2 year old Maui - hormones? Ouch! First bite.

rbreck

New member
Feb 14, 2013
104
0
Simi Valley, California USA
Parrots
Baby Senegal - not yet home
My baby boy bit me! Aggressively! Lunged! He has never shown any bad behavior until now. I was putting his food bowl into his cage - bam! I was shocked but from what everyone has said this is to be expected. Now that I have got over the shock... I learned the hard way to leave him alone.

We had 3 days of super cranky Maui. Now our sweet boy is back but I am a liitle scared to get him away near my face! He was an evil bird! I know I shouldn't do that anyway! I love kisses! But yikes - I like my face too!

Question is - will hormones only kick in for a few days at a time??? He was just not a happy bird. Or was this a case of just not feeling well. When he was young he was very sick, and extra sweet not like this.

Also, do to his sickness... He is just learning to fly now. Assuming that behavior promotes active hormones.

And I thought I was done with teenagers!!!!
 

labell

New member
Feb 17, 2014
1,988
5
East
I have a female that is more cage aggressive than the others. She can be bratty when changing her food and taking her out of the cage which she perceives as her space. So we circumvent this issue with me removing her from the cage on a stick, once she clears the cage door I have her step from the stick to my hand which she always willingly does. Was your boy just aggressive while in the cage or out as well? Have you taught him to step up onto a stick perch as well as your hand? If not I would begin working on that right away.

Sometimes I think they are just having a bad day, if that's the case I still give them their time out of the cage but I keep it shorter in duration and work on stick training. None of mine are allowed on my shoulder so the only access to my face is when I give kisses. It's ironic that most eclectus while not really into being pet don't seem to mind you touching or holding their beak or rubbing their feet. So when any of mine are being bratty I will rub the tops or the feet or I will grab their beak and give kisses on the side of the beak that way I am more in control and less likely to have them in their excitement get me with that sharp tip.

Is your male showing any other mating behavior such as regurgitating to you or another person or even a toy?
 

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
Not sure about eclectus specifically, but as a rule, large parrots tend to hit puberty around 4-8 years old. 2 would seem a *bit* young for hormonal behavior to me. Plus, hormones are a month or 2 long "season" not a few days thing.

Parrots, especially big ones are very much "wild animals", even if they were born and raised in captivity. Sometimes they do things (like biting) that has no clear to us reason why. Every owner has been bit by their bird before, it happens. Do not take it personally or think that Maui hates you. He may have been in a bad mood, the weather was hot, he didn't like his breakfast, he was overly excited, you were wearing a funny shirt or whatever other reason was perfectly rational to him and not so apparent to you. He also may have been testing his boundaries of if you found that to be an effective form of communication. Parrots are very smart, and they can actually start "training" their owners by behaving badly (biting, screaming, acting aggressive ext...) and getting the response THEY desire from the owner (attention, a funny reaction, not to be handled ect...). The *best* way to handle a bite is to not react at all and stare the bird right in the eye. Yes, it is very hard not to scream in pain or pull your hand away when a big beak is gnawing on it, but it typically doesn't take the bird long to learn biting is not an effective way to communicate their needs or get you to do something that is amusing/funny to them (i.e. dance around howling in pain). You need to encourage other forms of more acceptable communication so the bird has a way to convey its point besides biting you (i.e., the bird turns its back or obviously doesnt want to be picked up- you don't force it or the bird seems overly excited, you don't offer a hand at that point and just talk to it soothingly or hand it a toy). If the bird can communicate through other body language, it has no need to bite. Again, they are intelligent, and they know biting someone they love is painful and biting is not necessarily what they want to do to make a point. Finally, you need to look for any other reasons the bird may be upset. Does his toys get rotated enough? Is he getting a healthy and varied diet? Is he spending at least 6 hours outside his cage every day? Is he having plenty (several hours) of 1 on 1 interaction time with you? Is his cage in the busiest room in the house? Is he getting enough sleep? Does he have a fairly reliable daily routine? Are there any new objects around he may be frightened of (like new furniture or a new decoration he hasn't gotten used to yet)? All those things could contribute to biting and aggressive behavior because the bird has a need that isn't being met and if you want your bird to be friendly, you need to meet all their needs and introduce non-aggressive ways they can communicate. Best of luck.
 

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
I have a female that is more cage aggressive than the others. She can be bratty when changing her food and taking her out of the cage which she perceives as her space. So we circumvent this issue with me removing her from the cage on a stick, once she clears the cage door I have her step from the stick to my hand which she always willingly does.

Labell brings up a great point here- stick training. When my boy is in a foul mood (for whatever reason), he gets to ride the stick. It prevents the bite from ever happening, so theres no trust lost on either side. Always better to prevent a bite than have to sit there and take it so the bird doesn't get a reaction IMO. We integrate the stick into his normal daily handling (even when he's in a good mood) so he never interprets it as a punishment, just another way he gets around:) As in, sometimes he rides the sticks, other times a hand, so even when he's in a bad mood and we have to use the stick, he's used to it and doesn't view it as a bad thing or punishment. And learn your birds signs of aggression! If you recognize a foul mood, you can limit or not interact with the bird at that time until he calms down. I am not sure how ekkies display aggression, but I know with zons, they flare their tails, pin their eyes, slightly extend their wings and raise their neck feathers (mine also hisses:eek:). If I see Kiwi doing these things, I stay back. Learn how your bird shows he's angry. It will help you avoid being bitten.
 

labell

New member
Feb 17, 2014
1,988
5
East
If he is a Solomon, he could be starting to get hormonal as they hit sexual maturity about 18 months to two years. The larger subspecies can be as long as 4 to 6 yrs.

Either way though it is important as Kiwibird said to not let them scare you. You really are ahead of the game if you do stick training. Males typically don't become as cage aggressive as the females. The females are the nest protectors in the wild. That doesn't mean it can't happen with a male but is less likely. I don't encourage bad behavior but I don't tend to ignore it either. I address whatever I think is going on, if I feel the bird is just having a bad day once I take them out I will keep them out for a shorter session and then put them back in the cage. Maybe they didn't get enough sleep the night before and are cranky.

The other thing with my female Solomon is when she is hungry she can be really crabby she likes her food on time!
 

drlisaort

New member
Nov 3, 2012
683
0
Hollywood, Florida
Parrots
Oliver, Male (SI) Eclectus
Robin, although I can't add anything to what has already been said, I sure can relate to how you must feel. Oliver is almost 18 months old, and like your Maui, he's a very sweet bird, so I'm imagining something was going on with your little guy unbeknownst to you and he reacted instinctively. Thank you for posting your concerns as the answers provided were quite helpful for me the reader. It seems no matter how much experience I have with parrots I continuously learn as I'm sure you do too...
 
OP
R

rbreck

New member
Feb 14, 2013
104
0
Simi Valley, California USA
Parrots
Baby Senegal - not yet home
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
He is an SI. Thanks for all the info! He got me again when putting a small bowl of seed in his cage. He is quick when he wants to be. This time i moved a little quicker too:) I have noticed he only does it with the teaspoon of seed he gets at night. He hears the bag and goes nutty.

He must be going through something right now- my baby isn't a baby anymore. I still kiss him and tickle under wings but now I watch him closely.

I have worked out a different time to put his seeds in his cage :)

Thanks again.
 

nouzn

New member
Mar 1, 2014
11
0
We have a male SI named Fred. He has truly bitten only once since he outgrew being a nippy "teenager." Last fall my wife was filling a food bowl and BAM! Didn't break the skin but she lost feeling for a few days in her finger. She still isn't quite sure what happened but he tends to sit on top of his bowl when he is anxious for his food.

On another note, I read not to get carried away with petting his back or underneath his wings, as it can get his hormones going.
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
If you ignore a bird biting you, then you are ignoring *THEIR* form of communication, and only teaching them that you are ignorant of their behaviors. Biting is a learned behavior. They aren't born knowing to bite! A bird *will* show behaviors of "I'm going to bite" before they actually do bite. If you ignore those behaviors, guess what?!?!??! You're getting bitten! Parrots aren't learning that biting isn't a good form of communication if you ignore them... they are learning that you are going to ignore their behaviors telling you to "please back off" so why tell you they are going to bite? They will instead learn to "bite out of nowhere".


This video clearly shows an african grey saying to "back off" and the owner wont.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr4QrTLKzjw"]Parrot Training, Bird taming: What not to do - and helpful Tips - YouTube[/ame]



Many parrots may not show as much behavior telling their owners to 'back off' and may be more subtle.... such as slick feathers, leaning back and other avoidance behaviors.





As far as lunging inside the cage goes? Try moving slower. Try changing the way in which you approach the cage. Try teaching Maui to station on a perch while you change his food dishes. In this way, you can avoid getting bitten!
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
If you avoid getting bitten, you avoid teaching the bird to bite, as long as you learn to communicate with them in a manner that they can understand. :)


Lara Joseph has a great blog about why it's good to station! And, how to do it!

Stationing | Lara Joseph



Sorry, forgot to include that info!
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top