Meyer Biting--is it hormones?

[nightowlcb]

I've read through lots of threads about parrot aggression and biting on here and I'm still really confused about what's going on with my male Meyer's. He is a very friendly bird but has always been a bit unpredictable as far as biting goes--as some others said about their Senegals, he seems to have a "quick bite reflex" when it comes to being frightened or territorial, but I for the most part have learned to recognize the body language or even just the "energy" around him when he is likely to bite for seemingly no reason.

However the past week or so he has really upped the ante, I've been getting bitten (and/or my boyfriend, but mostly me because I spend more time with him) pretty much daily to the point of drawing blood. But lately it has been happening when he has been suuuper sweet and cuddly, looking at me softly, saying "hello" sweetly and trying to cuddle with my hand or my face (when he was on my shoulder) and asking to be pet so much for several minutes--then all of a sudden he will chomp down HARD and hold on until I shake him off and he flies away. Today he was being really cuddly and eager to be pet and I was petting him cautiously, not wanting to repeat the pattern of the past few days I tried to only pet him a little bit, even though he kept coming back and asking for more. I tried to distract him and he spent a good 15 minutes or so playing on his swing perch, then he flew over to me as I was sitting on the couch and immediately hacked a big bite out of my shoulder/neck!

I don't know what to do about this--we already "positively reinforce" him, he's target trained, does several tricks and is working on more, he's fully flighted, he seems equally bonded to both my boyfriend and me, although as I said I'm home more and so I spend more it with him. He's generally very sweet and affectionate and always wants to interact with us, but these random hard bites happening basically once a day are making me very nervous about being with him and also kind of resentful. It's not a matter of forcing interactions on him or anything because all of these latest times have been during interactions of his choosing. I really can't figure out what's going on with him, is it maybe hormones that we really just can't do anything about? He's a few months shy of being 2 years old, would that be the time for a Meyer's to be experiencing that?

Oh and he has also started chewing the ends of some of his chest feathers recently (not plucking), don't know if that's related...

[Pajarita]

Yes, the chewing the ends of his feathers is called barbering and it's not only related to his behavior but it's also, almost always, a prelude to plucking.

Is he been kept at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to twilight both during sunrise and sunset and allowed to sleep undisturbed throughout the night? Because it seems to me that he is very hormonal and it shouldn't be happening this time of the year as they are supposed to be molting now.

And how is his diet? Is he been free-fed his high protein food (pellets, seeds, nuts)? Because high protein would also put them into breeding condition.

Is he kept to a good, steady routine every day? Because an ever changing schedule breeds insecurity in parrots.

Does he have good light in the room where he is kept? A good, strong full spectrum fluorescent tube (not the ones you find in stores, the ones that have a CRI higher than 93 and a KTemp closest to 5500). Good light doesn't only allow them to see better but it also triggers release of serotonin, the happy hormone.

Does he get an average of 4 hours of out of cage time daily? Sennies become very attached to their humans and, although you will find lots of references in birdsites to sonnies been OK by themselves, some of them really resent been left alone for long periods of time (they are also supposed to be one of the 'quiet' species but some of them scream all the time)

[Jenabee]

My parrotlet was the same for about the last two months! Almost exactly the behaviour you are describing. We had no idea what was going on until we began to research hormonal behaviour in birds.

Marvin would dive bomb us, attack our necks and bite at almost every opportunity. It's been this way since the summer solstice. So we keep him covered until about 10 am each morning to limit his exposure to sunlight and then he usually flies back about 7:30. Two weeks ago, he was up in his cage until almost 9:30. We determined that we wasn't sleeping enough and probably hormonal from his food (he will eat nothing but seeds). We've tried to switch him to pellets, but his screaming is unbearable.

Marvin is almost 3 years old and he has been having these territorial and aggressive outbursts from time to time. But I had never lasted this long. Finally, over the last week he has become his old self again. He is sweet and loving and really, really funny.

I'm not sure whether changing your bird's food would help, or helping him to get more sleep?? I'm not an expert, but I know how heartbreaking it is to be such great pals with your bird and when their behaviour becomes so hostile, you're afraid to take them from their cage. All I can tell you is to roll with it and he will return to normal. Continue to take him out and connect with him and he will be better soon.