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Cricket

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luvmycadillac
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« on: April 26, 2009, 10:25:34 am »

As some of you may know the day I adopted Lacey I met a lovely cuddly Sulfur Crested too named Cricket. The following day we drove to pick her up. She was super sweet at the rescue and on the drive home and then its like the devil came out. We had her a week and she was still test biting wouldn't let you touch her except under her wing when she wanted it and I was like "I understand this is all new to her give her time" well now she lunges to bite.  A bird who was loved and cared for never abused has come to live with me and I wonder if the lunging to bite is the real reason she was re homed (plus the flooding issue). Yes I know its only been a month but I have no connection with her at all! When I met her and picked her up I "liked" her now I refer to her as the devil. Part of me feels we should not keep her if she is unhappy here. She seems happiest when left alone and chewing on the play stand. She has stepped up to me once and to be honest I am a little untrusting of her.  How do I know if she's not happy here she sure cant tell me. She does talk to me but would rather not be touched. Another part of me doesn't want to send her back to the rescue because I dont want her going home to home to home until finally she lets her guard down and allows another human into her life. I refer to her as "devil bird" because I cant tell you how many times Ive gone to feed her, clean her cage, change her water or give her a treat that she hasnt made some type of attempt to injure me or Brent.

I contacted the rescue to see how we can work with her to get this lunging to bite under control but they are so over whelmed with flooding, new birds daily and so forth they havent had the time to get back to me. My 30 day foster period is almost over and Im not sure what Im going to do.
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chance
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« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2009, 04:00:16 pm »

Sadly this is one of the biggest reasons sulpher cresteds are given up, They have a split personality ,and are very known for lugging and biting ,As I said before this is not a bird I recommend for people  to own .They are the most stubborn bird to work with,always testing you, and as soon as they sense any fear from you, they feed off it big time.   
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« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2009, 04:02:44 pm »

So you get 30 days to decide if you want to keep her or not? In my opinion, I would rather make sure she finds that "perfect" home even if it takes a few tries with other good homes. I think that eventually she'd find someone that's just perfect for her, even if it may postpone her getting a permanent home. Sometimes we can provide the best diet, toys, biggest cage, and best environment for a bird and even then it still isn't "right" for that bird.
But then again, she is still very new, and is just coming out of her honeymoon period. It's normal for a new bird to bite and test us during this time, and we just have to fight through and not let the bird get his/her way.
But it all comes down to what you think would be best.  :)
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angelicarboreals
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« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2009, 06:08:50 pm »

Oh girlie, I am soooo sorry this is happening- I was hoping Cricket would be another Wesley or Lacey.  :'( I have to agree with what every one else has said, if you have no connection to her it may be best to allow the rescue to keep looking for her a new home. All birds go through a honeymoon period as you already know, and although it sometimes takes a few months for the real bird to show it sounds like Cricket has gotten comfortable enough to possibly allow her real personality to show. It may just be a phase where she is testing you to see what she can get away with, but I remember those sulphur crested bites that I received from my lesser and I worry about your son especially as they can pack a nasty whollop. Maybe the rescue will get back in touch with you to give you some ideas, but from my experience with these birds (3 years total- two years with Wesley and the year I had my lesser) it seems like when a bad habit like biting starts it is almost impossible for it to stop.  :-\
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« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2009, 09:36:05 pm »

Here's what I think I'd do.  Things have been kind of out of the ordinary at your place lately, you know extra kids, the flood, etc.  I would ask for an additional 30 days or so, give things time to get back on an even keel without everyone being so stressed out. 

I think you are a good bird parent, and I think you all have been under so much stress lately.  It seems time you brought her to your home, all this stuff happened, the kids, the flood, and all.

I think you need more time under "normal" circumstances.  When things calm down, maybe she will, too.
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« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2009, 12:39:48 am »

I agree with Loonie. It very well may be that she is sensing the stress in everyone and knows things are not the norm right now. She's been through alot and having the floods and working to save your home could be the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. Once things are back to norm a couple of more weeks should give you a better idea if her behavior is the norm for her or if it is stress related. I hope the rescue can help you with some ideas and answers. Your a good parront and if you feel that she is not the right fit then you did the best you could by her even if that means giving her back to the rescue. It sure wouldn't be for lack of care or trying!
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« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2009, 11:48:25 am »

Loonie makes a good point. Between the move and everything else, all of your stress leves have been unbelievable.
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« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2009, 02:27:18 pm »

Ty all for your replies. I did ask for another 30 days and did inform the rescue if we can not get past (behavior modification) the lunge bitting it would be in the best interest to find her another home, my husband is rather upset by this as he really like her (so do I dont get me wrong) but I will not spend the next however many yrs wondering if my son, family or any visitor for that matter will be basically attacked just for walking in the same room she is in. Its not fair to us, nor her as the only way to know for sure no one will be attacked would be to keep her caged and I am not willing to do that seeing as the big birds are out of their cages from 8-8 daily.. (junebug gets separate flight time in another room or when they *the big birds* are up for the night)

I did clean her cage today without suffering any beak inflections and right now she is in her cage scratching at the bottom of it and ripping paper like a chicken searching for feed. So I guess we will see. I do stand firm with her I do not jump back when she bites I do inform her its not nice Im leery of her not scared. So any suggestions anyone has on how to stop the lunge bitting I'll all ears..
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« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2009, 03:45:02 pm »

Didn't Lacey go through a little stage like this?  I think you and Cricket will be ok.  I wonder if one of the kids you were keeping upset her?
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« Reply #9 on: April 27, 2009, 03:49:25 pm »

Lacey never lundged to bite. She did nip but never ludged to bite ppl. She'd never come off her cage just to go after ppl hell if you recall she was attached to that cage like it was her lifeline. Lacey did however bite Brent once and Trey once (I posted about that) but never like Cricket it acting. I too wonder if one of those kids did something to upset her because prior to them coming she didnt act like this. I tried to keep them away from her as much as possible but when we had to take the gate to the room down to start moving things from the basement into it and relocate her cage wasnt much I could do other then tell them to move. Hell those kids upset me and Im a mom to a toddler nothing should scare me ;D

Didn't Lacey go through a little stage like this?  I think you and Cricket will be ok.  I wonder if one of the kids you were keeping upset her?
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« Reply #10 on: April 27, 2009, 03:57:41 pm »

That's what I think, too.  Because at first, unless I misunderstood you, I understand Trey was able to take her out one day, and she came right to him, even though he did get in trouble.  I think one of those kids has frightened or hurt her in some way, and all the tension with them and the flood didn't help matters, either.  I mean the kids you were keeping, not Trey.  Even at his young age, he seems to know how to act around animals.

I hate it when my daughter keeps other peoples' kids, my grandson will act like he's wound up and everything seems twice as loud.
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« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2009, 01:01:30 am »

I'm not sure if this will work with Cricket or not. But I was thinking if you turned your back on her the minute she started to lunge at you, tell her no and then walk right out of the room. Give her a few minutes to digest what you have done and that she didn't get any attention from that behavior and then try again. Whether you are going in to clean, feed or some other reason turning your back on her may make her realize that she has to behave properly to get things she wants. When she does behave properly give her lots of praise and all that good stuff. Of course you don't have to go this route, it was just something that I was thinking might work.
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« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2009, 07:00:12 am »

Sophie the thing with cricket is she gives no warning signs at all, none what so ever. She will just be sitting there letting you scratch her then bam an attack out of no where. I (we)do stand firm with her and tell her "no","no thats nice nice" and when she doesnt attack I (we) do tell her that she's a good girl and so forth. We have tried the turning of the back, walking out of the room but it doesnt seem to phase her. There was only one attempt at a bite yesterday the rest she was either wanting to be scratched or was just playing or sitting face feathers fluffed on one foot looking around..

 
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chance
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« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2009, 07:45:45 am »

This is the Sulpher crested attitude , If you have a nice one you are very lucky !!  They tend not to give any warning, they will be very sweet one second the next they are attacking you with no warning. I love all birds but have to say the Sulphers are the most aggressive Cockatoo's.
when she does bite you, don't tell her bad bird, you can't say anything to her, just by you saying bad bird she got a response out of you, and that is what these guys are looking for, they don't care how they get a response as long as they get one.
please keep your children away from her, things happen fast, I had Seymour my Sulpher crested around my kids,when they were younger and my son ended up with stitches in his face from Seymour, and it was fast, seymour was so sweet then bam. so please use extreme caution.
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« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2009, 09:57:22 am »

Thank you again Chance. I know you are not a fan of keeping these birds and do not recommend them.  But I felt in my heart I had to give her a chance (and I know you can understand that) and I am trying to make her part of our family and I hope that we can atleast live together without attacks (working on that). I do keep my son away from her he knows "she will bite" and normally he doesnt go near any bird without permission or an adult with him. I know that you said its their "attitude" but if you recall I posted photos of Trey holding her and him having her step to him and then those kids came.. And now she's meaner then *bleep* (can I say that :-\) but not all the time its in spurts and it does happen fast.  The only things I know of her past is she lived for 15 yrs with the same lady whose children were grown and a few months back that lady died of cancer leaving her to the lady who surrendered her. That lady had a BF who had a disabled child but they split up shortly after Cricket came to live with her, so perhaps Cricket isnt use to children.

And frankly Im not use to my friends children either. I dont know how I made it through the week or how they made it out alive. I have never in my life met such naughty children. I have had my computer trashed (mother board), paint and primer ripped off my walls (the lovely yellow that angel likes so much ;D), stains in my carpet, they climbed on everything, they poured salt all over the kitchen table and floor in the second they were out of sight, they would go into the fridge and get food which they carried around the house and ground into the carpet, they climbed on my table to get things off the display shelves in the kitchen, took things off the walls in my sons room, broke photo frames and removed photos from the entry way wall.When we had to move the small deep freeze from the basement and empty it for the move due to the flooding the boy pushed it around the kitchen on my hard wood flooring scratching it up. They all (including the 18 month old) climbed on chairs to yank things out of the cabinets) And I could go on and on. If one wasnt screaming the other was crying. They'd wake up and within 5 minutes all hell would break loose. It was alot on me, trey would hide behind the couch to get away from them, my husband hid in the basement or would find a reason to leave the house (he was home that week) I would wake up with a head ache and would medicate myself just to make it through the day. There was always noise here.. And normally our home is very calm and peaceful. Not perfect but no where near the hell house it was when those kids were here. My poor neighborman came over one day at 930am and I was so frustrated I opened the door (even knowing it was him by the knock he does) and yelled "what the F- - - do you want" I begged anyone and everyone to take just one kid.. It was hell and perhaps its traumatized her beyond repair. But I will give it until May 30th if it gets worse she will go back early but I hope she gets better. She is happiest when ripping up the play stand or eating bread, meat or pasta (I think she's Italian)

Anyhow thanks again I am cautious with her around my son, he is all I have left
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