Help with my Conures?

[TheBirdBuds]

So I have two conures. One is a 2 year old male GCC named Morgan. The other is a 6 year old female sun conure named Max/Maxine (we thought she was a boy but then we found out she is a lady). We got Max about 3 years ago and then Morgan a couple months after.
So when we got organ max reacted very aggressively towards Morgan (Morgan is the sweet innocent one who wants everyone to be his friend). We thought this was just because they are both male and Morgan was stepping into his turf, but now Max is female and they are inseparable.
However, the past couple of weeks Max has been very aggressive towards me! I have no idea why but sometimes she is somewhat nice to me and then other times she just wants to bite my face off as she has multiple times. I dont know why she is meant to me but not anybody else. I am the one who practically takes care of the two like feeding, changing their cage, letting them out. I do everything for them but they hate me! Why the sudden mood swings? I understand it could be hormones but no she cannot be "knocked up" by Morgan since he is a different breed. What can I do to encourage kind behavior? Help!

 

[itzjbean]

It could be that they have become a pair, Max has chosen Morgan as her mate and therefore will defend him from anyone, including their owners that take care of them. This happens a lot in the bird world, you'll see it especially in the larger species like macaws, who, once they bond with their macaw mate, will act aggressively towards anyone that approaches, even if they were so sweet as babies. They are showing their devotion to their mates and are expressing natural instincts to protect their mate.

Do they share the same cage? You could keep them in separate cages to keep them from bonding too much to each other. Also, spending time with each bird individually playing, training, and giving treats should help.

Always remember, our pet birds are far from being domesticated like the cats and dogs we own. They still have incredible natural instincts to pair, have babies and reproduce. They can be ruled by their hormones and all that time you spent bonding and training your sun conure may go out the window if she has bonded with Morgan.

 

[Flboy]

Remember, you basically have miniature Macaws!

 

[clark_conure]

First...I'd go with maxamelia...more exotic.

Secondly yeah it's probably a mating thing the female is the aggressor you say and maybe she is in "heat" and your 2 yo may not be able to do anything about it yet, from what Ive read it's about the 2, 2 1/2 year mark males hit maturity.

Since this is not really a training issue but a hormonal issue at least as it sounds, I'd go with letting her out and letting her have her space till she comes to you. You can't really train away biology but urges will pass.

that is my best GUESS.

 

[itzjbean]

First...I'd go with maxamelia...more exotic.

There's an awesome series called 'Maximum Ride' following the main character, Maximum (Max for short, a girl) about genetically altered kids infused with bird DNA who have huge wings.

I love the name Maximum for a girl!

 

[LordTriggs]

First...I'd go with maxamelia...more exotic.

There's an awesome series called 'Maximum Ride' following the main character, Maximum (Max for short, a girl) about genetically altered kids infused with bird DNA who have huge wings.

I love the name Maximum for a girl!

okay, what? This show sounds like the exact level of dumb that I like