Senegal parrot suddenly terrified of owner

[Aabraham07]

Hello,

My name is Ashley and I am seeking advice for my Senegal named Nala. Nala is my "middle child" parrot. I got her when she was just under 2 months old. Her and I are the best of friends . She is always happy with me and I am able to do anything with her. She even sometimes acts like I am her mate. She will tolerate my mom, but loves me the most. At least she did, up until a few days ago.

On Monday, I was getting ready for work with Nala on my shoulder, like I always do. She was playing games with my contact case and acting like her normal, goofy self. When I was done getting ready, I decided to put Nala back on her cage, so I could go make breakfast. Then, when I was getting ready to leave for work, I went over to Nala to put her in her cage (like I do every single day) , and I picked her up and she instantly screeched, jumped off of my hand and ran away from me, and hid in the corner. I have had this happen before where she was scared of a nail polish color I had on, but when I took it off, she was back to normal. This time however, taking the nail polish off did not solve the problem. It seems to have gotten worse.

It started out with me thinking she was afraid of my left hand. Every time I would try to pick her up she would flutter away from me and jump on my shoulder and would look down at my hand nervously. I decided I would just put her on her cage and let her be. Later that day I went to say hi to her, and she jumped completely off of her cage, screaming and ran away and hid in a corner. Now it has gotten to the point where if I walk into the room she's in, she runs to the back corner of her cage and faces the wall until I leave the kitchen. I was afraid maybe she is injured and she associates me with it or maybe she is sick and I should take her to a vet, but the most frustrating thing is that she acts normal with my mom, and prefers to be with her over me. I am completely heart broken over this situation, and the hardest part is I cannot figure out what it is that is frightening her. I am afraid that something has switched in her brain and I will never have my loving Senegal back. Has anyone experienced this with their parrots, where one minute they are fine and the next they are terrified of you? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated
Ashley

[Wolf]

I am at a loss. when our Senegal first came here she preferred my Lady over me and only barely tolerated me, then almost overnight she switched her loyalties, but nothing like you describe.
I do have at least one question for you and might think of more while I am typing, I don't type very fast. You said in your post that she would jump off her cage and hide in the corner until you leave the kitchen. Is this accurate or is this a mistake? If not a mistake then do I understand correctly, that her cage is in the kitchen?
Many beauty products give off fumes some of which are toxic and may cause brain damage and or death. I don't know if any could account for this, but it begs to ask. What if any of these products do you use and as important which of them did you use that morning, if any?
I know that it may sound strange, but what kind of cage is she in? by this I am referring to what metal is it made of and whether it is a painted cage or not. If it has a coating of paint is any of the paint chipped?
Last thing on my mind at the moment. If by chance you used a toaster, could you examine it to see if it has a Teflon coating inside of it?

[Aabraham07]

My living room, kitchen and dining room are all connected together/open concept , and I make sure not to use anything with Teflon because I am very aware of the dangers of it . Secondly, while getting ready I never use hairspray around my birds, and I never let them near my makeup. All of my cages are kings cages so they are led and zinc free and they are brand new cages, so no rusting on them. I think if any of the above scenarios were the case, she would be acting sick, not just scared. She acts normal with my mom, it's only me she is afraid of

[Wolf]

I understand and do not mean to offend in any way but without knowing any more than was posted these were the first logical questions. Just as I can't assume that you are a total novice, neither can I assume that you are aware of all of the various hazards, I know that I try to be but as most anyone still fall way short.
Just as I stated in my first reply I am at a loss to explain this and with your answers, I am even moreso and do not at present see what may have caused this. Breeding season should be over, so being hormonal should not be a problem. Is she molting? How old is she? These may or may not provide a clue, but the more things we eliminate, the better. Perhaps someone else may have some ideas about this.

[Pajarita]

How old is she? Is she going through puberty? Because, if it is, it could be that she regarded you as her mother and now wants a mate, instead. But that still doesn't explain her fear of you and her running away and hiding worries me because I've never known or heard of a Senegal that behaved that way when scared. Senegals are usually fearless as well as biters so, if they don't like you, they won't back off or hide, they will either attack you or ignore you until you ask them for anything and then bite you to let you know that you are not welcome in their 'inner circle'. You haven't clipped her, have you? Because the only time I had a Senegal that hid for three days was when I clipped him (the only bird I ever clipped and, precisely because of his reaction, I promised myself never to do it again).

[Aabraham07]

Wolf, no offense taken at all! Your questions were all questions that I asked myself and questions that I ask customers(I've worked at an all parrots pet store for 5+ years) almost on a daily basis, so, I completely understand your reasoning for asking. As for Nala, she is 17 months old...I got her when she was two months old, and she was regurgitating and doing her skirt dance even before she was fully weaned off and ready to go home. She picked me as her mate very early on. She also has never once shown fear towards anything. I actually call her my fearless bully because she would pick a fight with my Shepard if I allowed her to. I also have never witnessed this behavior in a Senegal, but I have seen it in red belly's. I have been told that Nalas clutch-mate is pretty scared of her moms hands, but she has been since she was a baby. Nala has had her wings trimmed, but after talking to a vet, I decided that it was safer for her to have her wings grow out so I have not trimmed her wings In a few months, but I do trim her nails. This had never bothered her in the past though because I began at a very early age with towel training all of my birds and getting them used to it so they wouldn't have any fear. All of my birds are really laid back and handle change very well, so that is why I am positive something isn't right with me that she is afraid of. She wouldn't be this scared if it wasn't for a good reason....I unfortunately am unable to figure it out

[Wolf]

Different hair style? How about jewelry? Different lip stick? Different glasses?
I don't know if you use any of these except possibly having hair, but my Senegal also fears nothing living but she is extremely frantic sometimes over objects.

[Aabraham07]

I had my hair done about a week and a half prior to this incident, and I change my hair so much it never phases them. I don't usually wear jewelery because when I do they think it's a new toy haha and definitely aren't afraid of it. I have no idea what could be different about me, and why it would freak her out because my birds are all so used to change. I'm starting to wonder if there is a physical change in me that I am unaware of, but she can sense, like maybe my hormones are off? I have been slightly depressed lately, but usually when animals sense that they want to comfort you, not be scared of you. It also seems unlikely just because of how fast this change occurred. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say it was literally 5 minutes and she completely changed. I'm also afraid that maybe in that time I yelled at the dog, and she might have thought I was yelling at her? But my birds always hear me yell at the dog to stop barking or eating the bird food that drops to the bottom of the cage when they aren't supposed to, so I don't see why it would cause a reaction. I'm looking for anything at this point and unfortunately I am not a bird whisperer. I really wish I could read their minds

[Wolf]

I hear you and can understand your frustration about this turn in events, I really wish that I had some answers for you but I don't, at this point all I am doing is guessing and you really don't need any help with guessing.
I will however be in the wings and will speak up in I come up with anything that might help.

[Pajarita]

I have worn my hair down, in a pony tail or a bun as well as different color Tshirts, pants, dresses and even nightgowns into the birdroom, long painted nails and short 'naked' nails and none of my birds have ever reacted to the change. And I yell at my dogs to shut up and the birds are fine with it - so fine, in fact, that one of them yells at them to shut up and calls them 'stupid dogs' like I do when they bark for no good reason -LOL- so I don't think that could be the reason.

As to human pheromones, they can't smell them so it cannot be that. Sorry but I am stumped, I don't know what to tell you. Something changed but I can't tell what it is...