This makes you sound like a giant pussy.
CS
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
are you going for a male to avoid the territorial issues with the females?
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
are you going for a male to avoid the territorial issues with the females?[/quote]
Females tend to be hormonal and mean, yeah. Males are generally more easy going and open to interaction with more people. But also because the last one was male, so she’s dead set on another boy.
I’m sure there are some good jokes to be had about my previous statement.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
are you going for a male to avoid the territorial issues with the females?[/quote]
Females tend to be hormonal and mean, yeah. Males are generally more easy going and open to interaction with more people. But also because the last one was male, so she’s dead set on another boy.
I’m sure there are some good jokes to be had about my previous statement.[/quote]
I’m trying to talk her out of Gizmo. I’m at least insisting that she add the suffix “Destroyer of Worlds”
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
are you going for a male to avoid the territorial issues with the females?[/quote]
Females tend to be hormonal and mean, yeah. Males are generally more easy going and open to interaction with more people. But also because the last one was male, so she’s dead set on another boy.
I’m sure there are some good jokes to be had about my previous statement.[/quote]
lol. I won a male lovebird at a bird convention when I was 14 and named him Fruitcake. I had no idea why that wasn’t a good name. My female, Peaches, was dubbed “The flying scissors” by the rest of my family because she would viciously attack anyone in her territory. They eventually had babies.
Years later, I asked an animal behaviorist I worked for what could be done about the mothering female lovebird’s territorial issues and she replied “it’s a lost cause because it’s basically pure hormones. They are one of the only parrots that competes for nesting sites in the wild and that results in some instincts that are not going to be over come with training.”
I still think that my inexperience at the time originally contributed to the degree with which she guarded her area (she once chased down the cat, which turned tale and ran), but I also think that there’s a solid case for sticking to a male lovebird unless you’re interested in breeding.
On that note, I don’t think there are enough good, long-term bird homes in existence to justify breeding. Most parrots get passed off at least twice in their lives, because the person doesn’t have enough time, doesn’t know how to work with them, or can’t stand the annoying habits.
steps off soapbox
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
are you going for a male to avoid the territorial issues with the females?[/quote]
Females tend to be hormonal and mean, yeah. Males are generally more easy going and open to interaction with more people. But also because the last one was male, so she’s dead set on another boy.
I’m sure there are some good jokes to be had about my previous statement.[/quote]
lol. I won a male lovebird at a bird convention when I was 14 and named him Fruitcake. I had no idea why that wasn’t a good name. My female, Peaches, was dubbed “The flying scissors” by the rest of my family because she would viciously attack anyone in her territory. They eventually had babies.
Years later, I asked an animal behaviorist I worked for what could be done about the mothering female lovebird’s territorial issues and she replied “it’s a lost cause because it’s basically pure hormones. They are one of the only parrots that competes for nesting sites in the wild and that results in some instincts that are not going to be over come with training.”
I still think that my inexperience at the time originally contributed to the degree with which she guarded her area (she once chased down the cat, which turned tale and ran), but I also think that there’s a solid case for sticking to a male lovebird unless you’re interested in breeding.
On that note, I don’t think there are enough good, long-term bird homes in existence to justify breeding. Most parrots get passed off at least twice in their lives, because the person doesn’t have enough time, doesn’t know how to work with them, or can’t stand the annoying habits.
steps off soapbox[/quote]
Oh I know. A cockatiel I had growing up I saved from a science room storage closet.
Not to mention store chains like petsmart do things like put parrots on seed diets.
I think the problem birds have is that they tend to be purchased as a novelty.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]Oleena wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
are you going for a male to avoid the territorial issues with the females?[/quote]
Females tend to be hormonal and mean, yeah. Males are generally more easy going and open to interaction with more people. But also because the last one was male, so she’s dead set on another boy.
I’m sure there are some good jokes to be had about my previous statement.[/quote]
lol. I won a male lovebird at a bird convention when I was 14 and named him Fruitcake. I had no idea why that wasn’t a good name. My female, Peaches, was dubbed “The flying scissors” by the rest of my family because she would viciously attack anyone in her territory. They eventually had babies.
Years later, I asked an animal behaviorist I worked for what could be done about the mothering female lovebird’s territorial issues and she replied “it’s a lost cause because it’s basically pure hormones. They are one of the only parrots that competes for nesting sites in the wild and that results in some instincts that are not going to be over come with training.”
I still think that my inexperience at the time originally contributed to the degree with which she guarded her area (she once chased down the cat, which turned tale and ran), but I also think that there’s a solid case for sticking to a male lovebird unless you’re interested in breeding.
On that note, I don’t think there are enough good, long-term bird homes in existence to justify breeding. Most parrots get passed off at least twice in their lives, because the person doesn’t have enough time, doesn’t know how to work with them, or can’t stand the annoying habits.
steps off soapbox[/quote]
Oh I know. A cockatiel I had growing up I saved from a science room storage closet.
Not to mention store chains like petsmart do things like put parrots on seed diets.
I think the problem birds have is that they tend to be purchased as a novelty.
[/quote]
Exactly. I’d say birds are one of the most difficult pets to own and some species shouldn’t even be on the pet market because it’s almost impossible for a regular person to meet their needs. Conures are “fairly” well adjusted to family life and even they are about 5x harder to care for, training and food+ hygiene-wise than a dog. I think it would be best if larger parrots were not kept as pets.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
A few weeks we lost a family member. My wife’s 18 year old lovebird died (they are only supposed to live 10-15 years). So this is a picture of the possible sequels. We are having the mostly yellow one in the upper right sexed, and he’s ours if he’s a male. If not if will be one of the others.
We are still trying to figure out a name, so I’m taking suggestions.[/quote]
Sorry to hear about your wife’s bird.
Try watching this without your eyes welling up with joy!
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Try watching this without your eyes welling up with joy!
I have to admit, I did feel some joy when they cut the matted, piss-encrusted hair off of it.
Before that I was pulling for the youth in Asia.
When I was a kid I found a baby raccoon and brought him home. This was 40 years ago when you could be a kid and do really cool stuff like that. Didn’t worry about rabies or it biting me or the fact that my mother was going to go nuts. (she actually was pretty good about it.) All I knew was I had a raccoon! Once he stopped trying to bite me I kept him in my shirt at night until he fell asleep. Made the mistake of feeding him Capt. Crunch cereal one day. After that, it was hard to get him to eat anything else. He got pretty friggin big. He hated everyone and everything except me and my dog. I liked his attitude, just wanted to be left alone to do his own thing. They really are smart. He could open all kinds of things and got into or out of any place he had a mind to. I think everyone else was afraid of him. My parents made me give him away to some people that owned a farm. I found out years later they had a dog that killed him. Must have been a big dog because he was a tough raccoon. Still pissed to this day I had to give him up. That’s my pet story.
Recently rescued/adopted a couple of pitbulls, so I’ve been coming across a lot of this stuff lately. Figured I’d share it here for the other pit owners around here
Oleena,
My older brother has a conure, and he is one evil little sonovabitch. The pecker-head doesn’t really let anyone touch him except my brother. He doesn’t really like my brother’s wife and recently tried to take a chunk out of her arm.
He’ll come to me if he hears me talk for a few minutes because I look and sound just like my bro. Actually come to think of it, Oscar (named after Oscar the Grouch) doesn’t really take to women period. It’s weird. My brother and I are the only ones he’ll really come to. Otherwise he’ll go out of his way to come down off his cage, waddle over to someone and bite them.
He bites at me once and a while when I go over to their place, but it’s only when he figures out I’m not my brother. lol
To contribute more to the topic, I’ll share that I’m more of a rodent guy, myself. I love my dog and my cats, but I enjoy having rats and ferrets just a little bit more. Not entirely sure why, but I just do.
One of my cats doesn’t meow for some reason. I can’t remember a time when he has meowed. Instead, he squeaks. lol It’s funny. And he’s the biggest mama’s boy. He used to be the badass cat running around the neighborhood getting in fights with other cats, but then when we got him fixed he became a huge pansy. Now he’ll jump in your lap and want you to hold him like a baby for as long as you want to hold him. And no matter what you do to him he always purrs. Even if he’s done something bad and you spank him once or twice he’ll still stand there and purr at you. Best cat I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot over the years.
[quote]Hodge_Podge18 wrote:
Oleena,
My older brother has a conure, and he is one evil little sonovabitch. The pecker-head doesn’t really let anyone touch him except my brother. He doesn’t really like my brother’s wife and recently tried to take a chunk out of her arm.
He’ll come to me if he hears me talk for a few minutes because I look and sound just like my bro. Actually come to think of it, Oscar (named after Oscar the Grouch) doesn’t really take to women period. It’s weird. My brother and I are the only ones he’ll really come to. Otherwise he’ll go out of his way to come down off his cage, waddle over to someone and bite them.
He bites at me once and a while when I go over to their place, but it’s only when he figures out I’m not my brother. lol
To contribute more to the topic, I’ll share that I’m more of a rodent guy, myself. I love my dog and my cats, but I enjoy having rats and ferrets just a little bit more. Not entirely sure why, but I just do.
One of my cats doesn’t meow for some reason. I can’t remember a time when he has meowed. Instead, he squeaks. lol It’s funny. And he’s the biggest mama’s boy. He used to be the badass cat running around the neighborhood getting in fights with other cats, but then when we got him fixed he became a huge pansy. Now he’ll jump in your lap and want you to hold him like a baby for as long as you want to hold him. And no matter what you do to him he always purrs. Even if he’s done something bad and you spank him once or twice he’ll still stand there and purr at you. Best cat I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot over the years.[/quote]
lol. I love feisty parrots. They’re so cute. He probably is enjoying bossing everyone around his territory. If you want to break him of this, your brother is going to have to start training him and then training him with other people (other than you).
BTW, if a bird bites, I put him on the ground and stare at him. Height=dominance to birds and being on the floor is super awkward, because of the combined feeling of being low and being vulnerable. Normally, you can tell when they’re thinking about biting. Start with a “no”. If they back off, praise them, if they keep coming, have your brother put him back on the cage. If he actually bites, you or your brother should put him on the ground. Do everything you can to avoid getting to that bite part. In the mean time, start having your brother train the bird how to target, have others work with him, and make sure your brother is very responsive to your bird’s behavior towards others. If your brother responds with displeasure every time he’s aggressive towards others, he’ll start backing off. Likewise, your brother should praise the bird everytime he’s docile around other people.
Definitely have other people feed and praise him when he sits on them and do everything you can to prevent the bird from actually getting to the bite part.
Oh, and there are times when parrots are riled up and going to bite no matter what you do. It would be good to have your brother recognize when the parrot is in that mood and put him in his cage until it passes.
On other thing, parrots will lessen (and I think this goes for all animals) their signals when they’re being responded to. For instance, say the bird just doesn’t want to be touched at the moment. He can bite, lean away, or freak out. You want him to do something little, like the lean away, and instantly respond to it. Also, if he get’s tired of his head being petted or you poked a pinfeather in a weird angle, you don’t want a bite to be the way he tells you he didn’t like that.
Thanks. I’ll pass this info along.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Try watching this without your eyes welling up with joy!
That was so good.
Especially for me as I have Maltese, though after you get a dog you start to love all breeds, because they’re all dogs. Usually people that say they like such and such a breed are people that haven’t owned a dog yet.
Thanks again.
I’ve had big dogs and little dogs. I don’t care about breed. A dog’s a dog. Some are good and some are bad. I believe that a bad dog is caused by a bad owner. Dogs are awesome and can be even more loyal than another human being.
[quote]Duwatsrt wrote:
When I was a kid I found a baby raccoon and brought him home. This was 40 years ago when you could be a kid and do really cool stuff like that. Didn’t worry about rabies or it biting me or the fact that my mother was going to go nuts. (she actually was pretty good about it.) All I knew was I had a raccoon! Once he stopped trying to bite me I kept him in my shirt at night until he fell asleep. Made the mistake of feeding him Capt. Crunch cereal one day. After that, it was hard to get him to eat anything else. He got pretty friggin big. He hated everyone and everything except me and my dog. I liked his attitude, just wanted to be left alone to do his own thing. They really are smart. He could open all kinds of things and got into or out of any place he had a mind to. I think everyone else was afraid of him. My parents made me give him away to some people that owned a farm. I found out years later they had a dog that killed him. Must have been a big dog because he was a tough raccoon. Still pissed to this day I had to give him up. That’s my pet story.[/quote]
That’s sad. It reminded me of when I was about 7. My cat used to catch mice, bat them around for 15+ minutes, grow bored, and leave them half dead. One day I stopped her shortly after she’d caught one, took it inside, and set it up in one of our extra cages (we were keeping rats and mice as pets at the time). Looking back, I still wonder if my mom knew about this. I’m convinced she probably didn’t. In anycase, I healed that mouse up and then thought “I wonder what happens if you breed a wild mouse to a pet mouse. What will the babies be like?” So I let her breed with one of our males and excitedly waited. For the record, the babies were super nippy. I had to use kitchen gloves to pull them out of the cage for cleaning. I don’t remember what I ended up doing with all of those babies, but I do know that we were selling to people and universities. They probably ended up in a lab. I hope that fucked up someone’s experiment.
BTW, this is my cousin’s pet pig, Schnitzel. He jumped onto the couch, pulled the pillow under his chin, and pulled that blanket down on himself. We didn’t do this to him. They are ridiculously smart animals.
Edit: I just remember what I did with the babies- I let them go in the field my cat caught the mama in. Seriously, I’m pretty sure my mom had no idea what I was doing with most of my outdoor time as a kid.
