Sweet Pea the sour patch zon :)

[autum_howard]

The past few days have been pretty rough. Sweet Pea has been going nuts...attacking me when i get close to her cage....attacking me if i get close to her play stand...and climbing on the back of my chair to attack me. She has been extra destructive, and rubbing herself all over everything. Yesterday she was using one of her toys as a bungy cord...taking it all the way to the top of of playstand and then just jumping off (this part was quite funny) although i was worried that she was going to hurt herself, she did fall a few times. I was actually dreading getting out of her cage this morning, but there were no issues and then as soon as i logged on here she got close and asked for scritches .....so what exactly are the dos and don'ts with a hormonal zon?

 

[Kiwibird]

Aren't they just the nastiest things when they're hormonal? Anyways, there really isn't too much you can do about it when it's "that time of the year" for them. Basically reduce fruit intake and substitute more veggies (the sugar!), try not to pet them on the back or neck (sensual areas) and keep a very consistent wake/sleep cycle (it's the light that triggers the hormones). You can also give them more shredding toys to take their aggression out on, and while it isn't the way most people prefer to handle their birds, steeping up on a stick when they are in a foul mood will save your hands.

P.S. I know how you feel. Kiwi is eating my sock right now, and pinched me in the foot quite hard (by accident).

 

[autum_howard]

Good to know about the fruit (sugar), sweet pea would never let me touch her back, but i will avoid the neck as well...i figured there was not much i could do, i just don't want her to be cooped up in her cage

 

[Kiwibird]

Is she stick-trained (i.e., will step up on a wood dowel)? You can let her come out, and if she starts being nasty, you can get her on the stick. If not, it's a good thing for all birds to learn. I use one for Kiwi whenever he's looking less than friendly.

 

[autum_howard]

To be honest i have never tried to have her step up on a perch/stick...but your right it would be good for her to learn if she doesn't know already

 

[Kiwibird]

You can buy plain wood dowels at home depot for next to nothing. About 3/4-1" diameter and about 2-3' long is good for an amazon. Some birds are totally fine with it right off the bat and will hop right up when you tell them to step up. Others are very timid or frightened of the stick, in which case you would need to train her. There are plenty of youtube videos and infer online on how to stick train parrots without making it traumatic or like a "punishment" for them.

 

[autum_howard]

awesome, i will definitely look into that....she's being super sweet and calm right now, it's almost like she loves to prove me wrong lol

 

[MomtoPercy]

Oh lawd, how I dread the hormones! LOL! Percy gets all hormonal in September (our Spring) and he turns into a lunatic - a green, biting, humping whirlwind

I am pedantic about the sleep schedule thing to limit the hormonal outbursts butt I didn't realise about the fruit! Thanks for that tip, Kiwi.

Autumn, the only 'advice' I have (bearing in mind I've only endured one hormone attack thus far) is : it WILL blow over...eventually

 

[autum_howard]

lol, thank you..she has been really good today, i didn't know about the fruit or the neck, i just don't want to do anything to make it worse....this is my first hormonal spell, i have had sweet pea for a year, and she's just a little over 5, so i don't really know what to expect

 

[RavensGryf]

You can buy plain wood dowels at home depot for next to nothing. About 3/4-1" diameter and about 2-3' long is good for an amazon.

Ha! I read that wrong at first and thought you said 2-3 inches! Then I saw it was feet. I thought what?!!

I just found a nice dowel for Raven today. He's stick trained, though he hates it. This new one is a better size. Pionus can be Amazon-like too since they're closely related. Especially males.

 

[autum_howard]

I know a lot of people stick train, i guess i just never thought about trying it for the future, i only had problems with sweet pea stepping up for me when i first got her and i just left the cage door open and let her come to me....i am bonking myself in the head now and wondering why i never thought about working with her for the future dreaded hormones....i guess sometimes we just have to learn the hard way lol

 

[Kiwibird]

You can buy plain wood dowels at home depot for next to nothing. About 3/4-1" diameter and about 2-3' long is good for an amazon.

Ha! I read that wrong at first and thought you said 2-3 inches! Then I saw it was feet. I thought what?!!

I just found a nice dowel for Raven today. He's stick trained, though he hates it. This new one is a better size. Pionus can be Amazon-like too since they're closely related. Especially males.

Lololol. A fat lot of help a 2" stick would be with a hormonal zon! Kiwi has 0 issues with the stick. I use it intermittently even when he's behaving just so he never takes it as a "punishment". He even obey's the "no no" line (pink piece of duct tape about a foot from where we hold it). If he starts edging down the stick, he get's a stern finger and a firm "no".

 

[Kiwibird]

Don't worry about being a little surprised with certain aspects of Sweet Pea's first hormonal season. We've all dealt with it, and we've all come out with our birds going back to their normal selves and still have all our fingers still attached

 

[Flashback]

Oh gracious. I am so new to Amazons. I am literally lol'ing at the stories in here today of our frisky birds!

This all explains SO MUCH about the behavior I've seen since she came to me!