Bonded Pair of Birds

[FieryPhoenix]

I have two birds that are buddies and are both female - sun and quaker, both 18 going on 19 years old.

My Sun has been extremely b*tchy lately. In the afternoon, she has been biting me when getting her out of the cage. She will only come out when Quaker comes out before her and steps up onto my hand.

I did some training with them with treats and had them each step up from the cage, and it went better.

I don't want to punish her but what is a negative reinforcer I can use when she does bite me? I don't stick my hand in the cage. I place it outside.

Also, when she does bite, should I just stand there and let her latch on and never let go? I just can't do that. I have to pry her beak off because when she bites she doesn't let go. She clamps on. The wounds she gives me are not that are not bad (but she does break the skin and I almost always bleed).

It's too early for hormones so I don't think it is that. Sun Conures really can sometimes suck LOL! She can be incredibly sweet but then in an instance she can just turn on you ugh!

 

[SailBoat]

With a Parrot of this age, much can be happening that has her unhappy with the World, which includes you!
First, depending on what part of the World you live and the local Weather (which has been different then most years), she could be feeling a hormonal rush or a lack of sleep, illness and the list goes on!
Second, with near 19 years, your relationship may have become stale and you need to spend some time redeveloping your relationship with her.
If you get bite, the correct response is to free yourself from the bill with as little fanfare as possible, state with clarity, bad girl or whatever and simply turn you back on her! After about a minute, but no longer than two, turn back around and continue on with life.
You should consider an Avian Vet visit as per your statement, this is out of normal.

 

[FieryPhoenix]

She had a physical next month.

She has always been a moody girl. I wonder if she feels cranky toward the end of the day.

I have been keeping a journal since March. I am hoping that since I have been training her that this will be a better spring. I average getting bit a few times a month. Last spring was awful because she gave me bites that took weeks to heal. If

I get frost rates because people say “watch the body language.” Well she doesn’t walkways give me any warnings except the lunge. I can’t see her pupils and will look pretty chill.

Barometric pressure is 29.87. The weather sucks. Maybe that’s it?

I am in the northeastern United States.

 

[SailBoat]

Yup, your weather has been all over the board as each strong storm comes thru.
Interestingly, barometric pressure has very little to do with overall health issues. Look more at humidity levels for both inside and outside. Cold air and High Humidity vastly increases the bitterness of Winter and High Humidity during Summer caries more pollen, which are a pain in and of themselves.

Maybe that's it! Yes, that's it,! Our big Amazon has been a nightmare with his wide swings of Hormonal Flows. Plus the lack of Sunshine in our area is not helping his attitude one bit.