Hormonal or just pissed?

[Brisch]

So up till 2 days ago I owned a Velcro bird, he/she wanted to be on me all day everyday. About 3 days go, around the same time I dyed my hair a different color, my bird started being vary aggressive towards me. He will sit on me and use me as a jungle gym and I can make him do ladders if I command him in a very firm voice. But if I try to grab him out of my hair or off my shoulder he viciously attacks my hand. I try to command him to step up nd do ladders again when he does it, and he usually stops, but as soon as I go to grab him again he lunges beak open at me. He is ,as far as I know, a 6 month old cinnamon green cheek conure. He has never shown this behavior to me before, right now my hands look like the moon, full of craters. He talks away in bird, stretches lots, and kisses but like I said the hand, which wasnt a problem before, is now his worst enemy. I feel rediculous for saying this but he also tries to stuff himself down my shirt any oportunity he can get....typical boy.....Does this sound like ¨bluffering¨ or is it seasonal hormonal stuff? Other then that he is in great health, loves baths and car rides and long walks on the beach. If you have any input on this I would really appreciate any help given

 

[Kantia]

I'm no expert on these kinds of things, but I know parrots can react badly to something different, such as hair dye and nail varnish. Mine also hates plasters on my fingers. It could be the sudden change of hair, or something else. Just my opinion, but someone else may want to give you a better answer.

 

[Brisch]

bump it back up I really need more info

 

[ruffledfeathers]

It could be hair Color......but that could be a coincidence. My sun went through her nasty phase-terrible twos. She acted a lot like that. In retrospect I think it was hormonal. It resolved itself and she was sweet and friendly again.

 

[MonicaMc]

First off, stop grabbing him and demanding him to do things. He doesn't like it, and it may only be pissing him off more.

Second, learn about positive reinforcement training, often under the guise of clicker training. Find 1-5 of his most favorite treats to eat and use these for every time he does something good. You may have to start by luring him, but the lure can later be phased out.

If he's on your shoulder and you want him off, show him the treat, then place one hand up by your shoulder and allow him to take a small bite from the treat. Slowly move the treat out of reach until he has to step onto your hand to retrieve said treat.


Ideally, you should work with him and stepping up when he's on his cage, on a perch, on a chair, on a table, on a counter, etc before working with him on your shoulder. Get him used to stepping up because he wants to, not because he has to. He needs to learn that stepping up can be a great reward and better than where he's at. Make sure to use small treats, not large ones, so he doesn't fill up too quickly.

Birds often bite because they have no other way to communicate with us than a bite... and when we ignore the bite, they bite more. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not offer my flesh to a biting bird and continually allow the bird to bite my flesh until the bird stops biting. It's not pleasant for either of us and doesn't teach the bird anything!

 

[DebsFlock]

I'm with MonicaMC, my GCC gets "angry" with me for several days after I travel (sweet to the sitter, bites heck out of me when I get back). At first I tried "being firm" with him and that just made things worse. Forcing them to do stuff does not seem to work well, especially with GCC. Convincing them they want what you want works a lot better for me.

This bird sounds a bit young for "terrible twos". I would guess -- and this is a GUESS -- that the change in hair color started it by wierding him out a little, but that the grabbing and laddering cemented a negative pattern of interaction. I've never personally had an issue with hair coloring, but I haven't made any drastic changes either. I did get seriously checked out by a hummingbird once (I go for red) but my three parrots have never seemed phased.

My M.O. with Scooter when he's "angry" is above all to avoid getting bitten. The usual advice is to "not react" to the bites, which is great if you can pull it off, but I find it very hard not to at least feel anger, which I'm sure gets telegraphed. So I avoid being bitten to the greatest extent possible by reading his body language and letting him decide when it is time to interact. I do try to set myself up as the route to the outside of the cage, and require he be willing to step up without biting for that, but if he's been cage bound for more than a day or two, I'll let him come out on his own when I have time to wait for him to go back in on his own. When he does act nicely, I try very hard to reward that behavior with whatever he wants at the time. When he's happy with me, that's typically praise and scritches -- he doesn't really seem to work for treats. When he's angry, it might just be going to the play top to forage for millet.

Once I stopped trying to "make" him behave and started being willing to just wait him out, I went through far fewer band-aids and our overall relationship is much, much better. I can do with him what I need to, and I don't insist he do what I want unless there is a real reason for it. He does seem to pick up on the difference in urgency when something needs to happen as opposed to when I would just prefer it.

I'll also say that he's now 3 1/2. We got him at 11 months (can that really be right? Wow) so he definitely also has gone through the most volatile age during that time. At least I hope so...

 

[OtterKin]

Ditto to the above for me. My birds react badly to nail polish. I painted my nails once and couldn't figure out for life of me (until I put two and two together a couple days later), why my linnie was suddenly chomping my hands. He stopped when I removed it. Some birds don't like changes!

 

[Brisch]

I should say that the hair color isnt drastic, and when I say grab I do not mean I grab onto him. I usually put my hand or finger by his chest and wait for him to step up. He doesnt come for foods, doesnt matter what food. I also do not paint my nails or wear makeup. The only reason Ive been doing the laddering is because thats what every site and book and expert says to do in these situations. If the way I have been handleing him has been an issue why would it all of the sudden be causing him to act this way. Like I said he loves my hair still, hides in it and I have to remove him sometimes, he still kisses and plays on me but if i try to move him or even pick him up off the floor he violently attack my hands. I do appreciate the input but I am finding some of these responses very accusational. I do not hurt my bird I do not man handle my bird, I am simply trying to figure out how to correct whatever has happened in the last 3 days

 

[MonicaMc]

My apologies if my post came across accusingly. I didn't feel as if you were hurting him, but I do know how bratty conures can be!

The laddering is very old school and some people still swear by it. The new training is based on making each experience between you and your bird a positive experience. When you force a bird to do something they don't want to, and it's not an emergency or urgent, it's not a positive experience for either of you, especially the bird.

Have you tried millet? Sunflower seeds? Safflower seeds? If he eats seeds and pellets, what the first seed he eats out of the dish? Figure out the first two to three seeds he enjoys eating and use those as a reward.

Are there any toys he likes to go nuts over? Or what about praise? Besides your hair, there's got to be something he'll work for! Although, I've have one conure in the past that would take food from my hands, regardless of how much he liked it, and then he'd drop it... so I know the frustration there! He learned to work for kisses, although that was *after* he came to enjoy them! Before, I got quite a few bites to my lips, nose and chin... wasn't a pleasant experience for either of us.. and that was prior to me learning about positive reinforcement.

 

[DebsFlock]

I did not mean to be accusational either. It's just that the more I tried to be firm (laddering, insisting) the less well things went. It was fine until something went off, then it seemed to escalate the behaviors I least wanted. Bribing sees far more effective. YMMV.

 

[Brisch]

Thank you for the clarifications and the different ideas to try. He is a stubborn bird, he will only eat seed, wont touch pellets. He will only eat a fruit if you eat it first and it has to be red. I was doing the laddering as I thought thats what I was suppose to do. He seems to be better today, only bit me once, he came out of his cage for most of the day.

 

[antoinette]

I reckon your bird is not happy with your hair colour change, LoL perhaps it is the colour (only joking)
I always dye my hair over weekends, giving him time to adjust to the change.
Mishka also reacts very differently towards me, he does notice the change.
After dying my hair I always sit near his cage and talk to him. He always ignores me for a few hours.
Only when he begins talking back to me, I know it is safe to handle him again.

 

[joewill85]

Any chance he's molting? My bird just went through one. She's normally quiet (with the occasional screech), but for a while there she would yell at my wife and I for just about any reason (wanted attention, didn't know where we were, hated the tv/radio, etc.). Just a thought, as I know at first I was wondering what was going on until I noticed she was molting. Now she's back to being her normal sweet self.

 

[Brisch]

He is molting, lots of little pin feathers. But he has been molting for almost a month now, I give him daily baths, and use preen oil sprays. I give him lots of vitamins ect, just seems to be a very slow process. I have been helping him with some of the hard to reach feathers, sometimes I touch a tender one a get yelled at. Antoinette, Id be careful if my bird had a beak that could take my finger as well. I was actually bit by an african grey the other day, although she didnt bite nearly as hard as she could have. But what ever it was that bothered him/ what I did, he is now back to almost 100% his old self. Thank you everyone for your suggestions and ideas on what might be going on, as a first time bird owner I really appreciate the help.

 

[Brisch]

I have come to the conclusion that this is a hormonal issue, as every time my male friend comes over as soon as I try to pick my bird up hes pissed. He bites harder then he has ever bitten me just because he can, he bites me which Im not understanding if he hates my friend. How can I try to stop this. Kevin offering the bird treats does not gain him any brownie points with the bird (Honey). This is my best friend and I need Honey to not be like this every time Kevin is here.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

Like I said he loves my hair still, hides in it and I have to remove him sometimes, he still kisses and plays on me but if i try to move him or even pick him up off the floor he violently attack my hands. I do appreciate the input but I am finding some of these responses very accusational. I do not hurt my bird I do not man handle my bird, I am simply trying to figure out how to correct whatever has happened in the last 3 days

Brisch, Just a couple of thoughts:
1. If treats aren't enticing him so that you can slowly lure him on to your hand peacefully, you might try heading over to his cage, perch, playpen and getting your shoulder even height with it, lean up against it to make a platform that he can walk from to get right on the cage or perch, or even some other area that you want him on (table, floor, etc.).

2. Maybe he likes your new hair color, sheen, fragrance and doesn't want to leave or "share" this new stuff with a hand. Seriously, maybe he feels like you are taking the new treat away from him, and the hand is the ride away.

I know that sounds crazy, but something kind of weird happened over the past year that took me a while to figure out. Pritti had no problems with either of my hands, but he knows the right hand's extended index finger and certain hand posture always means 'step up'. He also sneaks on to my right thumb when my hand is near him like putting food in cage and not necessarily there for him to step up (btw, it's really cute when he does that). But then he started seriously 'randomly' going after one hand or the other when we were playing or cuddling, and I got some bad bites (mostly on left hand). I finally figured out that if the second hand wasn't part of the scritches or playing the whole time, he was attacking it like an invader. This went on for months and months before I figured it out. Now I use both to start and remember to bring one back in slowly every now and then for him to remember we're all in it together, 2 hands, 1 bird, 1 me. No more problems with those attacks. I don't know why that behavior started, what made him paranoid or protective or upset by the extra hand. But the idea here is that something did and it could have been something physical that I haven't figured out yet (new fragrance in soap, slight tan from summer sun, length of my nails, angle we sit and watch movies at now, lighting in area where we hang out, or none of above.

So trying one of the more subtle approaches mentioned throughout this thread could probably help. And, I would suggest that before you get your hand up to him for removing him from your hair, try letting him get used to the "friendly" hand for a few seconds or so, like ask him if you can rub one side of his beak and do so, or just hold your hand up closer to him slowly and out of reach, like rest it on your sternum or elbow.

(3) Lastly, maybe something seems different to him at his cage or wherever he goes after you take him from your hair -- maybe he just doesn't want to go back there (i.e. are you warmer than it, does he miss you too much becasue he might be alone afterward), is this interaction happening at a different time of day than usual or for longer/shorter periods of time for the hair/shoulder visit).

I might sound like I'm overthinking it, but I've learned after living with Pritti for 20 years (who has no 'people-words' in his vocab.), that I have to be a bird behavior detective to figure out sudden drastic changes in behavior that go on for a while.

You might want to try clipping up your hair when he visits your shoulder and see if it's easier to get him to step up when you are ready for him to leave. I think he loves your hair and never wants to leave it

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

When I got new glasses, chichi hated me for a few days. I think it's typical of any bird. In the wild they don't dye their feathers! Lol

 

[Rana]

birds can deffinitely be opinionated about changes to our appearance. Scottie pip hates it when i stick on some fake nails, his mission in life becomes to remove them at all cost, even the skin on my fingers... luckily i never keep them on long and as soon as they are gone, he'll forget all about it. hair color is a bit more permanent, i'd side with antoinette's approach, and do it over the weekend and sit with him a lot till he realizes it's his trusty human with new feathers as for disciplinary actions, we work with a "time out"... we have a little cage in the spare room, if either of the birds is bold for some reason, they go in time out for a minute, away from the flock. i just stand on the other side of the door and count to 60 or so and then take them out again and give lots of cuddles and treats, and it does work for us anyway... it's come to the point where we almost don't have to put thim in time out anymore, once they nip too hard and i firmly say "no" and stand up, they know what's going on and instantly change their stance.

 

[Brisch]

Getting off topic here, he has no problems with my hair, actually seems to like it more. The problem is when I give him a finger to get out of his cage or to take him off my shoulder so I can move, he viciously attacks my hands. I do not react when he bites me, although Id like to bite him back, but he can go for hours and be fine and all the sudden he will start it again. I wind up having to hide my hands while hes with me. I lay on the couch and let hi climb around, but I sit on my hands cause I never know when he is going to decide to attack me again. I hope it goes away because I love my birdy and want my cuddle bug back AKA my tumor......I might try the time out room/cage strategy

 

[Brisch]

PS if someone could teach me GCC language this would be much easier to figure out