Blue crowned conure angry at my after 17 years, HELP!

[Meagan]

Hi everyone!
I'm new on this site. I recently signed up cause I have a huge problem. I have a blue crowned conure he's about 22 years old. I have had him for about 17 years. He was my buddy, I was the only one he trusted. He would never let anyone else in my family take him out of the cage or handle him besides me. So when I moved to Toronto a year after I moved him up with me. He was happy that he was finally with me. He has always got jealous when I had people over and that's the only time he would never let me touch him. Then about 30 minutes after they leave he would love me again. Well, one day I was having a very bad day. And he was squeaking A LOT! So I hit his cage out of frustration. It's been a week now and he won't let me take him out even when I look at him is puffs up and starts biting his toys like crazy. I don't know what to do. In the 17 years I have had him he has never acted this way towards me ever and when he has been mad at me he's gotten over it in a day. He's like a totally different bird I don't know what's going on with him and I don't know what to do anymore! I know he's an old bird so I was wondering if he's feeling sick? Or if he's simply just really angry with me and I lost his trust. But after 17 years you would think that something simple like that wouldn't matter. Help me please!

 

[Allee]

Hello and Welcome to the forum!

If I'm not mistaken a blue crown conures life span is approximately 30 to forty years. I don't think his age has anything to do with his behavior. Hitting his cage may not have seemed like a big deal to you, but your bird more than likely saw it as a terrible betrayal. Think of it from his point of view, his favorite human hit his cage. It may take time to regain his trust after that. Be patient and show him he has no reason to fear you. Birds are highly intelligent, they understand anger when it's directed at them, especially coming from someone they love.

 

[Dinosrawr]

I agree with Allee 100%. You've had this bird for 17 years and he has completely and entirely invested all of his trust into you and no one else - hence why no one else can handle him. And after hitting his cage, you've essentially told him that you hold the potential to hurt him, plus you also hit something else that's entirely his. It seems to me that you'll have to work pretty hard at rebuilding trust with him again. Birds don't take lightly to aggression directed towards them, especially if it's by someone they love. They feel betrayal pretty strongly considering how emotional they are.