Source
r/parrots•
diskopony

Please Help. Conure's turned aggressive.

Lola is two years old now. I've had her for all two of those years. We bonded immediately and have had a great relationship these past years--bar, of course, some birb sass here and there. I love her. I've had birds before, so I'm pretty well versed in the do's and don'ts.

Yesterday night, she became incredibly aggressive for no apparent reason.

Preamble:

  • She wasn't in environment that she's ever felt uncomfortable/threatened in.
  • I never made any sudden or alarming movements towards her.
  • I didn't tease/temp her; I know full well what she hates, and did nothing to warrant that response.
  • She wasn't hissing, fluffed, or displaying any other defensive/aggressive behavior prior.
  • I've never clipped her wings.
  • She gets plenty sleep and spends plenty of time out of her cage.
  • She has a pellet-based diet. Fruits and some seeds here and there. She doesn't really like vegetables.
  • I've trained her for need alerts. If she needs to poo, needs food or water, she gives me a tap, and we'll be on our way. There was no tap.
  • Nothing strange/alarming was on me or my hands; no scents, no textures, no residue, no colors, nothing.
  • I absolutely never give into her mating behaviors. i.e. no back scritches, nothing resembling a nest in her cage or the house.
  • I have never been violent with her. No hitting, no yelling; all outbursts are met with calmness and positive reinforcement. She's been trained to know when she's biting too hard, or acting up.

It's weird to say, but I feel attacked. Check out the damage. This was after I cleaned them up, mind you. Every cut was bleeding and puffy last night.

How it happened:

tl'dr - I moved her, as she asked to be. I was mauled for it.

She asked to be moved from her perch to the counter--yes she has wings, no she can't be bothered to use them sometimes. After she was on my index finger she begins clamping down on it very hard. I calmly give her the stop sound she's been trained to listen to. She did not.

I set her gently on the counter as she continues to hold on. I never once yelled or exhibited any violent/negative reinforcement. She then lunges at my hands and proceeds to bite more, and more, and more. I'm now bleeding and sore. (That rhymed)

I run to wrap her in her comfort towel and put her in her cage. While in her cage, she begins to bite at it, trailing my hands.

This morning, she calls for her morning poo. I take her out, same thing.

I feel helpless. I don't want to give up on my girl. She's wonderful and loving. But I don't recognize her like this and it breaks my heart.

What am I doing wrong?

What do I do?

Do I get a trainer?

Is it hormones--because it usually always is, if so, how do I make this stop happening every time she has a flare-up?

Please help.

Posted Aug 24, 2017, 3:17 PM UTC · edited

1911
TheLittlestNihilist•

2 years you say? Sounds like someone has hit puberty.

27
Suburbaneyes•

Yup. Our dusky conure turned two and went insane. He was crazy for a few months then largely went back to normal. It sucked while we were in it (I was preggo and Wedge decided to hate my husband for the duration of my pregnancy) but it DID get better.

3
StaringAtYourBudgie•

That would be my guess as well. It may help to get her out of sight of the cage before giving her access to hands.

I've noticed my birds have really sucked at hormones the first time or two they have gone through them. She'll get some perspective with each round and not take it all so seriously after a couple of years.

As I suspect you know, the trick in the meantime is not to get bitten, as biting reinforces biting. If you have the means to engage a trainer, that would probably speed up the process and smooth the way for you both.

I like that you've set up cues to communicate with her. All my guys understand "be careful", which means they are beaking a bit too roughly, and "no biting" which means they've crossed a line and are about to get consequences (ranging from a very short time out to ending their out-of-cage time for the evening)

The cues help a lot as they begin to get some perspective on their own behavior but are ramped up and not noticing that they are starting to drift out of bounds.

2
Staleina•

Before I even opened this post I thought "Let me guess, she's two years old."

It's the terrible two's. Congratulations, you now have a sexually mature conure with the same temperament as a teenager. I wouldn't doubt the terrible two's are a big contributing factor as to why many parrots end up in rescues. People buy the adorable snuggler than BAM!!! Bitey Mc'Bitey face arises! Oh, and let's not forget the sudden rise in volume.

My conure went through this stage many years ago (he's still a bit of a cheeky bugger and he's over 15 years now) and I remember it well. He went from being the sweetest snuggle bug that would nestle in your shirt for hours on end to a biting, war dancing little mongrel. Let's not forget his war cries either, oh god... "SHRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEK!!!" and then his angry grumbles, which are kind of cute actually. He'd go on long grumble rants.

He became a pro at the "You don't know me!" side to side head bob, doing a little war dance back and forth and puffing up and stretching tall to show you how BIG he is before slamming his beak on the ground to show you he's tough. Oh, and his little angry noises and glares, oh man, it was ludicrous. He'd also decided at that age that my brother was his nemesis and would dive bomb him. So I clipped his wings to avoid people getting bit in the face, he decided this meant he had to resort to jumping on the ground and chasing after my brother whenever he'd visit instead. He's a professional natural bodybuilder too, so it was hard to stifle a laugh when I'd see such a big guy run from a tiny bird and calling for help.

It was a trial in patience, that's for sure.

The key is to be hyper vigilant about reading her body language and keeping yourself safe. Give her other things to get her aggression/frustration out on. My boy loved to battle cat toys that had bells inside them, safe ones he couldn't get his toes stuck in of course. So when he'd get aggressive with me, I'd just grab one of them, jingle it then toss it somewhere and he'd turn around and go to town on it. (Better it than me, right?)

They simmer down after awhile. Just look at them as temperamental teenagers, their cage is their private space and sometimes they're just going to be moody.

It's still advisable to take her to a vet to check there's nothing else contributing to the change in behaviour, but it's most likely hormones seeing that she's two now. You can try to adjust her lighting and lighting schedule as well (I advise letting her sleep for longer).

You could train her to step up on a perch so you can move her around safely too.

13
sinverguenza•

lol the grumbles! When my conure is having a spring hormone surge and I put her in her cage she grumbles "STEP UP" angrily and struts with her neck stretched out, feathers flared and head swaying

7
Staleina•

I always find their means of expression hilarious and do adore the conure grumbles, which I'm sure doesn't please him at all. It's like laughing at a kid that's pouting.

3
sinverguenza•

I also love the happy mumbling sounds she makes while puffed up and enjoying a shower

1
Staleina•

Or the little beak grind just before they go to sleep.

6
sinverguenza•

My little dinosaur will be 4 this winter, but the first bout of bird puberty was when she was around a year and a half, and she was a MONSTER for a few months. She attacked me unprompted, once attacking my face and even though I knew that's all it was, I still cried and worried I lost my little sweet bean forever. With every bite, I'd calmly place her back in her cage and leave her alone a couple hours. When I let her out, I'd just open the cage door and walk away and let her come out and play on top of her cage and let her decide when she wanted to interact with me, instead of immediately having her step up.

It's hard but just ride it out. Give her more alone time in her cage, interact less physically when she is out until her phase is over and have her get even more sleep. After that first rough spring/summer, she went back to being my sweet bean and subsequent grumpy hormone surges are nowhere near as bad as that first one was.

3
diskoponyOP•

Thank you all for your replies! We'll ride this one out together.

I'll take her to the vet whenever she feels like calming down in case of any underlying issues. Thanks again!

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
BirdyAfternoon•

After 5 yrs my bird just recently hit puberty and hormones raging I was bleeding like crazy too.

your right about the towel rap to get her to calm down and off you if need be. I got my bird a small desk fan so when he wants to cool down he can or just move away from it if he feels cold.

As for biting, maybe trim her beak and nails to keep attacks to the minimal? I trimmed my birds beak and he wondered why i wasn't bleeding.. He legit had a look of disbelief.

Please don't give up on her :( They get through raging hormones like we do...and our parents didn't give up on us right ? maybe? for most?

1