Very angry parrotlet, need advice!!!

[maryyy361]

So my little guy Tango is the angriest bird I've ever seen. He does not care for me, he steps up and gives kisses but that's it, he won't let me touch him or pet him and will 9/10 run away from me when outside the cage. His companion is Major, my parrotlet one year older who lost his brother Maestro two years ago. I got Tango because Major was acting very depressed. The two of them absolutely love each other, they play and preen each other constantly and appear to honestly be happy with one another.

So my issue with Tango also is that he often gets so worked up, screaming and lunging at me that it visibly scares Major. Major is very loving with me and knows gentle beak and likes to sit on my shoulder where as Tango does not. When I cover their cage every night Tango does the same thing, running around lunging at the cover and screaming his head off. Major follows him around worriedly but Tango usually turns and is angry toward him biting his feet and yelling more.

How do I ease Tango's anxiety? I want him to have the best life possible with me and I don't want to traumatize Major having his friend constantly upset.

Thank you and sorry for the long post.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Don't know the answer, just giving you a bump.

 

[Inger]

I haven't had my parrotlet for long, but even before getting them I had read that if there are two, they will often bond with each other to the exclusion of the human. I'm guessing this wasn't the case with Major and Maestro, but maybe little Tango is more typical?


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[wrench13]

Tango could be angry, and confused by the absence of his first buddy.
He might even think you has somethig to do with it. I dont liike his bitiing the feet of his new friend, that can be dangerous.

 

[trimblegirls]

How old is Tango? He could be going through puberty. How long have you had it him? What's his back story? Was he friendly before you introduced him to Major? Did you have them separate at first so that you and he could bond before he and Major bonded? He could have bonded to Major and you're the competition. Why would he be friends with someone who's trying to steal his mate?

It sounds like you have them in the same cage. I'd be worried that he may injury Major in one of his fits.
I wish you luck.

 

[maryyy361]

How old is Tango? He could be going through puberty. How long have you had it him? What's his back story? Was he friendly before you introduced him to Major? Did you have them separate at first so that you and he could bond before he and Major bonded? He could have bonded to Major and you're the competition. Why would he be friends with someone who's trying to steal his mate?

It sounds like you have them in the same cage. I'd be worried that he may injury Major in one of his fits.
I wish you luck.

Tango only just turned 2 end of March. He wasn't aggressive or overly friendly when I got him, he's a little strange to be honest, sometimes looks like he zones out completely. The two of them really are best buds though, 90% of the time they're eating or cuddling together and are quite content. It's when I come into the picture or something like the cage cover that chaos happens, or when Tango lands on the floor and I go to retrieve him. I did not bond with him as exclusively as I did with Major just because the two of them were so interested in each other right off the bat.

 

[plumsmum2005]

You could try bonding and trust building with Tango but you will need to be in a different room from Major. Neutral territory and no distractions. Take a stand or two if you have them and see if you can do step up on stick and reward. Is there something that really floats his boat regarding treats? If isnt a cuddle bug at the end of it but is less angry and more accepting that would be a win in my book.

 

[LordTriggs]

How old is Tango? He could be going through puberty. How long have you had it him? What's his back story? Was he friendly before you introduced him to Major? Did you have them separate at first so that you and he could bond before he and Major bonded? He could have bonded to Major and you're the competition. Why would he be friends with someone who's trying to steal his mate?

It sounds like you have them in the same cage. I'd be worried that he may injury Major in one of his fits.
I wish you luck.

Tango only just turned 2 end of March. He wasn't aggressive or overly friendly when I got him, he's a little strange to be honest, sometimes looks like he zones out completely. The two of them really are best buds though, 90% of the time they're eating or cuddling together and are quite content. It's when I come into the picture or something like the cage cover that chaos happens, or when Tango lands on the floor and I go to retrieve him. I did not bond with him as exclusively as I did with Major just because the two of them were so interested in each other right off the bat.

Sounds to me like Tango has hit puberty and is bonded with Major meaning you and everything else that moves is competition and invading the territory. I've heard that if the competition doesn't back off the defender will bite their mate to get the mate to retreat from the threat

 

[Teddscau]

Sounds like Noah when he came to live with us last summer . From my experience with him, parrotlets have bad tempers. What you need to do is target train him. After target training him, you need to step up train him with a perch. Then I'd teach him different tricks, like "turn around", "fly to me", "batbird", etc. Look up the Parrot Wizard for advice on training. Training really helps build trust.

For the first couple of months, Noah would attack the dogs and my mom. He'd also chew the heck out of my fingers. I'm surprised I don't have scars, to be honest. He wasn't trained at all and hadn't been handled in two years, but I had him clicker, target, and step up trained in just 3 weeks. Their body language...it's almost non-existant. He'd go into sudden rages, often for absolutely no reason. He also wouldn't let me touch him. He wouldn't let me put my fingers near him (except to give him a treat), and would make me use my forearm to step him up. When he started asking me to preen him (it took him a couple of weeks), he demanded that I use only the hand that I was using to hold his perch (I tried to stay pretty hands off the first month because he thought my fingers were fun to shred). Do you know how hard it was to hold his perch and preen him using the same hand? He'd get upset if I tried to use my other hand.

Anyways, if you want to get on his good side, I'd take him to a neutral area like the others suggested, and I'd feed him sunflower seeds and crinkle a plastic baggie. Parrotlets love the sound of crinkling plastic, and it can stop them mid-rampage. Honestly, if it weren't for those plastic baggies, I don't know if I could've made it. If he started getting agitated or nippy, I'd crinkle the baggie and it would make him really happy and excited. It helped to keep him in a good mood.

Not long ago, my uncle and his girlfriend came over to our house. When Noah saw his girlfriend, he was furious. I have no idea why, but the moment he saw her he flew into a rage. He absolutely HATED her. He started biting me in displaced aggression, and he was about to throw a tantrum. So, I had her come over and crinkle a plastic bag. As soon as she crinkled the bag, he fluffed up his head and was filled with joy. He ran over to her and started playing with the baggie, giving her little love pecks and scurrying all over her hand.