Conure Became Evil

[SupahKoopa]

Hi everyone,

I have a serous predicament going on. Yesterday evening my conure started becoming very hostile with me, when in the morning he was just fine and able to perch on my finger. Now he just lunges at me and bites to the point where he break skin and I bleed. Ontop of that the little demon HANGS ON as if his beak is locked in place. I know people say don't react to it but he bites so hard that it's impossible. Also it's quiet upsetting that it just happened out of no where, I guess you could say my feelings are hurt. I've had him for a good year and a half and never had this happen to me before. What can I do to stop this behavior and get back my sweet heart?

 

[chris-md]

Hello and welcome! I know your frustration, sorry your dealing with it.

It's ok to react, a quick yell ouch, you just can't carry on with amusing histrionics. "Look, I bite this person and they dance and make all sorts of funny sounds!! I'll do that again!"

We need some more information, a full history as it were. . How old is your conure? How long have you had him? Is he a DNAd male (did you actually test for the sex?)?

 

[SupahKoopa]

Hello and welcome! I know your frustration, sorry your dealing with it.

It's ok to react, a quick yell ouch, you just can't carry on with amusing histrionics. "Look, I bite this person and they dance and make all sorts of funny sounds!! I'll do that again!"

We need some more information, a full history as it were. . How old is your conure? How long have you had him? Is he a DNAd male (did you actually test for the sex?)?

Hi there!

I had Zazu since he was 6 months old and now it's been a good year and a half since then. He pulled this behavior when I first got him but he obviously got it it. We assumed Zazu was a name since he preferred all the females over males. But he just recently started being aggressive once he met my boyfriend. I'm assuming Zazu might be a she.. I don't know but this sort of happened out of the blue.

 

[Flboy]

Definitely NOT evil! Hormones! You're going to have to learn to help him through this without it hurting your relationship by developing any long-term habits!
Search on "MonicaMC+hormones" without the quotes.
Also,
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

Never ever the parrots fault!

 

[trimblegirls]

Hi,
I'm going through something similar with my GCC Tillie (DNA'd female). I was her preferred one, then my husband, now maybe me??? Who knows. She never bites my husband but will bite me. She'll be on my husband but fly to me and won't get off. She wants to cuddle, she wants to bite, she wants love, she wants to ATTACK. My Tillie is 3 and it's the season to want to make babies. She's a hot mess. I actually feel sorry for her and so I do what I can to help her manage her hormones. Think about it, she's a teenager on the prowl but has no idea what "the prowl" is. As a teenager, you had friends and parents and society to tell you what was happening to your body and what to do about it. They don't have a flock of their species to let them know all those feelings are normal and how to cope with them. Be patient and kind. I watch Tillie carefully for signs of any aggression. She tends to ever so slight raise her head feather when she's about to go off. I put her on top of cage - not in her cage. After a few minutes and she's calmed down I go and get her. Well, more often she comes to get me. She's flighted. I also make sure that I only rub her head and neck. She also gets her 12 hours of sleep.

Hope this helps

 

[Dinosrawr]

David is right - that's hormones right there. Going on year two with hormones and my conure. First couple of months were awful to the point where I couldn't touch her and most of our interactions were target training and simply sitting on the floor talking. Zero hands-on activity between us unless a treat was being given. Now we're at the point where we can talk, cuddle a bit here and there, and perch on my hands again. But her hormones are still pretty rampant so I leave our interactions to pretty minimal hands on and mainly just training. It calms her down and prevents the whole, "Oh good, you're with me and now we can make babies!" mentality.

 

[GaleriaGila]

My two centavos on light issues, and how they can relate. Ever since the Rickeybird hit sexual maturity at about 3-4 years of age, I've had to manage his hormones! If kept on too steady a long day, and too much light, he stayed "in the mood" (aggressive, even louder than usual, pleasuring himself on my neck ) year round. If I keep him on a natural light schedule... up with dawn, down with dusk, year around... THEN he's only a little monster rooster from July to September). He has his own room, so I can do that easily.
As for biting specifically...
Oh, HOWWWWW I feel your pain!
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. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.
Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it.
My darling is kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us.
Good luck!

 

[chris-md]

Agree, welcome to puberty, it can be a ______.

Understand there is nothing you can do to stop it or prevent it, its a natural part of life. Much like human teens you just have to grin and bear it. The advice you are getting, to put it in context, is showing you how to cope with it, not stop it.

THIS TOO SHALL PASS. Give it a year or two and the aggression will subside. You might have to deal with annual hormonal bouts in the spring but it lasts maybe a couple weeks and subsides. You just need extreme patience during this period. If you see it through you will have a very loving companion on the other side.

To show you aren't alone, is posting a couple videos that show what I go through every April or so...*shudder* just a month or so away.

How grumpy he gets
[ame="https://youtu.be/TBPpJpO8QKY"]Parker the parrot hormonal and angry - YouTube[/ame]

How I handle him during this time IF I HAVE TO. If you have to resort to these measures, do so sparingly. It's best to leave them be as Chantal noted with her bird.
[ame="https://youtu.be/zD8R7zcD9NI"]How to handle a hormonally aggressive eclectus - YouTube[/ame]

 

[GaleriaGila]

Ay ay ay!!!!!!!!!!!!

Helpful, and ENTERTAINING, too!

 

[SupahKoopa]

So I found the solution to this whole ordeal. He didn't like my nail color. Here's a video to prove it.

[ame="https://youtu.be/d7hGtYvCmWw"]Zazu doesn't dig teal[/ame]

Thank you every for your replies, it'll truly help me out later on when he actually does go into puberty. Now he steps up and cuddles with me. Pre-teens am I right?

 

[BoomBoom]

Sorry this is happening. My conure went through a bad biting phase which made me question my competence as a parrot keeper. It's a behavior that can be modified, or greatly reduced. Remember always that these are wild animals that strongly retain their natural instincts. Whatever harm they inflict on humans does not come from an evil, malicious place. As I see it, there are 2 golden rules in this case: 1) Never take it personally. 2) Always correct the behavior gently and respectfully.

I'll paste one of my comments on another thread. I found that this method was the best, most effective, easiest way I've tried (and I've tried them all). See below, and best of luck you you and your bird.

"Sorry this is happening. I applaude your patience. My sun conure had a bad biting phase when he was a little over 3 years old. I learned bad tactics from the internet that made things worse (i.e. mean stares, light tap on beak, shake your finger if he's perched in you). These were methods people swore on but did not work for me and my bird.

I learned a simple, respectful method that worked. When he bites me, I say 'no biting," and while perched on my finger, take him back to his cage (not inside the cage, just atop it). I close the living room door which is where his cage is, and I close my bedroom door (which is where I stay most of the time since my computer is there). When he and I have calmed down, I will open the door and he flies inside the bedroom. Separation from me is the punishment. He changed quickly but you have to be consistent.

Try it! Just don't cage him because you don't want to associate his cage interior as punishment."