Chrishel
New member
- Jun 17, 2016
- 8
- 0
- Parrots
- Christina, a foster Goffin Cockatoo; Green Bean and Blueberry, hand-fed English Budgies; Ziggy, rescued American Budgie; Milk Dud, hand-fed Peach Faced Lovebird; Boo, rescued Finch/Sparrow hybrid
I suspect my foster Goffin is getting hormonal and she goes through periods where she is starting to nip me for what seems to be no reason. I don't know how old she is. Her owner says 2 years but his sister says 10 years. Either way, I was petting her mindlessly (we were watching TV) and she started shaking, which I found is mating behavior. Recently, I was petting her head only, and she started turning around and presented the underside of her tail to me. I'm thinking this is another mating behavior as well.
The problem lately is that she will sit on my shoulder and get worked up. Then climb down and nip me on the forearm. I noticed that I have two small bruises on my forearm where she bit me through my sweater. She will tap her beak on my shoulder hard several times and bob up and down with her crest up. When it's bed time and she doesn't want to go back to her cage, she will do the same thing and lunge for my fingers. She doesn't bite hard, but it still hurts, and it's still enough to get her message through.
I suspect there are two different things going on here: hormones and temper tantrums.
Am I reading into her behavior correctly? Any suggestions for how to handle them? I have done the "drop your arm" thing and I've put her back in her cage when she gets worked up for a "time out".
As with most things (human kids included), it's less a bird problem and more that I need training!
The problem lately is that she will sit on my shoulder and get worked up. Then climb down and nip me on the forearm. I noticed that I have two small bruises on my forearm where she bit me through my sweater. She will tap her beak on my shoulder hard several times and bob up and down with her crest up. When it's bed time and she doesn't want to go back to her cage, she will do the same thing and lunge for my fingers. She doesn't bite hard, but it still hurts, and it's still enough to get her message through.
I suspect there are two different things going on here: hormones and temper tantrums.
Am I reading into her behavior correctly? Any suggestions for how to handle them? I have done the "drop your arm" thing and I've put her back in her cage when she gets worked up for a "time out".
As with most things (human kids included), it's less a bird problem and more that I need training!