I have a 5 year old budgie named Suichi and we recently moved him from the house we lived in for those 5 years into my boyfriends house. I brought him with to keep me company during the day while my boyfriend is at work.

Suichi has always loved my boyfriend and any man in my life but he has become possessive of them when on their shoulder. He will try and bite me when I attempt to take him back. It has become so bad that now he will just lash out at my hands when my boyfriend and I are cuddling on the couch.

I am at my wits end on what to do and am getting really depressed about the whole situation. What makes this all the worse is we are going to be getting a large parrot in a few months and need to have this solved before we get the new bird.

Can anyone help me work this out?

Tough love is the anwer, I think. This is an issue which will not go away without it.

Your boyfriend is going to have to be very strict with himself and ignore the bird. If Suichi alights on his shoulder, he must lift him off. He must not feed him or talk to him.

Only you can attend to him! You may need to use gloves but try not to. Please don't let the bird see any hesitation on your part. It does not matter if he lashes out, you are still going to attend to him. You just approach him steadily and treat him the way you did before your boyfriend arrived. NO punishment! It is harmful and does not work. It he bites you, he goes in his cage for a while OR both of you completely ignore hm for a while. Don't let him see your reaction to the bite. Making noises indicating pain will reinforce his behaviour because parrots do like a bit of drama.

Only when your bird is back with you should your boyfriend pay him some attention.

You may find that your boyfriend won't help you here because he likes the attention from Suichi. Well then, you have to choose ...

I agree with Catherine. It's not uncommon for a bird to attach themselves to just one person, even if that person isn't their owner!

 

Perhaps get your boyfriend to pass Suichi to you from his shoulder so that the bird realises that your boyfriend doesn't want his attention but wants him to go to you. If you hold his favourite treat (eg millet) while doing this, he might see you as the treat giver and go to you for it. Just make sure that your boyfriend doesn't give him any treats. What is he like when it's only you around?

 

The worst case is that he may just prefer your boyfriend and nothing can be done about it. I know that would feel awful, but there isn't much else that you can do. If you are getting a larger parrot, then perhaps this could be your bird and the budgie your boyfriends?

Tough love is the anwer, I think. This is an issue which will not go away without it.

Your boyfriend is going to have to be very strict with himself and ignore the bird. If Suichi alights on his shoulder, he must lift him off. He must not feed him or talk to him.

Only you can attend to him! You may need to use gloves but try not to. Please don't let the bird see any hesitation on your part. It does not matter if he lashes out, you are still going to attend to him. You just approach him steadily and treat him the way you did before your boyfriend arrived. NO punishment! It is harmful and does not work. It he bites you, he goes in his cage for a while OR both of you completely ignore hm for a while. Don't let him see your reaction to the bite. Making noises indicating pain will reinforce his behaviour because parrots do like a bit of drama.

Only when your bird is back with you should your boyfriend pay him some attention.

You may find that your boyfriend won't help you here because he likes the attention from Suichi. Well then, you have to choose ...

When it is only me in the house he is cute and loving towards me most of the time but he has started to get a little aggravated when I try to get him out of his cage or try to put him away. I think it has to do with his growing dependence of my boyfriend.

 

As for my boyfriend helping, he does everything he can to help me reclaim my baby bird. At first we thought that he was just becoming a grumpy old bird. How long do they tend to live? People keep telling me that he is really old for a parakeet so I'm not sure how much longer I can expect to have him.

 

Thanks so much for the advice. I will try my hardest not to use gloves. ^^

I mentioned the gloves because Suichi may be frightened by the gloves and have even more reason to reject you.

A pet type budgie could live for 15 years if he has a varied diet, does not get overweight and stays well. When you get your new bird, be sure to quarantine him from Suichi. If your new bird is carrying some disease, you could lose both birds. The quarantine period is to give time for the disease to become evident in your new bird. Your new parrot will, no doubt, be expensive so you will be taking him to an avian vet for a check.

I mentioned the gloves because Suichi may be frightened by the gloves and have even more reason to reject you.

A pet type budgie could live for 15 years if he has a varied diet, does not get overweight and stays well. When you get your new bird, be sure to quarantine him from Suichi. If your new bird is carrying some disease, you could lose both birds. The quarantine period is to give time for the disease to become evident in your new bird. Your new parrot will, no doubt, be expensive so you will be taking him to an avian vet for a check.

 

Wow I never knew they could live so long. I don't think I will have to worry about him getting overweight because he flies a lot when we are home. I found a way around the gloves by putting some bandages on the finger that he bites most.

The parrot that we are getting is from a Parrot Place certified parrot raiser. They raise him/her till they are old enough to come home with us and they take care of the vet checkups and such. They ensure the birds health before he comes home and guaranty the bird for a few months after. Plus they give assistance for behavioral problems for life. They take really good care of customers and their birds. ^^

You'll still need to quarantine the parrot even if it's coming from such a place. Quarantine is to protect both your budgie and the parrot. Some birds can appear well but be hiding an illness. There is some useful information on this site regarding quarantine and why we should do it.