Pip has gone Violent?????!!??

[PipnMe]

Hi all!
First of all I'd like to say that my bird Pip, is my life. I love him to pieces and he is a good bird (despite what he did)

My pineapple GCC, Pip, has been acting aggressively toward my sister, biting, screaming, general nastiness. Occasionally a bitting attack but nothing very serious and if we blow on him he stops. HE ONLY does this with her, NEVER with me or friends/strangers. We had been blaming his bad behavior on his newly growing hormones (Pip is turning 2 this month) and the fact that my sister has been staying with her fiancee for extended periods of time.

TODAY, my sister came home after being gone for two weeks, pip was excited and happy to see her saying "Baby!" and blowing her kisses. She had taken him out of his cage and he was happy to see her but also clearly slighted that she left him. I left the apartment for the rest of the day, leaving the two of them together. Pip took a cuddle time nap in her hand and gave no signs of being upset. However, when my sister would move her attention away from Pip he would bite her and Hard. for example, if my sister would stand up (With Pip on her), hold her phone while she was holding him, put him on his perch...etc. this would have been manageable even understandable that he was acting out because she left him for so long. This is normal for him to do after she has been gone for a while, but he usually snaps out of it. Unfortunately, today was different. Without ANY warning sign or provocation, my typically mild-mannered, sweet, cuddle-bug committed a malicious act of violence by attacking my sisters face repeatedly and so violently that he drew blood and my sister has many sharp beak marks on her face. He latched on to her skin and would not let go. When he finally let go my sister crawled on a ball on the floor protecting her face while Pip continued to violently attack and bite her head and hands. She was able to grab a light dish towel and toss it over him when he landed on the floor next to her. She then picked him up with the towel and put him in his cage, where he stayed all day because she was too afraid that he would attack her again.

I came home around 10:30pm and stood by the cage while she took him out, he seemed wary, but not uncomfortable, he got fluffy and comfy and started preening on her, made kissy noises and seemed perfectly fine. She leaned in to give him a kiss and Pip looked happy to oblige making little kissy and raspberry noises, and then he bit her lip hard enough to break the skin but not draw blood. He gave NO indication that he was not up to kisses he even was letting her scratch him. This was very upsetting and my sister (who had been crying after the first attack because she loves Pip and the whole event was not good, she feels terrible and so do I!

THIS IS NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOR FOR HIM. I would never have believed that my sweet bird (Who has NEVER drawn blood on me or anyone else) would attack anyone. If the evidence of his behavior was not clearly all over my sister's face I probably wouldn't have believed her either. He is a good bird, very sweet and loving, I would have trusted him no matter what. I should also mention that my sister is very good with Pip and loves him dearly.

As I'm writing this he is cuddling in my neck. His body language is unsettled and he is definitely not himself, he makes nervous chattering noises and whenever I move he gets startled. I'm very upset. the event must have been upsetting to him as well but I have no idea what to do or what could possibly have caused him to go crazy! Clearly, this behavior is not acceptable, I wish I knew the cause.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Betrisher]

I have seen this kind of behaviour before. Our (neglected, abused, rescued) galah did those things to me and my daughter, while at the same time snuggling and cuddling merrily with my husband and son.

We never did fully understand why he did that, but we all know that parrots will often choose a person to be their special friend and then show distaste or even aggression toward anyone else. It seems as though your bird has done exactly that.

The other time I saw this kind of thing was a bird which had been 'disciplined' by a teenaged member of the family. He would spray the bird with water or blow hard into its face if it called too loudly or annoyed him. The bird certainly got its own back by ripping the boy's flesh and biting his arms!

All you can do is continue to treat the bird as you always have. When he bites, put him immediately away from you. Some people say you shouldn't put the bird in the cage for punishment, but that can be hard if there are people in the room whom he wants to hurt. If you must, put him in his cage. He will soon learn that the bad behaviours result in isolation. This may or may not fix the behaviours for you.

On NO account hit or strike or blow on or spray or in any way physically punish your bird! Remember: in his mind, there is a very good reason for why he's doing what he is. Sadly, he can't communicate it to you, but to him it means everything. Punishing him for the behaviour is like hitting a small child for crying. It will only breed animosity in the bird and will get you no farther toward a solution.

I don't know when conures reach sexual maturity, but this behaviour is very like that shown by a number of birds when they reach mating age. My corella was like it when she first arrived but she has since attached herself firmly to me. She doesn't like anyone else near her or her cage. We're working on improving matters but have had not much success so far.

The best thing that has worked, though, has been target training. This gives the bird something to think about and something worthwhile to do (ie. rather than tasting human flesh). Check out YouTube videos on target training or targetting to see how it's done. It was the one thing that allowed me to *finally* have some means of commnication with my bird!

The galah never came around to making friends with me, although he eventually got to a point where he would reluctantly allow me to hold him and feed him without biting. To this day, I truly believe he would pop up out of his grave to bite my daughter, whom he hated *profoundly*. We still have no clue why.

You have to protect your bird first and your sister second. Keep them separated and never allow the bird out of its cage when she's around. If the bird quietens down and permits you to train it, you might be able to get your sister to quietly join in on that. Maybe not. For now, watch your bird carefully and see if you can work out what's triggering him.

 

[PipnMe]

@Betrisher
Thank you so much!! I'll try the target training it sounds like it might be a good option for us (Me and Pip). And I definitely won't be letting the two of them interact until I can figure out how to prevent any issues. Hopefully, it's fixable.

I dearly wish I was home when it happened, perhaps things would not have escalated as they did. My sister was crying about it, she feels awful. I do too.

He is definitely entering his teenage phase, but what I can't figure out is why he is starting this behavior toward her now. The biting is VERY recent. We adopted him when he was just a little thing and in the 2 years that we've had him, he's never done anything like this. He's such a good bird and the absolute love of my life.

Thank you so much for your advice. <3

 

[Amsterdam]

i have no experience with these kinds of birds you seems to love pip alot and i hope things will work out for you and you will find a solution.

 

[Flboy]

I only let JoJo give me kisses on the front tip of my nose! Too many, well meant, oopsies otherwise! You need to figure this out from his perspective!
Examples:
For two days after I get a hair cut, I have to be very careful around JoJo!
Also, a biggie, I must not handle a suitcase in front of him! He assumes I am making another trip and he looses it!

Read and study this post! It is my go to, turned out I was the behavioral misfit in the relationship!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

 

[Betrisher]

If Pip's behaviour is hormonal in origin, that's why he's doing it now. It's *astounding* how radically a bird's personality can change during puberty. What you do about it will determine whether Pip eventually grows up into a well-behaved, well-balanced bird or not. Don't be frightened off! Google 'hormonal birds' and check out our forums for lots and lots of training and distraction ideas.

A few tips that come to mind:
* don't cuddle Pip for now and don't touch him on any part of his body except his head (it amounts to - um - titillation if you do)
* don't allow Pip to ferret himself into dark corners, boxes, under your clothing or under blankets (nesty-nesty-nesty!)
* don't give Pip anything that could be construed as a nest to play with (eg. snuggle huts, shredded paper, in fact, *any* paper or soft stuff he could hide under
* try to rotate his toys often so he's always got something new and fresh to occupy his little mind (and consider targetting for this reason too).

With biting, my best tips are:
* when you offer your hand, squeeze it into a fist and offer the back of your hand. Birdie won't be able to get hold of you or, if he does, he won't be able to bite much
* always carry a chopstick and offer that before your hand. A full beak doesn't do as much damage to human flesh
* if you do target training, as soon as he sees his chopstick, birdie should snap to attention and go straight into 'work' mode.

Do keep us updated, won't you? I'll be interested to see how you and Pip get along.

Betrisher

 

[PipnMe]

@Betrisher
Thank you so much!
Oh no! I've been encouraging nesting behavior! We both have been letting him cuddle like crazy, it's his favorite thing to do, and I've been letting him hide in my shirt or snuggle under my knees when I sit cross-legged. Oh gosh.

I did take away his cuddle hut, about a month ago, because I noticed his behavior was getting aggressive when I tried to take him out of his cage in the morning. He would get very possessive around his hut, so I removed it. Glad to know my instincts were right!

Using a chopstick is a great idea! I'll defiantly keep everyone posted. Thank you so much for your advice!!!

 

[clark_conure]

I'd just go with the tried and true time out method. A bird may get pissy but a conure will not abide by being put on the floor and will change their behavior.

I occasionally have to re-affirm it, but it's rare. They get the no bite protocol in our house.

Or....bite them back, but I usually to that when they and I are in the mood for a wrestling match with them on their back killing me to death. They always seem to out wrestle me.

 

[PipnMe]

@clark_conure
I've tried the floor method with him before, Pip doesn't mind the floor. He has been known to strut around and play with his toys on the floor. He'll even fly off on his own and ill find him chilling out on the floor usually eating or playing.

 

[itzjbean]

Oh wow, how scary for your sister!

As mentioned above you definitely want to refrain from cuddling and stroking along the back, under the wings and any body part that is not the head. In fact maybe a total cuddle hiatus would be good for him.

When my cockatiel gets aggressive or bitey, that's my indication that he needs to be left alone. I'll stop petting him and let him be. Or if it's bad to the point of hopeless rebellion I'll put him back in the cage and he'll usually be very happy to come out after that period where he's had a time-out in there.

In the meantime he should have plenty of toys to shred in his cage and things to do to get this energy out that he has. What's his diet like?

Hoping it all blows over soon with these adjustments.

 

[clark_conure]

PIP...i kinda, sorta envy you.....when I take my birds out and people persons ask, "aren't you afraid they will fly away" I respond, well they're clipped and IT'S GETTING THEM OFF ME THAT'S THE TRICK!

 

[PipnMe]

Oh wow, how scary for your sister!

As mentioned above you definitely want to refrain from cuddling and stroking along the back, under the wings and any body part that is not the head. In fact maybe a total cuddle hiatus would be good for him.

When my cockatiel gets aggressive or bitey, that's my indication that he needs to be left alone. I'll stop petting him and let him be. Or if it's bad to the point of hopeless rebellion I'll put him back in the cage and he'll usually be very happy to come out after that period where he's had a time-out in there.

In the meantime he should have plenty of toys to shred in his cage and things to do to get this energy out that he has. What's his diet like?

Hoping it all blows over soon with these adjustments.

Thanks itzjbean! I definitely think a "total cuddle hiatus" will be good for Pip.

Pip's diet mostly consists of his Chop and pellets. He eats quinoa, cook oats, beans, greens, cinnamon, red peppers (he LOVES spicy) nuts, and coconut. He has a seed-free diet, but maybe I'm giving him/her too many Walnuts? He gets them for snacks. and he already has nuts in his chop.

 

[noodles123]

Get rid of cuddles and dark spaces---this sounds like it could be hormonal. No tents, blankets, huts, boxes etc. Pet on the head and neck only...He's an adult now, so what was okay when he was a baby is no longer okay.
Do not allow your bird to place its head in shadowy spaces (deeply under your hair, under furniture etc).
It sounds like he perceives you as his mate and is jealous...You need to redefine your relationship and make it less sexual.
Also, warm/mushy foods can trigger hormones (especially in an already-hormonal bird).
Any behavior changes merit a visit to the vet, but if you have been snuggling etc, that is likely your culprit.

Remove any hormonal triggers, work on training etc and I am sure things will improve, but seriously, dark spaces and cuddles are a big problem for many birds...Try to provide lots of activity and wood-type chew-toys..If you see sexual/hormonal behavior, stop what you are doing at the time and redirect the behavior (e.g., LOOK-- SQUIRREL!).