Ollie acting odd for a couple of days :-(

[Sunnyclover]

Ollie has been acting strange for the last 2 days. He is biting way more than usual, he never bites hard enough to draw blood or to even truly hurt me but he seems to be giving me warning bites or something. He bit my son on the cheek and it left red marks but he isn't very used to my son so I'm not that surprised. I had to tell him "no bite" a bunch of times. He also seems more startled by my fingers this last 2 days and makes a worried squawking noise sometimes when I go to have him step up onto my fingers both in and out of the cage. Ollie has also been puffing up and attacking his toys which is a new behavior. He crouches down and hops at them, I'm not even sure if that's good or bad but it's new. He doesn't attack us at all or anything but I thought I'd mention it. He also has been regurgitating to my fingers if I put them in his cage and sometimes when I'm giving him loves. My 1st thought was that he is getting a little hormonal but he is only 6 months old and I don't think that's possible. He did just finish a bit of molting...it was short and no big feathers came out. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!

 

[SilverSage]

When a behavioral change happens this suddenly you need to get to an avian vet right away for physical exam and gram stains/fecal smears at the very least.


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[Sunnyclover]

I will make an appointment tomorrow just in case. The thing is...He does all of these things regularly (except the toy attack/playing) but he just did them more than usual. He isn't being a totally different bird or anything. He just seems worried about something I'll see what the vet has to say but the changes are pretty slight so I'm not sure he's sick at all. Better safe than sorry I suppose.

 

[Sunnyclover]

Okay so I think I know what's bothering Ollie. I had another thread about Ollie acting strange during storms and I failed to realize the last 3 days it has been storming. The rain is so loud right now and I bet it's freaking him out. He keeps trying to get me to take him to the windows so he can look outside. I usually take him when it's storming to look but I failed to realize that it was raining for the last 3 days and have not let him look out. Maybe he is biting me (because it's not that hard) to get me to take him to look out and I am not listening. I bet it made him annoyed so now he is in a mood plus it's still raining. Does this sound possible? I could tell he wasn't biting me like out of being scared or real anger because there is no eye pinning or aggressive stance AT ALL. Anyways I have a vet appointment for next week. I talked to the vet on the phone and she said that she didn't think it was an emergency and he was just at the vet a couple of weeks ago for a check up and they took labs and he was in perfect health. She said if he gets better to talk to her again before I come because she's not that worried considering he is eating and drinking normal and very physically active. So that's where I am at.

 

[itzjbean]

I was worried about Ollie but it sounds like you've discovered the reason for his behavior. Now that you know what to expect when a storm rolls through, it will be easier to navigate his behavior and keep yourself from harm. But I wonder why he hates storms so much! Maybe he is irritated by the noise, not being able to find where the noise is coming from, or being a wild animal maybe he just feels it coming somehow!

There may be something the vet can give you to help Ollie with his anxiety during these frustrating times during storms. My birds aren't especially anxious but I do have a Doberman who gets very anxious in the car, and I was given advice on another forum to give him Bach Rescue Remedy Flower Essence, it's a mixture of flower oils that helps calm both people and animals, a natural remedy. I ordered it on Amazon and it has decent reviews, so I'm curious if it does work! I will be trying it on both myself and him when I finally do get it.

I am looking at this thread of Avian Avenue and it seems to be safe on parrots! Hurray!

 

[Sunnyclover]

Wow thanks! So guess what...It stopped raining and so has Ollie's biting. So strange. I will definitely know what to expect in the future. My kind and gentle baby is back! He is clearly in a very good mood now...Like a weight has been lifted off his little shoulders. It must be the noise and that predators are coming for him or something. Poor little guy. But I'm glad I figured it out.

 

[israel_gcc]

Good on you for figuring that out, and thanks for sharing! Something for us to pay attention to in the future.

Next time you could possibly try some white noise generators - here is my favorite site; it has a million different kinds of noise and is very adjustable. Here's another one that's also good. You might be able to find one that'll mask the storm noise without stressing him. (For example, I use the coffee shop generator at the second link to mask sounds of people talking - the neutral incomprehensible cafe voices drown them out without annoying me.)

 

[Kentuckienne]

I think the best thing you figured out is that when he bites, he's frustrated because he wants something from you, thinks he has asked, and you just aren't getting it. Just have to figure what it is from the context...

 

[Sunnyclover]

That's very true. It seemed like after I took him to the windows he calmed down a lot. I'm sure I'll deal with this in the future storm or no storm. Sometimes around 6pm he'll get a touch nippy and then I realized it's time for his seeds that he looks forward to every day. It's always something! He also gets nippy at bedtime and he definitely tells me this in other ways and only resorts to biting if I am not paying attention. I can just imagine what 3 days of him asking me to look out the windows and it not happening his notes got harder and harder. Poor baby! I just love Ollie...He is always teaching me something and this time with his beak.

 

[Sunnyclover]

So unfortunately Ollie is still biting and is now going into attack mode and attacking my feet and me. He has his beak open and is definitely in an aggressive stance when doing this. When it comes to actually biting me, he almost never pulls the trigger or bites me hard, he does bite my feet hard that are under the blanket though. He is also seemingly worried about something and keeps craning his neck and looking around. Ollie is also (even when not attacking) biting things really really hard...like his is chewing very hard on his toys all of a sudden. Needless to say I moved up his vet appointment tomorrow at 10:20am. All of this is VERY VERY out of character for him. He normally wouldn't bite a fly and he is only 6 months so I don't think it's hormones. I can't imagine what is causing this, to me it seems like he's being secretly abused or something...but I hate to go accusing my family members of something as terrible as that. I am definitely going to ask the vet about that though...I am SOOOOOOO worried. I am about to die.

 

[itzjbean]

So unfortunately Ollie is still biting and is now going into attack mode and attacking my feet and me. He has his beak open and is definitely in an aggressive stance when doing this. When it comes to actually biting me, he almost never pulls the trigger or bites me hard, he does bite my feet hard that are under the blanket though. He is also seemingly worried about something and keeps craning his neck and looking around. Ollie is also (even when not attacking) biting things really really hard...like his is chewing very hard on his toys all of a sudden. Needless to say I moved up his vet appointment tomorrow at 10:20am. All of this is VERY VERY out of character for him. He normally wouldn't bite a fly and he is only 6 months so I don't think it's hormones. I can't imagine what is causing this, to me it seems like he's being secretly abused or something...but I hate to go accusing my family members of something as terrible as that. I am definitely going to ask the vet about that though...I am SOOOOOOO worried. I am about to die.

Oh no, poor Ollie! It is raining here, perhaps he is warning you about another storm!! It is so strange though... hopefully the vet can give you some answers on this. I feel your worry and frustration! Bringing him to the vet is a very wise decision and will get things rolling. Good lucka nd let us know how it goes!!! I would advise in the meantime until this aggression is gone to keep him in his cage, or on a play stand with lots of toys he can destroy.

 

[Sunnyclover]

You know what's weird is he doesn't bite or attack when he is on my shoulder and steps up perfectly fine without biting. i think I might just take my chances and handle him until he actually hurts me. He still hasn't actually hurt me badly. All the bites to me have been warning bites about something. Ugggg my poor baby!

 

[Sunnyclover]

I took Ollie to the vet and he is fine. She said something must have spooked him and he was taking it hard. He has calmed down now and is back to himself for the most part. The vet did say when he got scared, even though he is young it could of kicked up a few early hormones and that's something to watch for if he keeps being aggressive at times. It is their breeding season. My baby is back!!!!!