# Cockatiel afraid of stuffed animals?



## Luti-Kriss (Dec 23, 2009)

So my BF won me a stuffed animal at Circus Circus yesterday. Then today I had to move it so I could make my bed. And once I picked it up and started moving across the room to set it on my desk, Marcello *FLIPPED OUT*. He immediately jumped off his perch, fell onto the bottom of the cage, started flapping around and screaming his head off as if he were being attacked. Then I froze because he scared the crap out of me, and as I examined what exactly he was doing, I could see he was throwing his anger right in my direction. Then I realized he was freaking out about the stuffed animal. And as soon as it was out of his sight he stopped thrashing about. 

Then later, my BF was at my house, and as I was coming into my room, I saw he was playing with the stuffed animal. Then he raised it into the air to throw it to me, and Marcello started screaming again, and scared the crap out of my BF too. So I told him to put it under my pillow, and as soon as he did, Marcello calmed down just the same as last time. 

I've never had this problem before. And it's only Marcello that freaks out over it. Rico is fine. He just gets a little scared because he sees Marcello freaking out. Has anyone ever come across something like this before?


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## cheekyboy (Jul 14, 2009)

I cant say any of mine have ever had that problem before.. but I guess it could just be the motion of it? One way to find out is to test the theory- being careful of course. Too much stress on a bird is never good, so it might be best only to try every few days. I would do the exact same thing you did with the stuffed toy (whatever it was you did- carry it, or throw it or put it down somewhere) with a pillow, then maybe a big tshirt or blanket. I'd also try with perhaps another stuffed toy. Most birds will react to threatening objects, but it seems he is quite disturbed by it, so figuring out exactly what is causing him so much distress is the first step  Then you can narrow down if it is the object itself, or the movement and find a way to fix it. Best case scenario it is that particular object, which in that case the object can be removed. If not, you may need to be super careful when carrying objects near his cage, etc etc.

Just some ideas that might work


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## dude (Mar 29, 2010)

Nope. Dude likes stuff toys. Infact he had a "lover" that was a stuffed cockatoo that was about the same size as Dude.
When dude is on my bed he climbs and snuggles with a GIANT bear. The bear is the size of my 7yr old kid.

Maybe your bird thinks its something real and scarry.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Mine aren't afraid of stuffed animals but they are afraid of my hubby's big blue beach ball. We can only take it out when we're going to use it because they find it threatening and don't like it at all.


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## AlbyPepper (Apr 3, 2010)

If I hold up a stuffed toy to Alby, he hisses at it and runs away. So no stuffed toys in his sight now.


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## Siobhan (Mar 21, 2010)

Freddie is completely fearless. He's not afraid of anything. My Quakers, on the other hand, freak out over all sorts of silly stuff. Stuffed toys are just ONE of the things the Quakers freak out over. Since you know he's scared of it, keep it in another room or block his view with your body when you have to move it to make the bed. He just doesn't know what it is and a lot of birds freak at new things just in CASE it's a threat. They are prey animals, after all, and almost anything is a threat to them in the wild.


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## Luti-Kriss (Dec 23, 2009)

Thanks for the answers everyone. I decided on my own method of dealing with this though.

I read a long time ago that if you see your bird has a fear of something new, you're supposed to just leave it somewhere in their site so they get used to it. And through that they learn that it's not going to do anything to hurt them. Then once they get used to it being in the one spot, you can move it closer and closer over time till the fear is completely gone. 

So I let the stuffed animal sit on the corner of my bed all day, which is about 5 feet away from the front of their cage. I moved it over there slowly because I could see the fear in their eyes. Every time I moved it I talked to them in a soothing voice to comfort them so Marcello didn't freak out, thus making Rico freak out because Marcello's freaking out. Lol. After a couple of hours they didn't care about it anymore. I'll leave it sitting there for about a week before I move it any closer.


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## FwoGiZ (Jun 16, 2010)

its funny but its exactly what I thought too, xept im far from expert in cocktiel phobias
I would even put it so close that the bird can personally and physically inspect it, like on top of his cage or on the bottom of its gym


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## Luti-Kriss (Dec 23, 2009)

FwoGiZ said:


> its funny but its exactly what I thought too, xept im far from expert in cocktiel phobias
> I would even put it so close that the bird can personally and physically inspect it, like on top of his cage or on the bottom of its gym


I'll put it on top of the cage eventually. Lol.


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## Velvokay (Feb 20, 2010)

Lol i remember winning a giant 4 foot tall penguin toy at circus-curcus, mines afraid of toys too, especially my yellow exercise ball


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## Luti-Kriss (Dec 23, 2009)

Velvokay said:


> Lol i remember winning a giant 4 foot tall penguin toy at circus-curcus, mines afraid of toys too, especially my yellow exercise ball


Do you live in Nevada too?
LOL she's afraid of your exercise ball? I wonder if mine would be too. Something to watch out for. I've been meaning to inflate it again soon xD


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