New User/behavior question

[Nmcgowan]

Hello all! Alrighty, I'll get right down to it. My Fiancé and I have a Cinnamon GCC. In December she will be 8 months old and we acquired her around 3 months of age. We have her hatch date papers and vaccination informtion. She has already had a vet visit for a general checkup, nail grind and beak grind. Our Vet is and exotic specialist with 30 years in the biz and he is certain that our bird is a female. With that information we decided to name her Freyja. She is the center of our world.

On day one she learned how to step up and loves getting head scratchies. I've never seen andnnd more well behaved bird. Until recently: last week we lost our leopard gecko to cancer and we removed his tank from its spot in our living room. Freyja has always seen Loki (the gecko) everyday and she would try to chirp to him. After removing the tank, we decided to put our xmas tree up. We moved freyjas cage into the corner where Loki used to be and put the tree in her old spot. This is just some additional info I'm not sure if you guys might find it useful.

THE PROBLEM: Lately, Freyja has taken to trying to nip me in the mornings. My fiancé works and I'm currently going through online schooling so I'm the one who is with her all day almost everyday. She is a real smart cookie who will raise her leg as if she wants to step up and when I offer my finger she will put the one foot down and go for the kill while screaming. This is absolutely not normal for her. I will pull my finger way from her, not say a word and go where she can't see me. Then she will just sit there and cry. Halfway throughout the day she will start behaving normally: stepping up nicely, quietly talking to me while I answer her, she takes her afternoon nap, then gets all excited and happy when daddy gets home.

I dot want to try to humanize Freyja, but I'm wondering if she could be grieving the loss of Loki. Or is she upset that we moved her cage and toys? Is it a mixture? Will she eventually get over this or should we move her back to her old spot?

Sorry for the long first post, just trying to add as much detail as possible.

Thank you all I advance. I can add pictures later is you need them.

 

[wrench13]

Put her back where she was and see what happens.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I agree with Al (Wrench13). Your sweety is now in a "different" spot..AND now there is a Christmas tree in her old spot..being so young and new to her new home,she just may be wondering what the heck is going on here??

Try moving her back to her old spot..and maybe moving the tree..I don't know much about conures..but some birds do get terrified of change.


Jim

 

[Flboy]

Also, have her be used to stepping up on a hand held perch, very useful! My JoJo had started nailing me in the mornings, so for about a month, I used a perch to get him up and out. Broke the habit, and I realized what was triggering the bites. I would get him up and do the hug and kisses routine. He was panicking because he hadn't done his morning dump yet!

Good info here,
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Remember, you gal IS trying to tell you something!

Back to the portable perch, very useful for many reasons. My JoJo doesn't think twice when I use most anything as a perch. Wife's Bongo, you go near him with your hand and he doesn't know you, you are hurt! But he will step up for anyone who has a stick! It does take them a bit to get over the fear of a stick coming at them!

 

[Loko]

Put her back where she was and see what happens.

I think this is good advice. It may seem so simple, but many birds feel nervous with change, especially new big scary things in the house that come out of nowhere to them. If you do this, you will learn right away whether or not this is why the behavior is happening. It is also possible that hormones are starting in; small birds like GCCs can start having hormonal fluxuations younger than the bigger parrots. I think the first step is to see if moving the cage back helps. If it does, then great, if not, maybe its the tree - maybe theres a way of moving the tree or blocking it from view of the cage (without adding another big scary thing of course). If its not that either, it could be hormones. Another possibility is, if you habe a bird go to step up and then reneg on it, the bird will "bite" you to keep stable so he or she can step up. If you keep pulling away they wont trust your hand to be still and hold on with the beak. She could be grumpy in the morning too. I dont even try to hold Loco until he is out of his cage, stretched his wings, and did his morning bathroom.

 

[Nmcgowan]

Thank you all for the wonderful advice. We will try putting her back in her spot over the weekend and see what happens. We are in an apartment so moving the xmas tree out of her sight may be hard but we will take the steps to make her comfortable. I'm attaching pics of her cuteness and getting scratchies from daddy.

 

[Loko]

You may not have to, she may be used to it by then and the behavior would stop (if that is the problem first of all), then no point, but if it still happening its worth a shot.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Also, have her be used to stepping up on a hand held perch, very useful! My JoJo had started nailing me in the mornings, so for about a month, I used a perch to get him up and out. Broke the habit, and I realized what was triggering the bites. I would get him up and do the hug and kisses routine. He was panicking because he hadn't done his morning dump yet!

Good info here,
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Remember, you gal IS trying to tell you something!

Back to the portable perch, very useful for many reasons. My JoJo doesn't think twice when I use most anything as a perch. Wife's Bongo, you go near him with your hand and he doesn't know you, you are hurt! But he will step up for anyone who has a stick! It does take them a bit to get over the fear of a stick coming at them!

I also agree with Flboy with the perch/stick..even after 27 years with Amy I use one..especially if she is in her mansion..Its MINE daddy! don't you intrude! But with a step-up perch she'll get right on it.


Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

Agreeing with all the good advice, plus chiming in on the hand-held perch idea...

I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair.
My darling is kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us.
Many feel that GCCs are the sweethearts of conures. Good luck!

 

[ParrotProdigy]

This will be my baby Jenday Conure's first xmas as well. I tried showing him the tree, which is in another room from his cage, and he is positively horrified by it. I'm fairly certain whatever is going on with your girl has to do with her immediate environment changes. She is probably freaked out and uncomfortable which is making her act scared and not like her normal self. Birds really hate change in any form.

 

[Flboy]

This will be my baby Jenday Conure's first ?XMAS? as well. I tried showing him the tree, which is in another room from his cage, and he is positively horrified by it. I'm fairly certain whatever is going on with your girl has to do with her immediate environment changes. She is probably freaked out and uncomfortable which is making her act scared and not like her normal self. Birds really hate change in any form.

Really necessary?