Terrible 2s?

[Jhaynes1230]

I've been reluctant to post this because I've always prided myself in my ability to manage problem issue with birds I've owned, but this one has me baffled and I could use some help. Our sweet, tame, head scratch loving, reasonably quiet, flighted (comes to me from anywhere in the house when called), trained, talkative, and talented male African Red Belly has gone from all the above to a screaming, aggressive, biting little sh*t.

If I am not in the room he screams with his guttural contact call continuously (not pleasant to the ears, at all). By aggressive I mean he now lunges or goes out of his way to bite me, or anyone else for that matter. When I say bite, I mean clamp down on your finger like a pit bull and doesn't let go until he's drawn blood. All these changes have come on increasingly over the past month, or two.

He's almost two and always been a bit head strong at times, but nothing like this in the past. I've kept his diet low protein (gloop and veggies mostly) managed his sleep hours (dusk to dawn) from day one and never had more than an occasional minor problem with him before. As previously stated, he's always had a tendency to be a bit head strong when things don't quite suit him, but nothing like this.

Could this just be a sexual maturity thing that will pass, or could we be dealing with something else? I welcome any suggestions.

Jeff

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

To me it seems that he is hormonal and it will pass. The males actually suffer pain while hormonal. It is not his fault. He just can't help it.

Others will come to your post with much more info than I give but I wanted to give you an answer to your question. Just love him no matter what and protect your fingers while he is suffering. He will be even more bonded to you if you can survive without getting hurt or hurting him.

[Jhaynes1230]

Liz,

Thanks for the quick reply and recommendation. A hormonal phase is the only thing I could think of that might be causing this behavior and you essentially confirmed my suspicions. I'll do as you recommend and continue (protect fingers and deal with screaming, haha) until it passes. Hopefully, that will not take too long. He's really a cool and talented bird and it's been hard to see him go through this change.

Jeff

[liz]

It is like watching your baby suffer.

Upgrading food and lighting will help in the future hormonals.

I am still learning but then most of us still have a lot to learn. Wolf and Pajarita as well as many others have more they can give to you. I run on mommy instinct and info I get from the forum.

[Wolf]

This does sound to me as if it is hormonal and he is the right age to be going into puberty. It is still just a bit early but that seems to be more and more of a normal occurrence with captive bred and raised birds. Actually I am not thinking that they experience any pain associated with the normal breeding cycle, that only seems to be an issue when they continue to remain in the reproductive phase of the cycle after the breeding cycle should have reversed towards dormancy each year as intended by nature. Still just as some women experience pain when they are cycling it is possible that they could experience some degree of pain when their gonads expand and become functional as they do increase in size to 100 times their dormant size.

I would start working with him to substitute a short, probably two note whistle for his flock call. It will take some time for it to become effective but is you always answer his call with the same whistle he will pick it up and begin to use it himself. It is much easier on both the nerves and the ears. But this will pass in due time as long as he remains on a low protein diet and the right light schedule.

[Pajarita]

I checked when the breeding season falls for these parrots in the wild and then I checked the sunrise/sunset calendars to see if they were short or long day breeders. I found two different references, one that says March to August and another one that says May (in Tanzania) but, in any case, although I couldn't quite get even a ballpark figure for the number of daylight hours that triggers their sexual hormone production, they are, apparently, long day breeders. But, of course, puberty can still hit off-season and my birds have already noticed the difference in daylength - this added to the fact that males are notoriously aggressive during the breeding season, it does sound as if he is hormonal. Try flying him more and bathing him every day (only early in the day and in a warm room where there are no drafts) as well as providing more enrichment (chewing? toys? ladders?) and reduce the physical interaction (use a stick instead of your finger for step up, etc).

I have a hen and have not noticed any unusual aggression in her but she is out for 4 hours and flies around most of the time she is out (up and down the stairs, from one room to another, etc) as well as been a brat (asks for scritches -constantly!, chews on things she is not supposed to -like my shower curtain!, steals food from the canaries -the same fruit she would not eat in her cage , tries to ambush my husband -whom she loves!, bathes in the clean canary hen water bowl -which I then have to change, again!, etc) so she is pretty distracted.

[Jhaynes1230]

Thanks to all for your responses and recommendations. At this point I'll just go with the issues being hormonal and should pass. Most of your suggestions are either already in place, or will be incorporated into what I'm presently doing to get him through.

The weather is starting to warm here, so I'll make certain he has more outdoor time and natural sunlight to add to the list. I'll also try to increase his bathing, as suggested. He's a little strange in this regard in that he hates bathing. He used to go willing into the shower with me (we have a shower perch). Now he just flies away when we get near the shower. He will on occasion bathe in his water bowl on his own, but it's infrequently. Of late, I have to resort to just misting which he also hates.

Again, thanks so much for all the suggestions. I'll repost on occasion and let you know how he's doing. He's been such a great bird up until this latest regression and I certainly feel like it will pass.

Jeff

[Pajarita]

Try offering different bowls. My Isis is very particular about the bowl she uses for bathing. She only does it in stainless steel, large and deep bowls. To give you an idea, her favorite one is the dogs water bowl I keep on the kitchen floor which is about 3 inches deep and has a diameter around 12 inches - she likes it so much I have to hide it under a china closet when she is out!

[seagoatdeb]

Thanks to all for your responses and recommendations. At this point I'll just go with the issues being hormonal and should pass. Most of your suggestions are either already in place, or will be incorporated into what I'm presently doing to get him through.

The weather is starting to warm here, so I'll make certain he has more outdoor time and natural sunlight to add to the list. I'll also try to increase his bathing, as suggested. He's a little strange in this regard in that he hates bathing. He used to go willing into the shower with me (we have a shower perch). Now he just flies away when we get near the shower. He will on occasion bathe in his water bowl on his own, but it's infrequently. Of late, I have to resort to just misting which he also hates.

Again, thanks so much for all the suggestions. I'll repost on occasion and let you know how he's doing. He's been such a great bird up until this latest regression and I certainly feel like it will pass.

Jeff

Pois are kown for deciding their water bowls are the best place to bathe. My Red Belly is amazing with her water dish for getting her whole body wet, and I have given her a large water dish. Over the 17 years I have had her i have tried every other kind of bathing sugestion but thats the way she wants it. My daughter has been able to have her Meyers bathe under a running tap when her conure does, but my Meyers is copying my Red Belly and only a water bowl will do. If the water is there they will do what they need, I wouldnt worry.

It may be hormonal, but i doubt that at that age. I do believe in terrible twos with Pois, they are still a couple years from were they can actually breed and i dont think the hormones are that high yet to be the problem. Maybe someone has some research on that. Pois do go through times when they try to push the limits, and around 2 is a common time for one. My Red Belly is and has always been he sweetest girl with me, but when she was 2, she decided to test everyone else. It would not mattter how many times I told people to not let her intiidate you, she would have everyone in terror. We worked through this period and she has never been as scary to others as she was at two. She has learned to have good realtionships with a number of people and she is clear with them about how much she will allow them to do. They all have their own unique terrible two issues too, but once worked through it establishes more harmony in the household. Your poi will be a nice bird again dont worry.

Wolfs bowl idea is a good one, my pois love to see me put food in their dishes so I do it between their cages and they can hardly wait to get the new bowl.

[Wolf]

Many birds of the poicelphalas family go into puberty between 18 months to two years of age but it is very common that they are not yet sexually mature and ready for breeding until they are 5 to 6 years of age, This is much more common with the female than with the male. I researched this three years ago because of the behaviors of my first parrot who is a Senegal and she was already going through puberty when she came here and since I knew nothing at all about parrots I had to research this for things to begin to make any sense to me.