[Poppet-Pi]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone out there can help me understand my little boy a bit better.

So here’s the thing, can birds simply just have a grumpy personality? He doesn’t show any happy body language and he doesn’t want to play any bird games. He doesn’t dance or like peel-a-boo or hide and seek. He just seems to enjoy sitting on my knee or the sofa arm rest or on top of his cage and “watch over the apartment with disdain”.

Can they just be grumpy little things and that’s simply who he is?
Could I be doing something wrong?

A little background on Pi:

I got Pi about 18 months ago when he was 2 weeks old and reared him myself by hand. He’s on a pellet diet with fresh veg available and he gets seeds as treats every few days or so. He has 7 toys of various textures and colours which get rotated so
they don’t get boring and full range of the apartment. When I go out I leave a series playing on my laptop for him and my dog so they don’t get lonely and Pi’s night hours are from 9pm to 9am.

We have our own way of communicating, he lets me know when he wants to be in his cage if he’s been out for a while, he lets me know if he’s lonely and wants some attention and because he’s particular about scritches on his head and neck there’s a certain way I have to ask him first.

He’s happy to sit on my shoulder or knee for hours at a time, watching tv with me, preening himself, running about, I’m the only person he seems to tolerate so I’m not worried we’re not bonded properly or that he’s not “tame enough”.

I just want my boy to be happy...
Any advice would be appreciated greatly.

Lily & Pi

 

[Bellaflex]

Every bird has their own personality but...My bird tends to be more stand off-ish and quiet when it’s cold. Whistles and interacts more when it is warmer. We keep our house at 76 degrees. I know it’s a weird thought, but if you keep your house cold you might want to try a heat lamp. We have one that we use during winter for this problem. A heat lamp is also good to use when they get sick.

 

[Poppet-Pi]

So warmer environment happier bird?

I will definitely take that’s into consideration and experiment - problem is we live in a very hot country with badly built homes where insulation has never been a consideration and very expensive electricity because of political issues.

We’re looking at moving to a more stable country but saving that kind of money is difficult.

So far we have removed seed and high hormone foods from his diet and put him from 9 hour dark time to 13 hour dark time and tried bribing him to be more friendly. But I will try increasing his ambient temperature.

If this doesn’t work, could it be that he’s just a grumpy bird or do you have any other, no matter how outrageous because maybe he’s a special difficult case, idea what we could do?

I mentioned country problems and saving up to take them to a better place but my #1 priority is that my animals are happy, healthy and well cared for... everything comes second.

Like I said I just want Pi to be happy.

Thank you ❤

 

[kat303]

What makes you think that sitting on your knee or shoulder doesn't make him happy. If he's preening himself, he's content, comfortable and happy. If he wants his neck scratched, I'm sure he enjoys it. Just because he doesn't show it in the way You want, doesn't make him a grumpy bird.

 

[PAT_HAWORTH]

I found that my Charlie loves me to sing to him. After singing a few choruses Try singing just one line of Old Macdonald and see his response. Sing a bit high pitched and see if he is interested, won’t hurt, might help!

 

[Jenn1469]

I have a boy who is a jerk half the year during breeding season. He is like 2 different birds. in the spring and summer he bites and gets mad easy and hates all of us and in the fall and winter he is nice and sings songs and talks and likes everyone.