my GCC is angry for an unknown reason...

[Calorious]

So it's currently 6:08pm. I took my GCC out of his cage after he was sunning next to my lovebird. (He was the one that wanted to leave his cage, I didn't force him at all)

He's currently shouting from my shoulder at random times even when the lovebird is not responding and he's biting everything he sees that's on my shoulder. From my ears, my shirt and to my hair.
If I keep him away from my shoulder, he literally bit the underside of my nose very hard. He's biting everything he sees and shouts whenever I move myself away from the bite.

I really don't know what's gone into him, whether he has gone insane from hating my lovebird or..??
I'm scared to even have him on my shoulder anymore.

I don't know what to do right now, he's just running around on my shoulder and screaming away while trying to bite my ears.
He also tries to bite when I try to get him to climb on my hand.

 

[noodles123]

So it's currently 6:08pm. I took my GCC out of his cage after he was sunning next to my lovebird. (He was the one that wanted to leave his cage, I didn't force him at all)

He's currently shouting from my shoulder at random times even when the lovebird is not responding and he's biting everything he sees that's on my shoulder. From my ears, my shirt and to my hair.
If I keep him away from my shoulder, he literally bit the underside of my nose very hard. He's biting everything he sees and shouts whenever I move myself away from the bite.

I really don't know what's gone into him, whether he has gone insane from hating my lovebird or..??
I'm scared to even have him on my shoulder anymore.

I don't know what to do right now, he's just running around on my shoulder and screaming away while trying to bite my ears.
He also tries to bite when I try to get him to climb on my hand.

Did you let him climb out on his own? He loses shoulder privileges for now. How old is he? Did you move something in the room or change your hair or anything? Had you just been interacting with the lovebird?

 

[Calorious]

So it's currently 6:08pm. I took my GCC out of his cage after he was sunning next to my lovebird. (He was the one that wanted to leave his cage, I didn't force him at all)

He's currently shouting from my shoulder at random times even when the lovebird is not responding and he's biting everything he sees that's on my shoulder. From my ears, my shirt and to my hair.
If I keep him away from my shoulder, he literally bit the underside of my nose very hard. He's biting everything he sees and shouts whenever I move myself away from the bite.

I really don't know what's gone into him, whether he has gone insane from hating my lovebird or..??
I'm scared to even have him on my shoulder anymore.

I don't know what to do right now, he's just running around on my shoulder and screaming away while trying to bite my ears.
He also tries to bite when I try to get him to climb on my hand.

Did you let him climb out on his own? He loses shoulder privileges for now. How old is he? Did you move something in the room or change your hair or anything? Had you just been interacting with the lovebird?

He came out on his own and I just put my hand there for him to stand on.
He did, then he jumps onto my leg and climbs up to my shoulder on his own.
Nope, nothing in the room and my hair is still the same.

Yeah maybe he is a bit mad, I would usually pick him up but my parents usually interact with the lovebird more.
It's because of the smell of his feathers actually, have no idea why he can't get rid of that salty smell after bathing and sunning him multiple times.

Loses shoulder privileges? lol none of my parrots usually listen to that.
The first thing he does when he manages to get onto any of my family's hands is try his best to jump onto our shoulders.
This applies to the lovebird too.

He's about 6 and a half years old.

 

[noodles123]

Have you worked on step-up training with him--obviously he steps up, but I mean latter step ups etc?
I would train him not to demand your shoulder like like.
It will irritate him initially, but you should be the one who decides if he goes up there. Not him.

Isn't your lovebird brand new? He could very well be jealous...

Have you taken him to the vet to verify that this smell is normal and that he is healthy?

They all have a smell, but for it to be so strong seems odd to me.

Where is his cage in relation to the love-bird's?

 

[Calorious]

Have you worked on step-up training with him--obviously he steps up, but I mean latter step ups etc?
I would train him not to demand your shoulder like like.
It will irritate him initially, but you should be the one who decides if he goes up there. Not him.

Isn't your lovebird brand new? He could very well be jealous...

Have you taken him to the vet to verify that this smell is normal and that he is healthy?

They all have a smell, but for it to be so strong seems odd to me.

Where is his cage in relation to the love-bird's?

Yeah the lovebird is brand new, he's probably jealous. But he's never went to this point of biting everything in his way.

Haven't gotten him to a vet regarding this yet. But he seems to be perfectly fine. Just with a salty odor. The odor also smells alot like well, poop/salt. I change his water atleast once - thrice a day so I dont think he got the smell from staying at my place.
I would just think that the bird shop didn't really take proper care. I mean.. They have so many parrots.

His cage is right next to the lovebird. I know I said to cover their cages, but I'm still waiting for the delivery to arrive.
I was hoping for them to make friends but they seem to be making more enemies than friends right now.

 

[noodles123]

You might try moving their cages a bit farther apart--I'd keep the conure in the same spot he was in before the lovebird "invaded" his area lol.

When you say poop, you mean his poop or like, human poop? Bird poop shouldn't have a smell, which is why I ask.

You know never to cover the cages during the day, right? Only when they are being put to bed/overnight. Don't even cover them partially during the day.

Anytime you add a new bird, there is risk of throwing off the dynamic. They can get mad at their people for interacting with the new bird, or for not interacting with them enough...or because the new bird is there at all lol! There can be hormones mixed in and weird territorial things...It's also very early on and your conure was probably just getting used to life at your house...you know? Then a new bird came along.

*if he sees you as his mate, and you are near the lovebird, he could be biting you for that reason (like--"get away from him")---birds will sometimes do that sort of thing (even though it sounds counter-intuitive to bite your mate lol).

 

[T00tsyd]

Is it possible that you have made too many changes at once? I think that you posted that your conure had a friend and they got on well together. Then the friend escaped. that was a shock for your little bird and it would be expected that it would be pining. Another bird arrives and they evidently do not like each other, but you persist in putting their cages together hoping that they will make friends, and even hope they will live together. Other members have pointed out that this would be wrong since they are likely to kill one another. My hope would be that you would step back a little. Birds don't live at our pace. They have only instincts to rely on and it seems that at the moment instincts are telling your GCC that things are not right.
I do wonder if he is living in fear and the result is a bite. I would move their cages apart perhaps even into different rooms. Allow them both time to get used to you separately rather than force them into close proximity which in the wild they would not tolerate.

My experience tells me that there is no such thing as too slow. Forget what you want and be guided by them. If your GCC bites when he has come to you of his own free will then he needs to learn that that is unacceptable. Do not allow him on your shoulder. Put him away somewhere neutral and ignore him for half a minute. That means don't even look at him. In a flock misbehaviour would mean banishment and he would have to earn the right to be welcomed back again. You are his flock and you have to behave in a way that he understands. He doesn't talk human any more than you talk parrot. You have to work hard to find a common ground where you both understand each other. You have to do most of the work and make the most effort.

 

[Calorious]

You might try moving their cages a bit farther apart--I'd keep the conure in the same spot he was in before the lovebird "invaded" his area lol.

When you say poop, you mean his poop or like, human poop? Bird poop shouldn't have a smell, which is why I ask.

You know never to cover the cages during the day, right? Only when they are being put to bed/overnight. Don't even cover them partially during the day.

Anytime you add a new bird, there is risk of throwing off the dynamic. They can get mad at their people for interacting with the new bird, or for not interacting with them enough...or because the new bird is there at all lol! There can be hormones mixed in and weird territorial things...It's also very early on and your conure was probably just getting used to life at your house...you know? Then a new bird came along.

*if he sees you as his mate, and you are near the lovebird, he could be biting you for that reason (like--"get away from him")---birds will sometimes do that sort of thing (even though it sounds counter-intuitive to bite your mate lol).

Yeah pretty true. But I think it's mainly the water.. My GCC bathes in nothing else but his own drinking water, perhaps they dont change it as much as they do at my house which could result in such a smell? I'm not sure.

 

[Calorious]

Is it possible that you have made too many changes at once? I think that you posted that your conure had a friend and they got on well together. Then the friend escaped. that was a shock for your little bird and it would be expected that it would be pining. Another bird arrives and they evidently do not like each other, but you persist in putting their cages together hoping that they will make friends, and even hope they will live together. Other members have pointed out that this would be wrong since they are likely to kill one another. My hope would be that you would step back a little. Birds don't live at our pace. They have only instincts to rely on and it seems that at the moment instincts are telling your GCC that things are not right.
I do wonder if he is living in fear and the result is a bite. I would move their cages apart perhaps even into different rooms. Allow them both time to get used to you separately rather than force them into close proximity which in the wild they would not tolerate.

My experience tells me that there is no such thing as too slow. Forget what you want and be guided by them. If your GCC bites when he has come to you of his own free will then he needs to learn that that is unacceptable. Do not allow him on your shoulder. Put him away somewhere neutral and ignore him for half a minute. That means don't even look at him. In a flock misbehaviour would mean banishment and he would have to earn the right to be welcomed back again. You are his flock and you have to behave in a way that he understands. He doesn't talk human any more than you talk parrot. You have to work hard to find a common ground where you both understand each other. You have to do most of the work and make the most effort.

I just realised.. Maybe he is getting too many changes, it's currently about 2:40am. I'll separate them first thing in the morning.
Something else is I'm getting another (pineapple or maybe a jenday) conure about tomorrow.
I think I'm probably ready to separate the three of them. All around the house. I don't know if this is right but I do still want atleast both the conures to live together. But I think whether they want to be together or not is up to them. My GCC wasn't the one that's aggressive. He didn't attack the lovebird after being beside his cage for a day, only when the lovebird started to constantly find opportunities to fight him.

I know my conure is hurt by his friend leaving, but they've only been together for like less than 15 days, and they were like enemies in the first 7 days of coming together.
I'm just going to hope they get along well together, I could separate the lovebird though.

I'll try to do the one regarding his biting behaviours. It's kinda gone quite far by now. I wear spectacles so he also manages to scrape off the side part of the specs that makes my specs no longer black in color.

 

[noodles123]

Lovebirds can be kind of sassy...
You KNOW that your conure may not get along with this new bird, right???
Plus, they need to be in the main social hub of the house...

Are you also aware that a new bird will have to be quarantined for 45 days in a separate air-space (with extreme caution on your end in terms of clothing worn between birds and hand-washing etc)?

Why are you getting another bird when this is already problematic?
I am not trying to tell you what to do, but I think that is a really bad idea...

This could upset all of the birds even further....then what? Plus, housing all of your birds in different rooms long-term (excluding the 45 days) isn't fair, as they need to be in the room with the most activity for socialization purposes...

I think it would also be best if you stopped letting him climb on you when this is happening-- even though he is biting YOU it is still a sign that he is stressed and you don't want to be associated with that stress. I am not saying lock him up AT ALL...you can still let him out, but don't put yourself in the position of being bitten when you know he is in a mood.

 

[Calorious]

Yeah I know that my conure wouldn't get along with this bird.

Nope, didn't know that they had to be quarantined...

I mean.. I originally planned to already get this new conure about 2 weeks ago. Paid for it two weeks ago and the bird shop said to collect it today.

As for housing these birds in different rooms...
I could put them in the main social hub (my living room), but there isn't alot of chances that they totally won't see each other
they may still be able to see each other but they are atleast 2m away.
But I'll try to see if I can fully separate the lovebird and GCC, perhaps they could each calm down.
(EDIT: I don't think I can fully separate them while still keeping them in the same living room. So I just keep them 2m away next to each other, would it be better if I cover one of their cages' faces so they don't get to see the other parrot cage?)

I know he is stressed, I usually calm him down by giving him some head scratches and petting his head. It seems to work and he just stops biting after that.
(Just realised, he's currently in my room now looking at me, he saw my brother at the door walking to his room and he growled like a wolf. My brother is usually the second most active person to interact with both of these parrots.)

 

[noodles123]

NO- never ever cover any part of their cage unless they are sleeping. It messes with their hormones etc.

During the quarantine, you will want the new conure in a totally separate room. In terms of the other 2, can't you just put them on opposite side of the same room? I am not so concerned about if they see each other-- I am more worried about the conure seeing him up close and in "his" area. Granted, he still may get a bit jealous etc, sending him off to an "island" alone seems like that won't help either.

This is going to sound weird, but when you enter the room with your lovebird and conure, who does everyone greet and pay attention to 1st (between the 2 of them?)
When people walk into the room, whose cage to they pass by first? Who do they look at and talk to first?
He may be noticing that he is being ignored more for the new bird even though he was there first. If you can make it so he is the first one people pass and acknowledge when entering the room (between the 2 of them) that could help.
My bird gets a little mopey if certain people don't say hello to her right away...and if they say hello to her last, she doesn't like that.

 

[Calorious]

NO- never ever cover any part of their cage unless they are sleeping. It messes with their hormones etc.

During the quarantine, you will want the new conure in a totally separate room. In terms of the other 2, can't you just put them on opposite side of the same room? I am not so concerned about if they see each other-- I am more worried about the conure seeing him up close and in "his" area. Granted, he still may get a bit jealous etc, sending him off to an "island" alone seems like that won't help either.

This is going to sound weird, but when you enter the room with your lovebird and conure, who does everyone greet and pay attention to 1st (between the 2 of them?)
When people walk into the room, whose cage to they pass by first? Who do they look at and talk to first?
He may be noticing that he is being ignored more for the new bird even though he was there first. If you can make it so he is the first one people pass and acknowledge when entering the room (between the 2 of them) that could help.
My bird gets a little mopey if certain people don't say hello to her right away...and if they say hello to her last, she doesn't like that.

Hmm, I guess so.
They seem to still be shouting at each other but I think they shout more when they don't see each other (the lovebird & conure)

Well, I got the new conure and he's like 1 month old and doesn't have enough energy to even stand up and walk. So he's currently inside the same cardboard box that the bird shop put him in when they were transiting him back to my house as I'm scared that he may not get used to how cold my house is (when it really isn't but I think he needs some warmth).

As for the conure and lovebird, both their cages are placed next to each other (refer to the picture) it's usually the lovebird that gets the most attention by my family. But while they are giving attention to the lovebird, I look up my conure and say hi to him and start playing around with him. He's still biting me now but not alot. I feel like he's like erasing all the friendships he has with my family and starting over with my family (basically saying he's behaving like how we got him at the start as the first and only parrot, finding friendships.)

I honestly don't know how I would give all three of them equal attention, especially if one or more wants to fight with the other.

 

[noodles123]

Quote:
"Well, I got the new conure and he's like 1 month old and doesn't have enough energy to even stand up and walk. So he's currently inside the same cardboard box that the bird shop put him in when they were transiting him back to my house as I'm scared that he may not get used to how cold my house is (when it really isn't but I think he needs some warmth)."



Woah woah...is he weaned? If he is not weaned, you need to get him back to the person who sold him and have them finish weaning him. There is far too much that can go wrong when you try to do it on your own and there is no reason to.

 

[noodles123]

I honestly don't know how I would give all three of them equal attention, especially if one or more wants to fight with the other.

That's why you always should approach getting new birds with caution and with a lot of consideration to every scenario.

 

[T00tsyd]

Why would you take on 3 birds when you already know that you don't have time to give them enough attention? I am genuinely concerned that you are not considering the birds' well being or comfort. If your baby is so young you should not have it at home yet. The shop should not have let you take him. Even if he is weaned chances are that taking him to a new home would cause him to regress back to baby ways. Have you considered quarantine problems?

 

[Calorious]

Why would you take on 3 birds when you already know that you don't have time to give them enough attention? I am genuinely concerned that you are not considering the birds' well being or comfort. If your baby is so young you should not have it at home yet. The shop should not have let you take him. Even if he is weaned chances are that taking him to a new home would cause him to regress back to baby ways. Have you considered quarantine problems?

I mean.. Half the time it isn't just me. My entire family of 4 takes care of all of them.
While they are mostly concentrated on the lovebird and the new one, I play around with the conure.

My parents wanted the 1 month old one. My dad actually takes care of quite alot of birds, he started with mainly Zebra doves (Columbidae) before moving onto parrots. I didn't really know how old he was until they brought him back and told me.

 

[noodles123]

Just remember, even if he is stinky and mad, you guys are all your conure has, and he is likely feeling jealous/protective of his flock and space. So don't make him feel like no one likes him or like he is the least important...He has been through a lot, you know?

Another thing to remember is that any bird that hasn't gone through puberty will change. Your conure is already sexually mature, but not sure about the love bird. I guess just remind your parents that young birds are always sweeter than sexually mature ones and that they shouldn't provide more attention now than they would be able to provide when they bird is older etc...Obviously that excludes an unweaned baby who will need tons of time due to feeding schedules etc...

That 1 month old worries me...There is so much that can go wrong with hand-feeding...and contrary to popular belief, hand-feeding doesn't improve your relationship with the bird long-term (it can actually complicate it).

http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

https://hari.ca/hari/research-facil...cine-pediatrics-housing-feeding-baby-parrots/

You got him roughly 2 months too early and there is no reason to do so...It's just an extra risk with no real reward (excluding the sigh of relief when it is over..)

 

[Calorious]

Just remember, even if he is stinky and mad, you guys are all your conure has, and he is likely feeling jealous/protective of his flock and space. So don't make him feel like no one likes him or like he is the least important...He has been through a lot, you know?

Another thing to remember is that any bird that hasn't gone through puberty will change. Your conure is already sexually mature, but not sure about the love bird. I guess just remind your parents that young birds are always sweeter than sexually mature ones and that they shouldn't provide more attention now than they would be able to provide when they bird is older etc...Obviously that excludes an unweaned baby who will need tons of time due to feeding schedules etc...

That 1 month old worries me...There is so much that can go wrong with hand-feeding...and contrary to popular belief, hand-feeding doesn't improve your relationship with the bird long-term (it can actually complicate it).

http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

https://hari.ca/hari/research-facil...cine-pediatrics-housing-feeding-baby-parrots/

You got him roughly 2 months too early and there is no reason to do so...It's just an extra risk with no real reward (excluding the sigh of relief when it is over..)

Okay the threads start to scare me also.
I'm going to regularly check on the 1 month old now. I'm expecting to keep him in the cardboard box for about 4 - 5 more days and slowly open up the cardboard box to allow more surrounding air.
The environment he lives in is well just Singapore's room temperature. There's no aircon or man-made item around him that could drastically increase/decrease his temperature.

I'm also not going to plan to bring him out anywhere until I got him fully feathered + weaned.
As for this:
"-Formula MUST be between 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) and 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius). Any cooler and not only will your baby likely reject the formula, but his body will be unable to digest it properly leading to malnutrition. In some cases the food, not being digested, can even begin to spoil inside the body and from there you quickly see a spiral into bacterial infections that can kill within a few hours of the first symptoms."
Really? 40 degrees celsius?
I thought they would find that temperature a bit too hot for their liking. As for the rest, I don't seem to be making those problems, and I promise I won't.

Yeah I really didn't know how old this new little guy would be, never expected him to only be 1 month old.