Went to bed a snugglebug, woke up a psycho

We think he must be between 14 and 22 months old. We adopted him from an ailing old man in early February and in three months he became affectionate and attached to me, though he's never let me pet him with my hands, only my head and face against him.

Yesterday I noticed that while he was settling down on my shoulder for our late evening snuggle time, he was grabbing my lip too hard, not mostly gently like usual, and his eyes were pinning a lot despite still having the fluffy-headed inviting appearance, and he'd pin and either beak-butt me or nip my face or lip. At first I thought he was starting to copy how I go in and kiss his beak, the equivalent for him I guess would be the beak-butting. But this morning, he just won't stop biting at my lips and face, landing on me and immediately and persistently going in for what seems more unambiguously like an attack, hard enough to leave lumps. I've been putting on a coat with a hood to protect my face when he's out. He's asking to come out right now as I sit at my desk next to him, giving me sweet talk and acting like butter wouldn't melt in his beak, which makes me want to scoop him out and pull him right into my face, but when the dinner is ready and I can get him out I don't think I'm not going to trust him near bare flesh.

It sounds like what people describe during a hormonal period but I've not seen any information about hormonal behaviour happening at this particular age. Isn't he too old for the bluffing phase and too young for full maturity? Also, is this even the breeding season or breeding weather for an IRN located in the UK?

yes that sounds like he's asking for some special time that you're unable to reciprocate and he's a bit frustrated

right now especially with our sudden change in weather is time for them to start getting in the mood. Out at the weekend and the wild flocks of them were screaming away to themselves trying to find a good partner

Here are some links we often recommend...

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

General Parrot Information - Parrot Forum - Parrot Owner's Community

http://goodbirdinc.blogspot.com/2012...n-parrots.html


Yeah, sounds a little young for hormones, but... I'll give you this advice, for when the time comes...

Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily. A sleeping cage in a separate room would work, too.
If/when things get aggressive or risque, you may want to continue to monitor avoiding touching/rubbing the backside, maybe even a quick time-out for unacceptable behavior... keeping in mind that a lot of parronts just tolerate quite a bit of this stuff as long as there is no serious aggression.

Good for you, for reaching out, and caring!

It could be that the honeymoon is over and he is settled in and is trying to boss you around now?

I am not sure if the rising temperature alone is enough to set them of into a breeding cycle again -> since birds react mostly to the daylight-cycle...
butt...
Now it's getting dark earlier and earlier -> more electric lights on could be simulating longer days instead of shorter for indoor birds.
(Japie has been getting a bit more hormonal again as well.)

Yes too old for bluffing but he is PRIME for sexual frustrations right now. I’ve actually written an article specifically on the topic of managing the hormones of companion parrots, and I’ll link it here.

Aside from that, not letting you pet him is completely normal for ringnecks. Work on training him to allow touching for his own safety, but realize he will probably never enjoy it.

Here’s the article. Feel free to browse the other articles on the site; IRNs are my focus
http://www.silversageaviaries.com/handlinghormones/


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Thanks everyone, I'm acting on all that information where I can. I have been letting him stay up with artificial light and letting him share some warm, soft and fatty foods with me because it seemed to make him happy, so hopefully a lot of it can be reduced by fixing those and other things I've been doing wrong.

Something I don't understand is why he's actually acting like his usual self while inside his cage, to the point that I'm kissing his beak through the bars like usual and he shows no aggression, and he's no more territorial than usual with my hands in there. it's only out of the cage that he's acting like a completely different bird (but with the same vocabulary, which is just disturbing - he'll pace around my shoulders trying to get under the towel or piece of clothing I'm protecting myself with, saying "HELLO!" in a way that's usually cute but is now thoroughly menacing right before striking at my face, like some kind of horror movie serial killer ). That makes no sense to me, shouldn't he more aggressive inside the cage?

That reminds me of my boy Royal. Sweet as pie when I isn’t nesting, but when he is, LOOK OUT!

It’s crazy to hear that sweet voice “hi baby, you’re so CUTE! Come here! I love you!” And then he tries to take my hand off.


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I would try to start working on using your hands with him---you want to read his signals etc (because you want to avoid giving him biting practice)...BUT he obviously trusts you enough to climb all over you, so this sounds like a possible issue with his perception of what he can get away with/ possible limit-testing (and/or hormones). I would not want him on my shoulder until he was consistently stepping up etc. Many owners never allow birds on their shoulders. I do, BUT I want to make sure that I can easily get them down without a power struggle. I have been bitten on the face lightly (no blood) and it was honestly, my fault (I was dancing to Come on Eileen with my bird and she got overly excited lol). That having been said, your bird is not behaving in such a way that is safe for shoulder handling at this time.
It DOES sound hormonal to me...or at least very similar if it isn't..possibly bluffing...How confident are you on age? Are you sure your bird is a male? I have read that some females can be bred as early as 1 year, but I don't know much about IRNs...
here are some links that may help:

https://www.thesprucepets.com/bluffing-biting-behavior-in-parrots-390306
Indian Ringneck Bluffing | IndianRingneck.com
https://threebirdsandacloud.wordpre...-and-your-parrot-the-triggers-and-what-to-do/

Another thought some birds are cage bound. If he spent much if his time in the past sitting in a cage....he may feel nervous away from it..

You need to be very careful about letting him around your face at all. In fact, allowing him to sit/rest on your shoulder or snuggle near your face should only happen because he earns it, and as long as he's biting your lip/face hard (or at all) and doing what he is doing, then he hasn't earned it, and you're actually teaching him that it's okay to do it. Wearing protective clothing is not the answer, because you're not teaching him that it's a bad thing to do, but rather actually encouraging him to do it, and you're the one being punished. As Noodles already mentioned, the "Honeymoon" is now over, and he's testing his boundaries and trying to see what he's allowed to get away with, and so far you're only teaching him that it's totally fine for him to bite your lip/face hard whenever he's close to it.

You need to tell him "NO BITES!" or some other firm phrase that you use each and ever time he bites your lip/face hard, and then you need to immediately remove him from your shoulder or wherever he is near your face (if you're snuggling in bed or wherever, doesn't matter). And then you absolutely cannot let him back up onto your shoulder or anywhere near your face until he earns the right to be there. And if you allow him back up on your shoulder or near your face and he bites you again, then say the same phrase again and immediately put him right back down and keep him away from that area again until he learns that he must not only earn the right to be there, but that he must not bite you when he's up there.

Right now during this time right after the "Honeymoon" period is very important, as it's the time when they push the limits and test your boundaries, and if you don't let him know that these behaviors are not going to fly, they will only continue to slowly escalate more and more...And unfortunately this is exactly how people end up in the ER with a lip that is bitten in-half or a piece of their ear hanging off, and that requires minor plastic surgery to repair. He's not doing it because he doesn't like you, he's a young teenager that is in a new home and who wants to see how far he can go. And right now he's winning, because he's still allowed on your shoulder and near your face no matter whether he bites you hard or not, and you're the one who is layering-up your clothing and wearing a hood...