Help me please, my Canary-Winged Bebe is going crazy.

ShogunSkot

New member
Jul 31, 2017
1
0
I'm hoping someone here can help me. When our Jenday conure died we did a lot of research into finding the right bird for our family. We decided after months of research that a Hahns Macaw was what we wanted. We have a busy household with two dogs and two kids but I am ALWAYS home so its a perfect environment for a parrot; they are almost always out of the cage and have lots of interaction and socialization. So when we went to pick up our Hahns Macaw my daughter fell in love with a tiny baby Canary Winged Bebe. My daughter did not have a good experience with our Jenday (she was very small and scared of the Jenday and it would bite her out of mutual fear) so she was terrified. We had only intended to buy one bird but after asking the store, which is one of the largest and well known and respected companies that ONLY does birds, about the Bebe they told us that they were perfect with other parrots, are love to be with multiple animals in the house and are sweet and kind. Because we drove over 3 hours to get to the store we decided about the Bebe right then. Unlike the Hahns we had done no research into this breed. We knew nothing about them so we trusted the knowledge of the staff at the store and we brought them both home.

It's been about 2 years now and everything they said about the Bebe was the opposite of what I've found. We never deliberately put the two birds together but there have been a few times where they have gone after the other basically each trying to kill the other and on two occasions managed to draw a bit of blood on a foot and inflict a small wounds on each of their beaks. The Bebe is the feistiest little creature I have ever seen. It acts like a miniature hawk with the personality of a bi-polar Pit Bull. The Bebe is sweet to everyone in the family but because I am always home, it and the Hahns have both tried to bond with me. The Hahns prefers males and love me and my son while the Bebe always want to be with me but is either moody and will defend its cage or lovingly come out for the other family members. The Bebe will fly over to me every time she is let out and on numerous occasions tried to mate with me. I discourage this and don't pet it anywhere besides the head and neck and send it back whenever it tries. Over the last few months the Bebe has been getting more and more vicious with me to the point where no one else but my son will touch her. She will be calm sitting on my lap for hours and then out of nowhere bite me in the face. Nothing startled it, no noises, no lights. Just calm then bam! Both my ears have been punctured scores of times, my hands and face have more then their share of scars and every time it bites it draws blood, These aren't little attention pinches or climbing down and using your body to do so. These are massively painful, deliberate, and repeated attacks. One time it bit me so close to my eye I thought she had blinded me but thank God it only got the eyelid and some eyelashes. Despite all of this I still try to work with her and try to give her time out of her cage and every time she instantly flies over to me and every time it ends with me being bit except now in the last two months it had gone into full blown attack mode. It bites me and I calmly put it back to its cage but now it flies back going right at my face biting repeating until it finally stays on my back locks into my head, neck or face. The attacks now are so fierce that and I sometimes need help getting the beak detached from me. The Hahns on the other hand is so easy, she just loves to chill, is potty trained (so is the Bebe) and DOESN'T BITE LIKE A CROCODILE so the tendency is to prefer spending the time with her instead of the Bebe which is not fair and will make the issues worse I think. I would trim its wings but it falls like a stone even with a small trimming and it can barely fly, it does these odd flutter flaps, when it has its fully grown wings.

My wife asks why I still take her out of the cage and the simple answer is that if I don't who will? They are all terrified of her after seeing what happens to me so that leaves me as the only option. I've read that Bebe's do best where they are the ONLY animal in the house and I think a lot of the problem is that it is competing with the other parrot for me. It is also probably frustrated that I'm not picking up on its biological signals and it's also about the time that it would be going through those dreaded teenage bird years where these types of issue happen. I've been through those tough years with the Umbrella Cockatoo I had many many years ago as well as with the Jenday Conure but it was nowhere near the severity of what I am seeing here.

My wife says we should give her away. I don't totally agree. We made a commitment to give this bird a home and too many birds are just passed from person to person because people don't know how to deal with them in one way or the other. I don't want to be one of those people though I want to do what is right for the animal. If there was a home with a better environment where every day wasn't a competition for attention then maybe the Bebe would be better off with them? I don't know what to do. Please help.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Where to start is a really issue here!

The first is, thank-you for your want to be a Forever Home!

As you have likely figured-out, the staff person was acting more out of the sale of two Parrots than the needs of your home!

You need a ton of information and something that you can keep coming back to, so you need a HandBook! I strongly recommend that you buy either from the Author or one of the used book sites: Companion Parrot HandBook, by Sally Blanchard. Web Search: by entering: Companion Parrot HandBook, by Sally Blanchard, Second Edition. Get this ordered NOW!

In the mean time, you can read the Light Blue Threads at the Start of each Forum for a quick information gain.

This will get you started!

Working with a Single Parrot by allowing the Larger Parrot to Bond with someone else in your household and you target working with the little guy!

What is triggering this quick switch is something that can be defined by changing your focus. It is NEVER the fault of the Parrot! It is ALWAYS the fault of the Human! By changing your vantage point and increasing your focus you will more quickly see what you are doing wrong and/or not seeing and correct it!

Double check just how much Restful Sleep your Parrots are getting everyday. You have a busy house and likely not dark enough or still enough for your Parrots to be getting a good rest. At first, target getting between 10 and 12 hours (high-end is better at first) each night! This is just one of several possible problems.

At this point, others will join in on suggestions for your specific species!
 
Last edited:

wrench13

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Nov 22, 2015
11,383
Media
14
Albums
2
12,567
Isle of Long, NY
Parrots
Yellow Shoulder Amazon, Salty
Our be be parrot, Max, had some of what you are experiencing, more sleep helped. But bebe''s are tiny parrots that don't know it. They can have all the attitude of an amazon. Sally Blanchards book is essential to figuring what is going on. Sounds like a jealous bird is acting out for several reasons. Bebe's can be affectionate guys but you need to let Them know what the house rules are. They Iike most parrots, want to be with the flock. Max, with a lot of work by all the family members, turned into a sweet little ball who would politely shove his head into your palm, to be scraTched. Try more sleep, and that means quality sleep time, first, until you get and read Sally book. I'd read all the stickies at the top of the Amazon forum, I think bebe body language is very similar.
 

Most Reactions

Top