Worrying about when Kermit goes through puberty

Kermit is still a baby, around 7 months old. He’s a great bird - very sweet, likes everyone, cuddly, playful, and great at tricks. But I’ve just been reading so many stories of how once sweet, cuddly green cheeks turn into vicious biting monsters and become one person birds who attack everyone else once they reach puberty. And this made me worry about what will happen when my sweet baby Kermit matures and hormones start to kick in. I want him to stay the same as he is now, and I worry that he will turn aggressive toward me or my family when he hits puberty. Ducky and Bluebell never really went through a hormonal stage - Ducky is 2 years old and Bluebell is 4 and their personalities haven’t really changed, apart from Bluebell becoming a little less interested in bonding with humans. Ducky has always been his sweet self without any sort of change. I’m just worried that Kermit’s personality will change drastically and he will no longer be my adorable baby once he matures. I’ve read about green cheeks in particular flying and attacking anyone other than “their” person, biting everyone including their owners, and even changing who they’re comfortable with - as a baby they like one person, then they fall in love with someone else and start attacking that person. It’s only natural to worry - sorry if I seem too freaked out about it. Can you help me understand what puberty is like for green cheeks? Do they continue to be aggressive and hormonal or is it just a phase? Is there anything I can do about it?

They will all change. Some greatly and others barely noticeable.

For those that change greatly, what maintains a good relationship is heavily dependent on what you do now! The effort you make everyday into socializing, and all the other interaction skills you teach you Parrot will limit what you are reading.

When Parrots are left to manage their own lives! Why should it a surprise when it doesn't go well! Providing boundaries, and on-going interactions skills with a large body of People, truly does help.

My Ollie (sun conure) is about 1 year and 3 months and he is cuddly and sweet and wonderful much like your Kermit. I too have been worried about "the change" as far as I can tell he has either not reached puberty or he has had a very smooth transition. I think he has had a smooth transition but I have taken measures to help him...well I think anyways. I just personally don't think (we'll see if I'm wrong one day) a bird whom a person(s) spends so much time with can instatly turn into a monster without some kind of precursors to the drastically different behavior. I can see if someone doesn't spend enough time with their bird one day tried to give their bird a cuddle or step up and the bird bites and attacks them. Ollie can get a little moody at times but I just let him be but then when he isn't as moody I spend extra time with him...I will carve out a whole day just doing bird things he wants to do and it pretty much fixes his moody behavior. He gets a bit moody like once every 2 months if that helps. He'll start yelling at me for touching him and he'll fly away from me to my husband and I used to get upset and mad about it but I realized that if I just give more love and more of myself I can easily turn the tide.I don't think I'll just wake up one day and he'll hate me...I doubt it and I doubt Kermit will either, I think it's a process that you can probably make a lot less painful for everyone. I also have my husband take a step back from Ollie during these times to strengthen our bond because I'm clearly the favorite. Then after a few days my husband will start hanging out with Ollie and showing him more attention again. So far this method always works when Ollie shows any of these abnormal behaviors. Keep in mind my Ollie doesn't bite me for some reason (I know he definitely might and could). He just pretend bites me and has bitten others but can't pull the trigger on his mommy for some reason which is helpful. I hope this helps you.

What Steven (sailboat) said. They all change. The key in combating him is CONSTANT socialization. This is no guarantee against a one person bird, some will defy your best socialization efforts. But that is how you work against it.

If you’re the primary caretaker, it’s most likely that you’ll remain the one favorite. The flipping favorites...it happens but not THAT common. The favorite is usually the one who spends the most time with them. This shouldn’t be principle on your mind.

As 'boats and Chris have said it usually all goes pear shaped when a parrot is left in charge of it's own life or god forbid thinks it is in charge of yours. As been mentioned provide structure, interaction, (toys and activity) socialisation and boundaries. It is important that other people have a role too. Parrots love to be taken out also, starts off a bit scary but they soon get to love being taken out.

Make sure to provide a good diet, low fat for starters, plenty of fresh veggies and some fruit and if possible a small amount of an organic non coloured pellet. If you notice big changes in your bird then look at what you are feeding and ask yourself if you think it is too much or too rich. Food, abundance and richness is one driving force to hormones and the basic need to reproduce.

Hi FlyBirdiesFly,

You have received some great information thus far.

I’ll add my 2 cent on the matter.
I understand your concerns as I too have some of my own. However, you can’t ‘worry’ about it. You’re doing the right thing by asking questions and gathering all the knowledge you can to ‘prepare’. Being armed with the information so as to prevent the worst outcome is the best you can do. Being prepared for all circumstances will lessen your worries.

Worrying is a useless emotion. It just paralyzes you. Being proactive is much more productive. IMHO

I’m sure you will do everything necessary to keep your Kermit a little cuddle bug. :heart:

Thank you for all your replies, it has made me feel so much better about it. I am their primary caretaker, but whenever someone comes over I make sure they see the birds, and I place them on their fingers/shoulders and have them do tricks for their amusement. Going outside is not an option right now as all my birds absolutely hate harnesses (believe me, I’ve tried) and all it seems to do is stress them out, and I would never want to do that to my babies. I know gradual introduction and training them to wear it is the way to go, but it just doesn’t seem that important right now. Yesterday I took them all to the pet store for nail trimming, and even though I couldn’t take them out of their carriers (people coming and going, too dangerous because someone could escape) I had Kermit and Ducky show off a couple tricks within their carriers. Their diet consists of TOP’s pellets, Roudybush, Harrison’s, as well as super grains like quinoa and buckwheat, and fruits and veggies. They have huge cages. They’re out for AT LEAST two hours every day, two hours being the minimum on a busy day. On the weekends they’re out for at least 5-6 hours. Knowing these details might help in some way.