WHY DID MY PINEAPPLE CONURE GET AGGRESSIVE ALL OF A SUDDEN?! (advice needed)

[gomez27]

my 5 month (what i suspect to be female) pineapple conure always let me pet her (with occasional nibbles) and now i can’t try to pet her without the attempted bites. on the other hand she lets my boyfriend pet her and she won’t show any aggression towards him. i haven’t done anything to her what can i do??? (these 2 photos and video were taken 3 days apart and she’s been aggressive with me for 2 days already)

 

[LaManuka]

my 5 month (what i suspect to be female) pineapple conure always let me pet her (with occasional nibbles) and now i can’t try to pet her without the attempted bites. on the other hand she lets my boyfriend pet her and she won’t show any aggression towards him. i haven’t done anything to her what can i do??? (these 2 photos and video were taken 3 days apart and she’s been aggressive with me for 2 days already)View attachment 55816

At only 5 months old, it sounds to me like a young bird testing out her boundaries, and sadly often birds are taken from their parents when they are too young to have been taught any manners by them - such as no biting! One of the best methods to combat biting is knows as "shunning", which is what adult birds would do to a juvenile in the wild. This involves whenever she bites you, you pop her down in neutral territory, like the back of a chair or a table, not the floor as it's generally not safe and not back to her cage as this might be exactly what she wants, though it's ok if she makes her own way back there. But once you put her down, turn your back on her and make NO eye contact for a good minute or two, and then go about your business. GCCs in the wild are prey animals and they need to be part of the flock for protection from predators, and a GCC who exhibits bad manners like biting in the wild might find themselves ostracised from the flock and they do not want that. This works best when EVERY member of your household consistently does it EVERY single time. By no means does it mean you'll never get bitten again, but it does lessen the instance of hard biting by a LOT, and then you shun again to remind them to mind their manners.

I hope this helps, because those bites from GCCs can be VERY painful, but far more painful to the heart i think.

 

[wrench13]

100% correct!!

 

[Caitnah]

Just a supportive comment…my 6 year old Pineapple is the same way. Is very loving but I cannot scratch his head without getting nailed. He likes to do it himself.
But I do believe that (at least in my case) that he thinks of my finger/hand as a threat. Yet he loves to cuddle up to my fist and he does step-up with no problem…but get that finger near the top of his head and wham!