Need pro. help with Severe ''severe behavior''

Hello all I am new to the forum and am in need of help with some behavior problems with my severe macaw. Oh and by the way my name is Justin.

To help everyone help me I will give a complete breakdown of my history with this incredibly crazy nut case bird I call my friend.

So after months of research I had decided I wanted a Macaw. I work with lots of reptiles and with everything being cold blooded I thought it would be nice to add some life and voice to my daily life. I wanted to give one of the many macaw I saw for adoption a cool place to ruffled up and play out the rest of their days with some kick butt food.

I looked around and came across a lady who took in a Sever that got neglected and locked up all day. I met with her at her rescue facility and met with my new friend for the first time. She took to me right away which is surprising considering what I had read about Severe's and their tendency to offer a friendly bite and nip here and their. After visiting my friend over the next few weeks I started noticing she may have been bonding with me, which I became sold on her and she had a permanent home now. In all this time she never once bit me freaked out or showed any aggressiveness .

Now here is where I need help. When I got her home I started spending lots of time with her around 12 hours a day and this has not shortened in the 4 months I have had her to date until recently. She would sleep on my chest and almost make a purring sound, most times she will Chase my hand where ever it goes just to get scratched. I had even gained her trust to where I could flip her on her back and tickle her. She puts off this sinister little laugh and giggle you have to hear it to believe me.

I taught her to give kisses for her favorite fruit mango, and pine nuts. She was overall an angel with only a few mishaps which honestly is my fault not knowing all her behaviors yet. She taught me that she bites and bites hard if you ask her to step up with a treat in your hand and don't deliver it as soon as she does her part which is stepping up. Now I don't mean to make her sound great but severe hardly and I learned to love.her quite a bit.

Now about a week ago to date I move her in front of the sliding glass door as usual and put her on top to play. Went out and did my usual yard maintenance. As I made my way around to the back yard she gets excited dances in the window and talks up a storm. Lots just gibberish but hey.

Now its already hot here in Florida as matter of fact 93 today. Realizing I was sweating to death I went about my summer usual and just before getting in the shower I shaved my head. Upon getting out of the shower I walked by her cage in the living room and she screamed at me and tried to not lunge but fly crash trying to bite me. As I went to pick her up she stepped up and tore a chunk from my thumb area. I put her in her cage and talked nice to her but she was not having it. Now my brother lives with me and she never treated him any diff. Than me till now she seems to like him and literally wants me to die by beak. If I touched her water or food she tries biting my fingers. If I go near her she puts off a hideous sound almost like stray cats fighting at night. However I can still manage to lay on the couch and she relaxes and let's me scratch her. She bites everytime I pick her up now. I have managed to flip her on her back still also. Now I don't want those few positives to put off any advice, she hates me. I almost have no right thumb left. She really seems to hate me so here is where my questions arise.

1. Is it possible my haircut is reason for behavior change? I didn't have long hair at all but did shave with a zero guard.

2. Could it be diet? She eats fresh fruit daily Harrison pellets and fruit and nuts along with hemp seeds, star arise and a bunch of other great stuff I wish I ate. fruits are mango papa banana blueberries kiwi loquats jabotcaba(Brazilian grape) peppers carrots squash zucchini the best really. reason I ask is because I was told sugar levels can mess with hormones.

3. Could it be hormones?

She has a huge cage big enough for a large macaw. plenty of toys which she doesn't care for other than a swinging rope she swings on. I keep aspen below and spot clean any fetal matter daily. she gets time in the sun everyday I mob her cage outdoors and she loves it.

I am home with her everyday if it isn't my hair should ah not realistically pick me as her favorite? I never abuse her she really had the life but for last 4 days she gets no out time and I give her little attention when she is negative.towards me other than a treat and a sweet voice.

any help is so greatly appreciated. sorry for the crazy long post I just wanted to give.all details and history. thanks in advance big time. I will not get rid of her no matter what but wish to let her be free again and not be in fear of my face or thumb suffering because. please if your a macaw pro I need your help...

J

Changing your hair DOES matter!!!!!!!!!!! You looked completely different to her. When I'm wearing a hat towards my birds, they freak out! Even with me talking to them. When I change my hair completely from longer to shorter hair, they freak out for a few days or so but we get back to regular. But it is that time of the year too, so hormones can have something to do with it.

I take it she have a big cage with at least 4 food dishes? Here's something you can do with her, it becomes a game to them. IF she started going crazy when you try to remove bowls to change food or whatever, go to the other side of the cage and toss in a treat into the bowl. You go to the other side and do what you need to do. Then when you need to do the same thing to the other side, toss a treat in the side your finished and do the same thing. She will take the hint if she lets you change her bowl, she gets a treat.

Next, start perch training her. Get two perches, one in each hand. Tell her to step up from one perch to the other. Do it over and over again. For one, it's a great exercise, another is you wouldn't get bit. IF she tries to go after your hand while on the perch, roll the perch slightly back and fourth. Instead of trying to attack, she will try to balance. But do tell her no biting and be firm about it!

Then when you do feel you can trust her with your hand without getting bit, you give it a try again. Since you've had her for 4 months now, you should be able to read her body language on what she's trying to do. IF she doesn't want to, get the perch again. But with just one perch this time. You then try to get her to step up from the perch to your hand, just watch her body language at the same time. At anytime she tries to bite, roll the perch again. One main thing is to be sure to have her clipped during this process! Unless you think she will be ok, depends on you. I go by each individual bird to decide to clip or not to clip during training.

My Cockatoo will not step up for a hand, but she will for a perch then she comes onto your hand. A Cockatiel of mine will only do perch as he will bite and won't let go. He knows he have nothing to bite into on a perch. Birds are very smart, they will try to outsmart you all the time and do the darnest things.

Welcome to the forum and I hope this helps!

as mikey says lol an awww justin if its hormones just give her a little space to get over her self, which they do, and don't feel she personally hates you, as thats not the case, even though believe me it can feel like it, its nothing more then a temper tantrum. though i have no idea how long a macaw is in season for?

i've a feeling she will start coming back to you, and in the mean time decide on a hair cut your gonna be happy with for the rest of your life lol

Thank you very much for your replies.
It's not so much she tries to bite when I say step up as much as if she steps up she knows she can hurt me. She will step up then go for my thumb or wrist emmediatly. Now I have found a way to trick her by making her think my other hand is going to touch her, then sometimes she will focus on that and I don't get bit.

Like I said thank you bunches for your replies but I do have a few more questions regarding her body language if I could get some help here as well. I have learned some things but others leave me stumped. Here is a list and if anyone could just give me the possible meaning of her thoughts behind these postures and movements.

1. She talks to me ruffled her head feathers and looks excited when I get there she is fine but then tries to attack almost like I was baited by her being sweet with alternative motives.
Is it possible that really is her plan?

2. She will ruffled up almost roll her head from side to side and then bow her head down and ppn her beak in intimidation stance. At least it seems this way.

3. She will raise her left wing and squak as she appears to tuck her head and pull feathers. I have never seen feathers come out but as she raises her wings theirs bare patches. She will do this as I walk by or let the dogs out or for any other reason she feels. I can not pin point why.

4. If it is hormones how long does it last? Rough estimate.

5. She flaps her wings as if she wants to go with me where I go. She did this before and would get so excited to go in shed watching me tend to my feeder rodents. She even use to taunt a few tortoises's in their pins and threw the glass at the osnakes out of fun. Now she flaps same way, when I go to get her she changes her mind and goes evil.

6. With all this behavior she stills seems to love my brother. we look identical minus some tattoos. she is not his bird and he likes her but does not care for her as much as I do. I feed her twice daily I put her to sleep and usually while he is at work she would hang out with me anywhere I go even the store. now with this behavior going on towards me should she be kept in her cage more and my brother limit contact to her?

7. also when she is aggressive towards me at feeding time should I take food away instead of still giving it to her. basically I do this with my dogs and it works when they are mean towards each other.

8. Should I ignore her and segregate her for bad behavior. I worked with shutzhund for years training dogs and when they act out of line you separate them from the pack. do these same rules apply with flock behavior. and when she bites I yell no at her but she seems to care less. when she acts nice she gets love. hope this concept applies here as well.

9. Last vt not least she generally acts aggressive and then calms down enough to let me pet her. she is still on alert but will let me raise her wing to look underneath and scratch her. she seems to be fine and then bites under her wing and comes after me. I am just confused or missing something in her behavior. and that's why I was curious about hormones. no offense to any of you awesome ladies out their but this seems like pms on steroids.

thanks again and I hope someone can help me understand her mannerisms. heck she still likes my dogs more and will hang out with them and steal their rawhide treats. used to bite at them as well now only me...

if it is my hair could the behavior stay even after it grows back considering she can she the slow change rather than an instantaneous change like shaving my hair.

thanks again J

Im on my phone right now so ill post a reply to your questions when I get on my home computer where I can answer your questions better cause that's a lot of questions...lol....

But one thing...will your brother shave his head?

Thanks Mike.
I may be able to talk him into it, would not be the first time.
If I am correct I think I know where you are going with this, And it would help narrow it down to if she truly is upset with my hair cut.

My brother and I are repeatedly asked if we are twins. 3 years apart but probably the closest thing to identical twins with that age gap. Again minus tattoos. So I would hope she could realize I have a constant reminder of who I am to her with me having a sleeve and brother not.

If my idea is on with yours I can ask him to try cutting his hair as well. Man he will think I am crazy but hopefully it narrows it down. I am interested to know so I can narrow down or at least fish out the true factor of her behavior. I have talked with a few people and they said she was overly affectionate towards me for being a severe but I have read where others say they have the same situation. She really did kind of act much more like a cockatoo as far as affection goes. But now like a pissed off seagull trying to attack a kid with potato chips at the beach. So with that said I became curious about the hormones issue as well as thinking it was the haircut and maybe hormones together. Just really want to get it figured out so I can work with her on it.

Anyway thanks J

Ok, let's answer those questions!

1. Macaws can be evil like that, they bait you into it!

2. They bow their heads down, but when you try to touch them, they sneak up on you real quick. Same like number 1. Mine rolls his head from side to side when he's excited.

3. Is she clipped? Mine did that when he was clipped. But usually raise his wings when he thinks he's bad! He's the big eagle!!!!

4. 2-3 weeks approx...

5. This goes back to number 1+2

6. When he shaves his head, then we can determine this....

7. This goes back to what I told you to do before with the treat trick to go from one side to the other. Before giving it to her, tell her "want a treat" and show her what you've got. Then follow what I posted earlier.

8. IF she is being mean, ignore her. Tell her bad bird gets nothing and walk away. Then go back in a bit to try again. Only when she is being good, then offer her a head scratch and a treat.

9. Is there something irritating her wings? Sounds like she's trying to tell you something and your not listening to her. Of course you don't know what she meant by it. Mine would nip at me when he feels threatened by something or when he's not getting a good grip on me and I'm not holding him(especially during a card ride), he would nip me. Not chunks, but just a nip. So this goes back to question #3, is she clipped? But sometimes they would attack their wing first then attack you because they're mad about something....But at the same time hormones may come into play too, mine just got done doing the hormone thing, he was driving me nuts. I'm glad he was done before the vet visit....There was no way I would take a hormonal bird to the vet...lol

Have you taken her to the vet for a check up?

Seriously think about the perch training, make her work. Instead of trying to bite, she would be more concentrated about balancing herself. Any time she tries to bite, roll the perch slightly. Just be sure she's far away from your face cause they will open that beak and try to go after you with a peck and that can be dangerous. This is one of my methods of training a biting bird. Make sure you praise her anytime she does something good, call her by her name like I would say "Good Willie, very good Willie, etc" They also like to play peek-a-boo. Play with her, stimulate her, she needs interaction, not just a bird that would sit on your arms or in the cage and act pretty. Anytime you walk into the room, greet her first! Good Morning "her name" Talk to her like your talking to a child. Do your activities around her. Put on some music, mine loves dance music, he dances to it. Willie LOVES the dogs too, he feeds them! He calls for them!

Another thing, is there any other animals out and about(your dogs) when you have her out? Try to place the dogs outside or in a different room, just you and her together with no one else there. Your basically bonding with her alone. By having the dogs there, she's too concentrated on the commotion that's going around.

Okay cool,
Now to answer some of your questions.
Yes she is clipped on both wings.
I don't think I am missing anything with her biting under her wing. It seems that this is her way of telling me she is really angry. It's just hard to pinpoint at the time what it is that is causing this. I truly believe it is my hair because that's when it all started but has been over a week now and she continues to be aggressive.

I started using a perch to have her step up on. She seems nervous of the stick at first then steps up anyway. I have tried rolling the perch but she will still bite if she steps up on my hand from the perch. It has worked well however when she reaches out to bite and I roll the perch she does focus on balance rather than biting.

Okay and now, what if my brother won't shave his head? Should he completely limit his attention to her? I/we don't want her picking favorites so does this seem reasonable? Should he where a hat just to change his appearance as well...?


Thanks again and if you need anymore info just ask and thanks for you help big time...

Okay Mike so you will have to scratch my last. My brother just let me shave his hair.
Now I am really stumped and need more help. My brother walked right over to her and she stepped right up.

Not one aggressive posture, no open mouth threats. Now I am highly curious as to why this is going on. I feed her everyday, I take her everywhere, I wake her up and put her to bed. Should she not naturally pick favorites towards who cares for her the most..?

I guess she may just be hormonal towards me. I have read where people have extremely sexually attached birds. Could this just be that time of the year. Any help is great and thanks again...

Is your brother very stern? More dominate?

Your bird can tell the difference between you two. She can sense it!!! Macaw have a tendency of picking one person they want to bond with, your brother is it! They choose the person they want to bond with, it does not matter who cares for them the most or who spends the most time with them. My partner takes care of Willie the most but Willie chose me and wont go to anyone else.

Another example, 6 years ago I brought Dixie home. I was the one she steps up to. She played on me during the car ride home. Then once I got home she saw my partner and that was it. Love at first sight. She flew to my partner and wouldn't stay with me ever since then. She tolerates me when its only me, I feed her, play with her, give her treats, bath, etc. If my partner walks in during any time, she flies off.... she will not stay with me! I never force her cause it don't matter to me since I have other babies I can attend.

I change my hair cut and color all the time, mostly to cover the gray.lol. I have never had my Macaw and Eclectus treat me any differently. Pet Parrots in general sometimes switch their bond to another member of the Family or flock.

I would advise you to only be the person who feeds her or gives treats, Try playing on the floor with her, most Macaws hate the floor and will come to you with open wings just to get off the floor. Once she knows that you are her safty zone, the bond with her will grow.

Please also remember that Females also go through hormone changes and this is the time of year. Sometimes it's best to leave her on the cage. I'm not saying that you should not still spend time with her but if she becomes agressive, this behavior cannot be excepted. Use time outs, Whenever my boys are out of the cage and show any agressision towards me or my Family, whoever is misbehaving at the time get a 5 min timeout and I use the word timeout so trust me, they know the meaning. Don't give timeouts for more them 5 min at a time due to after 5 min, your Macaw will have forgotten what they did to receive the timeout.

Try to use their favorite toy and treats to your advantage, use them for good behavior, if she acts up, take the treat or toy away.

you have to be the person who is in charge, trust me when i say that Macaws are very smart and if you show signs of being weak or giving in, they will walk all over you if you let them.

I hope as time goes by things get better for you and your Macaw, best of luck and hang in there. Joe

Joe, my birds freaks out if I change my hair or wearing a hat. Hats are worse....they don't like it! The only one that care less is Gracie, she seems to be the only one that is not affected by it.

Joe is right about the birds will walk all over you if you let them. I can't say my macaw hates the floor because he goes down on his own and goes to chase after the dogs.....

Mike too funny, I don't wear hats so I'm not sure how my boys would react. Both my boys hate the floor unless I lay on the floor and play with them, I guess they figure if I'm laying on the floor, I can protect them. Neleno likes going after my feet. It's always amazing how people interact with their Macaws.

I would like to thank you all for your help.
It seems it may have been hormones afterall. I spoke with the place I got her at and they asked me to bring her in and they would help me work with her. It seems she really just wanted a boyfriend. A little out of her size range but she didn't care was a beautiful harlequin male. He talked to her, she talked to him. She acted a little rowdy bit since leaving and coming back home she is back to her good old self.

She is right back to the way she was when I had hair. I am truly astonished at her change so I won't be surprised when it comes back. Haha don't get me wrong she still nips but no blood and she isn't trying to hurt me now. More like her hey I didn't like that....

Anyway if anything changes I am sure I will be back in search of more advice but in the meantime thanks again and I hope to be able to post good news soon.

Thanks,
Justin

Hi Justin,
I have had Severes for 20 yrs they're the best. I have had many diff hair doos being a female. When my Severes first saw me they tilted heads , iris's enlarged and they were like Who? But after talking to them they new it was me. Unless the owner that neglected your bird was bald I don't think haircut a thing to do with it.
Just curious how things are.
Terri

I will only add a "tell" to the rest of the excellent advice given here, the eyes. When a macaw is going to talk, is thinking about doing something, or going to attack you, their eyes will change. They pinpoint. Next time your severe talks watch her eyes and take note of how they change. Then, if you are unsure of whats coming next, watch those eyes.

This is OT..

But my husband and I had 3 kids... the youngest only 2... He shaved off his beard, and all the kids were afraid of him...