Mood Swings & Brattyness

[Murphy91]

I have a 3 month old Plum-Head, female & hand-raised. I just wanted to ask if it's normal for this species/age or even for all parrots to have mood swings? And I mean mood swings... Sometimes she will be downright bratty. Before I put her to bed of a night I can't even stick my hand in the cage or she literally pounces from wherever she is with her mouth open like a Great White breaching from the ocean and bites my fingers. She also makes this noise that reminds me of a child who doesn't get their way (which gets louder when I say 'NO' which does absolutely nothing, she knows the command but is ignoring me). All I was doing was trying to change her water... This is just an example, it also happens occasionally during the day. The other thing is whenever I put my fingers in her general direction (unless I'm asking her to step up) she nips or bites... But as soon as I change the direction of my finger (horizontal to her) she immediately stops and steps up.

Can anyone help me understand why she is doing these things? Are baby parrots generally like this do you think?

Thanking anyone who answers muchly,
Mark


P.S: I'm a first-time bird owner and new to these forums!
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[antoinette]

Welcome
Welcome to the birdie world
Your bird is testing you, just like a teenager
Birds do have moods swings, just like us humans
Perhaps she woke up the wrong side of the bed LoL

 

[momto3]

Baby birds will test your authority. You will need to periodically establish boundaries or your bird will learn that you are not the boss. I recommend putting your bird to bed earlier and respecting her evening cranky--maybe she wants to go to bed earlier. See if that helps. Our conure gets ornery after 8 so we make sure that we handle him before 8. Birds can be moody, too. Eventually you will figure out when she is testing you and when she is being moody...

 

[LoryLover]

Congrats on your new little baby! Oh yes, I think it's very normal for young birds to be as you are describing. I got my chattering lory when she was 6 weeks old and she's now 15 years old. She was a gentle little baby until she was 2 months old, then she discovered biting. The next 3 weeks were spent in training her not to bite. By the time she was 3 months old, she wasn't biting anymore and had learned to talk.

You both need to get to know each other. Your young Plum Head is still in the learning, experimenting stage. Be observant of her behaviors and what triggers them. Parrots can sense your inner emotion, and will feed off of it. Be loving and I'm sure she will respond. Also, I've learned that we need to be willing to conform to their world, as much as they have to conform to our world. Your parrot may decide she doesn't like certain things, and that's just how she is. As time goes on, a better comfort level will develop and it just takes patience during the adjustment period which could be a few months.

 

[Murphy91]

Thanks for the answers... Last week I started clicker training, just targeting so far and I have to say it's made an improvement in her behaviour. She is more confident around me and behaves herself more.