GCC Hormonal?

[Caitnah]

Hi...am having a fairly common problem but could use some verification.
My Pineapple is exactly 1 year old. Originally thought it was a Male but am getting signs that he is a she. Many times, my bird will back up to my hand with butt raised. Now doing it a lot with butt raised, wings spread a bit and doing a low growl. We dont touch her back at all.

But the main problem is the biting. About 15' being out of the cage, she starts biting hard. Used to get love nibbles on the ear but now bites ear hard and hangs on.
ALWAYS bites when being put back into the cage which I assume is just her being a brat.
But is the other biting hormonal? Teenager? Testing the boundaries?
The bites have broken skin a little. We want 2 have her out a lot but as mentioned, she bites after 15'...and bites harder if we return her to the cage.
Any suggestions?

 

[clark_conure]

First of all, no bird should be allowed to bite a human....

Do a search on the site but basically with bonded birds the most effective method is the time out method. After a bite say "NO" in an authoritative voice and put the bird on the floor or some area it won't like but can return from, not a playstand or cage etc.

This gives the bird time to calm down and think about what it did. In effect you are shunning the bird for it's bad behavior...which is what a flock would do. As the bird makes the long walk back it will figure out it did something bad. Don't shake the bird or toss the bird or hold the birds beak or any of that stuff.

It's a "TIME OUT" time to calm down and make the bird walk back.

He/she will be a lot nicer when he/she comes back.

As far as the root cause, I dunno about that. They are flock animals and even humans can be part of a flock. It might be hormones? or something else. But first order of business is to stop the biting behavior.

This method might have to be repeated 3-4 times or more but in the end everyone says it's super-effective.

 

[EllenD]

I agree with Clark, the most effective way to stop a bird from biting in-general, regardless of the cause, is the "Shunning Method"...If you do a search here you'll find several posts with long, detailed explanations and step-by-step instructions on how to do the "Shunning Method", but basically every time the bird bites anyone (every single time it has to be done or it won't be effective), you tell the bird "No Bites!" (not yelling or scolding, just firmly) and you put the bird right down on the floor for 5 minutes, and everyone in the room as to turn their backs to the bird for the full 5 minutes, and if the bird crawls up you leg, walks around to the face you or anyone else, or if they fly from the floor, you just silently, without saying a word, go get the bird and put it right back down on the floor and again turn your backs to them and totally and completely ignore them for a full 5 minutes...And when the 5 minutes is over you just all walk away and go about your business, and let the bird come to you, you don't immediately go to them...You might have to do this a bunch of times in a row the first day you start it, but if you stick to it and do it every single time they bite anyone, they typically get the point and stop the biting for the most-part in a few days to a week...

Birds absolutely HATE being on the floor because they are the lowest thing in the room and they lose all sense of dominance while on the floor, and by completely "Shunning" the bird and literally turning your backs to the bird, you're taking-away the thing that they crave the most, interaction with their "flock" and attention...

It probably is due to hormones, especially if he is just a year old, that's about the time most Green Cheeks go through puberty...One thing to make sure of is that you Green Cheek has NO access to any small, dark, warm places at all, as them being able to get into/underneath any spaces that are small and dark (simulated nests) causes their hormones to go crazy and this is a very common cause of violent-aggression in a hormonal bird, especially all species of Conures, who are especially effected by small,
dark, warm places...

*****So if your Green Cheek happens to have ANY type of tent, hammock, "Hut" such as a "Happy Hut" or a "Snuggle Hut", or any type of box (wooden, cardboard, etc.) inside of it's cage or anywhere else it might have access to it, or any type of towels, blankets, fabric, cloth, etc. that it can get underneath or make a nest out of, or any type of "bedding" material in it's cage like wood-chips, shredded paper bedding, etc., all of this stuff needs to be removed immediately and kept away from them permanently, because it is no doubt a main-cause of it's aggression and biting. Also, if they have access to getting underneath any furniture in your home, like under the couch, chairs, desks, etc., that needs to be made "off-limits" from now on too...

Just an FYI, if your bird does happen to have any type of "Snuggle Hut" or "Happy Hut", or other type of fabric tent, hammock, or "Hut", not only are they a main cause of hormonal aggression, chronic masturbation and egg-laying, etc., they are also extremely dangerous and potentially life-threatening to you bird, and have directly resulted in the sudden, early deaths of thousands and thousands of pet birds; specifically Conures are prone to dying due to these "Huts" because they so love getting into/underneath small, dark, warm places...They either hang themselves from loose-threads that come-out of the fabric, or more-often they chew-off little, tiny pieces of the material, bit-by-bit, over-time so you don't even notice they are doing it, until one day they are found dead in their cages due to the material accumulating in their Crops, Stomachs, and Intestinal Tracts over-time, finally causing a complete obstruction/blockage which is fatal...Just an FYI, I don't know if your bird has any type of tent or "Hut" at all, but just in-case..

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

The part about birds not liking being on the floor, what if my birds like to forage on the floor for dropped food? They even fly to the floor sometimes because they like to peck around there. When I put Kermit on the floor, he actually seems to enjoy himself and he doesn’t always immediately fly back to me... I’ve been putting him on his cage to shun him when he bites.

 

[clark_conure]

FlyBirdiesFly whatever works for you is fine, we say not the cage or playstand because birds typically like those spots. It could be the other arm of the couch, it could be up on a bookshelf. The point is to make some distance and create a time period of "distress" in the bird being separated. And Give them time to think "why am I here" and to calm down after whatever aggressive/territorial/attention seeking impulse led to the bite.

Anyplace will work so long as the bird doesn't like it, doesn't see it as a reward for it's behavior and it takes time (walking, flying) to get back. If your birds a flier it could be totally different room.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Putting them in a different room is a good idea. My birds are all flighted so it would take longer for them to find me again if I put them in a different room. They would feel ignored when I turn my back and walk away. Being alone in a room is definitely uncomfortable and they have time to think through their actions. Great suggestion, Clark!

 

[Furbz]

nice thread this. some good info