Growling

mtdoramike · Dec 22, 2011

I have noticed that Mac my 4 year old Eclectus is doing an awful lot of growling lately. I have noticed it in the last month or so. It seems when I put him back on his play stand, back in his cage, or when I'm feeding him something when he's sitting with me.

I have gotten to where I will immediately put him back on his playstand or cage when he does this and tell him "NO GROWLING". Now he has picked up the phrase " STOP THAT and NO GROWLING". Any ideas on what is causing this?

Spiritbird · Dec 22, 2011

Rosie will growl when faced with something new that she is afraid of. Like the groomer that came here last weekend. She said hello to Rosie and got growls back.
Mac will probably get over it or may even do it more now that he knows he is pulling your chain so to speak.

wenz2712 · Dec 22, 2011

mtdoramike said:
I have noticed that Mac my 4 year old Eclectus is doing an awful lot of growling lately. I have noticed it in the last month or so. It seems when I put him back on his play stand, back in his cage, or when I'm feeding him something when he's sitting with me.

I have gotten to where I will immediately put him back on his playstand or cage when he does this and tell him "NO GROWLING". Now he has picked up the phrase " STOP THAT and NO GROWLING". Any ideas on what is causing this?

Codie does exactly the same as what you have described! Always when she is on her stand or when I put her back in her cage, but she dosent bite when she growls. The only difference is Codie is only 13 weeks old, but I must admit its very disturbing when they do it I always thought they growled when angry, but I would have thought if that was the case then she would bite as well as growl. Im not sure what the answer is to it

Pedro · Dec 22, 2011

Mike, growling in an eclectus is displeasure. It is one of the body languages that means if you keep that up or if you don't do what i want you to I will bite you. I have seen a couple of boarders do it but have never encountered it with any of my own birds. Although 1 of my breeding pairs, the male does a lot of growling at the hen to keep her in the nest when they are breeding.

I would suggest only feeding him in his cage or on his stand that way he will be happy to go back there. He is growling because you want him to do something he doesn't want to do. I wouldn't give him food while sitting on you either.

I would also think that he could be a little hormonal & yes they do growl a lot at this time. I might also add that they can also get very aggressive as well so be careful.

c3honey84 · Dec 22, 2011

Roxy growls when I try to touch her somewhere that she doesn't like, for example, when I was trying to look under her wing for a broken feather.

mtdoramike · Dec 22, 2011

Pedro said:
Mike, growling in an eclectus is displeasure. It is one of the body languages that means if you keep that up or if you don't do what i want you to I will bite you. I have seen a couple of boarders do it but have never encountered it with any of my own birds. Although 1 of my breeding pairs, the male does a lot of growling at the hen to keep her in the nest when they are breeding.

I would suggest only feeding him in his cage or on his stand that way he will be happy to go back there. He is growling because you want him to do something he doesn't want to do. I wouldn't give him food while sitting on you either.

I would also think that he could be a little hormonal & yes they do growl a lot at this time. I might also add that they can also get very aggressive as well so be careful.

Thanks Pedro, the hormonal thing is what I'm suspecting as well. I noticed that Mac was trying to hump my wifes hand the other day and when I noticed what he was doing, I immediately picked him up and he growled at me. But has never bitten me yet anyway.

member · Dec 22, 2011

This kind of strange behavior usually can be attributed to maturity issues in regards to reproduction. I am guessing the person who sold you this bird failed to mention that once they start feeling the need to breed their behavior can become erratic at best.

pawsfoot · Dec 22, 2011

I'm sorry to hear that Mac is getting hormonal on you Mike. Just a question along the same topic though. I am getting ready to foster a new eclectus that is becoming nippy and aggressive with his current owners. I believe that it is due to hormonal issues, so what is the best method for dealing with this. My husband and I are hoping to adopt this bird, because we have a serious soft spot for Ekkys and already have a female. Our female is not aggressive and I have not ever really had a problem with aggression in her. Are all males aggressive when they are hormonal? Is there a good way to deal with it? Or is leaving them alone best? Again, sorry for hijacking this post, but I'm hoping that any answers can help Mike too.

mtdoramike · Dec 22, 2011

I Found this on the internet and explains quite a bit:

Eclectus Parrots are one of the few species parrot that go through a short hormonal stage. For majority of this species can be short & tolerable. But there are some that become very aggressive & intolerable. The female, when coming into adulthood can sometimes become moody & over protective of her surroundings. The males can become stubborn during these times & both can be dealt with by using positive reinforcement, though there are some Eclectus that just want or need to breed.

Both male & female can display territorial behaviours during this stage at any of their favourite place in the home. You cannot stop hormonal behaviour, but you can lessen the severity of it. Hormonal aggression is a natural part of life for parrots & occurs through maturity & breeding times. In the wild if an Eclectus has found the perfect hollow tree & a good supply of food & water close by she will naturally want to protect this area & this is where the aggression plays a roll. A pet Eclectus is no different. You have supplied them with a cage, toys & endless supply of food & water, so when breeding times comes around why wouldn’t they want to protect their space from unwanted intruders?

This sort of aggression can be eased or sometimes even prevented by taking a few simple measures. Spreading their toys, food & water throughout the house, rather than having it all in one small space. By setting up more than one place for your ekkie with food, water, toys, swings & stands throughout the house & having your ekkie active equally in these spots you’re giving your parrot less opportunity for the need to protect the one 'perfect' spot. You can also block off small dark areas & corners if you see your ekkie is starting to favour them & spend a great deal of time in these areas.

My Eclectus will favour being under our coffee table during hormonal periods. If we allow this for a long enough period he would start lunging at our feet if we got too close. He would also drag all his favourite toys under there. His aggression was very mild, he wouldn’t go further than lunging & growling but it can start to become quite frequent. To prevent things going any further & getting out of hand we wrapped a t-towel around the bar under the coffee table where he liked to sit with his worldly possessions. With the t-towel in place he was unable to sit there so he stopped going under the coffee table & his would aggression stop.

When Eclectus parrots reach maturity they can sometimes lash out for no apparent reason & it happens in both sexes. If the aggression is hormonal or maturity they not usually aware of their own actions. Hormones can cause undesirable behaviours & there is very little we can do about this except ride it out & try & have some understanding of this & not attempt to discipline a bird for their behaviours through these time. This will eventually ease & go. If you attempt to discipline this sort of behaviour your parrot will not understand why it’s being disciplined & you may make things much worse. You can’t force your parrot to stop being hormonal. It’s a natural course of life.

At the age of approx. 1 year old, Eclectus start to 'play roll' in nesting even though they're not yet mature. Between the age of 1.5 years & 4 years the Eclectus will mature. The age can differ individually as well as in sub species. The average noted maturing age is 3 years old.

pawsfoot · Dec 22, 2011

Thanks Mike. Good to know, maybe that is why Ezmerelda was never a problem. The vet believes she is already mature, and we have no way of knowing how old she is. I hope the people we are getting the male from know how old he is, because that could help us greatly. It's a shame that at the first behavioral problem people get rid of their pets.

mtdoramike · Dec 22, 2011

pawsfoot said:
Thanks Mike. Good to know, maybe that is why Ezmerelda was never a problem. The vet believes she is already mature, and we have no way of knowing how old she is. I hope the people we are getting the male from know how old he is, because that could help us greatly. It's a shame that at the first behavioral problem people get rid of their pets.

I agree, if they did a little bit of research they might be able to avoid giving up their pet. But fortunately this behavior will pass.

mtdoramike · Dec 22, 2011

member said:
This kind of strange behavior usually can be attributed to maturity issues in regards to reproduction. I am guessing the person who sold you this bird failed to mention that once they start feeling the need to breed their behavior can become erratic at best.

Mac wasn't purchased by me, I adopted him from a lady whose husband had recently passed away. He had bonded strongly with her husband. She could no longer care for Mac the way her husband had, which had caused a plucking situation to start around Mac's legs. So she offered him to me.

lene1949 · Dec 23, 2011

Max, my Alexandrine is only 4 months old, and he will also growl on occasions, like when I put him back in his cage...

c3honey84 · Dec 23, 2011

You know that is very interesting Mike. When I took Roxy to the vet, she told me that Roxy will mature at 5 or 6 years old. When I suggested egg lying at her age (she is 3 1/2), she laughed at me! AND what I thought was just crazy was that a vet tech told me on the phone that African Greys do not mature or lay eggs until about 10 years old! Can you believe that?

mygirl · Dec 24, 2011

mylah growls at her toys but thats the only time, she has done it once or twice when she is playing with something thats not hers she just growls at us when we tell her off, and playing she will say i'm angry graaaaaaa it could be just a way of talking to you or it could be he's really angry and watch out!

spockodo · May 21, 2014

Yes I have a 1 1/2 year old male Eclectus and he is going through this thing on flying on lamps chairs and things that are off limits .He then growls at me and we go through this over again .I am thinking of getting a female Eclectus as a companion for him when I am not home or outside. Would love to have thoughts on this .

Terry57 · May 21, 2014

spockodo said:
Yes I have a 1 1/2 year old male Eclectus and he is going through this thing on flying on lamps chairs and things that are off limits .He then growls at me and we go through this over again .I am thinking of getting a female Eclectus as a companion for him when I am not home or outside. Would love to have thoughts on this .

You will have better luck getting replies if you make a new thread in the eclectus section to ask your question...this thread is more than 2 years old.

amjokai · May 21, 2014

Drogo growls as a warning before he bites me....

AsaiahMom43 · Apr 27, 2016

Hello, I saw Mike's post and I had a further question. Im pretty sure Pedro answered it but I want to give a brief background. And if anyone is still reading this, maybe someone can answer me. My male ecclectus is getting ready to turn 8 months old. So I wouldnt think he is hormonial yet. But, I did recently add a new swing to the top of his cage and we added a larger more strong and sturdy perch there that has a ladder for him. The growling didnt start until we added the swing which was the last thing. It was added about 2 weeks after we switched out the perch. Pedro, since you have so many ekkie's if this is scaring my bird, should I take it down for a bit and only put it up for a couple of hours at a time?? I also like the idea of putting food in different spots in the house. I will try that as well. Any other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. My Asiaiah only does the growling and lunging when he is on top of his cage where the new toys are, or if he is inside his cage and then he will lunge if he doesnt want you to take him out.

camo · Apr 27, 2016

AsaiahMom43 said:
Hello, I saw Mike's post and I had a further question. Im pretty sure Pedro answered it but I want to give a brief background. And if anyone is still reading this, maybe someone can answer me. My male ecclectus is getting ready to turn 8 months old. So I wouldnt think he is hormonial yet. But, I did recently add a new swing to the top of his cage and we added a larger more strong and sturdy perch there that has a ladder for him. The growling didnt start until we added the swing which was the last thing. It was added about 2 weeks after we switched out the perch. Pedro, since you have so many ekkie's if this is scaring my bird, should I take it down for a bit and only put it up for a couple of hours at a time?? I also like the idea of putting food in different spots in the house. I will try that as well. Any other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated. My Asiaiah only does the growling and lunging when he is on top of his cage where the new toys are, or if he is inside his cage and then he will lunge if he doesnt want you to take him out.

I just responded on the other thread about growling, but having read what you put in this post, it does not sound like play behavior (I thought he was just growling at the toy as he played with it). This sounds more like cage aggression, although there are far more experienced people on the forum, so I am sure someone will be here soon to advise (I just didn't want you reading my answer and thinking it's all fine and just play). As I said in the other post, my boy will happily growl at his favorite toy as he plays with it, but if he is growling at you and especially lunging, that is a different story.

Cheers,

Camo

Growling

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Gracie's falling mystery solved....

Mac's old owner visiting.....................

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