He's Afraid of Everything

[Jadine]

I find Belo to be very afraid of anything new and particularily anything brightly coloured. I find it difficult to introduce new toys, fresh fruit or vegetables to him because he acts terrified and won't go near them. I worry about his nutrition because he mainly eats his seed mix (I thinK I'm buying the good stuff) and millet and a treat bar. He's also very nippy at times and other times very loving. I don't know anyone else with a parrotlet that I can get feedback from. Does anyone have any tips on clipping their nails? Do you do it yourself? If anyone has tips they could share I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[Kathy]

I'm not sure if this is true for all Parrotlets but Nemo is scared of "new" things as well. Say, for example, he's on his playgym and I put a new toy in front of him, or even anything foreign, he'll fly off.

When I put new toys in his cage, he stays away from them until they've been there a while and he's ready to go and investigate. He eventually settles down though when he's given enough time to learn that they're not gonna eat him up, lol.

As for the bright color issue.. some Parrotlets are known to hate those colors (such as red, orange, etc). I know some other P'lets who absolutely won't go near their human if they're wearing orange, and in one case, one little cute P'let who HATES Snoopy, LOL.

When is he very nippy? Is he like this when you put your hand in his cage? That could indicate some cage aggressiveness. When Nemo used to be nippy perched on my hand, I used to make him do 'step-ups' like mad. That distracted him for a while.

Trimming nails.. I have never trimmed Nemo's nails because he is given a lot of different perches of different texture and that keeps them trimmed. I can't remember if I have the name right, but those Sandy Perches are good for them, as long as you don't place them as the highest perches in the cage (they usually sleep on the highest perch). However, sandpaper covered perches are different and there's a debate going around that they're NOT good for our birds.

http://www.petparlor.co.uk/images/Sandy%20Perch.png
Sandy Perches

Whew, hope this helps.

[Kathy]

Oh, but if you do end up trimming Belo's nails yourself, be careful to watch the quick and cut a distance away from it. It's best to bring him to the vet's to do it the first time so you can see for yourself.

[ArtS]

Jagine,

The scared thing seems to be common among parrotlets. It has only recently eased up a bit for ours - after 8 years... :rolleyes: . I'm not sure if it's their age or the new BIG cage that made them calmer, I think it might be the cage.

The food that you are feeding him is the equivalent of McDonald's. I strongly urge you to switch him over to pellets and save the millet and seed for special occasions.

I've never allowed nippiness with my birds; they seem to respond to my admonishments. They sometimes try to preen me or chew me - that HURTS :eek: .

We've never had to trim either or our birds’ nails or beaks. I agree with Kathy about getting a selection of perches. (by the way, Kathy, that picture looks kind of rude to me :D)




Regards,

Art S.

[Sally]

Chipper is not afraid of colors or toys. Knock on WOOD!!! It takes a little while for her to get used to a new toy, but she is fine after that. No problem colors. She hates noise with paper or plastic though.

Yes, I have two of the concrete perches. They are good, along with other perches to give a nice choice for the birdies! They are good for the nails too.

[Pado]

I think by nature most birds are skittish - In the wild anything new in their environment could mean danger - example: a predator. So they are wired to be wary - although, some more than others.

I had an African Senegal that was wary of anything new - I always had to be careful about changing anything in her environment. Over time I learned to read her body language that something was awry -
Once it was a different logo ( a Halloween advertisement) on a grocery bag that set her off - she would sway back and forth all the while looking for an escape route - if the item was left she would go into a full out attack and charge it.

My Parrotlet isn't as bad as my Senegal but he is still wary - What I do with a new food item or new toy is while he is out of his cage on my shoulder - I sit on the couch holding the items on my stomach, very slowly picking at it with my fingers - his curiosity always gives in and he comes down to investigate - once he touches the item he generally is over his fear of it.

For the nail trim - I agree with Kathy - a vet or a birdstore (I'll only go to a store that exclusively deals with birds) .. I did this with my Senegal because they are very unforgiving birds and I didn't want to break our bond. I don't believe the Parrotlets are as unforgiving but I still won't do it myself. I'd rather leave it for the 'bad' person to do and then when it's over I can be the rescuer :p

As for the Pellets - I say - read - read -read and decide for yourself. I feed my P'let Harrison's but ONLY as a treat - he likes them but they are rarely left in his cage - usually as a treat when he's out. Some breeders say not to feel Pellets to Parrotlets at all and especially to any of the color mutations because it can cause Kidney problems - as it causes the birds to drink more water - some species systems are not accustomed to processing that much water and it overworks their kidneys - here is a link that was given to me by the lady at our local bird store - http://www.internationalparrotletsociety.org/pellet.html

Art, your comment on the picture was Hilarious - it took me a second and I had to scroll back to look at it again - but I broke out laughing :D

Cheers -

[Jadine]

Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions. I will try to implement some of your ideas.

Jadine

[Squawk and Howl]

hi there. birds are prey animals, and they naturally distrust anything or anyone new. you can boost self-esteem by providing small toys introducing them gradually, and soft textures to shred (successful shredding boosts confidence) like cork, balsa, agave, and palm.

do not put new things into the cage right away. try hanging them in sight in front of the cage nearby, moving it closer and closer each day. then hang on the oputside, and eventually (maybe a week, maybe longer) inside. i would always introduce the toy inside early in the day, so the bird does not have to sleep in a cage with something scary to him/her.

as for food, i would recommend only serving human grade food, preferably organic. many pet food manufacturers make their food from feed grade ingredients, which is not as nutritious and is not allowed to be served to the human market. it is inferior.

as for sandy perches- yes they are a good brand. what is NOT good are sandpaper perch covers (too abrasive, glue is unsafe, goes over dowels which should not be a main perch anyway).

[ArtS]

Good feedback S&H. Thanks.

Regards,

Art S.