Chrissy's Raging Hormones

[FoxersArtist]

When we got Chrissy as a baby, all she ever wanted was to be held and babied. A few years later she suddenly started becoming violently cage aggressive, and even aggressive with us outside of the cage. At the time, and not knowing what I know now about birds, I thought if I could show her that I was the "alpha" bird, she would love and respect me and stop biting. Wrong, wrong, wrong! It took getting badly bitten several times a day for over a month for me to realize that dominating was not the answer.

I started working with chrissy by offering her a treat to step up and we took her away from her cage before feeding her or cleaning it so that she wouldn't see us invade her space. After some time she had really gained trust in me, that I was not there to invade her space but to love her, and treats were no longer needed to take her from her cage.

She still gets really hormonally charged by some things...white paper products throw her into unstoppable nesting mode and she will attack anyone or anything that gets near her paper. She also attacks white socks, shiney jewelry, and the telephone...though she has done much better with our new phones which are grey and not white. Why she becomes enraged with white things...I will never know.

Sometimes I'll let chrissy chew up some TP or paper towel when she is out of her cage. As long as I don't touch her coveted item, we're friends. It tok me a long time to figure out why chrissy sometimes attacks these items and why other times she seems to relish them. When she's attacking them, she's trying to warn me that I'm next if I don't back off. Here is a video of her playing with some TP today. Notice the difference between her body language when she's first playing compared to when I touch her paper. Birds are amazing.
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Birdy%20Videos/?action=view&current=ChrissyTP.flv
-Anna

[Chrissy and Flock]

Sure glad I didn't have to clean up the paper mess... :D

[Larry, Baby and Me]

I love it... what a girl Chrissy is.

Anna - I still hear folks say to establish yourself as the ALPHA bird and be the head of the flock... and these are long time bird owners and some are even breeders.

Birds are communal and not dictatorial like dogs or humans.

If we try to do a test of wills with a bird - we lose... everytime.

Ya done good girl with Chrissy.

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

what a sweetheart she is lol lol....how sweet

[too&me]

Beautiful & full of it! She looks so suspicious about your motives arround her paper roll.

[Gracie's Mommy]

What a cute video!! It's definitely that time of the year. I have 2 panting girls myself. It's so hard to only scritch the head and not give hugs!! I think we will all be glad when the "season" is over!!

[Evelyn]

Anna -

I can't play the video on my old computer at home; but is Chrissie a cockatoo? If so, maybe she considers all white things as rivals.

Evelyn

[Dot]

My vet is out of town, but I was by there this week. The vet tech and the office manager told me they had thought about hormone shots for Fergie (Scarlet) because she is so aggressive now. That is a thought for you.

Are the bird's wings clipped? Fergie's are not but she started over-preening when I had her wings clipped, and I so feel birds need to fly. I live alone and so I can arrange it where it is safe here.

[Larry, Baby and Me]

My vet is out of town, but I was by there this week. The vet tech and the office manager told me they had thought about hormone shots for Fergie (Scarlet) because she is so aggressive now. That is a thought for you.

Are the bird's wings clipped? Fergie's are not but she started over-preening when I had her wings clipped, and I so feel birds need to fly. I live alone and so I can arrange it where it is safe here.

Dot - I think hormone therapy is way over-used in this country for humans. There is now evidence that hormone therapy does more damage than good.

It''s the same thing with little kids - misbehave in class - so let's drug them instead of taking the time and care to teach them proper social behavior.

Why would any one mess around with a bird's hormones just because they do not fit into "our" environment? They are not like dogs or cats that came to mankind for company and a symbiotic relationship. Man went to the wild and "captured" these marvelous creatures and sold them to us so we now have them in "captivity" in our homes. And when they do not behave like the way "we" think they should behave - let's drug them.

Ya got a bird in your house - a wild creature... marvel at their wonderment --- don't drug them.

[Dot]

It''s the same thing with little kids - misbehave in class - so let's drug them instead of taking the time and care to teach them proper social behavior.

Just so you will know, teachers are not allowed to even mention that a child's behavior might be related to ADHD or anything else. If the teacher does and the child is tested and put on meds, the parent can sue the school and make it pay for the meds. True story.

[Chrissy and Flock]

Wow I never knew that...

[FoxersArtist]

She's a yellow indian ringneck. I think maybe she just associates them with nesting material and causes her to go psycho, trying to protect her territory.
-Anna

[Evelyn]

Dot - I think hormone therapy is way over-used in this country for humans. There is now evidence that hormone therapy does more damage than good.

It''s the same thing with little kids - misbehave in class - so let's drug them instead of taking the time and care to teach them proper social behavior.

Why would any one mess around with a bird's hormones just because they do not fit into "our" environment? They are not like dogs or cats that came to mankind for company and a symbiotic relationship. Man went to the wild and "captured" these marvelous creatures and sold them to us so we now have them in "captivity" in our homes. And when they do not behave like the way "we" think they should behave - let's drug them.

Ya got a bird in your house - a wild creature... marvel at their wonderment --- don't drug them.



Larry -

My sentiments exactly!

Evelyn

[FoxersArtist]

We love our Chrissy just the way she is, even if she gets aggressive at times. She hasn't ever laid any eggs and I don't think her health is at risk so we're not worried.
-Anna