Bluffing at 6,5 months?

[veimar]

I'm so upset... Riko was doing really well after I rescued him/her from a family who wasn't able to tame and neglected him. He was completely wild and fearful, but in less than two months he did a huge progress - he was stepping up and riding my shoulder, taking treats from my hands, taking showers with me, and hanging out with my birds. He never bit me even once. He threatened to bite when he got scared, but never really bit. I just posted a thread about his self control a day before.
He suddenly changed overnight! In the morning when I offered my hand to step up (a routine thing) he suddenly lunged and bit my hand. Hard. He kept trying to bite, so I had to cover my hand completely until he stepped up. I took him to shower, and then to the living room where he spends his day with my other birds - same thing! As soon as I try to approach him he lunges and tries to bite. He was better during the day, but towards the evening got worse again. I feel like he hates me! :11: He never liked hands very much, but was stepping up fine, however now I cannot even offer my hand to him. He hasn't drawn blood, but only because I was very careful (I need my hands to play piano and paint). I had to use towel to put him back to the cage tonight!
Is that BLUFFING? Or did he just go nuts?

 

[Dinosrawr]

That most definitely is bluffing! The lovely, lovely pre-hormonal joy ride that IRN owners get to experience. Shiko thankfully (I think?) went through his bluffing stage the moment he got home. He was this fearless, adventurous, I-hate-your-hands bird that wanted nothing to do with me or Brendon. It was actually a really hard experience emotionally because I had been so thrilled to get him before he hatched in February and waiting for nearly four months until he could get home to experience that... sucked. But, fast forward to where we are now, and that dang bird is so velcro that if I DARE go to the bathroom by myself he's offended. He went from hating my hands to cuddling into my neck, from being fearless to flying to mommy every time something scares him, and to being adventurous to being... well, he's still ridiculously adventurous and thinks he can land on walls with some magical birdy powers or something.

But give it time, and do your best to not let the bluffing ruin your relationship. Take this time to train new tricks that don't involve direct contact with your hands like waving, turning around, being a bat (using a perch), playing fetch, etc. That's how I got over the bluffing stage with Shiko. And, I kid you not, it disappeared over night one day. One day he was his fearless, crazy self and the next he was this timid oh-how-I-love-you bird. It may take weeks, months, possibly longer... but the more you persist, the more it will pay off. I can assure you that much

 

[TravNat]

I'm glad I found this thread. My 6 month old quaker has recently become very bitey and refuses to step up a lot more then he use to. Sometimes I have to grab him off of my shoulder bc he won't step up but he did just fine maybe 2 weeks ago. I definitely am noticing a change in attitude, on the other hand he is going through his first molt sence he flegged and has tons of pin feathers right now.

 

[veimar]

Thank you so much, Dinosawr! It gives me hope! Riko is so smart and funny guy, but he obviously struggles with his hormones. He became a little better than that day, but is still pretty bitey and aggressive towards other birds and me. He started opening his beak and doing this weird low sound at me as if he is growling! No wonder I'm upset! Hope he gets over that soon!

 

[Dinosrawr]

Of course And it's crazy how they just snap out of it one day, I never quite believed it myself and thought there would be a gradual change. But nope! One night he was aggressive, the next morning he was a timid creature. Ironically the socializing I had worked on with him when he was bluffing had just magically disappeared, and we had to start at square one all over again.

That's interesting with the growling! Shiko makes weird noises like a sports car changing gears, but I have yet to hear a growl. It's funny how in different environments they pick up such unique sounds. At least Riko is letting you know vocally before he does anything though - that's one thing I appreciate about IRNs... my conure can be unpredictable at times and she doesn't vocalize displeasure, only slightly signals it. And sometimes, I receive a nice little chomp when I'm not paying close enough attention. Shiko will always "tell" me he's displeased. It makes life a lot easier!