My male parrotlet, petey, has recently gone wacko. He attacks me when I try and change his food and I think he has started to pluck!!!! We are going to buy him more toys today, is there anything else i can do to stop his plucking? Should I get him a nice girlfriend? I try to hold him but he tries to fly and bites me. how can i calm him down?
PLEASE HELP!!!!
Verified answer
Talk to your parrot every day. It could be that he is not getting enough affection from you or :
1) he is bored
2) he is lonely
3)something is making him stress
It would be a good idea to get a mate for him bacause well...
Bear in mind that a birds life is only as interesting as you make it to be! So if u dont give him much attention, he will get lonely and bored very quickly.
It also depends on how long you have had him. If you have had him less than 2 months then he is still getting used to you and the new surroundings.
If you have had him for more than a year, then it could just be a phase that he is going through. Or someone has made him scared of trusting people handling him and doesnt want to be near people. If this is the case then it will take a while for him to trust you again.
Tips:
When guests are over, dont let them touch or tease ur parrot. Never leave them with ur parrot alone as they might scare him when you are not looking. This happens often, why do u think at most pet stores they have i sign next to the bird saying: Please do not touch or feed?
Well thats exactly why they do it, especially with the tamer birds.
Also make sure that there is no change in his personality eg: lack of appeteite and doesnt move around alot. Then he may be sick and just wants to be left alone. Take him to the vet if you notice those symptoms!
i have had many parrots like that...
Hope this really helps you
Here is some detailed information on feather plucking;
http://www.birdtricks.com/stop-parrot-feather-pluc...
http://www.petparrot.com/ParrotCarePlucking.htm
Definitely make sure your bird is content with lots of things to do in his cage (clean food and water with plenty of toys and nutrients). Parrots love cuttlebone perches;
http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/
So I would recommend those too. Also, your bird should be bathing around 5 times a week. If something in the air is irritating his skin and feathers, he needs to be able to get it off himself so make sure you do this. Here is some info on how to get your bird to bathe;
http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/category/par...
As for being able to handle your bird, try these training methods;
Target training (will keep you from being bit);
http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/category/tra...
The Power Pause;
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nuERdlr2BZg
take a baby sock and cut 3 holes (one for the head and two for the wings!) and cut the bottom half so he can use his legs... then put it on him!!! this will keep him from plucking and IF DONE RIGHT is completely safe!