Grumpy Feral :(

[naturegirl]

Hi All,
I wrote to you all about a feral pigeon I am rehabbing, well so far it is doing fine and no more loose stools, I think it is becoming too comfortable in his cage as he bites, when I take him out to change his papers he races me back to the cage to jump back inside and be overly protective of it. He truthfully has a bad attitude but I can understand that as he is wild and not use to people, anyone have any ideas how to calm this guy down so at least he won't bite so much, seeing he is going to be here for at least 6 weeks so his flight feathers can grow back in? He is wearing out his welcome real quick, I won't release him till he can fly safely but that is going to be awhile.

Thanks Cindy

[Pidgey]

Well, you could try the time-honored tradition of teaching him what special treats are and then only letting him have them by way of eating them from your hand. Safflower seeds are the easiest but shelled peanuts (UNroasted and UNsalted, ONLY) can be used if you've got the patience to get them to start eating them.

Pidgey

[pdpbison]

Hi Cindy,


He feels the Cage is "his" House, so his defending it from intruders is a very healthy sign of his comfort, confidence, and his recovery's progress.

A Passive Bird is a traumatised, ill, or terribly intimidated Bird, most times. That is unless positively friendly and assertively friendly.

Too, if you ask him, in plain english, if you 'may' please enter his Cage, or enter it and clean it and so on, he might go easier on you! Just tell him what you want to do, and ask his permission to do it...


Truely!

Afterall, it IS 'his' Cage/house you know...!



Phil
Las Vegas