# tsuka driving me nuts



## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

tsuka is driving me nuts. i cant even talk to dally, he runs up and attacks her and chases her away. in the cage or out. he also attacks me for talking to him or her. hes driving me insane and it is unfair to dally 

i can give him all the attention he wants, but once i turn to dally he attacks her and wont let her have her turn anymore.


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## dudeitsapril (Apr 28, 2011)

Dang Tsuka... he's such an attention hog. Kind of like Cleo! Is separating an option?? Or dividing the cage?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

neither are an option. we do not have a spare cage nor the room. and even if we did, tsuka screams on end for dally and does not stop for nothing nor does he eat.


and the cage cannot be divided. not without problems either. only way to give them the room is to divide it horizontally, but then he cant see dally and he will refuse to eat and will scream for weeks on end. hes done it before when we've separated him


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Try petting tsuka and saying "tsuka's time" and then when petting dally say "dally's time"...then hopefully tsuka will realize that no matter what he does it's dally's turn for attention. You'll have to be extremely persistent but hopefully it'll work.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

maybe. i dont know with him, hes so nasty lately


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

It's worth a shot...it's actually a dog training technique for those attention hog fur babies. Most animals respond to the same training. But tsuka should associate "tsuka's time" with your attention for himself..and "dally's time" with your attention on her...if you are persistent.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

its so bad, i was talking on the phone, not to either one of them, and i walked by the cage and tsuka started towards dally  she runs away and goes and finds a perch to preen and get on with her day but when i try giving attention hes a jerk. he opens his wings, flaps them, and lunges at her and the cage bars.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Okay, try this. It will only work when you have them out...if you're trying to give Dally attention and Tsuka goes after her then quickly return Tsuka back to the cage. That way he'll learn "when i go after Dally, something not fun happens". Leave him in the cage for a few minutes each time and hopefully he would rather be out with Dally instead of in the cage without her.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

that might help for the out of cage time. but what can i do for when he does it in the cage? take dally OUT? lol i can do that, i think that MIGHT help with at least the out of cage time.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

He thinks *you are * his girlfriend and he is not going to share you with anyone else. My Noodles was like that, and I had to give him *lots* of attention before I handled any other bird. if he came over to attack O would reach out with my other hand to give him scritches, and turn him away. it took him about a month to realize that the other birds were not competition.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

now my fiance says its my fault for spoiling him too much lol. well ill try giving him the attention first. problem is, dally is also bonded to me that way. this is complicated :wacko:


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## carrielee76 (Nov 19, 2011)

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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Maybe just turn and walk away from the cage when he does that while insdie it...it might sort of punish Dally but she'll probably notice the connection between his behavior and your turning away.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

dally, i dont think is that smart, no offense to her lol shes a very gentle and calm bird and very laid back, but shes not the smartest of our flock lol tsuka would pick up on it before she does likely


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## lordsnipe (Nov 11, 2010)

Nibbler is sort of like this with me and Colbie ..

My girlfriend can play with Colbie and give her headscratches and he won't care at all. He will be happy being with me, or on the playgym. But if I play with Colbie, he will drop whatever he's doing and must be around and watch like a hawk.

He's generally happy enough to be around and on my shoulder when Colbie is getting some attention. He used to be worse, but clipping him has been our saviour.

I put it down to boy love hahaha.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

unfortunately we cannot clip tsuka. he gets fat and it is not good for him. i wish it were that simple. its gotten worse with him being flighted but for his health and weight i cant clip him without him becoming worse of a brick lol


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Well if Dally won't get it then it won't be a punishment in her eyes. Try to be persistent with whatever you decide so Tsuka will calm down and be less reactive.


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## lordsnipe (Nov 11, 2010)

DallyTsuka said:


> unfortunately we cannot clip tsuka. he gets fat and it is not good for him. i wish it were that simple. its gotten worse with him being flighted but for his health and weight i cant clip him without him becoming worse of a brick lol


Hmm.. Nibbler has not gained weight since clipping .. but sometimes he forgets that he's clipped and will try and flap/fly away.

You are in a different situation to me as I keep my birds in separate cages, and this might not work for you, but how do you feed them? Do you give them a full bowl of seed?

To minimise waste and prolong freshness, I only ration out a "days" worth of seed to each bird. This also forces them to eat all types of seed, just not their favourites.

This might not work for you as Tsuka may eat the whole lot of seed leaving Dally with none ...


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i have 2 seed bowls and 2 pellet bowls. they get a days worth of seed which is finished in the day. and they eat what they want of the pellets, i only have to change the pellets once or twice a week and they get the same amount of pellets there as seed. i have the multiple food bowls because they bicker. and also 2 foraging cups that either get seed or pellets, usually alternating.


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## lordsnipe (Nov 11, 2010)

DallyTsuka said:


> i have 2 seed bowls and 2 pellet bowls. they get a days worth of seed which is finished in the day. and they eat what they want of the pellets, i only have to change the pellets once or twice a week and they get the same amount of pellets there as seed. i have the multiple food bowls because they bicker. and also 2 foraging cups that either get seed or pellets, usually alternating.


Sounds similar to the setup I have, although they are in separate cages, so only one bowl of pellets changed weekly and one with a days ration of seeds.

Unless he's doing absolutely nothing (or eating excessively), I'm not sure why Tsuka would gain a heap of weight by being clipped .. but if you say he does, then he does hehe.

How much seed are they getting per day? Mine get maybe 2.5 tablespoons total. 1 tablespoon of millet/canary mix, 1 tablespoon of oats and a sprinkling of sunflowers. That, plus pellets and a bit of veg most days and my birds seem happy enough and weight is fairly consistent (unless moulting).


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

about the same as yours. perhaps a tad less, around 2 tablespoons each. each eat same amount.

dally loves to fly and run around and play, tsuka likes to relax a lot. he was a little fat when we got him, he lost some weight with us, but when we had rehomed him for a month he was kept in a smallish cage and wasnt let out and he was free fed so he gained like a bear in fall! hes brought the weight down when he grew the flights out, then he got an attitude so we had clipped him.... then he gained it right back because when he is clipped he will not do anything. just sits there when you let him out. but if dally flies to the other side of the room he would try but find it too hard then give up. go find a spot to sit and chew on a few toys. in the same spot for hours. hes a perch potato when he is clipped. now hes flighted and hes all over the place and playing lots more.

last weighed, tsuka was 110 grams. dally was 89 grams. i need to borrow the scale again to get an updated weight


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## lordsnipe (Nov 11, 2010)

Ah OK, the difference between our males ... Nibbler, even clipped, will go into hysterics when Colbie flies about, and will try and flap his way to where she goes.


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