Ask Lafeber

Looking at me weirdly

Hi, I just had a breakthrough with verde she is seeming to be no longer afraid of me and more and more looking for my company. When it’s early in the morning she’ll scream for me to change her food bowl. My dads not sure about the wing clipping because he doesn’t want to strip the bird of its ability to fly, so I’m going to try and work with her with out the clipping and see how that goes. I had her moved to the upstairs hallway with the balcony and she loved the extra sun coming out of the window and she likes how she could see people going in and out, So I try to build trust with her everyday She takes millet from my hand through the bars and today she saw my finger (my nails were just painted) and I though she wanted me to pet her but every time I tried she just tried to grab my finger with her beak She got all fluffed up and looked at me in the eyes which scared me a little, this was not the verde I know. She stayed puffy for a while and decided to fly away from my hand. She also like going to the bottom of the cage and today I don’t know if I was imagining it but she just started shaking like earthquake shake but not too intense it’s like a blink and you miss it moment then again I’m not sure if That’s what happened ,what wrong should I be worried ?and why was she looking at me like that? and trying to grab my finger?

Hi Morgan!

Clipping wings will not hurt her and it is temporary – she will molt the cut feathers and grow new ones within weeks or months, depending on when she goes into a molt. It is a way to calm a bird down so you can establish trust without the bird constantly flying away. It can also protect her from household hazards like ceiling fans or flying into a window, or out of an open door or window. Of course it is up to you & your dad, but just so you can let him know it won’t stop her from flying entirely and the feathers will grow back. It sounds like she is in an open part of the house and that is not ideal for training. Normally you want to work in a small room with the door closed and coverings on the window so she doesn’t think she can fly through the glass. I’m sure she loves the light and the window, but if she comes out of the cage and gets scared, she can fly into the glass and hurt herself or worse.

Verde is telling you very clearly that she does NOT like the painted nails! She is fluffing up to look big and scary to the painted nails. This is very common with parrots and even if they get used to the color, they still tend to pick at painted nails. I’m sorry to have to suggest this, but you probably need to stick to clear polish for now and once she can be handled, you can work on getting her used to color on your nails. Of course keep her away from nail polish and the remover due to the fumes. Once the polish is dry, it should be fine but never let her pick the polish off.

Thanks for the update!

Brenda