Wolf wrote:The answers are always in the details, but only in the right details. What you wrote gives a good overall picture of what has happened but while very helpful do not give the whole picture. That is alright as we will get to them in due course. Most people don't really understand the nature of their birds or all of the workings of what affects what or how and/ or why it works that way. It is all ok and I believe that we can help you understand what is going on with your bird and how to repair it. Although I do have a few questions.
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If your mom does not want him, I would take him home at my earliest possible opportunity and start building a new relationship with him right away.
Let me know what you want to do, and I will do all that I can to help you and him.
Thanks everyone. This has been quite the lesson.
Firstly, Wolf, his name is Pesto (because he looks like the food, and because he's my little pest haha). And yes, he was DNA tested by the breeder. Again, thank you for enlightening me as to how the bird brain works - I knew that he would go through puberty at some stage, but I certainly had no idea I was touching him inappropriately. It won't happen again. Does that also include scratching him underneath his wings?
To be honest, my mum (and family) doesn't like Pesto very much anymore, I'm the only person who tries to spend much time with him (**I will come back to this in a second). She will get him out sometimes because he's been in his cage all day, but he bites her too sometimes. The difference is that Pesto has a vendetta against my fingers; he will literally puff himself up, start doing this slow, weird, threatening dance, and then run down my shoulder and try to attack my fingers.
I had a moment yesterday where I had him out on my shoulder and he decided he wanted to go down my shirt and sit in the v-neck like he used to, which I thought was really sweet...until about 10 minutes later, when he retreated inside and started attacking me inside my shirt (two bites on my stomach and one on my nipple, I was not happy to say the least). How are you supposed to discipline him in these situations?
It's these moments where I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to react. I used to yell in pain, but after some recent research I now know that is the worst thing to do, so I try not to make any noise but obviously I can't help but flinch. And in order to get him out, I had to completely restrain him through my shirt so he would stop biting me, which can't be good but I don't see any other option.
As a side note, I can you tell me if this is normal: when he was young, he used to chew and destroy things like all parrots, but these days he doesn't just nibble on them - he gets really worked up, aggressive, and actually ATTACKS them. I've been giving him toys to play with while I study, but I can't tell if its the right thing to do when it works him up so much. I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that the birds "body language" is not that of a bird trying to nibble on a toy, he's actually trying to rip it to shreds and lunging at it.
Pajarita wrote:It is true that they tend to live around 10 in captivity but this is mainly due to the fact that people free-feed them seeds or pellets, in reality, their lifespan is closer to 30 if well taken care of.
Wolf is correct in that you need to decide whose bird it is because you can't establish a close bond or change the bird's living conditions if you are only going to see it 3 times a week for a little while in the evening.
The reason why your bird 'turned' was sexual hormones. They become sexually mature when they are between 1 and 2 years old and the way you were handling him (and, most likely, an incorrect diet and light schedule, too) made things much, much worse. I realize you did not mean to do this but the way you were touching him (rubbing your hand all over his body, petting his abdomen and even his vent, etc) are 100% taboo in the bird world. You were sexually arousing him and, given the way their reproductive system works, he is, most likely, in constant pain right now. Your mother is, most likely, able to handle him without getting bit because she is now his putative mate but I doubt he will allow anybody else to do it. For his own sake, he should be kept at a strict solar schedule and fed low protein so, can you please tell us what he eats and what kind of light schedule is he kept under? Because, even if he doesn't quite bond with you closely, we can tell you how to make him comfortable (without pain and with a normally working endocrine system) so he does not feel he has to bite everybody else.
Before I go on, to answer Pajarita's question on his diet: he has birdseed in his cage and I believe it is mixed with fine grit and charcoal? I'm not entirely sure what seed it is as my mum buys it and the packet doesn't have a label. When he is out of the cage he will be given a share of whatever we happen to be eating (except chocolate, coffee and avocado). I don't think he gets to eat our food that much these days though, so I think it would be mainly birdseed and the odd piece of apple. What do you mean by him being in constant pain? His light schedule would be from natural sunrise (about 7am) to on average about 9pm, depending on when my family go to bed.
** I wanted to return to the topic of spending time with Pesto. I don't believe I should take him to a new environment, so he will stay at mums (not that I could take him with me if I wanted to, my landlord does not allow pets), however I currently come around nearly every day as I've been using my old room as an office to study, and while I study I try to have Pesto with me as much as possible so that he gets used to me. I should mention that it is a recent development for me to actively spend as much time as possible with Pesto. His old routine was to wait until mum came home. I believe she gets him out most nights for a bit before she goes to bed, but since he's started biting everyone nobody wants to get him out anymore.
This is the new routine: I'll arrive at mums sometime in the morning, and it is pretty easy to get him out of the cage - I lower my shoulder near the entrance and he will eventually jump across, but if he's super puffed up and aggressive then I leave the entrance open and walk away until he calms down a bit. If I leave, he will climb out of his cage and start whistling and start looking like he wants to fly to me. When I come back again a little later, will jump on to my shoulder. I never offer my hand for him to jump on because he would just bite it.
Now usually as soon as he's on me he will puff up and start making noises which is his crazy sign, so from the cage it's straight to my room and onto his perch. I've recently set up his play area on the bed, which includes his perch, water, food and some chew toys (including a big cardboard box) - this is a picture of the set up (
http://1drv.ms/1Ff5Ch6). The cardboard box is both for him to chew on/play inside, and to act as a barrier to prevent him from jumping across to me when I'm sitting down.
Once he is off me, I offer him food and command him to roll over, then while he's eating I turn around and start my study. Eventually he's finished and wants to come to me, so I let him walk up my arm (wearing a jumper) onto my shoulder and I'll talk and whistle to him a little. From this point he either stays calm and starts grooming himself and I return to studying, or he puffs up again and 1) starts doing his dance / bashing his beak on me, or 2) starts walking down my arm to go for my fingers, in which case I have to lean over to get him on his perch again. This process repeats itself throughout the day. After grooming himself for a while, he will eventually do 1) or 2).
After a while if he is being too distracting, I sometimes need to return him to his cage.
I would be happy to upload videos of his behaviour if you think it would help.