any help please?

[Iwantacracker]

I've had my Congo African Grey for about 3 months now. From the start he has been a total sweet heart. He's affectionate, chatty, loving, loves to be petted, stroked, sits on my stomach to cuddle. He's awesome.

The past week, all that has suddenly changed. He'll sometimes be his normal sweet self then suddenly snap and bite and thrust toward me like 'get out of here'. and when he bites, he'll bite hard-drawing blood and taking skin. I try not to react. try to ignore it bc i've heard that making a fuss about it only encourages it, but that doesn't seem to be helping.

i use to be his favorite person. I'd come in from work and he was the first person I visited. We bonded for a while and hung out and it was great. He'd just gotten to where he'd shower with me and loved it. I dont' understand what'd happened, but it's breaking my heart.

There hasn't been any changes to cause the change in his behavior and I'm afraid it may be something that might become permenant or mean that he simply is not longer happy here.

could someone help me and tell me what i'm doing wrong and how to help make my george happy again?

Thank you.

 

[justwingingit]

Hi there! First of all, how old is your Grey? When they are young, they can switch loyalties for the first couple of years. Is there someone else in the house that your Grey seems to like at times better than you? If your bird is older, perhaps hormones are kicking in. First of all, a vet check would be good to rule out anything biological. After that, then we need to work on the behavior. When my birds bite me, for whatever reason, it does hurt my feelings and I let them know that I don't like that behavior and then I put them back in their cage for a while. Give me more information and I'll try to help you further.

 

[Iwantacracker]

he is 2 years and 11 months. i got him from a fellow disabled vet that was diagnosed with lung cancer and could no longer care for him. i've had him for 3 months. for the entire 3 months, he has loved me the best and prefered me the most, although he's fairly sociable with anyone. now he lets me show him affection every now and then just like old times. other times, i go to 'tickle tickle' him like usual (and bc he's asking me to) and he instantly bites me ad starts raming at me as if to say 'get away'.

He's been to the vet for vaccines and the vet says he is in perfect health. i just don't understand the sudden dramatic change in his attitude. i'm the one he's always loved best for the past three months and now at times it's like he hates me (and everyone else).

am i doing something wrong?

 

[Echo]

2 years old is usually when they become "adolescents" and can be a bit "touchy". My Grey is also a bit over 2 years old and also has been sneaky about biting me for no apparent reason. Their body language might change though from what I have learned. There is usually a "signal", whatever small before they will bite. I have been more carefull about reading her body language and eye pinning. I will not take it personally and I think that you shouldn't as well. I'm sure you are still his fav person. They are very intelligent birds, talk to him and tell him that he is hurting you and you don't like it. Put him back to his cage and turn your back to him. Then go back after a while and ask if he wants to come play with you for example.

I also know that with mine I have to give her 100% of my attention when i want to pet her . I can't be on the phone talking to someone else.

He might be giving you clues.........just try and read them. I have been and she hasn't bit in the past month:35:...

You have a teenager on your hands!!! Keep that in mind.

 

[parrotparent]

As Echo said and the word that says it all, teenager. As with the human kind where you can get your head bit off for no apparent reason, your bird is telling you the same thing only in his own way! It is very hard not to take it personally, but don't, he still loves you he's just seeing how far he can push you. Three months really is not that long but he may be starting to realize that this wasn't a vacation and he's not going back "home". Have patience, don't give in or give up and this too shall pass.

 

[Iwantacracker]

thank you for the insite! i really appreciate it. i just wanted to make sure i wasn't doing something wrong to make him mad or something. thank you

 

[dakisgirls]

I'ts totally hormones. In some cases, puberty hits very late. Good luck with your parrot. I suspect he'll come out of his little "stage".

 

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

African Greys usually leave the immediate family group at around two years of age to start looking for a mate but, when a bird is captive, he cannot leave and this causes them to turn on their owners. Basically, they blame you for not allowing them to do what their body is telling them they should do. In most cases, with patience, understanding and love, the bird gets over this phase and goes on to have a good relationship with its owners but there are cases where the bird never forgives. I am not sure whether this is because the owners did not know how to handle the situation or if it's just the individual bird, one cannot tell from postings in the internet what the real situation is.

One thing that makes this worse is when they continue to produce sexual hormones way past the end of the breeding season (spring and early summer). Birds are not like people, they don't choose to have sex, they just have to. That's why they have seasons when they produce sexual hormones and seasons when they don't. If they are producing sexual hormones and they don't have a mate to relieve the sexual urge with, and this goes on for months and months and months (and, sometimes, years), they become sexually frustrated and develop what we call 'behavioral issues' which, in reality, don't have much to do with behavior as they have with physical needs. Also, captive birds develop younger than birds in the wild. This is due to the too rich food we feed them on a daily basis and, if you feed pellets with soy, to its estrogenic effect.

One thing you need to do is to keep him to a strict natural daylight schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk. This means that there can be no artificial lights on before the sun is up or after the sunset. Birds are supposed to wake up with the sunrise and go to bed with the sunset. Even pet parrots because, belonging to an undomesticated species, their needs are identical to their wild counterparts. If you do this, your parrot will follow the natural seasons and will never be sexually frustrated.

 

[Spiritbird]

I think this article may help you Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - The Adolescent African Grey

 

[antoinette]

Hi there....
Sure he is testing you, they are just like teenagers.
Let him know who the boss is, in a gentle way. Time out always helps.
My AG Mishka is 2 years old, a few weeks ago, I noticed changes in her mood, body language and even in her talking. Where she usually says something in a soft tone, she sometimes shouted. I ignored her for a few minutes, then she calmed down.
Things have improved tremendously now.
Preserve and be patient, it will improve.
Good luck
Let us know how it's going.
Great day

 

[Iwantacracker]

should i get him a mate?

 

[Spiritbird]

How are things going now Iwan? There are a few grey people who want to know.