Please help

[Moeaa]

So 2 years ago I was closing the door to enter the bathroom, my bird then tried running in (she was walking on the ground) to the bathroom as I was closing the door, this ultimately lead to me closing the door on her, hurting her in the process. After that I was very shocked and grabbed to try and feel for anything to make sure she was ok and that nothing was broken (she was fine). After a quick recovery she slowly went back to her old self. However what was different was that she was scared of me and my family. She used to always perch on our fingers, cuddle, and fly onto us. She has slowly started to regain trust with everyone (especially towards my mom) but she is still nowhere near as friendly and loving as before. She also has become very bipolar with me. She will one day suddenly love me and be almost glued to me, she’ll just try to go wherever I go, cuddle, sleep on my shoulder, play with me, etc. But then the next day she will be the polar opposite, she will be scared of me and try to fly away. She is mainly scared of my hands but overall fine and happy with my face and shoulders. I am just very lost as I am unsure of what to do to try and regain her trust. She has also lately been very attached to my grandpa who she has only met today, she is so attached to him that if anyone were to try and get her she would fly away scared or try to bite. I am unsure of what to do and I do not know how to get her to go back to her happy old self again. Please if you can share your advice and guidance that would be very much appreciated.
PS. We did bring her to a vet to make sure she had no broken bones or anything of that sort and they said she was fine and just needed time to recover due to her hurt wing.

 

[kme3388]

So 2 years ago I was closing the door to enter the bathroom, my bird then tried running in (she was walking on the ground) to the bathroom as I was closing the door, this ultimately lead to me closing the door on her, hurting her in the process. After that I was very shocked and grabbed to try and feel for anything to make sure she was ok and that nothing was broken (she was fine). After a quick recovery she slowly went back to her old self. However what was different was that she was scared of me and my family. She used to always perch on our fingers, cuddle, and fly onto us. She has slowly started to regain trust with everyone (especially towards my mom) but she is still nowhere near as friendly and loving as before. She also has become very bipolar with me. She will one day suddenly love me and be almost glued to me, she’ll just try to go wherever I go, cuddle, sleep on my shoulder, play with me, etc. But then the next day she will be the polar opposite, she will be scared of me and try to fly away. She is mainly scared of my hands but overall fine and happy with my face and shoulders. I am just very lost as I am unsure of what to do to try and regain her trust. She has also lately been very attached to my grandpa who she has only met today, she is so attached to him that if anyone were to try and get her she would fly away scared or try to bite. I am unsure of what to do and I do not know how to get her to go back to her happy old self again. Please if you can share your advice and guidance that would be very much appreciated.
PS. We did bring her to a vet to make sure she had no broken bones or anything of that sort and they said she was fine and just needed time to recover due to her hurt wing.

Hi there,

I’m sorry to hear about the accident with your parrot. I’m glad you brought her to the vet & had her evaluated. I have a sun conure who flew into a window. I adopted him, and his previous owner never mentioned anything. I wouldn’t have cared either way, but months later when I brought him to a vet (she was backed up with appointments) we both noticed something wasn’t right. I called local vets and gave the previous owners name and explained the situation. I found out he flew into a window. He doesn’t hold his head right, he’s a little different. Still cute as a button little accidents really can change so much. I’m sorry you went through this process too.

The only question I have is how old is your conure? Parrots when they are babies are sweet & much more simple at times. They mature, and hit puberty. It can change a lot with a parrot. They become hormonal & nesty. Especially in spring.

 

[goalerjones]

Incidents like yours can create a rift between you and your bird. There was a trust bond before, and then she got hurt. Now how you handle it is the most important thing. Sometimes a bite or an episode where trust is broken creates a setback, and so you slowly work towards rebuilding that bond.

 

[Moeaa]

Hi there,

I’m sorry to hear about the accident with your parrot. I’m glad you brought her to the vet & had her evaluated. I have a sun conure who flew into a window. I adopted him, and his previous owner never mentioned anything. I wouldn’t have cared either way, but months later when I brought him to a vet (she was backed up with appointments) we both noticed something wasn’t right. I called local vets and gave the previous owners name and explained the situation. I found out he flew into a window. He doesn’t hold his head right, he’s a little different. Still cute as a button little accidents really can change so much. I’m sorry you went through this process too.

The only question I have is how old is your conure? Parrots when they are babies are sweet & much more simple at times. They mature, and hit puberty. It can change a lot with a parrot. They become hormonal & nesty. Especially in spring.

I’m not sure of her age as her old owners were unsure themselves. I’ve had her for 4 years now though.

 

[Moeaa]

Incidents like yours can create a rift between you and your bird. There was a trust bond before, and then she got hurt. Now how you handle it is the most important thing. Sometimes a bite or an episode where trust is broken creates a setback, and so you slowly work towards rebuilding that bond.

I am trying my best to try and recreate that bond, I am trying to be as kind as possible, gentle, and happy in order to try and make her feel more comfortable but it is taking a long time for her to even be comfortable around me.

 

[LoveMyFids]

So 2 years ago I was closing the door to enter the bathroom, my bird then tried running in (she was walking on the ground) to the bathroom as I was closing the door, this ultimately lead to me closing the door on her, hurting her in the process. After that I was very shocked and grabbed to try and feel for anything to make sure she was ok and that nothing was broken (she was fine). After a quick recovery she slowly went back to her old self. However what was different was that she was scared of me and my family. She used to always perch on our fingers, cuddle, and fly onto us. She has slowly started to regain trust with everyone (especially towards my mom) but she is still nowhere near as friendly and loving as before. She also has become very bipolar with me. She will one day suddenly love me and be almost glued to me, she’ll just try to go wherever I go, cuddle, sleep on my shoulder, play with me, etc. But then the next day she will be the polar opposite, she will be scared of me and try to fly away. She is mainly scared of my hands but overall fine and happy with my face and shoulders. I am just very lost as I am unsure of what to do to try and regain her trust. She has also lately been very attached to my grandpa who she has only met today, she is so attached to him that if anyone were to try and get her she would fly away scared or try to bite. I am unsure of what to do and I do not know how to get her to go back to her happy old self again. Please if you can share your advice and guidance that would be very much appreciated.
PS. We did bring her to a vet to make sure she had no broken bones or anything of that sort and they said she was fine and just needed time to recover due to her hurt wing.

I am trying my best to try and recreate that bond, I am trying to be as kind as possible, gentle, and happy in order to try and make her feel more comfortable but it is taking a long time for her to even be comfortable around me.

From what you are describing, it sounds like it's possible that your bird is hormonal (besides any old trauma she may not be totally over). This switching of behavior from lovey dovey to nippy can be a sign of hormones, as well as the sudden love for your grandfather. Is she sleeping less and/or being exposed to longer amounts of light per day, as the seasons are changing? I would suggest trying to reduce the amount of light she gets per day & buying a black out cage cover (if you don't have one already) & give her 13-14 hrs. of sleep a night, preferably in a separate room undisturbed. I would also adjust her diet (depending on what she's eating daily) to reduce sugars (omit all high sugar treats & fruits) & carbs (rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, oats), high fat (nuts, lots of seeds) & omit all estrogenic foods (because they stimulate hormone production)-like soy & some vegetables like green beans, all legumes, peas, cauliflower. If you don't want to totally omit all of these, I would highly reduce them. Also, no shoulder bird, no petting anywhere on the body-only the head, no mouth to beak kisses (that's birdie courtship), & keep doing it for a month CONSISTENTLY. In about 2 wks. time, if it's hormone or lack of sleep related, you should see a difference in how she behaves. She should be more even mooded. This will give you an idea of what's going on. Also note that there's a lot of diet issues that can come up with birds as well. Besides the hormone stimulating foods that I mentioned above, if your bird ever gets processed treats, people food, salty things like chips or sugary things like a piece of cookie or large pieces of fruits like mango, banana, & other high sugar ones, it can definitely affect their moods & quality of sleep-much like children. Often we don't think of these things when our birds want a bite of our pasta or whatever, but it's a bad idea all around. Try the above things & report back about any differences you notice after a couple wks.!

 

[Moeaa]

From what you are describing, it sounds like it's possible that your bird is hormonal (besides any old trauma she may not be totally over). This switching of behavior from lovey dovey to nippy can be a sign of hormones, as well as the sudden love for your grandfather. Is she sleeping less and/or being exposed to longer amounts of light per day, as the seasons are changing? I would suggest trying to reduce the amount of light she gets per day & buying a black out cage cover (if you don't have one already) & give her 13-14 hrs. of sleep a night, preferably in a separate room undisturbed. I would also adjust her diet (depending on what she's eating daily) to reduce sugars (omit all high sugar treats & fruits) & carbs (rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, oats), high fat (nuts, lots of seeds) & omit all estrogenic foods (because they stimulate hormone production)-like soy & some vegetables like green beans, all legumes, peas, cauliflower. If you don't want to totally omit all of these, I would highly reduce them. Also, no shoulder bird, no petting anywhere on the body-only the head, no mouth to beak kisses (that's birdie courtship), & keep doing it for a month CONSISTENTLY. In about 2 wks. time, if it's hormone or lack of sleep related, you should see a difference in how she behaves. She should be more even mooded. This will give you an idea of what's going on. Also note that there's a lot of diet issues that can come up with birds as well. Besides the hormone stimulating foods that I mentioned above, if your bird ever gets processed treats, people food, salty things like chips or sugary things like a piece of cookie or large pieces of fruits like mango, banana, & other high sugar ones, it can definitely affect their moods & quality of sleep-much like children. Often we don't think of these things when our birds want a bite of our pasta or whatever, but it's a bad idea all around. Try the above things & report back about any differences you notice after a couple wks.!

Thank you so much for all the advice. I will try my best to keep track of all of these things and will try to enforce them as much as possible

 

[dcfla]

So 2 years ago I was closing the door to enter the bathroom, my bird then tried running in (she was walking on the ground) to the bathroom as I was closing the door, this ultimately lead to me closing the door on her, hurting her in the process. After that I was very shocked and grabbed to try and feel for anything to make sure she was ok and that nothing was broken (she was fine). After a quick recovery she slowly went back to her old self. However what was different was that she was scared of me and my family. She used to always perch on our fingers, cuddle, and fly onto us. She has slowly started to regain trust with everyone (especially towards my mom) but she is still nowhere near as friendly and loving as before. She also has become very bipolar with me. She will one day suddenly love me and be almost glued to me, she’ll just try to go wherever I go, cuddle, sleep on my shoulder, play with me, etc. But then the next day she will be the polar opposite, she will be scared of me and try to fly away. She is mainly scared of my hands but overall fine and happy with my face and shoulders. I am just very lost as I am unsure of what to do to try and regain her trust. She has also lately been very attached to my grandpa who she has only met today, she is so attached to him that if anyone were to try and get her she would fly away scared or try to bite. I am unsure of what to do and I do not know how to get her to go back to her happy old self again. Please if you can share your advice and guidance that would be very much appreciated.
PS. We did bring her to a vet to make sure she had no broken bones or anything of that sort and they said she was fine and just needed time to recover due to her hurt wing.

Birds Like All Animals Are Extremely Smart, Intelligent. She "Feels" Smells Or Hears Your Fear Of Hurting Her Again, or Your Tension. Believe me, they're that Smart. She Does Still Have that Fear That Someone Wants to Hurt Her. Not Sure How She'll Trust Again, But It Will Take Time & For "Her" to Feel She Can Again, Trust She's OK. Animals Are So Under Appreciated, Wrongly Judged For Being "Not" Intelligent & it's the Exact Opposite. They're So Much Wiser than We Are, In Total. Sad Though, But She's Definitely Still Feeling Unsure & Unsafe. I'm Sure You Don't Want to hear this, but it's What She Feels. Sorry for You Both. Just Give Her More Time & Try to Relax When You're Around/Near her. Poor Baby Might Still Also Feel the Physical Effects from that. They DO Try to Do Everything to Stay Close, Including Yes, Following You Everywhere. They All Do it. I mean Besides the Birds. They'll Stick to You Like Velcro, or Try. Hope Somehow Some One Can Offer You a Solution. But Please, Just Give her Time. We're Getting Ready to have to take our Senior Pooches to Vet for their Annuals & Shots & Our Amazon, Paco has had a Growth for Over 20+ Years, that We now Fear is On Her Eyes. She's At Least 40 years of Age, or Close to It, We've had for 30 of those, So We're Hoping She's Ok. Hard to Find a REAL Avian VET Here In Brevard County FLORIDA Because Our Vet for Our Dogs Don't See Birds there So Now We Have to try & Reach Out Somewhere & See which of 3 We've been Told About Is the BEST. Anyone Live in Brevard County Fl? With a Parrot? Need Paco a Great Vet. Ty & Good Luck With Your Bird.

 

[LoveMyFids]

Thank you so much for all the advice. I will try my best to keep track of all of these things and will try to enforce them as much as possible

You're welcome & please do come back with your observations. It DID work for my bird who went super hormonal for the first time in his life last yr. & this was what my avian vet told me to do. He went total Jeckyl & Hyde from a sweetheart to flying at my face, trying to bite & trying to attack my male parakeet, which he never did in the past. He has always been indifferent to him & not interested in him at all. My vet said to just put him back in the cage when his behavior was too out of control (which was about 3 days only). I noticed him reverting back to his usual nice guy ways in about 19 days or so, but I kept it up to avoid this problem as much as possible because I have 2 other female parrots & one he's been in love with forever (but she's not interested at all in him)! Haha. So far it's worked. I hope it makes a difference for your baby as well!

 

[Beepers]

So 2 years ago I was closing the door to enter the bathroom, my bird then tried running in (she was walking on the ground) to the bathroom as I was closing the door, this ultimately lead to me closing the door on her, hurting her in the process. After that I was very shocked and grabbed to try and feel for anything to make sure she was ok and that nothing was broken (she was fine). After a quick recovery she slowly went back to her old self. However what was different was that she was scared of me and my family. She used to always perch on our fingers, cuddle, and fly onto us. She has slowly started to regain trust with everyone (especially towards my mom) but she is still nowhere near as friendly and loving as before. She also has become very bipolar with me. She will one day suddenly love me and be almost glued to me, she’ll just try to go wherever I go, cuddle, sleep on my shoulder, play with me, etc. But then the next day she will be the polar opposite, she will be scared of me and try to fly away. She is mainly scared of my hands but overall fine and happy with my face and shoulders. I am just very lost as I am unsure of what to do to try and regain her trust. She has also lately been very attached to my grandpa who she has only met today, she is so attached to him that if anyone were to try and get her she would fly away scared or try to bite. I am unsure of what to do and I do not know how to get her to go back to her happy old self again. Please if you can share your advice and guidance that would be very much appreciated.
PS. We did bring her to a vet to make sure she had no broken bones or anything of that sort and they said she was fine and just needed time to recover due to her hurt wing.

Sorry you’re going through a difficult time. Speak to her in a gentle voice, and use treats to regain her trust, you’ll get there.