an update and another question

[Fidgit_Green]

hi all.

firstly i would like to say that last night Fidgit enjoyed himself in the shower for the first time.
now i dont have to stick to only the spray bottle.

i ended up not giving him a bath for about a week so that he would really want to get into some water, and when it got to the point that he was ready to jump off me into the sink when i would run the kitchen tap i figured it way the right time to try him out in the shower again, and sure enough he was more than happy to bathe himself under the water.
i spent so much time in the shower because i was getting my kicks watching him get his kicks under the water, he even started making a little squealing noise that i havent heard him make before, it was so cute.

now the next thing is to get him to bathe himself in a dish of water.

ok, now the question.
a few of you guys have spoken about your birds feeding thing? toys, feet, ears ect.
and from what i gathered from what you guys have written about it, its when they regurgitate their food onto whatever it is that they are trying to feed?
have i got that right?

Fidgit hasnt regurgitated anything yet but he does do this thing where he stands there and starts bobbing his head up and down and does what seems like hes gagging, and i suppose that it could be the regurgitating reflex, only he doesnt bring anything up.
so is it likely that this this that he is doing is him trying to feed things?
i am a little worried that it is him trying to feed things, because he mainly does it when he is sitting on my shoulder and seems to do the gagging thing in my ear.
so if it is him feeding then i am a little worried that one of these days he is going to bring something up and i am going to end up with bird puke in my ear. lol.
i can tell you, i am not looking forward to that day.

so yea, do you think thats what the gagging thing is all about? him trying to feed my ear?

Cheers
Paul

[ellieelectrons]

Good job on the shower. You're really in-tune with Fidgit. Well done. I end up taking long showers too, just because hey enjoy it so much!

The gagging is the beginning of regurgitation. My birds will sometimes do what your guy does, so I hope you don't end up with birdy gurge in your ear one day! It's not good when that kind of behaviour gets out of hand... But the signs you are reporting now don't necessarily mean our bird will do that. How old is Fidgit now?



Ellie.

[Fidgit_Green]

he is 7 an a half months old.
what exactly is the feeding response meaning, like does it mean that im one of the flock and hes feeding me, or is it some weird hormone thing?

Cheers
Paul

[MissK]

Feeding/Regurgitation is an intentional action intended to provide for another, from a potential mate clear through to raising the baby. Some baby birds will also feed each other (don't know if the IRN is among them).

I've had more than enough trial with Rocky feeding stuff, though I thank my lucky starts he isn't doing it to me. Possibly this is because he isn't that comfortable sitting or snuggling with me. Folks who know have advised me it is hormonal and I should remove the object of the feeding.

Some birds will feed others for a time and then settle down. That's not happening here, but I believe our situation is very abnormal. Feeding is seriously important to Rocky, and I have found that without toys he will feed ropes in his cage and even the wall and floor grates. Actually, I'm quite disturbed about it, for my own bird.

For your bird, however, I would not expect it to get so out of hand. I would advise you, if you can possibly avoid it, do not let him regurgitate in your ear or other body part. You would not want him to get accustomed to doing it. From Rocky I get the idea it is "any port in a storm", so perhaps you might be able to "guide" your bird to an acceptable recipient? I don't know if that can be done, but given the stakes, I would say try it.

Best of luck with this!
-MissK

[Fidgit_Green]

thanks Missk.

i can tell you now, i will do everything i can to avoid having him feed my ear, or any other part of me.
and because 90% of the time that hes not put away to bed he is with me, on me, if you believe that he should not get used to trying to feed me as a regular thing then i will do what i can to avoid it.

i understand that your situation with feeding is a little more significant than most, but if it is supposed to be a natural behavior (with the average situation) why is it best to avoid them to focus it towards a person rather than a inanimate object? well apart from the obvious result of getting puked on by a bird of course.
i just would have though that focusing that on an actual living being would be a lot healthier for the bird mentally than feeding something else.

luckily so far Fidgit hasnt gotten to the point of actually bringing anything up yet, just gagging as though he is wanting to.
do you happen to know of how i would be able to refocus his feeding if it gets to the point that i need to?

and perhaps would you know of a site or a book or something that could go into detail about explaining the who,why,what,where,whens of the feeding behaviors in birds?
i will do some searching on it myself, i just thought that someone here might know of where to point me to start researching it.

i am sorry to hear that Rockys feeding problem is distressing for you, i hope that things work out for you two.

thanks for the post.
Cheers
Paul

[Skyes_crew]

Skye started the head bobbing thing a few weeks ago. Only thing coming up so far is the sticky white paste. Yuck!!! As soon as he starts I redirect his attention somewhere else. It is my feeling that birds should love us, not want to mate with us. So if he must do it, like MissK said, it is much better to have him do it to an inanimate object. The object can't accidentally respond in a way that may be taken for a sexual response, so he will most likely get bored on and off with it.

[ellieelectrons]

I agree with Skyes_crew and what MissK has said. You don't want your bird to a) think it is human because that can make it a very confused and frustrated bird and b) bond only to you and be aggressive towards anyone else who comes near you. This is part of the reason I believe in having a birdy companion for your bird. However, I also understand that two birds are harder to look after than one and it may not be appropriate for everyone.

Paul, I'd be inclined to try to get him off my shoulder when he starts to gag. I'd be inclined to put him on a perch nearby.

I'm not sure about how you refocus him to regurgitate to another object. All I can suggest is look for objects that the bird has a natural liking for and when he starts gagging, try distracting him with that object as Skyes_crew suggested. Not quite the same situation, but it is all inter-related, Barbara Heidenreich trained a Kakapo parrot to transfer mating behaviour from people's heads to croc shoes (see http://goodbirdinc.blogspot.com.au/2012 ... usual.html)

Ellie.

[MissK]

I can't add much to what's been said here, more than to point out the very obvious fact that bird barf has to be a bit disgusting up close and so very personal. I would not allow it even if that were the only reason.

As far as transferring he behaviour, I think simply removing yourself while substituting a favoured proxy would be the best bet. It's far from ideal.

I'm pulling that croc shoe link for later reading.

-MissK

[InTheAir]

Heyo,

There seems to be an old myth in the parrot ownership world that the only way to have a good relationship with your bird is to bond as a mate. It's simply not true and is rather unhealthy.

I think this site gives quite a good run down on the subject http://www.rationalparrot.com/tease.html

Since there isn't much ringneck specific info out there broadening a search to parrots helps.

We researched the subject quite throughly and, besides regurgitating, found there are a host of behaviour problems associated with parrots that to form a mate bond with a person.

Neither of us want to be in 'that' kind of relationship with our bird, so we have pretty much followed that guide from the start. We err to the side of caution, perhaps more than necessary, as this is our first bird.

We explain to people who pat him that you only touch his head, he actually still growls if people try to stroke his lower back or tail... I haven't found sticking to this creates any problems with handling, we can still grab and lift him with out getting growled, just not give him a sensuous stroke.

If we leave our wardrobe door open Nele will go feed the bird in the mirror sometimes, but he doesn't look at either of us as any more than part of his flock. (I've promised him a birdy friend as soon as I can afford one!)

Also I read the most disturbing book from the library 'the parrot that owns me' and read extracts to Dave.
It was like a manual in what we don't want from our parrot in the bonding respect. Lol

I hope you find the link useful.

Claire

[ellieelectrons]

Yes, I've heard that once upon a time, there were trains of thought that your bird regurgitating to you was a sign of bonding and was a positive sign. Thankfully, this line of thinking is no longer respected... not to mention how gross it is!

Ellie.

[Fidgit_Green]

thank you everyone for the information
it has been a very interesting read and has help me to understand the risk of them focusing their feeding and mating desires on a human.
there is still a bit of researching i need to do to understand everything completely but it is a good base to start from.

thanks you so much for you help.

Cheers
Paul