Change in Attitude

[SaraBridge]

I am new to this forum and have enjoyed so many of your posts with such helpful information! I posted in the 'Welcome' thread and a kind member suggested that I post here.

I am 'mom' to a 6-year old lovebird named Sarah and a 2.5-year old white bellied caique named Bridgit. I love them both to pieces! Both were hand raised by wonderful breeders, visited many times during the weaning process, and came home happy and healthy. I live alone so the house is generally quiet, except when my sister and her children come to visit, which is quite often. Sarah loves company and Bridgit did too until recently. She has suddenly become quite afraid when certain people come into my home, particularly my little nephew who she used to snuggle and play with. Now, she fluffs up and then..CHOMP! She takes a good bite out of me, as typically I am holding her. If I'm not, she'll head straight for him. This is the only time she bites. I then put her back in her cage and if my nephew goes near the cage or even speaks, she begins climbing in circles around the cage, almost in slow motion, as though she's either marking her territory or trying to figure a way out in order to go on the attack and get him good! Anyone have thoughts or ideas as to why such an aggressive change in behavior? Any thought on how I might begin to change it? Many thanks!

 

[lene1949]

Kids can be very cruel to animals... It might not look like it, but the bird senses it... Better keep your nephew away from the bird...

 

[henpecked]

Hey Bridgits Mom,i know how disappointing it must be that your family can't get to know bridgit like you do.Maybe before your nephew arrives put Bridgit in her cage and set it down on the floor so your nephew can sit in a chair at her level. After she calm down somewhat,have him feed her small pieces of her favorite treat. Maybe he could read a book to her or just talk ,without a lot of other people around. I know it's not a magic cure but maybe a start.

 

[SaraBridge]

Thank you! My nephew has always been very gentle and loving toward Bridgit. We'll try your idea of sitting him level with her cage, talking gently, and IF she calms down, feeding her some of her favorite treats. I'll let you know if we begin to see a change! Again, many thanks!

 

[Remy]

Puck is uncomfortable with children! He can get used to them, but it takes a little time.

Is it possible that your nephew did something that scared or upset Bridgit, and now she's holding a grudge? Birds totally do that. He could have been clumsy, or something, without meaning to.

One time one of my cockatiels bit one of my doves on the mouth (ouch) because he landed too close to him and his mate. It drew a little blood but wasn't serious. For the rest of that dove's life, it would attack either of the cockatiels (plucked out feathers, it couldn't really do damage) whenever it got the opportunity. I thought doves were supposed to be peaceful!

On the other hand, Puck recently developed a fear of the shower and I don't know why.

 

[SaraBridge]

I suppose my nephew could have done something, but he's never been alone with Bridgit and I don't recall him doing anything that would cause her to be afraid. But who knows? It seems she simply turned on him for some reason. In fact, one night we were all sitting at the dinner table. Bridgit was on her play stand next to the table close to where my nephew was sitting. She was having a blast swinging around and playing, when suddenly and completely unprovoked, she lunged at him and bit him in the head! He didn't move; just started to quietly cry. Weird! I'm noticing too that she is becoming very fearful overall. For example, she was sitting with me, playing and cuddling, when suddenly she screamed and bolted off my lap and under the couch. What scared her was a tiny little noise that came from the wall - like a typical house settling noise. She seems to be reacting like this, to the smallest things, more and more. It's pretty quiet here throughout the days, although she and Sarah (my lovebird) do chat it up quite a bit (wonder what they talk about? ). I just don't want her to become more and more fearful of every little thing. Guess I should start leaving the television or radio on when I'm not here and making more noise when I am here. I don't know. Poor little thing! :31:

 

[Remy]

If that is what happened, it could have been something that you wouldn't interpret as being scary. That's odd though. Puck has ONE person who he acts afraid of, and we can't figure out why!

If she's acting different in general, she could be hormonal. . I think they have puberty around ages 3-4 (I know that's how it is for conures, which are around the same size). When was her last checkup?

 

[SaraBridge]

It's probably a combination of all these things (kid issues, hormonal, needing more socialization, etc.). Guess I need to gradually make some changes and see what happens. Has Puck ever screamed and bolted? When this happens, Bridgit lets out a very quick, short scream and bolts to the first place she can hide. Don't know what causes such a reaction, but I just hope she doesn't scare herself to death one of these times! Meanwhile....Sarah is beginning her 14th week of sitting on six infertile eggs. I think she may need a psychologist when she finally realizes that they are simply not going to hatch! Poor little thing...hopefully she'll tire of them soon and rejoin our little world

 

[henpecked]

i think i'd pull sarah's eggs, she needs to move around some.3 wks is usually enough.Must be a first time momma.

 

[SaraBridge]

Well, it's actually her third time. The first time, she didn't know to sit on them. The second time, she was a natural! She sat for just about this same amount of time, and once she seemed to lose interest, I pulled them. I'd hate to pull them too soon (ha!) and have her jump right back into nesting mode, unless you think I really should?

 

[BHCowner]

I am having problems with my caique aswell. He has all of a sudden decided that he hates me. He does the slow motion circuling of the cage fluffed up and wings out. Hates anyone but people he see's regularly.

Dont really know what to do as sometimes, not often at all, he will be loving and playful with me... but then.. bam angry and bite really hard and thats it for the rest of the night and probably couple of days. I cant clean his cage properly as he attacks me and tries to through the bars. I am begining to think that buying a caique wasnt the best idea. They are so volatile and switch on a dime for apparantly no reason. Nothing has changed in his life, in my room or about me for this to be happening. Really are confusing birds.

Starting to think that taking him back to the place i got him would be more beneficial for him. Being angry constantly in my room cant be good for him.

 

[Remy]

Puck screams and hides if I turn on the ceiling fan. It's his big phobia. He's getting better about them though, because I take him out a lot, so he sees them regularly. He's gone from screaming every time he sees one to only getting nervous.

BHCOwner - I've gone through that with Puck too. There were periods where I thought "What did I get myself into??" I asked questions on here, and gave him his space to be angry. I've also found that if he gets more sleep, he's a lot easier to deal with. Sometimes he wants to be covered in his cage for up to 12 hours, which seems like a lot to me.

 

[Neravas]

Im sure others will disagree, but i have seen a lot of caique owners having these same problems. They are beautiful playful birds, but they have attitudes and express their attitudes with bites. My uncle had a black headed caique and it lunged and bit his lip several times just randomly out of the blue.

he had hand raised the bird too, so it wasnt like it was a wild bird.

 

[SaraBridge]

Bridgit is afraid of my mop - ha! Once, she was out of her cage and spotted the mop. She charged me and gave me a nice bite! I learned my lesson - no mop when she's out of her cage! Funny though...she loves the vacuum! She's always very timid around all things new, but after a little exploration, she's fine. Just not fine with my nephew or the mop. I find, like Puck, she also prefers a good 12+ hours of sleep. I usually put her to bed at 7:00pm and if I wake her anywhere between 7:30 and 8:00am, she's ready to come right out at the sound of "step up" and her first morning "movement" is done over the sink. But if I wake her before 7:00am, she won't come out of her cage until she's good and ready. So, I let her come out on her own, keep a liner under the cage, and don't have to worry about that first morning "movement" landing on my carpet! BHC owner, I hope your caique is just going through some crazy phase and will return to normal with you soon! They can be so sweet and fun, but yes, it seems many do have "attitude" at times. I hope you can hang in there!