Stewie attacked Mika again

[jenseits]

This time he flew halfway across the room, landed on her cage and lunged at her. They squabbled on top of her cage and I had to shove hand between the two of them to separate their bodies. Both of them seem fine (no blood this time) but I'm getting really frustrated.

Obviously I need to clip his wings again (but they're not that grown out, half an outside flight feather on each side) but what can I do besides just policing him relentlessly?

It's been several months and I'm constantly tense about the possibility that he'll try to attack her. Even when he tries to fly and can't reach her, his flapping freaks her out and will set her off now too... except she's a terrible flyer and her trying to fly away generally ends with her smacking into something.

[mmr]

try putting him in a completely seperate room!

[jenseits]

Originally Posted by mmr

try putting him in a completely seperate room!

Unfortunately I can't. I live in a studio apartment, so there is no other room to move anyone to. Plus my gut is that it might exacerbate the problem if they see me less/spend less time hanging out with me. Don't you think?

I'd hate to go back to separate out of cage times and separating them with a screen, but I'll do that if I have to.

Any other ideas?

[xafsmom]

Sounds like clipping his wings again would be smart, yeah. You might also consider giving him a treat in his cage whenever you have Mika out for playtime. It might lessen the jealousy or at least cease any screaming he might do. He might start to look forward to the treat and start to calm his little self. I would definitely only allow one out at a time though. Also, remember the more you're frustrated and angry emotionally, the more your birds are going to feed off that. In Stewie's case, he might ratchet up his bad behaviour, in Mika's, it might be more of a fear response.

It's difficult to get a pissy bird to the point of accepting another, especially Aratingas, who have really strong um... possessiveness issues lol. However, Aratingas can be distracted easily and food works well. Good luck and sorry you have to stay so vigilant!