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I have a question for all of you:

How do your birds react when you clean? Wipe down counter tops, or the floor; vaccume etc...

Mika is fine and generally couldn't care less as long as she can look out her window or eat.

Sparky on the other hand, flips out! He gets really agressive, puffs up and will attack any cleaning impliment he can reach, including my hand. We pretty much have to put him in the cage by himself when we need to clean. If Mika is in there with him, he'll go after her because he can't get to anything else. On his own, he puffs up and hits, chews or rubs the cage bars with his beak and hops around the floor of his cage screamming or growling. He will attack the vacuume cleaner or broom or swiffer handle whether we're using them or not. So those stay put away, out of sight most of the time. Anyone else's birds react this way? is there any way to get him to calm down about it? I hate having to lock him up just so I can wipe a counter. Also he stays mad for a while after, like he's angry that I dared to clean. I had no idea not wanting the floor to crunch when I walked was such a bad thing

Hi Sandy,

That's so funny! Well, maybe not for you....

Jamie loves the vacuum - she vocalizes a lot and loves it the most when she can ride on my shoulder when I vacuum. I usually put her in her cage though. When I vacuum around the cage, she comes down to the vacuum and vocalizes. She does get excited (change in eyes, puffing up) but it is not in an aggressive way.

When she is on the counter and I am wiping it, she hops to the cloth because she want to play with it. Sometimes I just make her hop by moving the dish cloth around the counter in circles

If she is not on the counter, she could not care less about me wiping it. The only time when she becomes aggressive on the counter is when she is eating there. I cannot even come close to the sink or the stove because she growls and becomes very agitated. Once she is done (or almost done), she is fine again.


Kate

Dweezel will scream when the vaccum is running but he never gets aggressive towards any cleaning item. I have heard that if you give birds a mist bath when they hear the vaccum, they will get into it more, but Dweezel would rather yell over the sound of the vaccum, just like he does with loud music. We tend to have loud music on when we clean so he gets real happy when we clean. He sings real loud and talks about beer a lot (his favorite subject...)

Oooh... Lola LOVES the vacuum! She sings her little heart out! It's funny! My dad vacuums every night and if she can catch a ride on his shoulder she's very happy. My 2 parakeets before Lola also loved the vacuum and would ride on the hand pushing it! Quite silly!

Lola loves running water...in the sink or the washing machine filling up.
As far as wiping down counters, she's usually not out or in the room when cleaning. But if I'm trying to clean her play gym while she's on it, she'll jump on me and try to get to whatever is in my hand. She's very nosy! lol


and does anyone elses bird have a foot fetish?? Lola will not stay away from my feet!! And my feet are VERY tickelish! she LOVES LOVES LOVES feet!! and Shes lucky I dont kick her across the room cause it's a reaction when she jumps on my feet when I'm not looking! lol

You have got to get Anthony to video the feet fetish thing! That's a real hoot!

Cathy wrote:You have got to get Anthony to video the feet fetish thing! That's a real hoot!

ha ha ha.... Ok I'll try!! lol When the camera comes out Lola focuses on that and doesnt do anything cute anymore! I'll try! lol

Dweezel doesn't have the foot fetish thing but I had a lovebird who did. Funny story...he would be out of the cage and if you laid down on the couch and closed you eyes he would tweet in you face as loud as he could. If you didn't flinch or open you eyes, he would run down to your feet, tweet again to be sure you were sleeping, then "do his thing" on your feet. If you got up, he would get mad and go for your other foot! I have a video of him chasing my foot around on the floor. He is over the Rainbow Bridge now, but he will never be missed! (the "smacking" sound in the background is how my camera picks up the lovebird noises)
http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n199 ... G_0047.flv

That was so cute and what a lovely memory to have of your lovebird. Thanks for sharing.

brimonster wrote:Dweezel doesn't have the foot fetish thing but I had a lovebird who did. Funny story...he would be out of the cage and if you laid down on the couch and closed you eyes he would tweet in you face as loud as he could. If you didn't flinch or open you eyes, he would run down to your feet, tweet again to be sure you were sleeping, then "do his thing" on your feet. If you got up, he would get mad and go for your other foot! I have a video of him chasing my foot around on the floor. He is over the Rainbow Bridge now, but he will never be missed! (the "smacking" sound in the background is how my camera picks up the lovebird noises)
http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n199 ... G_0047.flv

ha ha ha.... GOD! I wish Lola was that gentle!! I got a video last night of Lola doing the foot thing but it came out dark. So I'm gonna load it on my computer later today and see how it came out! I'll post it soon here!