hello. i have a little sun conure,lucy, who is 2 years old. perhaps a little older.she exhibits some unusual behaviour from time to time. she will fluff herself all up, usually when we have been playing, and grab my finger and hump it. well, kind of hump it! she rubs her vent up against it. obviously this is sexual behaviour, and it is not agressive in any way, but is she a male then. i have not had her sexed. she may well be a male. seems male to me. she continues this for some time. well, she used to. i stop her now and divert her attention to something else. what do you think? thank you.

Hey everyone. I found this site, and wow, tons of good info. I've been searching the internet for help, finding some, and alot of 'pay for my video' crud. Hoping someone here can help me. I took in a Green Cheeked Conure about 4 months ago from a 'bird lady. She was good at what she did, knowledgeable, nice, and caring, so I felt good about this bird. I actually went to her because I found a little parakeet somebody dumped in a grocery store parking lot, about 3 weeks old, bottle (syringe) fed it until he had feathers and weened to seed, and was ready to give to somebody. She actually traded me birds! I know, what a deal, huh? I was in the market for a conure, and happened to find the budgie, and she was looking for a home for a conure. Though she had something like 30 different birds, I have no doubt that this conure was NOT neglected.
Anyways, I'm sure it's a male. About 3 year old. Instantly took to me as his favorite. Only one other person in our house (roomate), moved to a new town same time I got him, so no friends or people coming in and out all the time, just us 2, and he's totally fine with the roomie. Haven't moved the cage. Perfect health as far as I can tell, poop looks normal, no bald spots or plucking, repiratory has no signs of trouble. Very cautious with cleaners, candles (holiday only), cologne, cooking smells. Good varied seed diet. Loves mandarine oranges, pears, apples, rice, scrambled egg. LOVES to get in shower with me. Has normal sleep schedule and has no problem going to bed or throwing a fit about it. He's super cuddly and affectionate. And as with most all parrots, I've learned when he wants attention, and not.
My problem is this: He's always been a little nippy. Not bad, but enough to hurt. Not just beaking. I've been working with him, with the recommended 'NO!', and quick stern look, and a little time out if it was really hard. How long is too long for time out? I don't want teaching a lesson to turn to him feeling neglected. I've seen good results, and it's improved somewhat.
But, OMG, 2 days ago, totally out of the blue, he totally attacked me! I was in the kitchen, about 10 feet from his cage, he flew out, landed on my shoulder, bit my neck several times, then went for my lips but got my chin. How do you not react to that?!? IT HURTS! Of course when I presented my finger with 'step up' command to put him away, he bit that too, several times drawing blood. Bloody chin too. So I had to halfway take my shirt off with him in it, gently grabbing him, to lock him into his cage.
Well, that was 2 days ago, and I haven't been able to take him out yet. Even changing his food he puffs up showing aggression and tries to bite me through the bars. I tested opening the door to see if he was ready to come out and be a nice bird, but same aggressive behaviour. I've read that some birds hiss, but I've never heard this. I also noticed that before, if he was on my shoulder, didn't like me wearing sunglasses, like if I just walked in from outside, go figure. But I wasn't wearing them at the time. I miss my buddy time with him! I also read not to use a glove? I thought about doing that. I somehow need to retrain finger holding, step up, scritching (is what I call it) the pin feathers on back of the head and neck, petting, etc..., without pain. I figured if he bit the glove, I could still punish without the pain. I'm pretty sure that me forceably establishing dominance, like wrapping in a towel for a few minutes, is a BAD idea. And I'd rather do the good cop routine, then the bad cop one. Any thoughts? Thanks sooooo much again to this forum, and future replys!

Ok, so I have 2 tiels, a budgie, and 2 finches (had been 5 but two got eaten and the other died). My problem, though, is my tiels. I've had Ash for about 2 years now and he's untame but is getting a lot better since I've been working with him. He's gotten even better since I brought home Misty a few days ago. Misty's still not completely trusting of me and that's fine. She's new, I can't expect her to love me the second I get her. She let's me pet her and she'll step up and everything. But none of this is my problem. At the pet store, I saw Misty got treats like oranges and fresh foods like that and she seemed to enjoy them but I can't seem to get her to accept any right now. I know, I know. She probably just has to get used to her new home.

Problem with Ash now. Even when I first got him, I couldn't get him to take fresh foods and he still won't, no matter what. I got him to eat some frozen waffle once but that's about it. Anybody have any ideas for how I can get him to eat his fresh foods (bread, fruit, veggies, etc.) cause I know to have a healthy bird they need some fresh foods in their diets but I've tried the past 2 years (I think 2 years. Could be alittle less.) and he hasn't accepted anything.

Thanks for your help if you answer this.

A fellow bird lover.

my two love birds just hachet 3 eggs a couple of days ago...was not expecting this...how long till the little ones hatch out.?

my 2 love birds just had 3 eggs and was not ecpecting it..how long till the little ones come out.?

Posted 03-28-08 10:16 PM
Hi I just got two 3 week old ducklings. They are settling in nicely and i did lots of research on them. They are in a huge plastic box with straw and will be built a nice home outside when the weather turns nice. I came home today and it looks as though one of them has swallowed a golf ball. Her head and neck are the same size but it looks as if the area below that is swollen. It is the area that kind of turns into their chest. I hope im describing it correctly. It looks very poofy and full. TIt looks puffier when she is the tub when she is floating and not as big when she sits normally. My husband thought it might be a build up of food as it reminded him of when a hamster stores their food in their cheeks and he suggested that we not feed her anymore today (she ate twice) Any idea what this is? She is acting the same and does not seem to be in pain as i pushed on the bump which feels soft and squisy and she did not seem to mind .Am I just panicing for no reason and is this just a growth spurt and what a duckling is supposed to look like? Also how many times am I supposed to feed them a day and how much. Thanks a lot.

Hello. I've had my cockateil since August of 2007. Just recently she started sticking her tail feathers up in the air and her head leaning downwards (giving you a clear shot of her little hole) and making the tiniest litting chirping noises while she sits on her perch. Is this some kind of mating thing? Is she hitting 'puberty'? I'm wondering if laying eggs will come next?

please help me with this: i live in a 2 story house, and my neighbor lives in a 1 story house really close. From my window i can see this family of pigeons living on the roof of my neighbor's house. can you help me do something like train them or to stop them from making the "ooh, ooh" sounds?

quote:

Originally posted by penguinluva1:
hey ppl!anyone tell me a problem you have with ur bird.I can handle any biting,sick,or aggresive birds.I have all kinds and I'm a biologist on birds.Thank You

I don't know if I should be concern or not. I have 2 lovebird and one seem to be losing some of its feather around the neck. It not bare but i can notice it. Is there anything I can do.

Well, if you've moved the cage, then the bird might be nervous, but if the cage is in a quieter area, the bird might be trying to get more attention. Or, the bird is scared from vibrations or loud noises. You might want to take it to a vet to see if it's serious or not. I'm not too sure, but I hope your bird becomes better anyways!

Well I have a question...do you answer duck questions? thats one of em. and if you do do you know why my cayuga duck male is chasing me and biting my shoes and pant leg? also Once I pickled him up while he was doing that and he was still holding on to my pant leg and he started wiggling his tail and I think he wanted to...mate.

My duck had been sitting on eggs. They hatched about 7 days ago. There is 5 babies and 1 has a leg problem. It can't walk very well. It has what it looks to be is a band that wraps around his leg and looks like it ataches to his baody. He hatched with this. It is on the leg with a problem. I don't know what to do. The band is black. That leg as well is not growing and the other is so he is very lopsided. can u help?

My parakeet has a bunch of thread/string wrapped around his foot, and he seems very uncomfortable. He is holding that foot up all the time. He isn't socialized so I cannot hold him. What should I do to remove/unwrap the strings?
Thank you!
Lisa

I was given a beautiful cockatiel. The problem is that he seems wild. He's not used to being in a cage, doesn't seem to know what to do with any kind of toy, very afraid of people. He looks not to be too old but we're unsure. He was found in my brother-in-laws pool about 6mos ago and we were not able to find an owner. My brother-in-law kept him and tried to get him used to being around people but had no luck and gave him to me. I already have a red bellied parrot 3yrs old, sun conure 2yrs old and 2 2yr old parakeets. I'm just stumpt as to where to start with this bird. I know he'll have a great home with me and my family but as you know i'm sure, a safe caring home doesn't always mean that it's a happy one for a bird of unknown background and obvious nonsocialization.

I've got a blue quaker and when she is on my shoulder she pics at my shirt constantly. What can I do to make her stop?

we just got a couple of cockatiels we were told that one is about four and the other is about one. we were also told that the four year old has never been handled. are we going to beable to tame and train this four year old? my other question is we just got 4 lovebirds as well and they bite us when ever we get near the cage and when we change there food and water. is there anything we can do to stop this? Please help

hi,

I found a baby starling 4 days ago (20 june 2008).
I was wondering how old it is. I guess about +-15 days. But I want to be sure.

He probably fell out of his nest. He was attacked by magpies so i rescued him/her.
he's active,lively , and he looks around a lot, wich is a good sign.

But he's still hopping around and jumping instead of flying. Is there anything I can do to make him fly?

He's eating this: http://www.dc-pets.nl/?p=productsMore&iProduct=264
(I don't know what it's called but it's similar to those balls you hang up during the winter).

Is this good or should I buy living mealworms?
he's also eating bread mixed with water.

Is there anyting else that baby starlings need?

a photo of the starling on the day I found him (20 june):
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q284/camillex/IMG_7306Small.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q284/camillex/IMG_7312Small.jpg

I really want to know how old he is.

thanks!

wht will be a good bird name for a male

My two pet cockatiels were very nice when i got them and never bit, now the female clings to the cage when i try to take her out and the male bites extremely hard when i try to pick him up. what do i do?

AlexF, I would start by separating the two birds by putting them in separate cages. This will make training A LOT easier. It sounds mean, but the fact is that during the training process they need to bond with you and they will not do this easily if they are together. Next work on teaching them (individually) the step up command while using lots and lots of positive reinforcement. There are numerous threads on this site dedicated to how to teach your bird to step up. Check them out.