HELP! My lovebird has changed completely in attitude

catecor99

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Jan 3, 2022
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Lovebird
Hello stranger! Thank you so much for reading and helping me out.
About him/her (Sterling): 3 months old, hand raised by another person. Previous owner mentioned he was probably going through pavaporni, or the rebellious teenager face of lovebirds. He was used to being out of his cage all day.
About a week ago, I got a lovebird from a previous owner that could no longer take care of him. When I met the Sterling, he flew around a lot, but easily climbed on your fingers. He would bite a bit, not hard in any way, nothing someone couldn't handle. He has toys, rope perches in his cage, everything.

Day 1 and 2 with him: He was so sweet, liked to be on top of my head or my bf's head, flew around and loves to land on our shoulders. I could easily pick him up by my fingers to move him somewhere else. He also enjoyed playing with my earring, getting inside my shirt from my neck hole...

Day 3: We noticed he started to bite hard on our hands, specifically pulling our skin, but could eventually be on our fingers. Loves to be on our heads.

Day 4/5: Started biting incredibly hard on our hands. When on my shoulder, bites my ear hard and would not let go. Even when he was climbing around my shirt by my neck, grabs hold of a piece of skin on my neck and bites hard and pulls. Still likes to be on our heads.

Day 6/7: Incredibly aggressive now. When he gets on our heads, he walks to the front, and tries to poke my eyes, bite my eyebrows... Has intense force in his bite. Whenever I go to his cage to get him out, the moment my hands are pulling the door open, he is trying to bite hard on my fingers. As soon as the door is open, he walks on my fingers and then flies to my head or my boyfriends. Not more than 2 minutes pass before he goes for the eyes.

Please help! I am not sure what to do. I used to have an Alexandrine parrot, he is back home, no longer with me. I got him from a pet store where he was in the smallest cage, and the amount of patience I had to have with him was immense, but nothing like this. If this bird continues with this attitude I will sadly need to sell him or give him away, it is becoming a danger, and I do not like leaving him in his cage all day.

The picture is from the first day.
 

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foxgloveparrot

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Hello :)
Take her to the vet just to be sure she isn't sick; I don't think it's that, but it can't hurt to be careful.
Chances are, it's hormones, here's a link that can hopefully help:
 

wrench13

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Im thinking hormones too, which means the agression is not his fault, its just the nature of puberty - they loose their minds for awhile. HOwever! Biting should not be allowed to continue or it may become a habit. Bites are addressed by a firm "NO BITE" - not screamed, just firmly, and then put him on a handy nearby chair back and turn your back on him - totally ignore him, no eye contact, no talking about him - nothing. After a minute you can then give him attention. This has to be done every time there is a bite and by every person in the house. This is called shunning method and birds in the wild use it to control unruly members or bratty youngsters.
 

HeatherG

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Apr 25, 2020
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I think you had a well behaved honeymoon for the first days and now your new lovebird is trying to see where he fits in and who he can boss around.

i am confused: did you get a second lovebird? In that case, Sterling may be confused and mad. He is just getting to know you and just getting settled in.

do you know if sterling is a boy or girl bird? That helps to manage hormonal behavior. Anyhow, if he has any coconut shell nests or huts or boxes in his cage, they ought to come out. Those look like nests. Any newspaper or shavings needs to be out of reach. Shredding paper is very exciting for lovebirds as it feels like preparing a nest for eggs or baby birds.
please let us know what’s going on!
 

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