Lorikeet with jeykll and hyde type behaviour

Hi, I have posted previously about my lorikeet Margarita. I have had him since he was 12 weeks old, he is now almost 2 years old.

So f course I do everything for Margarita, feed/water, play, clean etc. My husband isn't that into birds, which is fine with me. I will be blunt here, he pretty much ignores them for the most part.

Here is the typical scenario.. I will be holding Margarita, everything will be fine.... then my husband walks into the same room. Margarita starts swaying, eyes furiously pinning, wings slightly open, mumbling to himself, strong posture.. and BAM he starts biting whatever part of ME is closest to him (last time was my face).


Same thing applys whenever he lays eyes on my husband, no matter where he is.. in his cage, on the floor etc. He totally flips out and attacks ME. He continues to act this way for about 5 minutes after my husband leaves the room. He does not bite my husband.

It has got to the point where I fear holding him because I know he might catch a glimpse of my husband and start his attack.

Why is he doing this? I use to think it was because he saw me as his mate, but now I think he sees my husband in this way more. Which totally confuses me because he spends zero time with Margarita.

I have tried reducing day light hours, no change. Increasing, no change. Ignoring the behaviour, no change. Putting him back in the cage after he does this, no change. Dropping my hand slightly to make him a little off balance, no change.

Please help me understand what is going on here. Margarita is my best buddy but this is really getting me down.

Sounds like terrible twos...and probably she's trying to "protect" you from him. You'll get there.

Thats what I thought before too. Now i'm not so sure. This has been happening for about a year now and gradually increasing in aggressiveness. Not sure how to react anymore

Margarita a boy??? Mine did that before as well. I ignored him and no contact cause he was attacking constantly and even flew out of his cage to attack. After a few days of ignoring he turns sweet again. Then he'll do it once in awhile then back to ignore again. Then he's fine again.....

Yes, he is a dna sexed male. I have tried waiting this out like you mentioned but I haven't been having much success.

I'm beginning to think maybe i'll have to learn to tolerate it..

Best thing is to just ignore him when he does it but do let him know your not liking it at the same time. Walk away from him completely. Mine attacked me last Wednesday when I had to put him in another cage while I carry his outside for a good scrub. He knew what I was doing and he wasn't cooperating at all what so ever. He started attacking me again. So I ended up using a towel to catch him as I had no other choice. He drew blood a few times so after cleaning I had to use a towel to get him back in cause he was being pure evil. Next day he's back to himself all over again. They have issues....lol

MikeyTN I have uploaded a short video on youtube for you (and anyone else) that can help..... I will post the link below.

I asked my husband to stand next to one side of Margaritas cage, and try to touch him. He is on the right hand side. I attempt to touch Margarita after, and well.. you can see his reaction. This is typical behaviour for him. He is usually a very cuddly placid bird that I can flip on his back and kiss. Then as I said all hell breaks loose when my husband walks in.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x2nZO4m_eng

Your video is set to private so I can not view it until you change it.....

Sorry - I should have double checked the settings.

Fixed it now, can you check and see if its viewable on your end now?

My cockatoo is the same way, if Im holding her when any of my birds are out she will attack me and she is truly a loving bird. Maybe TRY to get your husband to socialize with him even though he is not keen on him. That might help.

He won't ☹ I have tried talking to him already.
I try to get Margarita out when my husband isn't home, but I don't feel like what i'm doing is a long term solution..

mimi88 said:

He won't ☹ I have tried talking to him already.
I try to get Margarita out when my husband isn't home, but I don't feel like what i'm doing is a long term solution..

Click to expand...

Margarita sees him as a threat that's why! IF your husband would be willing to try to socialize with him a bit more that may help. If he won't, then you would have to no choice but to bring him out when he's not around. And also ask your husband to be the one that brings him his nectar on a daily basis.

Margarita is back to his old ways of trying to mate with me again, so maybe you're right. I can only shoo him away at this point. Spring is almost here in Australia so I can see what kind of season it will be lol. He has been trying to mate with me since he was under a year old.

I avoid touching his back, belly etc to calm his hormones. Anywhere but his head. But he still persists in trying to get his way with his mating rituals.

Mine did the same thing under a year old. The big Lory breeder in Australia told me to discourage it at all costs or it can become a big issue down the road. When he started while young I stop him and put him away instantly. I guess that's why he's OK with both of us here.

Well guess what Mikey, I recently bought another lori and wouldn't you know it, he does the same little humping dance that Margarita did before the full fledged humping attacks. So even though this lorikeet is unsexed I am 95% sure he is a male as the behaviour is a splitting image of my other little devils.

What i'm trying to get at is... I believe this is a issue that lorikeets are prone to. Excessing hormonal behaviour, being very unpredictable. Ugh ugh ugh.