from being stepped on by careless doggies) so the birds got the same reaction from everyone. I think they decided that feet aren't worth it.
The most they'll do is stand on our feet to get to the jeans to climb up to our knees.
Maybe it's because when we raised them we would sit on the floor, my sister and I making a fence of our legs with our feet touching and let them wander? Feet are normal for them, I guess.