Lilo

[gizmonel]

hello guys i have been having a hard time with Lilo's behavior well natural behaviors that is hahahha.

he recently has started to throw himself on the cage floor as he goes wild on his perch bobbing and flappin his wings.

what can be done to make him more handable?

thanks

[Guest]

That is a fear reaction. Please explain in detail what you do before that happens. What did you do or what happened the first time he did it?

You need to go into the magazine Spring 2002 download here, as well as listen to my lecture on nervous birds.

If he has turned phobic of you, you will need to work with him VERY slowly to help him regain confidence and trust in you.

When he does this, do NOT force him to do anything. Do not handle him for a while. Just sit by the cage and talk to him sweetly and softly. If he has a favorite treat, give him a little thru the bar cages.

This is not a natural wild behavior. It is a natural FEAR behavior. When they are screaming and flapping and huddling in the bottom of the cage, that is like a severe fear of being destroyed by a predator.

I will not go into detail on the description of this because you can read that in the Spring 2002 download right here on this membership. PLEASE read it.

Please give me a detailed report on how this was caused.....when it first happened...what precipitated it and so on.

You CAN turn this around.
Maggie-

[gizmonel]

well he has not done it for 3 days i think it was because he felt the changes comming on as we are preparing for a trip and would like to change his feeding and cage cleaning to eveneings instead of mornings.

any tips on how to do this without stressing him?

thanks

[Guest]

As far as cage cleaning is concerned, take him out of the cage before commencing to clean it.

As far as the food is concerned, do you leave food in his cage all day? If not, please start doing that. Make sure he has at least the "dry foods" portion of his diet in the cage all of the time. This can include a mixture of the pellets and seed mixture that you give to him.

And no matter what you do, do NOT force him to do anything. If he does not want to get out of the cage, don't make him. Just give him permission to stay there. Forcing a Grey against his will can cause a myriad of security/fear behavior problems.

Who will be taking care of him? Is he familiar with that person? Let him get closer to the person before you leave.

If he goes to the cage bottom and screams, please do not try to grab him to comfort him. Let him have his space, so he does not feel like a predator is going to kill him.

Please keep us informed.
Maggie-