Evilbird
New member
- Dec 2, 2013
- 31
- 0
- Parrots
- Patagonian Conure, Blue-Hooded Pionus, Quaker Parrot, Parrotlet, 6 Lovebirds
My beloved Zazu has turned into a demon....I need to know what I'm doing that has changed him.
A little history.
Zazu is a 14 year old Lesser Patagonian Conure. I adopted him from a home that for the last 8 years he was kept in a small cage....about 18"x18 ish.....He had no perches AT ALL, no toys, and his primary diet was sunflower seeds and peanuts. "He doesn't like perches and toys" is what I got for an answer as to why.......uh huh.... From what I observed he had little to no out of cage time. He was thin when I got him but looking back on his transformation not necessarily thin but had no breast muscle. His owner could only coax him out with sunflower seeds and even then did not seem not enjoy being handled much. We got him into the truck.....tossed the crappy cage in the bed and off we went. Now, I do know better then to let a new bird around my face but the only place he wasn't freaking out was sitting on my shoulder, so he rode an hour and a half home on my shoulder blowing my eardrum out the whole way.....and having a great time of it.
We got home and I got him all set up in a spacious cage with a flip down front. All sizes and shapes and textures of perches and all the toys a bird could ask for. He was all kinds of happy to sit on ALL the perches provided I moved him around as he didn't have the strength to maneuver from place to place yet. As time goes on we introduced him to a proper diet, all kinds of play, taught him all about cuttlebones and why they are SO MUCH FUN to turn into dust all over the livingroom and the unique joys of bells and why they must "die".
Fast-forward 2 months.....
Zazu is playing with toys! He is eating good foods.....even choking down a few vegetables. He is out of his cage a majority of the day and has one on one time with me at least twice a day. He is anxious for me to come to his cage and pick him up and has even started dancing and saying Hello! He loves going in the shower and warming up by the fireplace afterwards....with me right there of course. He is very affectionate and almost never bites once I figured out that I have to move my hands slow as he flinches as if I am going to hit him...even though I never have.
Fast-forward one more month....
Almost all at once he has done a 180*. He will not let me approach him when he is in or on his cage. If I need to pick him up I have to wrap my arm around him and pick him up with the crook of my arm. He either tollerates this very well or enjoys it. Hard to tell. He will only eat "junk foods" out of the bowl like the sunflower seeds etc. He is very strong now and practically runs if anyone approaches or he will bite. I am not talking a warning nip here.....I mean I am sitting here typing debating if my finger needs stitches or not. He HATES HATES HATES men! If either of my sons or my husband approaches me or touches me he attacks. This is a new behavior. He has gotten downright violent with his toys. Not just excited play or dismantling them but I mean he beats the snot right out of them.
His favorite out of cage spot is sitting on my chair with me. He likes to rub his beak on my hand and pat himself on my hand or arm and be a happy camper with that but if I do the motions to touch him he bites. This is new. He also "clicks" his beak....a lot. It doesn't seem to be normal beak clicking....its weird...It's LOUD clicks....He grinds it around in circles and up and down and while hes doing that he rubs his beak all over my hand at the same time. He has never bitten me while doing this. Another new thing is he grabs my fingernails and tries to twist them off.....I don't enjoy that and don't let him do it. LOL
Any thoughts? Questions? Suggestions?
Am I doing something or not doing something that has changed him? Is the honeymoon just over and this bird that I love so much is going to be a bully for the next 15 years? *SIGH* My finger hurts but I think my feelings are just as hurt. We were doing so well.
A little history.
Zazu is a 14 year old Lesser Patagonian Conure. I adopted him from a home that for the last 8 years he was kept in a small cage....about 18"x18 ish.....He had no perches AT ALL, no toys, and his primary diet was sunflower seeds and peanuts. "He doesn't like perches and toys" is what I got for an answer as to why.......uh huh.... From what I observed he had little to no out of cage time. He was thin when I got him but looking back on his transformation not necessarily thin but had no breast muscle. His owner could only coax him out with sunflower seeds and even then did not seem not enjoy being handled much. We got him into the truck.....tossed the crappy cage in the bed and off we went. Now, I do know better then to let a new bird around my face but the only place he wasn't freaking out was sitting on my shoulder, so he rode an hour and a half home on my shoulder blowing my eardrum out the whole way.....and having a great time of it.
We got home and I got him all set up in a spacious cage with a flip down front. All sizes and shapes and textures of perches and all the toys a bird could ask for. He was all kinds of happy to sit on ALL the perches provided I moved him around as he didn't have the strength to maneuver from place to place yet. As time goes on we introduced him to a proper diet, all kinds of play, taught him all about cuttlebones and why they are SO MUCH FUN to turn into dust all over the livingroom and the unique joys of bells and why they must "die".
Fast-forward 2 months.....
Zazu is playing with toys! He is eating good foods.....even choking down a few vegetables. He is out of his cage a majority of the day and has one on one time with me at least twice a day. He is anxious for me to come to his cage and pick him up and has even started dancing and saying Hello! He loves going in the shower and warming up by the fireplace afterwards....with me right there of course. He is very affectionate and almost never bites once I figured out that I have to move my hands slow as he flinches as if I am going to hit him...even though I never have.
Fast-forward one more month....
Almost all at once he has done a 180*. He will not let me approach him when he is in or on his cage. If I need to pick him up I have to wrap my arm around him and pick him up with the crook of my arm. He either tollerates this very well or enjoys it. Hard to tell. He will only eat "junk foods" out of the bowl like the sunflower seeds etc. He is very strong now and practically runs if anyone approaches or he will bite. I am not talking a warning nip here.....I mean I am sitting here typing debating if my finger needs stitches or not. He HATES HATES HATES men! If either of my sons or my husband approaches me or touches me he attacks. This is a new behavior. He has gotten downright violent with his toys. Not just excited play or dismantling them but I mean he beats the snot right out of them.
His favorite out of cage spot is sitting on my chair with me. He likes to rub his beak on my hand and pat himself on my hand or arm and be a happy camper with that but if I do the motions to touch him he bites. This is new. He also "clicks" his beak....a lot. It doesn't seem to be normal beak clicking....its weird...It's LOUD clicks....He grinds it around in circles and up and down and while hes doing that he rubs his beak all over my hand at the same time. He has never bitten me while doing this. Another new thing is he grabs my fingernails and tries to twist them off.....I don't enjoy that and don't let him do it. LOL
Any thoughts? Questions? Suggestions?
Am I doing something or not doing something that has changed him? Is the honeymoon just over and this bird that I love so much is going to be a bully for the next 15 years? *SIGH* My finger hurts but I think my feelings are just as hurt. We were doing so well.
