and the Jealousy begins... what to do?

[anbrownucsd]

Hello,

Some of you know that I just put a down on a Rose-Breasted Cockatoo. I will get the new baby in the beginning of July. Last weekend I went to a bird fair and bought a new cage and new toys ect.

I gave some of the new toys to Hermes, and put some of them in the new cage. I had to move Hermes's cage b/c the bigger cage would only fit where Hermes' used to be! Now he is MAD... I can tell. He keeps trying to get to the new cage, which he thinks should be his, and I am doing everything I can to keep him off of it b/c I don't want him to think that it IS his!

He has been acting really strange all week, since we moved his cage.. but we have no other options! He isn't playing with toys anymore, and he doesn't even want to play with us. He just mopes around and then tries to do all of the things that make me mad (climbing the curtains and pulling threads out of them, ect). He has also taken to biting us constantly, especially when I take him off of the new cage. He never used to bite us, and now I think I have lost all of the feeling in my hands!

What should I do? I am sure this will only get worse when I bring the new baby home!.

[anbrownucsd]

Tonight I am going to make birdie bread and a few other new things to try and cheer him up, but I don't think it will work...

[MicahEspudo]

... :(

thats not fun... Not fun at all. I think all you can do is give him tons of attention... I might also take the toys out of the new cage to make it look less desirable. Just be sure to give him extra attention when the galah is around :)

[anbrownucsd]

I don't know if I COULD give him more attention... he even goes to work with me and is with me all day at home!

I will try taking the toys out though... thanks! I never thought of that.

[anbrownucsd]

I took the toys out of the cage, and I think it worked a little!

He no longer wants to go into the new cage. I wonder how awful the jealousy will be when I bring home the new bird though! Luckily there are two of us (my fiance and I) and two birds, so they can always have one on one attention together!

[Muchi]

I have a question, but how do you plan to quarantine the new RB2 if its' cage only fits in one spot? Will you just keep Hermes out of that room? How will that work when, as you've already stated, you take him everywhere?

Also, if you got the new cage at a bird fair, I hope you cleaned it really thoroughly. I don't trust anything from a bird fair to be bird-safe and disease free. Wow, I am paranoid

[anbrownucsd]

I cleaned the cage REALLY good in my friends backyard! It was a new cage, not used by any other birds, it was just dusty and had some mud.

Also, the new cage only fits in one spot in my living room where I eventually want to keep both of the birds! I moved Hermes cage to make sure that it did fit correctly and for now it has been left there. When I quarantine the new baby I am going to move the cage into the bedroom where I think it will fit fine (not comfortably, but okay for 4-6 weeks). After that it will go back into the living room.

I was thinking that to avoid jealousy problems I would let Hermes get used to his cage's new position in the house before I bring home another bird. Is this not a good idea? I will have to figure out where I can get vent covers though, b/c my living room and bedroom do share the same ventilation system! Luckily I live in San Diego so it never gets TOO hot or TOO cold to be unmanageable.

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, so if you notice something please let me know!

I only worry about jealousy b/c Hermes has had the undivided attention of my fiance and I for over a year! I'm sure he won't like sharing.