Territorial? Hormones? Normal behavior? Mating behavior? Mom's just crazy?

saracuse

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Mar 21, 2016
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Syracuse, NY
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Yellow-sided Green Cheek Conure - Hatch Day 12/11/15 - "Tiki"
My spouse and I went on vacation for 10 days in September. We boarded Tiki with the breeder. We got a great report and she did very well we were told. She was tired but acting like herself from the minute we picked her up. (Her travel cage was kept in the same room as a few older macaws....she picked up a few new habits and noises)

We picked her up on 9/26 and all was well. On 10/3 Tiki had a seizure at home. We brought her to the vet, a fecal test was done and we got the report that she was perfectly healthy on 10/7. We're monitoring her and if she has another we'll talk about blood work. Her seizure didn't even last 30 seconds. I got her breakfast, put her back in her cage after being out for an hour or so with us and when i turned around to leave the house to go to work she was perched on the highest spot in her cage just flapping away. She went stiff and fell to the bottom of the cage. I carefully grabbed her up checked her over for any broken blood feathers as we are still molting and held her to my chest. She was having a very difficult time perching on my finger and her regular perches so we went to the vet. She did "snap out of it" and was acting relatively normal albeit a tad sleepy for the rest of the day. She has been totally fine ever since. (I've been watching like a hawk!)

Since we brought her home from her staycation at the breeders she has been a little snugglier than usual. Her usual evening spot after doing a bit of preening is on my chest over my heart with my hand wrapped behind her back. She usually lifts her foot and grinds her beak until she falls asleep or we put her to bed around 8:30. However, lately she has been almost fluttering/vibrating her wings and laying flat on her belly on my chest when we're relaxing in the evenings. She makes a very soft "screeching/screaming/whining/chirping" noise when this is going on.

She has also developed territorial behavior over her food and water dishes. Her bowls have never been empty, this bird wants for nothing. She will violently attack my hands if she is near by. If she isn't near by she could care less. She actually drew blood on Monday morning. I always fill her bowl and make sure her water is fresh before leaving for work or really going anywhere for that matter.

Could my 10 month old GCC be hormonal or thinking mom is a mate?
Could all of this just be a little much for her and we just need to calm down and get back into our routine?
Am I doing something wrong?
Did I teach her that when I touch her food/water it means I'm going to leave?
Am I overreacting like a momma bird?
 

Kentuckienne

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Oct 9, 2016
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Roommates include Gus, Blue and gold macaw rescue and Coco, secondhand amazon
Could be more than one thing. Could elevated hormone levels be triggering something neurological? I can't imagine that siezures are normal.
 
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saracuse

saracuse

New member
Mar 21, 2016
94
0
Syracuse, NY
Parrots
Yellow-sided Green Cheek Conure - Hatch Day 12/11/15 - "Tiki"
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Could be more than one thing. Could elevated hormone levels be triggering something neurological? I can't imagine that siezures are normal.

We weighed all the options with our AV. Blood work is the only real way to tell. She's only 59 grams so we weighed all the pros and cons of doing blood work on a bird so little and decided to wait and watch. She felt that it could be related to the vacation, boarding, huge molt and just the general stress of it all. So we're watching closely for another. Then we will do blood work should that happen. We're hoping that it was an isolated incident.
 

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