Behaving badly

[Cinnyminis]

Radar has been having behavior issues for about a month. First, he is 1.5 years old. I am typically the only one he will let pick him up from his cage, but if he is on the floor, he will let others pick him up. A few weeks ago, I brought 4 big blue trunks into the living room to put books I was selling into. For lack of space, I kept the trunks in the living room. Radar thought they were evil and he was afraid if the came too close to him, but he seemed to adjust. Shortly thereafter I thought he was molting because I saw feathers everywhere. Maybe it was a small molt if there is such a thing, but this week I noticed he had almost plucked a spot on his chest completely. I moved the trunks out of the room the same day.

During this time, he started almost making a game of puffing up and huffing at me, while trying to bite me when I pick him up. I usually just keep my hand there, take a bite or two, and he then will step up. It has gotten to the point where he bites just about every time I go to pick him up. I made the mistake a few weeks ago, just once, of yelling HEY! at him when he bit me. Now, he bites and puffs out and yells hey! at me. He wants me to scratch him, but he usually winds up nipping, and escalating until he draws blood. I have started telling him to be good, and when he bites, he goes back into his cage, and I try and remove all emotion from it, even though it hurts!

 

So, what went wrong? Is he old enough to be hormonal? What can I do to fix this?

Beth

[SRSeedBurners]

I'm going with the start of the 'terrible twos' which we're also dealing with at 19 mos here (it started a couple months ago). I get the aloof looks and the evil cackles before an attempted nailing of my face. For us it really takes monitoring her moods and knowing when she's being naughty and when she's being nice. She's also more ornery mid-day vs morning and evening. Our timeout cage is getting plenty of use right now. We don't have the plucking issue though and I'm adamant it's because I fly her in the house, she's out most of the time and she has other birds around. She also gets paranoid when something new is brought in but we have a Caique who is fearless and it helps her to see him exploring the new object.

[murfchck]

To me it seems like the boxes scared him and when you didn't take his hints to you he kicked it up a notch by stress plucking and now the trust is not as much as it use to be. The biting is now a game, stop putting yourself in that position where he bites by not pushing him to step up and let him tell you when he is ready to be picked up. My guy will spend a few extra hours by himself sometimes before he calls me to come get him. Terrible 2's begin! Lol

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Great advice from everyone, but I agree with murfchck. Terrible twos which you would see sooner than later. However.... terrible twos don't include increase in plucking! Damn those suitcases! It is so amazing how the littlest thing freaks them out and they stress.The stressor is gone, but make sure you don't make a big deal about the plucking. The added attention just encourages it. When Sophie was younger, we had sooo many kids coming and going, Guinea pigs left and right, dogs senior and puppies, I think Sophie just sat in amazement watching our crazy home. She fit right in. She didn't have a moment to let us know what freaked her out or stressed her....she just jumped in! As she got older, life was a little more quieter, she let us know , what bugged her.Things that bugged her, were absolutely ridiculous! Thats when I realized, I needed to think more like a bird than a parent.Sophie is amazing to this day, but we continue to have disagreements about things. She usually wins. Nancy