When do the hormones start?

[Luciana]

My crimson-bellied conure is around 6 months old, and he is extremely attached to me. For example, when I'm out of home, I leave him out of his cage and locked on my bedroom, where there are many of his toys, he's free to fly and there are many distractions - poo is everywhere but never in my bed, which is considerate! When I arrive, he is behind the door, hungry and thirsty, until I arrived.(I worked around this by putting his food on the floor, so that he can eat and drink while I'm out. he is delighted and wants to preen me, he regurgitates, does a happy dance. He's a snuggle bunny overall.

Except that for the past 2 weeks he's been biting me a lot, and his preening is breaking my skin. I try to redirect his attention, but that's it, he's more agitated and aggressive most of the day.

He's been doing some things which, as I read, could be hormonal, like shredding papers, trying to sleep under my armpit, hide in dark corners, etc. I dismissed it as being something else - he's too young for that, right!!! I also pet him everywhere on his body because he likes it and, well, he's a baby!!!! He loves all the petting I can give him. Also, I'm well aware I should not be stimulating him sexually, but, again, at 6 months? So, if his biting is not hormonal, then what can it be? Suggestion?

 

[wrench13]

Every parrot is an individual, and while typical maturity for GCC's may be closer to 1 year, yours may be exception OR he might be older than you think (that happens a lot). I suggest you start abiding by the rules we have come to know for minimizing the onset of puberty: Scratches on head and neck only, no nesting materials or hidey spots, cut back on any sugary food ( like fruits), make sure he is getting 12 hrs of quiet uninterrupted sleep, no full body cuddling. Discourage or ignore any regurgitation. Address any excessively hard biting with the time out method (place him on a chair back, put your back to him, 100% no eye contact for 1-2 minutes - dont put him back in his cage).

If this behavioral change does not abate somewhat, consider having him checked up by his CAV.

Every parrot is an individual. Our Salty, a yellow shoulder Amazon ( not one of the Hot 3), we were prepared for the typical Amazon puberty nuttiness, but his passage thru to adulthood was very mild, not symptom free, but mild.

 

[fiddlejen]

Along with the suggestions above, you can also work on Pressure-Training for biting. I did that with my Sunny - I got her at about 6-months old - and it has worked Very well.

Also, you might want to try leaving on radio (I leave on classical Radio when I go to work) or some kind of video. (I put on youtube aquarium videos if I'll be only a few hours -- but be Careful with youtube! Check the video runtime, make sure it can't forward itself to alarming videos of predators such as cute kittens or puppies, or hawks or eagles, before you return.) Some radio or video while you're gone, might help with his behaviour.