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| | | From: pat22 (Original Message) | Sent: 1/8/2008 5:57 PM |
Sunny is a 3 yr old cockatiel. We got him at 1 yr old from a friend who couldn't keep him because of her cats. He bonded to me right away, and loves to come out and walk around on the floor, or just sit with me in the chair. But there usually comes a time when he gets really relaxed and the phone rings, or some other loud noise startles him, and off he tries to fly. He's clipped, but still flies, and usually into the wall. It's like he doesn't know how to stop flying when he is startled. He has no control over what he's doing. I'm concerned about him getting hurt, so I have to be very careful. I can't let him sit on top of his cage like Boomer our senegal does. Plus, Sunny won't go in the shower/too afraid of the room, or the pie plate filled with water. So I mist him instead, and he likes this. Is this normal behavior for a cockatiel to startle so easily. Otherwise he's so much fun, but I just want him to be able to spend more time out of his cage while I'm dusting or folding clothes, and not have to worry about him flying into walls! Sorry this is so long... |
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We all have the birds that get spooked and at least Sunny has reasons for getting scared....some of us have birds who have imaginary images that send them off on a flying tangent and that may even involve simply quick hand movement. I'm not sure there is an answer to overcome those fears as it's part of household daily noises and the only thing you can do is as you have been doing. Not much comfort.... in the last two years if Sunny hasn't overcome those normal sounds then he's one of the birds that may be afraid of his own shadow... and we have to live with that. So it looks like when you are busy he'll have to stay locked up and just have his conversations and whistles with you from his cage... and a few duets he'd probably enjoy... I should image had he stayed locked up we would be seeing/hearing you two on Americas Funniest or even Idol.. Bathing with a shiny pie pan can be scarey as can a shiny food bowl but I used to give mine the brownish glass pyrex dishes and another member had an even better idea... I'll email Sherry ans see if she can explain what she uses for bathing... it's a fantastic idea.. Mine like to fill their water bowls full of floating pellets and bath that way.... |
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| | From:  ¨SHERRÝ | Sent: 1/8/2008 9:03 PM |
My Calie Jo is a mini Macaw, he would try to take baths in his water bowl and I was worried about him getting stuck upside down in the water, so I happened across a corner ferret litter box. It is plastic, it is high on the back and low in the front. I use the medium size, and he can get completely wet in it. I have 2 large dowel rods under the bottom to steady it because I really didn't trust the clamps that came with the pan. He loves it. I'll try to post a pic later when I get home. Sherry:) |
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Dandy, my cockatiel, doesn't get frightened terribly easy, but when she does, she goes into psycho mode.
She just launches off her cage, and flies and flies, flying first, looking later.
It is because of this, that I do not clip her wings.
With clipped wings, she is a strong enough flier that she still can take a flight around the room, if laboriously, in a normal circumstance. When frightened however, she would, like you described, launch off and crash into a wall.
With full grown wings, when scared, she still flies, and at scary speeds at that. She veers and curves, with a speed that is almost too fast to follow. However, with full control of her wings and her flight, she does not crash, and eventually lands, to be cuddled and pitied by me.
I am not saying this is necessarily a solution for you. It may or may not be. But that is my experience with my particular bird
Amanda |
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