Sudden change in behavior of my Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure

I have a 4 yr old Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure who is greatly loved and cared for. I got him when he was 8 weeks old. He was hand fed and I did not have any difficulty in making friendship with him. I usually spend 3 to 4 hrs daily with him. He used to play with me and liked to be cuddled. Last Thursday afternoon he had an abrupt change in behavior. I still remember he was sitting on my right hand. He suddenly jumped on my left hand. He looked very scared. Then he started flying all around. After that moment he started acting like he didn't know me and he is afraid of coming on my hand. The moment I ask him to come on my finger/hand he flies away and moves to other location. I let him come out in morning and he does not go back to his cage all day. It takes lot of effort to put him back in his cage at night time. He no more plays with me and sits on my hand. Please HELP!

Hello & welcome to the forums.....off hand, it sounds like something has scared your feathered friend.....what has changed around your house, any new pets or other animal new to the house? Even the smallest thing might have caused this, I know of a case where a party balloon left hanging at the ceiling scared a pet bird & the bird cowered in its cage for several days until it lost enough air to float down to the floor before the bird became its normal self again and another case of a boyfriend leaving a small gold wrapped package on a bookshelf at his girlfriend's parent's house, that scared her bird so that the bird refused to go in that room until the girlfriend's birthday & the package was opened. Something must have changed to cause your bird to act this way.....

Good luck.....

If you cannot identify the cause which is likely something like what weco said, a vet visit is in order. Any significant behavioral change that cannot be resolved right away or the cause charley seen warrants a trip to the vet to rule out medical causes.

I thought of a couple of other things, after I posted the last response.....have you moved his cage to another area or different room? Is there any construction going on near your house? And last question, are there any lights that would flash light into your bird's cage at night, like an airport search light or a coastal lighthouse?

Was he by a window? Maybe he saw another animal outside/tree branch/or a shadow outside?
Were you wearing anything on your wrist as well?

We have a walkout basement. I have set up my computer, TV and his (his name is Polly) cage in the basement. I was sitting on sofa (Polly and I have been siting for last 4 years). As usual, I was wearing my 5 year old wrist watch, which should make any difference. I cannot recall any other change. Polly is sitting on his cage as I am writing. He is O.K as long as I do not try to touch him.

Hi Mtanvir,
I found this thread because I am experiencing the exact same problem with my green cheek. I wanted to ask if you ever got back on your birds good side? And what you did that helped? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

MuppetBirds said:

Hi Mtanvir,
I found this thread because I am experiencing the exact same problem with my green cheek. I wanted to ask if you ever got back on your birds good side? And what you did that helped? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Hi! If you click on Mtanvir's name at the top of one of his posts, you can go to "see all of Mtanvir's posts" (or similar wording). He posted updates in another thread. Let me know if you can't find his posts and I'll post a link. Good luck with your little dude!

I just let him do whatever he was comfortable with. I used to open his cage in the morning and let him out, putting his treats, bathing water at usual locations without interfering him. In the evening I used to ask him to go inside. For initial 3 to 4 days he took longer time to go inside as he did not want to come to my hand. He used to come on my shoulder or head and jump inside. I never tried to touch him once he is in the cage. He quickly figured out that he is safe once he goes in his cage at evening time.
After 2 weeks, he started coming on my shoulder but he was still afraid of hands. I remember it was 4th week when I was sitting and working on my computer, he to his bath, came to me and started playing with my hand and mouse as he used to do before he got scared. After that he became normal.
My advice is: be patient, let him do whatever he is comfortable with.