Hormonal Behavior?

[Caitnah]

My Pineapple is now 6 months old. Gone are the days where he would just sit on my lap wanting head scratches.

For the last few weeks, all he does is run up and down my arm/neck and when my hand is near he will nip (hard) and step up. If my hand is on the arm of the chair he wants to always burrow under my arm and when he reaches my hand, he will get low, raise his butt/tail high and walk backwards towards my hand.

Unfortunately, this is all he does when out of his cage. To be honest, it has become bothersome since, when we sit, this is his only activity.
I do not pet him on his back any longer. In fact, you can't pet him at all. If you try to give head scratches, he always turns to nip/bite.

Do I assume this is hormonal? And if so, about how long does it last?

 

[wrench13]

That tail raising and backing into your hand sure sounds like hormonal behaviour. So, right, no more touching anywhere but the head. The onset of sexual maturity varies with each species and individuals, and the first one is the worst and lasts the longest. After they settle down, the behavior usually only lasts a short while typically in the spring.
As far as the biting - you need to train that out of him. I use the shunning method. A bite gets Salty immediately put on a chair back, and totally ignored, no eye contact, back turned to him, for a few minutes. Parrots are flock animals and ones that dont observe the flock rules get shunned in the wild. But to do this you need to be 100% consistent.

As far as how long his hormonal phase will last, I have to leave that up to conure owners who have gone thru this. But it will pass. Just make sure that you don't allow it to introduce bad habits in him, or yourself.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Great input...
Some more thoughts...
Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.

 

[EllenD]

Sailboat nailed it, it's partly hormonal and partly that he just needs to be trained. 6 months old is a little early for a Green Cheek to go through puberty, but they are all individuals and it isn't out of line for it to happen. It will pass, and as Sailboat said, the first one is always the worst...

As far as the biting/nipping and the running up and down your arm/hiding, etc., have you tried providing your bird with alternatives at the moment he starts to do this? Like his favorite toys? They need to be distracted by something else when they get into that type of behavior...And when he bites, as Sailboat said, the best thing you can do is put him back on/in his cage or simply down on the floor and turn your back to him, and totally ignore him for 5 minutes. They figure this out very quickly because they absolutely hate to not get attention. That should help to curb the biting/nipping pretty quickly...

As far as the hormones go, do be sure he's getting at least 12 hours of sleep every night, and that his sleeping cage is located in a room where he can see the sunrise and the sunset...and be sure he goes to bed at sunset (after he sees the sunset cover him) and he awakes at sunrise...this "Natural-Light Schedule" will help to control his hormones tremendously...

 

[Caitnah]

Sailboat nailed it, it's partly hormonal and partly that he just needs to be trained. 6 months old is a little early for a Green Cheek to go through puberty, but they are all individuals and it isn't out of line for it to happen. It will pass, and as Sailboat said, the first one is always the worst...

As far as the biting/nipping and the running up and down your arm/hiding, etc., have you tried providing your bird with alternatives at the moment he starts to do this? Like his favorite toys? They need to be distracted by something else when they get into that type of behavior...And when he bites, as Sailboat said, the best thing you can do is put him back on/in his cage or simply down on the floor and turn your back to him, and totally ignore him for 5 minutes. They figure this out very quickly because they absolutely hate to not get attention. That should help to curb the biting/nipping pretty quickly...

As far as the hormones go, do be sure he's getting at least 12 hours of sleep every night, and that his sleeping cage is located in a room where he can see the sunrise and the sunset...and be sure he goes to bed at sunset (after he sees the sunset cover him) and he awakes at sunrise...this "Natural-Light Schedule" will help to control his hormones tremendously...

Alternatives - yep...He has a huge playground with lots of toys and he never plays there. When out of his cage he wants to be with me 100%. With this new biting, I do play with him with my shirt (peek-a-boo) and he LOVES my remote. He only bites when he sees my finger; and this is only when we are sitting together. Anywhere else in the house, no biting.

Sunrise/Sunset - I have a window that has no covering. He gets to see the sun rise and set. I even have a self dimming light bulb in the ceiling. It auto dims to off in 30'.

I am just so surprised at the hormones at 6 months.

 

[Sunnyclover]

Try getting some foot toys and small little toys to have with you on the couch. I have a box of little plastic yoyys and some fake Pearl necklaces and I have a necklace I made out of parts of bird toys and a shoe string. I wear it when they're on my shoulder or I'm cuddliy them. It gives them something to do!

 

[wrench13]

@EllenD - I think you attributed my comments to Sailboats. While I appreciate the error, I could not possibly give as much or as helpful comments as Mr. 'Boats. When he posts, you can take the info to the bank. He is our resident Amazon expert and for good reason.

 

[EllenD]

@EllenD - I think you attributed my comments to Sailboats. While I appreciate the error, I could not possibly give as much or as helpful comments as Mr. 'Boats. When he posts, you can take the info to the bank. He is our resident Amazon expert and for good reason.

Whoops!!! My bad, I saw the Amazon and forgot to look at the name...I apologize, though you should not sell yourself at all short Wrench, I would trust anything you told me as well as Sailboat...

 

[MonicaMc]

Alternative.s Lets go back to that subject!

If you don't want him acting that way, then what can he do instead? And how can you teach him to do that behavior?

Doesn't play with toys? Okay, have you tried teaching him how to forage for food and treats? You could even teach him to target to a toy with his beak and eventually teach him to play with toys.

Or what about other behaviors, such as turn around, 'big eagle', fetch, etc? These are all behaviors that give him direction and can be enjoyable by both of you!