Blue Crown Conure-Insight? Is this normal?

[monzamom]

Hi!

I have a Blue Crown Conure that's about 2years 3months old. His name is Yenko (don't actually know the sex). I got him from a reputable breeder when he was 7 month old. He was born in late July which I believe isn't common?-they said he was an unexpected late hatch. I'd like to give a little back story of my experience/observations with him-I'm hoping someone can tell me if this all sounds normal? Is your Blue Crown like this too?

Ok so at first everything was great. He got along with anyone and everyone-very friendly, affectionate, incredible talker, handled well, etc. He spent the majority of time with me and my husband and loved us both (tho sometimes I think my husband more). Just past a year old that all changed. He hated everyone but me. Be became an aggressive biter-not warning nips but bites with the intent to draw blood, take skin, latch on and not let go, etc. On occasion he would bite me too. At this time he also went through a molt that lasted from about August to December/January (from dropping to growing feathers). I contacted the breeder thinking at first he was chewing his back feathers but she confirmed it was just a long molt and in time all this feathers did grow back nicely. Several months past a year old we also welcomed a new baby-nothing changed in his "new" personality except he REALLY hated the baby and learned to perfectly mimic her cries Prior to baby we didn't clip his wings and he would happily follow us from room to room. Once baby came along he began flying at peoples heads so for the safety of everyone we got them clipped. I was hoping once all his pin feathers came in and he got used to the baby he would be more friendly again but unfortunately not so. I was now/am still a stay at home mom so I was with him all the time but this didn't seem to make a difference. About 5 months ago the baby began crawling and pulling herself up on things. She LOVES the bird but when he sees her coming he runs to that part of the cage and started thrashing at the bars trying to bite her. In dismay of an accident waiting to happen I contacted the breeder again. She said it was HIGHLY unusual for a blue crown to be such a biter and recommended for the safety of the baby that we move from out of the busy family room. So now he is in a room alone downstairs. This seems to have Significantly reduced his noise level and he does seem a little calmer-less stressed maybe? However theres no doubt that he gets less people interaction in the new location. I try to bring him upstairs on playstands when the baby naps. However lately he's been more aggressive towards me and sometimes I can;t even pick him up. Even when on the playstand, if I step out of the room for a second or just go "to far away" even if still in view, he'll flutter off, sometimes becoming aggressive when I try to get him back on and more importantly endangering himself because our dog thinks he came down to play and if I don't move fast he's bound to get trampled. He also started molting again in September and still going.

Another thing I have realized about him (and its always been this way) is that he doesn;t seem to "play". He has a large cage but doesn't seem to make use of the space. He has always liked to stay in pretty much one (preferably highest) spot. I keep several toys in his cage and on the play stands and change them up. Some he'll tear apart within a day, others he won't touch at all in his cage but will nibble at on the playstand. Either way he's never goofy or silly or engaging in the toys other than shredding. I've been more active/playful parrots on display at Petco.

So thank you for reading all that! What do you think? Are there similarities to your bird or does he seem off? Does your bird molt that long? bite that much? or play that little?

I feel its worth noting that he does receive regular vet checks, has a large cage, has many and changing toys, eats a pellet/seed mix along with fresh fruits and veggies, has never been allowed on our shoulder, and as of 6 months ago we don't even let him on top of his cage because thats above my head. We also fully cover his cage for 10-12 hours each night (since a year old). This noticeably put him in a better mood.

I welcome any insight, advice, recommendations etc! I've become really upset and frustrated and discouraged. I don't know what to do and I'm afraid if he ever got near the baby he would seriously injure her. I got him knowing he was a 35+year commitment so it would be devastating to me to have to rehome him after only 2. Any thoughts?

[Pajarita]

First of all, the height dominance is nothing but a myth so not allowing him on your shoulder or on top of his cage did not serve any purpose whatsoever. Birds like to be up high because that's where they feel secure so not allowing him is terribly stressful. They also like to be on our shoulders because they know our face is the equivalent of their face and they want to be close to us. If he had another bird to cuddle up to, it would be Ok but not allowing him this would be interpreted as rejection of his love. Some birds resign themselves to it but some don't and it appears that yours resented this as soon as he grew up (thus the biting that started when he became an adolescent).

Keeping him by himself in a room it's not only boring for him but also terribly depressing and stressful. Parrots are highly social birds that are meant to live their entire lives surrounded by their large family. It's not a luxury or an option to them. It's a necessity ordained by nature.

Clipping him works in restricting his access to people and things but it's also very unhealthy for them. It's not only the lack of exercise (walking and climbing don't really count as exercise for a bird whose body is build to fly miles and miles every day), it's also detrimental to their respiratory system as there is a pair of air sacs that can only be fully inflated by flight. Aside from this, it's terribly stressful for a prey animal not to be able to flee.

As you can see, he has reason to be quite stressed out and upset so it's no wonder he has become a biter.

You might also want to revise his diet because those long, long molts (they are supposed to last about 8 weeks only) are always caused by too much protein in their diet (which also makes them hormonal -read aggressive).

Michael's target training will help and I urge to buy his book and start right away but you will also need to re-evaluate his whole situation in your house and family and, if you want him to be a healthy, happy and affectionate bird, you will need to make some pretty drastic changes.

[monzamom]

Thanks for your reply!
I had never heard about height dominance being a myth. I did some research and found some really interesting articles about it-thanks.
I get that wing clipping is a very debated topic. We only clipped his wings when we began flying at people and biting once he passed a yr old. Until we can reduce the biting I'm afraid we'll have to keep them clipped for the safety of my husband and the baby.
I was really hesitant to move him to the other room but I did notice he seemed calmer there (a lot less constant screaming). Is it possible for a bird to be a in a room with TOO much noise? Could too much stress them out just like too little? I recently read a lot about sleep cages-instead of just covering them, perhaps that would help more if he goes back to the busy room? Or a nesting box in the cage where he could hide if wanted-has anyone had any experience with this?
I am SO glad you mentioned too much protein- I had never heard of that causing a long molt. I've been surprised at how little information I've been able to find about molting. I currently feed him Hagan Tropimix-Does anyone have any other recommendations?

[Pajarita]

Conures are mainly fruit eaters so it's always better to feed them fruits, veggies, leafy greens and some cooked grains (like wheat, brown rice, barley, oats) for all day eating and a small portion of seeds or pellets for dinner. Most people feed pellets but I don't, I think they are not the healthiest option for parrots, I give them seeds. My conures eat a budgie mix during the winter and a cockatiel mix until they finish their annual molt (about a heaping tablespoon with an occasional human grade roasted nut).

I don't think that a household with a few people could be 'too much' for a conure because Lord knows the wild flocks are large and much noisier than any household I know. He, most likely, screams because he wants your attention, even if he is upset about something. Parrots need company 24/7/365, they feel secure surrounded by their flock and security means no stress. Years ago, we discovered that birds can choose to sleep with half the brain asleep and the other half in alert mode and that, in a wild flock, they take turns sleeping in the outside of the group so they can half-sleep and alert the others of night predators and a new study shows they do the same thing when eating! The ones in the outside of the group, peck a bit here and a bit there, constantly lifting their heads to look around while the ones in the inside just eat without worries. Company not only makes them feel better, they even eat better!

There are things you can do that will help him (and his behavior) in different ways. One is keeping him to a solar schedule with exposure to twilight (lights off until the sky is lit in the am and off when the sun is setting) with darkness and quiet after for a quality sleep (this is the principle of the 'sleeping cages'). Birds are photoperiodic and this means they regulate their entire endocrine system by quality and quantity of light. The pineal gland deep inside their heads (the cranium bones are so thin that light shines through them) is activated by the change in light spectrum that takes place at twilight and this sets their internal clock which tells them when to start producing sexual hormones and when to stop. Keeping them to a solar schedule (think of chickens and the birds outside in the trees) keeps them from becoming sexually frustrated from producing sexual hormones for too long. Most biters, screamers and self-mutilators are sexually frustrated.
Another is keep him to a strict schedule of activities. The daily repetition of events in the same order every day gives them a sense of control over their lives that captivity takes away from them. Social birds don't have leaders, they are all pretty much equal and all can make the decision to take flight for foraging, to nest, to come back to their communal roosting place, etc. In captivity, we take their options away from them and that is very frustrating to them. When you offer their fresh food always after, say, one hour after they wake up, turn the radio on for them while they eat, allow them out of cage time a bit after that, etc. they learn the routine and learn to anticipate the even and, when this happens exactly when they expect it to happen, it reassures them of a sense of continuity and belonging, something they need to be happy. Phrases also work the same way so it's always best to use the same phrases right before the event - for example, I always say 'Hi, babies - Good morning' when I first uncover the cage at dawn in a soft voice - then I wait a bit busying myself doing something but within sight of the bird - then I put out the fresh food and water and say always the same thing while I also munch on whatever it is on the menu that day - as the sun rises and the sky is lit, I turn on the full spectrum lights (good lights have a beneficial effect on them) and the radio (human voices keep them company while one is busy somewhere else). At night, I start by turning off the overhead lights when the sun starts to set and serving dinner (which they always wait with anticipation because they love their high protein food) also saying the same thing every night. Once night sets in, I cover the cage with a black-out material but leave the side facing the window open. The actual time of the day that these things take place varies with the seasons but the order is always the same and they always happen at the same time -meaning right after dawn or when dusk starts. See what I mean?
Another useful thing to take into consideration is to interact with them at the right times, and that means when they do it in the wild. Wild parrots always follow pretty much the same schedule: up with dawn, go foraging, eat a lot, bathe, preen, socialize, rest at mid-day, become active again, interact, take flight to go foraging for dinner, eat, come back to roost. So the best times to interact with them is after their breakfast and before their dinner. This doesn't really matter with birds that have no behavioral issues but it helps with the ones that do.

Another thing you can do is to put branches on top of his cage (I use natural, untreated sisal rope to attach them to the bars) with knotted ropes hanging down to the floor so he can climb up or down at his pleasure. It provides him with places to go and with a certain degree of freedom that clipped birds no longer have. It's VERY inexpensive and easy to put together and it provides variation (put them in different angles and places in relation to his cage whenever you change them) and he can chew on them to his heart´s content without getting scolded. It's also a great foraging tool because you can stick or hang things in the little branches so he would have to look for and reach them if he wants to eat them. For example, you can wrap an almond in brown paper like a candy and hang it from the top branch or you can stick a piece of mango or whatever on the end of one (mine love corn on the cob and you can stick a branch in the middle of the cob very easily).

I think that once he is no longer hormonal (light schedule and lower protein), is on a bird and not a human activity schedule, has company all day, and grows out of his resentment, he will be just fine. They are much more forgiving and resilient that we give them credit for.