Attack dinosaur

[Siobhan]

It's probably spring hormones, but Rocky has been impossible lately. I expect screaming and needy during hormone season, but he's been biting, hard, on top of that. My husband can only handle him with a T-stand and that's been the case for nearly the whole three years he's been with us, but now I can't handle him, either. He bit me so badly a few weeks ago that I have a scar on my arm that is still tender to the touch. On Monday, he bit me in that spot again, plus on the upper arm, which left a nasty bruise. Yesterday, he bit me on the shoulder while I was changing his paper, and several times, he's charged across the room, crest up, wings out and beak open, to attack me. We keep the T-stand handy and I grabbed it last night when he ran at me, scooped him up on it, where he displayed and hissed and tried to get to me to bite, and I put him in his cage and locked him in for the night.

Obviously, we can't leave him locked up for the rest of his life, and he screams when he's locked up, which makes life unpleasant for everyone. I'm at a loss. The last two springs, he was hard to live with, but not like this.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Yep..."birbs"... be it 'too's or 'zon's..greys...can't for the life of me figure 'em out. Imagine us humans running amok a few weeks a year and having no clue why!

Jonesy did exactly what your Rocky is doing,and it got scary and out of control,I had no idea what that "beady-eye'd monster" had in store for me next



Jim

 

[Siobhan]

We've had bad spells before. We've even considered rehoming before, but this time we might actually have to do it. He's never been this violent toward me, though he bit my husband really badly a couple of times the first two weeks he was with us. But I could handle him and he never bit me, or if he did, it was gentle and not meant to hurt, more to communicate. For instance, he never wants to poop on me and if he has to go, he pinches my arm to tell me to take him back to his cage. This is entirely different, and it's out of nowhere.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I understand totally..Jonesy was a very lovable Goffin when he arrived..talked a bit...loved head skritches..played well...he and Amy became good friends.

Then one day he snapped..one moment he was getting loveys from me and a millisecond later, he was clamping down on whatever he could get a hold of,tearing the beejesus out of me...drawing blood!! And dang,was it painful!

Then he did it EVERY DAY..to the point where I couldn't trust him,and where I couldn't/wouldn't let him hang out with Amy.
Then the screaming started...from the moment he woke,to long after his house was covered. It got so bad that I had to put his house in the spare bedroom,pull the blinds,and make it totally dark.

I HATED to do it,but he had to be rehomed..my head,and my g.f. head,at the time,was splitting. His screams got so loud,Amy would yell out SHUT UP!
Amy is not your typical 'zon either...she doesn't scream,and I was very afraid she was going to pick up Jonesy's habits.

We were lucky however. The owner of a convenience store just down the road was looking for a bird. I had brought Amy in many times and TJ adored her.
I told ALL ABOUT Jonesy..his noise...SWEARING..and his good sides And TJ's family took him in..that was about three yers ago now and I'm down at the store a couple times a week..Yes, Jonesy still yells,at times...and still swears..but he plays fetch with TJ's husband,loves their daughter,talks to her over the phone..eats well..and is bi-lingual now! lol not only English but talks pakastani also!

All in all,it was a win-win situation


Jim

 

[Siobhan]

I have a friend who used to have a cockatoo she dearly loved, and he died (natural causes). She has other parrots, and she knows what having a 'too entails, and I know he'd be loved and treated well. She wants him, and has even offered to try to do some training with him and give him back, but I don't want to upset him by sending him there and moving him back to our house. If he goes to her, he stays with her. At her house, he'd have other parrots for company. We have other birds, but I can't trust them with him (mostly their fault, more than his; they all think they have to establish a pecking order in which they are above him, and they're all much smaller). They can hear each other but he can't see or interact with them. Maybe having flockmates and someone like my friend who has lots of time to spend with him, and more expertise than I do, is what he needs.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I know it is a difficult decision and hurts like hell..I still think of Jonesy every day..as Steven ('Boat's) always says..."It is NEVER the parrots fault!"

I wish you luck with your very difficult situation.




Jim

 

[Carl_Power]

Im sure it will pass soon. My Quaker changes alot when he is having a bad hormone day. How have yours been? X

 

[Siobhan]

My female Quaker never goes bonkers for hormones. My male has already done his bonkers thing and it's over and it wasn't even that bad this year. My budgie, tiel and starling never have hormone meltdowns. So apparently Rocky is doing hormone madness on behalf of the entire bloody house.

 

[ToMang07]

It must be the weather. This is the first year I've had "hormone" issues with my Chairadactyl myself.

 

[Siobhan]

The weather is definitely wacky. He's calmed down a lot the last couple of days, so maybe the worst is over. He sat on my lap and watched TV last night and other than a couple of holes in my shirt, he behaved. Hubby doesn't want to give him up, and has been running interference until we were pretty sure the crazy had passed.

 

[eagle18]

I am going to say something is not exactly 'birdycorrect', but I wouldn't have Rocky on a bet.

You wouldn't put up with a dog going for your throat, so why put up with being maimed by a bird?

 

[Scott]

Have you considered clipping Rocky's wings at the first hint of hormonal activity?

I never clip, however the last two years my 21 year old and sweetest Goffin "Gabby" became a terror in the early Spring. Took him to my trusted CAV who suggested a moderate clip to tone him down. Works like a charm! His feathers grow out and he resumes his normal wonderful disposition!

 

[WilliamKenyon]

Sorry to hear about rocky :02:. I'm sure you'll be able to get him back on track though. Spring hormones are a problem but they will pass. Hug's to you and Rocky :60:

 

[Kyoto]

My conure is mildly nippy all of the time and I don't really find her getting "hormonal", but I think if she did maybe clipping her wings for the season would be a good option. I hope you find a solution with your beautiful boy.

 

[Siobhan]

Rocky can't fly, so there's no point clipping his wings. He already walks or has to be carried everywhere he goes. There isn't any warning that he's getting hormonal, usually. One day he's not and the next day, it's full bore. Clyde (one of my Quakers) is the same way. No warning that hormones are upon us.

 

[eagle18]

Rocky can't fly, so there's no point clipping his wings. He already walks or has to be carried everywhere he goes. There isn't any warning that he's getting hormonal, usually. One day he's not and the next day, it's full bore. Clyde (one of my Quakers) is the same way. No warning that hormones are upon us.

I have been reading about Rocky through your blogs on him. He sounds like quite the challenge and more than a little messed up. Kudos to you and your husband for all the love and help that you have given him. But it seems to me that you have had him for quite awhile now.

 

[Siobhan]

Three years as of tomorrow. And yes, he has a lot of issues due to past mistreatment, which is true of many cockatoos, unfortunately. We've worked through several and he's a lot less terrified of many things he used to freak out over. Brooms, for example. He doesn't mind seeing me sweep any longer. He still doesn't like it when you move something, like when we put the TV trays up to eat, but he's less terrified than he used to be.

 

[eagle18]

Three years as of tomorrow. And yes, he has a lot of issues due to past mistreatment, which is true of many cockatoos, unfortunately. We've worked through several and he's a lot less terrified of many things he used to freak out over. Brooms, for example. He doesn't mind seeing me sweep any longer. He still doesn't like it when you move something, like when we put the TV trays up to eat, but he's less terrified than he used to be.

I am sorry, I thought you got Rocky in 07. I have been reading your pieces on him and have thoroughly enjoyed your writing. In fact, I enjoy reading about all of your bird as well as your doggies.

Glad to know Mr. Rocky is starting to calm down.

 

[Siobhan]

No, I saw him for sale on a rummage sale site on Facebook in 2015 and a friend said she'd give him a home if I'd help her transport his giant cage with my truck. We took him to her house, and he was only there a day and a half because her 3-year-old granddaughter could not be convinced that he isn't a plush toy, and my friend was afraid one of them would get hurt. So then he moved to our house and that's where he's been ever since. Today is the third anniversary of that day, in fact. The home we got him from was very bad, and the one before it was worse, but we don't know his history beyond that, nor his age. All I know is that someone, probably his first family, cared enough to get him the proper cage for a cockatoo, and it's followed him from home to home since then. When he meets a new person, and only then, he will say "I'm Rocky Road," and I believe that's because he thinks that every new person has come to take him to a new home AGAIN and he wants to establish what his name is. He always seems surprised, and relieved, when a new person goes away and he stays.

 

[DiscoDuck]

Rocky can't fly, so there's no point clipping his wings. He already walks or has to be carried everywhere he goes. There isn't any warning that he's getting hormonal, usually. One day he's not and the next day, it's full bore. Clyde (one of my Quakers) is the same way. No warning that hormones are upon us.

Regardless of flight, while I am sure that a differing opinion will likely occur. I would take Scotts advice.

If I were in your shoes.. I would....

Try everything once, the things I like, I try them twice...