Another bite!

[Fritzgerald16]

I'm at a loss.
What the h*ll is going on with my bird!?

We have our evening play time where we do all of his tricks and as I call it "get all the crazies out " where we both yell and make crazy noises and dance. He LOVES this time and will wait at the edge of his door and start without me if it's getting too late.

Tonight we were doing our thing, he was chattering away then when I reached up to move him WHAM! He bit my thumb hard and did not want to let go. It took me screaming for my husband and him squirting Fritz in the face with water to get him to let go.
It didn't cut much but crushed down, my left thumb is currently double the size of my right and difficult to bend. It hurts!

Since he bit Claudia, he has been a lot less affectionate than he was. He is also trying his hardest to "lay an egg" and chooses to spend all of his out of cage time under his cage and stealing blankets to bring under there with him.
Is this just breeding season behavior? I am so frustrated right now.
Should we just not hold him until breeding season is done? He went after my husband immediately after he let go of me, luckily Josh was faster than me.
@Macawnutz you've warned me that military macs are prone to biting
Is this just him showing his "true colors"?
hormones?

He recently saw the vet and she was floored by his blood values, his liver will never be great, but we have all other values within healthy ranges. He looks great and has more energy than ever.

I'm at my wits end

 

[Hankmacaw]

Don't be at your wits end. Fritz is being a macaw in hormones. Until he gets through this "phase" be extra careful and always, always ask him if he wants to step up (or whatever). That will give you the opportunity to read his body language. Feeling as good and healthy as he is now, he may never be the absolute compliant bird he was when you first got him.

Please do your best to avoid all bites. A successful bite, to a macaw, is self perpetuating.

 

[Macawnutz]

I'm again so sorry.

I don't want to say that military are prone to biting but mine is quick to judge and just as quick to change her mind. My girl has no problem biting if you wrong her, only she knows the reason at times.

I think what is failing here is the idea that he is playing. Sometimes bouncing, yelling, blanket can turn into aggressive behavior. People see it as playing when really you could be having a heated argument. The overactive play can escalate and in the heat of the moment comes the lunge.

As we are not there to see the body language we can only speculate the cause.
I'm only able to speculate this outcome from your previous video, the one where you are playing blanket. I feared for your fingers that day. While some birds are fine with this type of play others do not handle it well.

I know today you are spent, rightly so. Get some sleep and talk out his routines with us. Videos help a lot too.

 

[Macaw Lover]

He is also trying his hardest to "lay an egg" and chooses to spend all of his out of cage time under his cage and stealing blankets to bring under there with him

You have to ask? You don't want to allow going under the cage as that will be more of an issue when he needs to go back to his home and ditch the blankets too.

Time, he needs to just ride out the hormones.

 

[Fritzgerald16]

So this is what he has been doing for the last month, he either chews on a blanket or just sits there grinding his beak. Sometimes he just rests his beak on the floor!
He is let out of his cage whenever we are home, he usually gets to be out 6 hours a day. Right now I would say he spends all that time, except when he comes out to eat, under the cage.
I try to make him spend at least an hour on his perch in the kitchen or on the couch with us just to get him to move a little! He also comes out to climb on the cage door to wait for our play time, I am leery to initiate this again but will take a video next time we play.

 

[Macawnutz]

As Renee says I would keep him out from the dark hiding spots. It's only fueling the fire. Maybe the blankets are a bit much too. Maybe a Birdy binkie from ABT would be better as its hanging.

 

[WallyLoopey]

Take away all the blankets, anything like that at all.
I would try to keep him off the floor. Maybe you could try to put something around the bottom of the cage so he can't go under.

 

[aooratrix]

How does he get on the ground? Does he get there himself by climbing down the cage, or are you placing him on the floor? Either way, I'd transport him from cage to stand and vice versa. Floor time is too stimulating for him. And ditto on the no blankets.

@Hankmacaw gave you sound advice on talking to him about what you're going to do. Watch his eyes. If he seems excited, I'd leave him be. When interacting with him, be slow and deliberate. You'll be able to read him. And don't forget that the bird you love is still in there; he is simply following nature's programming. He won't be hormonal all year. It's an organic relationship like any other: you'll learn his ways, and he'll learn yours.

 

[Fritzgerald16]

I'm sure we can find something to shove under there!
@aooratrix because he has been clipped and kept in a cage so long he is an excellent climber! Even with a gimpy leg he climbs up and down things that blow my mind. We tried to put a 3ft piece of PVC pipe on his stand so he can't climb down it, it worked for about two days, now he climbs up and down it no problem.

I was putting him on his cage top gym and then putting up his night cover blanket on the cage. He is unable to climb down that with just his beak and one leg. Since he grew those flight feathers though, he has been flying down to the floor and runs under the cage. We have been working on getting him stronger and growing out those feathers, but should we clip them so he doesn't have the ability to get to the floor? I stopped putting the blanket up because he prefers to climb down and it was making me nervous when he flew, it's more of a semi-controlled drop and I'm afraid of him breaking something!

 

[JLcribber]

Give this a read Jenelle. It will help you understand the psychology of what's going on in your birds head. It's much easier to deal with things when you have an understanding of them.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

His environment is not just contributing to the behaviour but it also "prolonging" it. A month or so of this activity can be expected and that can't be stopped but now its time to curb it.

 

[WendyN]

I am sorry Fritz is biting.
My Joey's "growing up" has made me change how I interact with him. No more belly tickles or scratching/touching his back, under wings, and tail areas. I also try not to get him over excited or hyper, which leads him to become aggressive to biting.
The article John cited helped me a lot.

 

[Jaguar]

He's in a safe, clean, warm area with an abundance of food. His body thinks it's the absolute perfect time to procreate.

You are likely overstimulating him. It's a cockatoo thing too. If you can't tell from body language when you've crossed the line, it might be best to stop it all together.

Clip him and he'll find another way to get down. Maybe you need to shake things up. Move the cage somewhere else. Rearrange the inside. Move the furniture around. Get some nice flashy red curtains.

 

[Rooary]

Something I heard from a dog trainer that I feel applies to more than just dogs. An excited animal is going to make mistakes.

Sorry you got bit, but don't feel at your wit's end because luckily there is always a reason for the bite. That means there are methods you can use to prevent it happening again.

I say that, when you play and do your yelling together, try to keep it from Getting "too far". Keep your hands out of the game. Something you could probably do is offer a toy for him to chew or bite or even play tug of war with him if he's willing. Maybe work out a way to show/tell him when it's over. I.e. walk away for a few minutes and do things in a calm manner or give a treat to symbolize the end of the exercise, hopefully he will calm down and you'll be able to ask him to step up without a nasty bite.

That's just my two cents, keep ice on that thumb!

 

[Alan J.]

I believe that Alex and I know each other well. We have spent enough time together to be able to pick up on the subtleties of each other’s moods and feelings and I am convinced that we share a strong bond……….. But I also believe that many of Alex’s behaviors are driven by instinct – he acts without even realizing that he has done so in certain situations. Alex can be ultra controlled, but can also revert to being a “wild child” in an instance. All bets are off if he gets very excited and “carried away”.

I buy into the fact that no one wants to be bitten and that bites should always be prevented whenever possible, but your situation will normalize again as these “reproductive” hormones subside.

PS – I tend to feel that we experience bites more painfully than another parrot would, as we are not protected by feathers. A similar bite leveled at another macaw, may not have caused much alarm.

 

[JLcribber]

PS – I tend to feel that we experience bites more painfully than another parrot would, as we are not protected by feathers. A similar bite leveled at another macaw, may not have caused much alarm.

Yea that is exactly right. If you watch a bird take a swipe at another bird which they do all the time it's not really a big deal. That's just one of the ways they communicate. They take a swipe at us and it involves blood and some band aids.

 

[Tyrion]

I'm so sorry this has happened again ...it sounds like everyone has given you some sound advice ..my thoughts are with you

 

[Dartman]

Dobby is still being hormonal but he is very gentle and laid back. Lurch would pop anyone who dared to get too close when he was going through that time. Yep, you had to read him and leave him alone when it was obvious he was in a mood. Luckily most of the time time Pionus are easy to read and give clear warnings, Lurch at first did not, but once he realized we heeded his warnings and decided he liked us he started giving them again. Be careful and avoid the bites and him when he's in a mood and don't encourage it.

 

[SpecialistElbru]

Humm I just noticed I responded to this a while back.
Don't touch the blankie. | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum
It might offer other AAers insite your current situation.

 

[Holiday]

"...he was chattering away then when I reached up to move him WHAM! He bit my thumb hard and did not want to let go..."

I agree with many of the things others have said about hormones and patience and body language, but I'll just note that there's one or two simple things here that you might do: use a stick to move him when he's animated and hyper. Or--wait for him to calm down a bit and get quiet before you reach a hand out. If I reached with my macaws when they're all ramped up, I'd likely get bitten too, or at least pinched. So, I use the stick, or I wait. Haven't had a bite in years. Hope this helps!

 

[Dartman]

Dobby almost bit the crap outa me one day when he was on my computer chair and sister came in. I could tell he was really wound up but decided to touch him anyway but just in case I flipped my scritching finger around so the nail was towards his upper beak point. He pinched me really hard but never broke the skin when he reacted. He made his point and I relearned a lesson I already knew, dont touch a fluffy excited Pi or any bird.