Beat up by Bonkers (hormonal?)

[BaxtersMom]

I believe Bonkers our conure is having major hormonal issues!! I have been beat up and bloodied by the smallest flock member of our house. No Joke.

 

Started about a week and a half ago. He (I call him a he but really don't know) Anyway, he started out all of the sudden befriending our our amazon who he hated just a few months before. Went to the bottom section of his cage below the grate and shredding his paper up and getting very possessive of the paper shreds:dry: If I went to talk to him, he would charge me. Very teritorial. If I got to close he would bite me hard! We took the paper away from him because we thought this might be nesting behavior.

 

Then he started dive bombing my dog out of the blue. He couldn't stand the sight of him it seemed. A day or two later~ I found myself to be his target. He just seems so full of rage all day long. My husband has always been his favorite and so far he is still sweet and loving to him which is the only good thing this situation has going for it.

 

He is fully flighted but for several days spent alot of time down near the bottom of our amazons cage or walked the floor. Anytime me or my dog would walk through the house he'd come running! It would have been funny but he was out for our flesh and our blood! He has torn my toes up and my dog just makes mad dashes through the rooms to get from one place to another.

 

At first I just thought he was having a bad day or two. He can be a little brat at times but nothing compared to the way he's been this past week or so.

 

He does ride on the shoulder as much as he can. He's always been that way and never a problem. But now he is not allowed anymore. He bit my cheek real good and my shoulders are totally off limits now.

 

So I have gotten bloody toes, bloody fingers a bloody cheek but today was the worst and really scared me. He seen me from across the room, hopped off Baxters cage, flogged me with his wings and just started ripping into my hair and my ear!!!! I got a pretty good cut on my ear and it bled alot. For some reason ears bleed easily. Anyway, this made me furious and I am not making any more excuses for him.:angry:

 

I am assuming that the hormones are raging inside this little bird and I can understand it but it can't be excused any longer. For the safety of my dog and myself I have decided he is going to stay in his cage untill he is over this. It is for his safety too because my dog is little but if I my dog ends up getting fed up with him I'm afraid Bonkers won't know what hit him. Bonkers is also getting on the cabinet doors and trying to rip the wood off:angry:

 

But he is cage bound untill this nonsense passes. The only exception is that my husband can go in the room with him and let him out for short amounts of time but I'm not going to be in the same room with him while he is loose.

 

Before you all ask, no I haven't treated him badly or done any harm to him. We haven't changed things around, etc. He is eating well and not acting the slightest bit ill. We were told he was about 4 or 5 years old by our local pet store lady. She said that because of the way his eyes were. Don't know if it's true but that's all I have to go on with the age.

 

I do believe this is a good case of hormones by some of the parrot behavior website I have read. I am just wondering how long this can last. I've heard it can last a month or two. Is this true?

 

This is the first time I have went through this with any of my birds. At first I didn't know what was going on with him or why he would act this way so I am hoping that when someone elses little "angel" turns in the devil they will know what to expect.

 

I have already been told to trim his wings but I we are Not going to do that because he would just run across the floor to get us anyway.

 

I have been told not to feed him sugars and starches.

 

Is there anything else I can do to ease this situation.

 

Any other advice would be appreciated. I'm handling this the best way I can but it still doesn't seem good enough. I hate having to keep him in the cage most of the day.

 

Now I know what people mean when they say they don't touch their birds when they are hormonal.

 

Thanks for listening{Feel-bad-00020080}

Sincerely, Bruised and Battered

[Char]

Wow that is scary. Sounds like he is a male and hormonal. Sounds like he has chose the Amazon as his mate and is defending her.One thing you can try to do to slow down the hormones is to shorten his daylight time. Hormones in birds are triggered by the longer days. Try covering his cage earlier in the evening and thereby trick his hormones into thinking the days are shorter. This is why I have been waiting for the breeder to produce a female DYH for me. I do not want a male.

 

I know you don't want to trim the wings but it would do more than just limit his movement. It would probably help with the attitude as he would become dependent on humans and not be so cocky. They will grow back. I would also keep him away from the other birds or at least limit his contact with the amazon.

 

Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/22 03:09<br><br>Post edited by: Char, at: 2009/06/22 03:13

[BaxtersMom]

Thanks Char, I read alot of it had to do with the long daylight hours but I didn't think of covering him up and limiting the light. That sounds like a great idea.

 

The amazon we have is a dna male and we don't know what Bonkers our conure is. He actually lost some of the interest in the amazon when we took the paper out below the grate. We have been keeping confined to his room where his cage is so he hasn't been around the other fids as much the last couple days. Oh it's such a mess. This must be a severe case. I do feel sorry for him too cuz he's probably really confused himself. Sigh.

Thanks for the advice:)

 

We have always considered him a male. If males suffer worse I'd say he's a male cuz it couldn't get much worse I don't think.

[Azzie]

Baxtersmom, my lorikeet Sam is doing the exact same thing. She (?) has been scratching the bottom of the cage which is covered in news paper, and tearing little shreds off the paper. She has made a tunnel under the paper which leads to her "nest". She even stores items for fruit and vegetables in there as well some some of her favourite small toys. When I go near the cage she becomes very territorial and possessive, and makes a specific whistle that tells me she is majorly peeved off. As for going near her, forget it, she has rips chunks of flesh off my hands, so I can totally sympathise with you.

 

The other thing I noticed when Sam became so hormonal is that she was much more vocal. Lots of loud yelling and squeals. Lorikeets are naturally quite noisy and loud anyway, but these were totally different sounds.

 

What I've done, and seems to be working, is almost fully close the curtains behind the cage, so it looks like permanent twilight. I've stopped feeding them corn on the cob and very sweet fruits. That's not easy for a lorikeet, as they are naturally nectar eaters and love sweet stuff.

 

I only interact with Sam when she is not moody and broody and does not do her particular whistle. When she gets into one of those moods, I leave her alone, mostly for my safety. Sam is also currently cage bound, because for one she WILL attack me, and secondly she is impossible to try and get back in the cage when she is hormonal like this.

 

Sam has been like this for about 4 weeks now, and slowly seems to be settling down to normal. She still scratches at the cage and makes nests, but not to the extent she used to, which was pretty much all day. She is playing more with the hanging toys. She still gets cranky at times and will try to lash out, but again to a lesser extent.

 

Apart from the suggestions posted by the other readers, I don't think there's much more you can do but ride it out. Don't feel guilty for having your bird cage bound at the moment. He'll survive, and it's for the safety of everyone, the bird, the dog and you. If your husband does handle the bird, make sure he doesn't touch it around the back, wings and vent area, as that can sexually stimulate a bird. If your bird is masturbating (rubbing his bottom on things), see if you can gently distract him from doing this by offering a toy or a small treat.

 

Good luck with your moody broody bird

[BaxtersMom]

Azzie, It sounds like the same behavior. Bonker is much more vocal too. Not so much screeching but talking if very low tones and has shrilly noises mixed in. Not the usual sounds he makes. These noises are totally different and mean totally different things.

 

I feel better now knowing that I'm not the only one who has one with this bad of a case. Atleast to me it seems severe. He has been sticking like glue with some of his toys. He will hold on to a toy usually with a bell on it and just hug and snuggle it and make all these wierd noises. He grabs the bell and talks into it like a telephone. One toy he was so "obsessed" with we had to take out of the cage. It was just not normal if you know what I mean:pinch:

.

My husband has just been petting him around the neck and head so that part is ok. I am just thankful he still accepts my husband. It seems like Bonkers will tell him all about what he is going through. If we could just understand it.

 

But 4 weeks...oh no...so it's true. Atleast I know the approximate time limit and I won't wake up each morning thinking "this day will be better" :laugh: I still have a few weeks or a month to go. :blink:

 

I will be watching his diet for sweets and starches. I didn't know about the nuts:S I guess for now it will just be pellets with a little seed as his diet. Is that ok you think? Maybe some cooked pinto or kidney beans would be ok and veggies? I don't want to give him anything that will make those hormones worse.

 

Thanks a million!! I feel there is hope for us yet:cheer:

[Azzie]

Beans are full of starch unfortunately. Same with pasta, rice and any root vegetable such as potato.

 

I think just feed him pellets and a little seed, and try some other fruit/vegetables such as apple and carrot. They aren't overly full of natural sugars like grapes and berries are. I really don't think a few weeks of a less than optimal diet is going to harm him.

 

You're right with the overly affectionate behaviour towards toys not being normal. In the absence of a mate, he's transferring his desires onto an object, and the best thing is to remove it. Prolonged contact with such an item of affection just encourages more broody behaviour.

 

A friend of mine had 2 rainbow lorikeets, and the male would become infatuated with a leaf of silverbeet and try to mate with it, for hours on end.

 

And you also did the right thing by removing potential nesting material, which in your bird's cage was the newspaper on the bottom.

 

It is quite frightening when your previously sweet natured bird turns into this raging monster. First thing I wondered if Sam was sick, as her behaviour was so out of character. She lives in the same cage with another lorikeet, gender also unknown, but I saw the other one mount and try to mate with Sam. I tried to put them in separate cages to reduce sexual stimuli but they spend all their time calling out to each other and fretting. I guess these 2 have pair bonded and being separated was causing lots of anxiety so I put them back together.

 

I just did some reading about hormonal behaviour, and it seems that high protein foods and showering can also encourage hormones. So that's any form of bean out of the question

 

Here's some links I found useful when dealing with Sam. They pretty much cover the same stuff and I'm sure you've come across it with your earlier reading.

 

http://www.avianweb.com/sexualbehaviorinbirds.html

 

http://www.littletykesaviary.com/index_files/Page717.htm

 

http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/spring.html

[Char]

Good luck BaxtersMom. Hang in there. It won't last forever and soon you will have your baby back. It must just be the season for it as the U2 I rescued is displaying sexual behaviour also. Fortunately no bites though.

[Tycos_mom]

I know just how you feel I just went through 4 months of raging hormones With Fergie I've had her for 8 years and by far this was the worst year. Thank goodness she is not a bitter but the nesting and clucking was enough she chewed a 14 inch hole in my kitchen wall above my cupboards and my kitchen cabnets are going to have to be replaces as she has chewed bits all around the top of them. And quick I couldn't get up there fast enough before she chewed a chunk out of them. I did end up trimming her wings and it is so heart breaking but it sure slowed down her hormones right quick. shes finally back to her oldself again thank goodness mabie next year won't be so bad or as long.

[BaxtersMom]

Pat,I remember you going through this with Fergie and chewing the cabinets up awhile back and I could tell how frustrating it was for you. I had no idea at the time how terrible it really could be but now I know:laugh: I'm just glad I posted about it. It makes me feel so much better. I figured it was hormonal but I didn't know if this degree of aggression was normal. He has been such an evil little thing lately. :evil: I think hearing what everyone has had to say and their advice has helped me calm down myself which can only help Bonkers feel better too. Atleast I know it will pass,even if it does take a few months to get through. Whew! I do think this is a bad case of it and I hope that next time it won't be as bad on us. Now I am just wondering about my other 3 fids and how they are going to handle it:blink: :unsure:

 

A big thank you to everyone!!!

[judygram]

Yeah I could tell you were really upset about it but I guess it is not so unusual after all but you are going thru a really rough one. I wouldn't worry too much about the others going thru the same thing, they might just take it in stride, at least don't think about it until it happens. Just knowing you are not alone in what you are experiencing is a big help in itself.

 

Hang in there Erika, you only have a few more weeks to go.:blink:

[Luvparrots]

Oh so sorry Erika. I hope Bonker's hormones stop raging very soon. Hang in there!!!

[casper]

Erika, I do hope this passes for you and things go back to normal.

 

Everyone has offered great advice! Lets hope some of the advice will help you.

 

Keep us all posted:)

[Eckobird]

Aww you poor thing! I hope this passes for you too.

[BaxtersMom]

Ok, we have made some adjustments with Bonkers now and things are a little better. We have changed his diet to mainly pellets with some seeds and staying clear of the sugars and starches. We will give him some other things if we know it won't upset his hormones anymore. We are keeping him in his cage most of the time but we go sit with him and talk to him and he still is "fussy" at times but I think being in his cage has calmed him down quite a bit. I think he even feels better even though I'm sure he doesn't like being confined to his cage most of the day. My husband does go in and let him out for an hour or two in the evenings so he can get some activity and stretch his wings a bit but I won't go in there while he is out. I do go in there and take the other flock members in for visits though because it has a huge playstand and the den is very bird friendly. So he has his company, too. One of the computers is in the room so he does get lots of attention still.

 

I think this will work untill he gets back to his old self. I think I just might survive this one but I wasn't too sure of that last week:laugh:

[Char]

I am so glad to hear that Bonkers is calming down. Sounds like you are taking some good steps to help him. You are such a good parront. Karma to you!

[Luvparrots]

So glad that things are calming down for Bonkers, Erika. Hopefully, the time will now fly by until Bonkers is his old self again!

[lovethatgrey]

Poor you and what a scary stressful ordeal. I would definitely make sure he gets at least 12 hours hours of pure darkeness and undisturbed sleep.

[danmcq]

Wow, what a story of raging hormones Erika!! I'm afraid I would have knocked him into Friday after that many attacks.... well I wouldn't have, but it sure would have crossed my mind.

 

You've done a great job indealing with it and caging him, changing diet etc. was the best scenario for you and him.

 

Hopefully this won't last much longer. :-)

[BaxtersMom]

yes, I think it will work out for us just fine and I really hope time passes by quickly. Another thing we have started was covering his cage earlier at night so he is getting much more rest.

 

And Dan, yes, I did want to knock him into next Friday. Don't think it didn't cross my mind. Alot of not so nice things went through my mind. I rarely ever say any cuss words anymore but when he bit my ear they sure flew out of my mouth like I was a drunken sailor:whistle: I remembered exactly how to use them.:lol:

 

But after a few hours I calmed down and realized it wasn't his fault. I am wondering if when he gets back to normal if we will have the same relationship as we had before though. I will stay optomistic and hope for the best.

[lovethatgrey]

I also wanted to add that when you are both in the right frame of mind - stick training is a must!{Feel-good-00020114}

[Tycos_mom]

Hi Erica gosh do I know what your going through My male IRN has just gone fromthe most sweetest lovey bird you could ever want or ask for into the meanest thing I've ever seen He actually tryed to attack my face today and if I hadn't put my hand up when I did I'm sure my face would have beena bloody mess instead of my hand. He's not even old enough yet to be this way but I now know exactly what your going through this is the second time in 2 days that he's done this its totally out of charactor for him but if I didn't know it was hormones I would be afraid of him. So I guess he's going tobe in his cage for awhile and I'll be changeing his diet and sleep times also. With Fergie she just was always trying to build a nest. but with the Boys its obviously a totally different thing. He's extreamly aggresive thank goodness I only have 2 boys and the rest are girls and hopefully my macaw has learned to deal with his hormones a bit since he is 8 yrs old because I would really hate to be attacked by him with a beak the size of his he could really do some severe damage. I feel for you because you have a house full of male birds gosh I've heard that male Amazon can get really nasty. Theres always an exception to the rule lets hope your bird is that exception.

[BaxtersMom]

Well, it sounds like it is going around then. Bonkers has always been a little fiesty. He always seemed to know what he wanted and would go for it but he was a sweet little thing. He has his conure attitude but he has never been a biter before. This behavior is totally out of character for him, too. Before the day he "changed" I have always been comfortable saying that he was not a biter. :whistle:

 

Pat, I'm sorry you are going through this too again. I know how you felt when he went after your face. The day before Bonkers got my ear I was in the room with him and luckily I had a baby/bird toy in my hand. He hovered right over my face for what seemed to be several minutes just squaking at me. I shook the toy at him in front of my face and telling him "you better stop that" I had no idea at that time how much danger I was in:ohmy: If I didn't have the toy in my hand I'm sure my face would have looked like mincemeat. Even when he got my ear, he was almost impossible to get off me. It was scary. He actually bit the little pokey out thing on my ear (like where you put q tips in) I had an open cut on the inside of my ear and the outside. I feel like I really lucked out because it could have been alot worse.

 

And I didn't know you had a mccaw...I must have missed that or have you always had him?

 

Bonkers is still staying in his cage. Attitude does seem a little bit better. My husband lets him out in the mornings after I leave and in the evenings when I am doing something. Hopefully, he will be better soon.<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2009/06/26 00:07

[Tycos_mom]

How could you not know about my Macaw I talk about him all the time he's a Severe Macaw and I rescued him on Oct. 29 2008 His name was Gizmo and I changed it to Jeepers.

[BaxtersMom]

Duh:blush: I'm so embarrassed. I know all about Jeepers. I remember when you brought him home and all the anticipation waiting on the day you could go get him. I think I was checking in hourly untill he came to you. I had in my mind one of the big blue and golds or something. What was I thinking???? I thought you snuck one in on me.:laugh:

[Tycos_mom]

{Feel-good-00020114}