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Dramatic Change in Behavior- Can someone help me understand what's happening?

kkuris

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Hello all,

I have a 4 year old green cheek named Rigby. He's always been well-behaved and only bit me if provoked. Last August, I went away to college (I was not expecting to go to college far from home when I got him) and was really away from Rigby for the first time. We had a woman who was experienced with birds take him in and care for him while I was gone, and we would go to pick him up when I was on breaks. Starting in January, that woman could no longer look after him and my parents had to start taking care of him on their own, which they were definitely not excited about.

When I came back for spring break in March my parents told me he was doing well, but started to acquire some negative behaviors he didn't exhibit prior to January. I am now back for the summer, and those behaviors have escalated to the point where I'm very concerned. Here's what I've noticed...

  • Tail feathers chewed, almost shredded
  • Going to bed early. Rigby has a large day cage and then a pretty small sleeping cage with a couple perches and one of those snuggle huts. Up until now, he'd jump right into his sleeping cage anywhere from 8-11 and sleep in his hut. Now, he's going to bed anywhere from 5-6 according to my parents. If one of them doesnt bring Rigby to his sleeping cage, he'll fly in himself at around that time.
  • Sleeping at bottom of cage. Rigby is now sleeping under the paper in the sleeping cage as opposed to the hut. I originally thought he was cold so I bought him a heated perch, but he doesn't touch that at all.
  • Voracious newspaper shredding this only happens in his sleeping cage. As soon as he's put in, he slides down to the bottom and starts shredding newspaper. If you even so much as look at him while he's doing this, he starts seething with anger and will attempt to attack me through the cage bars
  • Biting. So much. I suppose this is a given but I'll include it anyway. Up until now Rigby wouldn't bite me at all unless I provoked him. Now, I can't even reach my hand out to him.
  • More picky with food. My mother bakes Rigby her own homemade birdie bread with assorted veggies, grains, nuts, and some fruits. We're used to having to change up the recipe every now and then because he gets tired of it, but now he's not touching it at all. He still eats his pellets. While I was gone my parents started accidentally feeding him a seed mix, so I think that definitely exacerbated the problem.
I'm expecting him to get used to me again soon and stop with the biting, but I'm really concerned about the other things. I'm assuming this is all a result of me leaving and being gone for an extended period of time. However, when I was away from him for the longest time and came back, he was very much the same bird as he was before.

Is this hormones? Just an emotional response to me being gone? Both? What should I do about these behaviors?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any advice you may have to offer.
 

alicat

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Is it possible he's doing the barbering, going to bed early, biting etc because your parents aren't thrilled about having him? It sounds like he got used to spending all his time with her then he was brought to a family that was less than excited about him. If your parents don't like him he might not have as much attention as he did before and that could lead to bad behavior
 

macawpower58

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I'm guessing much of it is nest building behavior. The tearing up of papers, hanging out on the cage floor, anger over intruders, are all signs of breeding behavior.

With you also being gone, that could be escalating things. With less attention, he could have picked up some feather destructive habits. I'm not sure if feather shredding can be hormonal with him, but any frustration can lead to it, so hormonal frustration may tie into it also.

This is the time of year we start seeing breeding behavior. Hopefully with you now in his sights, he'll have something else to keep him occupied.
 

Lady Jane

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Is he a she? I was thinking exactly what Becky wrote.
 

karen256

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It does sound rather like nesting behavior - except for the tail feathers which could from him chewing on them out of boredom or just normal wear and tear from climbing around and playing.

It seems like 'he' is wanting to spend more time in the 'nest' and is wanting to shred up papers to make a nice bedding. Even the picky eating is normal for females before laying as they may try to pick out the most calorie rich foods. It's also the right time of year. There isn't a ton to be done; a lupron shot can help with hormones but a vet would likely want to wait for DNA results before doing anything anyway. Sometimes it can help to change things up a little, rearrange the sleep cage a little.
 

kkuris

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I probably should've included that Rigby is a DNA'd male. Can they exhibit nesting behaviors as well? Day 2 and I can't even het him out of his sleeping cage this morning. Usually he would hop right out. As long has he can see me outside the cage he doesn't stop trying to jump through the bars. He won't settle down as long as I'm in the same room as him. I had to cover his cage (which I hate doing) because he was so upset it looked like I was stressing him out. I've never seen him like this before.

Also a HUGE thing I forgot about is that Rigby is very very attached to my father now. When he hears him in the house, he'll fly to wherever he is to greet him. My dad is also the only one who can handle him now. He works full time and doesn't exactly have the time to give him full attention.

Rigby was fine with being away from me when he was with the other woman, so I'm sure it's related to my parents. According to them, though, he's been getting plenty out-of-cage time. Wouldn't I have seen this hormonal behavior for the first time around the ages of 1-2 though, rather than now at 4 though?

I'm going to buy him some new toys today and change up his sleeping cage.
 
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kkuris

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Update: Yesterday I was able to get Rigby basically back to normal with me. Once I shared some food with him I was able to coax him onto my finger and then my shoulder. He stepped up for me all day but still got defensive with his cages, especially the sleeping one. He still went in early and did his little routine, screaming and banging on the cage, shredding paper, etc for several hours before falling asleep. I feel bad for him being in his tiny sleeping cage for that long, but there's not a chance any of us can get him out without being attacked. He actually wouldn't stop lunging through the bars as long as I was in the room. I was literally sitting there for 45 minutes straight and for that whole time he wouldn't keep his eye off of me.

This morning, it was clear he wanted to come out of the cage but only let my dad pick him up; he bit me. Now we're back to the start again and he's lunging at me whenever I'm in the room with him.

Is this sort of behavior associated with hormone changes in males? After some cursory research I only found descriptions of these behaviors in females. I know that DNA testing is very accurate, but is there a chance that Rigby got back the incorrect results?
 

JLcribber

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This morning, it was clear he wanted to come out of the cage but only let my dad pick him up; he bit me. Now we're back to the start again and he's lunging at me whenever I'm in the room with him.

The truth is that your dad is the only person he's interested in as a chosen mate. You will never have the same kind of relationship as your dad and you will need to work exponentially hard just to achieve a pseudo friendship.

If you've never read this you should.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine
 

JLcribber

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I'm assuming this is all a result of me leaving and being gone for an extended period of time. However, when I was away from him for the longest time and came back, he was very much the same bird as he was before.
That's part of it and he has now moved on (to your dad).
 

kkuris

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The truth is that your dad is the only person he's interested in as a chosen mate. You will never have the same kind of relationship as your dad and you will need to work exponentially hard just to achieve a pseudo friendship.

If you've never read this you should.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine
I sort of figured :(
My dad is not going to be happy about that. He doesn't really want anything to do with Rigby now that I'm home.
I guess I was expecting him to do this when he was going through his terrible twos. During that time he was pretty aggressive (though not to this level at all) toward my mom and dad and actively sought me out.
I'm going to have to think of a compromise between me and my parents, because they will not keep him for the next school year.
 
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JLcribber

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I sort of figured :(
My dad is not going to be happy about that. He doesn't really want anything to do with Rigby now that I'm home.
I guess I was expecting him to do this when he was going through his terrible twos. During that time he was pretty aggressive (though not to this level at all) toward my mom and dad and actively sought me out.
I'm going to have to think of a compromise between me and my parents, because they will not keep him for the next school year.

If you get him away from your dad (as in completely out of sight and mind) his behaviour will change. The minute your dad enters the situation (or is just "known" to be near) the focus will revert back to him.

So the solution is to get him away from your dad but school is not a very good place to take him.
 

kkuris

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If you get him away from your dad (as in completely out of sight and mind) his behaviour will change. The minute your dad enters the situation (or is just "known" to be near) the focus will revert back to him.

So the solution is to get him away from your dad but school is not a very good place to take him.
Yeah, I refuse to take him to school. He just wouldn't get the attention he needs. I'll see what we can do to try to get my dad out of sight.

But there's one thing I'm still concerned about... Rigby is going into his sleeping cage now as early as 5pm. I was gone most of the day today, but my dad said he was making noises he'd never heard before and screeching while he was in the cage. He actually thought Rigby had injured himself or something it was so bad. Of course, he still doesn't want to come out and will start vocalizing and banging on the cage as soon as he detects our presence in or around the room. Is this in particular normal? I can't help but be worried :(. It sounds like he's wailing in pain.
 

JLcribber

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As Becky said, that's the nest building/hormones.
 

macawpower58

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Perhaps get a larger sleeping cage if he's going to be in it for longer stretches of time.

Several of mine shred and nest build, I let them. I'm not even sure if you could stop them, barring living in a steril environment.

If you try and wipe out all access to satisfying nature, IMO that is more stress than allowing the natural behaviors to continue.

I have never had any problem females, so egg binding is not something I've dealt with. That could change my thoughts. As it is, I just keep the newspapers clean for mine to shred.

I am also very cautious approaching a nest building bird. Sometimes I'm welcomed, other times I'm not. Every bird is different.

Luckily mine only really get into this behavior at this time of year. I've heard of other birds that don't shut off.

Oh, and just to let you know, with one of mine, the first year of strong hormonal behavior, made him an aggressive terror. As time passed, he did calm down on the aggression part.

Our relationship is now different, it's not the baby/parent bond we used to have, but I'm also not attacked every time I look at him.

So be patient and hang in there. With parrots, things are always changing. Go with the flow. ;)

 
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kkuris

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Update! Rigby is pretty much back to "normal". He stepped up for me this morning out of his sleeping cage, and has been letting me handle him all day no problem. He stopped being territorial with his large cage. Not sure about the small cage yet, but it's progress. :)

Thanks for all the advice everyone.
 

Beth In Alaska

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Update! Rigby is pretty much back to "normal". He stepped up for me this morning out of his sleeping cage, and has been letting me handle him all day no problem. He stopped being territorial with his large cage. Not sure about the small cage yet, but it's progress. :)

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

are you allowed to have a bird at college? sounds like he missed you a ton.
 

kkuris

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are you allowed to have a bird at college? sounds like he missed you a ton.
Technically I am, but he wouldn't be able to leave my room and I'm not really comfortable keeping him cooped up in just one place for months on end. Within the next year we may be moving closer to where my school is, so that could help :)
 
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