# Mixed signals... Not sure what to do



## aarav (Nov 3, 2013)

Hi everyone,

I have had (11 year old adopted) Tilly for nearly a month now and she's adjusting well overall. I am just kind of confused by mixed signals she has been giving, which are making me unsure of how to proceed. Here is what has happened:

• The first week, she came up to the door of her cage and let me take her out. I had her on my left hand and tried to transfer her to my right, but she became antagonistic towards it. I tricked her, and then tried transferring her again, but she became antagonistic towards the left hand... Which she was just on.

• A second time, she randomly wanted to come out one morning while my boyfriend was over. This surprised me because he is a New Person, and I'm not sure why she felt comfortable coming out while he was around.

• She had a vet appointment, which was a bonding experience. She sat closest to me in her travel cage while we were at the office and in the car. She seemed to find comfort in my company. She also did really well with the vet; everyone commented on how well socialized she was. She ate some Cheerios from my fingers afterward.

• Since then, she has developed a fear of hands. When a hand approaches her, she acts defensive towards it. Even if there's treats on it. She is okay with me changing her food and water, since she realizes that the hand is doing something else that won't bother her.

• After this hand fear developed, she let me take her out again once but then freaked out and tried to fly back into her cage.

• When she comes and sits on the door of her cage, she won't let me pick her up and she won't take treats from my palm. I am worried she is becoming territorial/cage-bound.

• I put a perch connecting her cage door and my bed, and she was happy to climb onto it and sit midway between the cage and the bed. So she seems to enjoy my company?

I'm just not really sure how to proceed with her, because she used to be okay with hands and suddenly isn't, and it is now pretty much impossible for me to get her out of her cage. She tries to bite my hand if it comes too close—not very hard, but more just as a warning. Even when I present an open palm with treats on it, she lunges at it. Using the perch to get her to step onto it is also ineffective.

Keep in mind, she is pretty much completely uninterested in treats, so I don't think they're an effective way to do anything with her. I also have no idea what she likes beyond seed mix.

Any advice on what to do would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## LaurulCat (Jan 4, 2014)

Many birds have a honeymoon period with a new owner during which they are on their best behavior and act like perfect birds. Then, when they are more comfortable, then revert back to their old behaviors and any problem behaviors become obvious. I had this experience with a Meyers Parrot; extremely loving for 30 days and then turned into a blood-thirsty tyrant bird! Thank goodness for behavior modification!

So you may be seeing old behaviors and some of the reasons she was available for adoption. But you also said you tricked her to get her out of the cage and that may have made her doubt her trust in her, causing her to remember a fear of hands. Myself, I would continue working with the hand held perch and insisting she step up on the perch to come out of the cage. Once she accepts the perch, you will be able to transfer her anywhere, any time with out possibility of biting. The avoidance of bites makes sure she does not develop a pattern of biting to get her own way.

You need to regain her trust again. One way of doing this without treating is by using the strange room behavior modification trick. Take her to a safe room that is strange to her while she is still in her cage. Open the cage and let her come out on her own. She will go to the highest perch she can find. Eventually, after she is sure there are no bird-eating monsters in the room, she will check out the room and eventually she will come to you because you will be the only familiar thing in the room. Do some step ups with a closed fist, showing no fingers; also do hand held perch step ups and after five to ten minutes of training, put her back in her cage and take her back to her usual spot.

I have had rescue birds which never adjusted to stepping up on a hand due to their fear of hands; but every one of them learned to step up on a perch and tolerate being taken back to their cage for recaging. As far as getting pets and scritches, you just have to have patience to re-establish trust with her. She is interested in spending time with your, according to your descriptions of her behavior, it just takes time to win back their trust.


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## aarav (Nov 3, 2013)

Hmm, I didn't trick her into coming out of her cage; I tricked her into moving onto my other arm while she was already out because my arm was getting tired. It wasn't something that would have lessened her trust.

The shelter people also said she was hand tame. -shrug-

It's just weird because sometimes she doesn't seem worried about my hand; if she doesn't want to come out, she just shuffles away from it. 

Unfortunately her cage is too big/bulky for me to move it to another room. I would have to move her into her travel cage (but how?) Would that be too traumatizing?


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## Scribbles (Jun 28, 2012)

Maybe some days she feels more confident that everything and everyone is great and other days she's not so sure. Sounds like you are giving her plenty of room to work it all out. Happy parenting!


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