Connie seems a bit less cuddly :(

[andrea.b]

Hi guys,
So I just have a question about my Green Cheek Conure's recent behaviour. Usually Connie likes getting scratches every day. She seems to really like it, she would turn her head upside down and close her eyes. She's always been pretty gentle. She is a baby still, only about 3 months old.

Recently her behaviour has changed, she has started biting me more, occasionally quite hard. And she wont let me scratch her anymore, when I try to she opens her beak like a warning to stop.

She's still really content being with me while im sitting around doing homework etc.. but i can't help but feel like I did something that made her dislike me.

Im just concerned because she went from being cuddly and gentle to being less cuddly and more bitey..

There's a few explanations but I'm not sure which is most likely correct, so I'd appreciate your input.

She's moulting right now, so that could be why she doesn't want her feathers touched. And she could be biting because her feathers are bugging her.
OR
She could be growing out of her cuddly phase, I heard that birds can change a lot and become less friendly or more aggressive. Do you think this is happening?
OR
I had exams recently and I wasn't able to spend as much time with her for about two weeks. She was spending much more time with my boyfriend and a bit more time in her cage. When before she spent about twice as much time out of her cage with me than with my boyfriend. So is it possible that she doesn't like me as much now?

Im pretty sad i miss giving her scratches.

 

[weco]

Sounds like you missed the paragraph that mentioned "when the honeymoon's over" ! ! !

Not to worry, everything's normal, though it's too bad she's molting too.....

When a bird moves into a new home/environment, they usually arrive with a laid back attitude, they get the lay of the land & once they feel comfortable in their new surroundings, they will make their bid for flock position, often with an attitude change, some slight, others more drastic, but when a new bird starts to exhibit their true personality you need to be ready to begin their training (if you haven't already).....a young, just weaned bird may or may not have any idea what 'step up' means, it needs to be taught its limitations...when biting is acceptable, when it is not, it needs to be taught its screaming limitations, chewing limitations (what's OK & what's not) and here you thought you'd aced your exams.....

All of her growing up/reaching out is exacerbated by her molt, many companion birds become a bit grumpy during their molt, but, if she will let you, you can take a recently grown in feather & gently pinch the keratin sheath, so that it splits/breaks open.....you'll probably want to try new feathers on her head & neck because she can't reach those areas with her beak.....as to her not letting you scratch her any longer, it could be that you inadvertently pushed/moved/bent a new feather that was not quite ready to have its sheath removed...they do get testy about that.....

I doubt the extra cage time or your boyfriend cutting your time has really had anything to do with her attitude change, but if she starts showing more interest in him, I'm open to changing my mind.....no, I think all of the above just happened together.....here's some links you may want to peruse, during those free times you're not studying:





Step Up Training

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpLv4l41wWM]Teaching Parrots to Step Up and Down - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uiP0fJk3yM]How to Train Your Parrot to Step Up | Parrot Training - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUW0a6ciqLA]Training Your Budgie to Step Up - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9DREe_VhUk]Quaker Parrot Training - Hop Up (Step Up) - YouTube[/ame]

Stop biting

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdwI5f0-sJc]How to Train a Parrot : How to Train Parrots to Stop Biting - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieu4mk68zLc]What to Do If a Bird Bites You | Pet Bird - YouTube[/ame]

Stop Screaming

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPlDljTG2Bo]How to Train a Parrot : How to Stop Parrots from Screaming - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwX8QfL-PXE]How to Train Parrot to Stop Screaming | Parrot Training - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reA_cgdSniU]Stop your pet birds from screaming with Rod Villemaire - YouTube[/ame]


Toutube has more video clips if these don't meet your preferences...good luck.....

 

[LeaKP]

Our gcc went through a grumpy phase too during moulting. Keep close and the phase will pass in time is what we found. When ours tried to bite too hard, we would put him on his stand and let him be alone for a bit. He didn't like that and adjusted his attitude! Ha. These birds don't like to be away from the flock.

 

[andrea.b]

Thank you! This is all really helpful. I'm going to try the techniques from those videos.