Behavior issue advice

[SmallFeather]

Hi everyone! This weekend my mother came and visited me. Aries and her have gotten along just fine the last few times they have met, but this time there has been a few issues. Recently Aries has been chasing people out of the room except for me. He is very hormonal right now and I can barely interact with him without him regurgitating and displaying. What happened was my mother was sitting nearby, talking to me, while Aries was on the floor shredding a box. I didn't even notice he had stopped shredding until my mother started screaming. He had his beak clamped on her foot. Luckily I was able to get Aries off without injury to either one, but now my mother is very afraid of Aries and doesn't want anything to do with him. I think Aries views me as a mate instead of a flock member. Can I have some advice on how to handle this? Thank you!

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[JLcribber]

Explain what's going on to mom and tell her to put on her big girl panties on. It's just a bird.

Read this to help explain it.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

The most obvious quick fix is to keep the bird off the floor when mom is around and put some shoes on.

 

[sunnysmom]

I agree with @JLcribber and sometimes when a bird is really hormonal you just need to keep him away from others until he calms down.

 

[SherLar]

Our female B&G became hormonal in Jan-Feb. We were sitting on the couch watching tv. Her door is always open because she would play in top her cage at times. Dog-gone-it if she didn't leave her cage, walk across the floor, up and over the back of the couch and clamp down on my husband's shoulder and leave one heck of a bruise. About the size of a soft ball. So after that we always had her in the corner of our eye. When she was done with her hormones, she returned to being the very well behaved friend we used to have. She is so very careful with people and is back to loving them.
Yes, B&G are different from greys, but hormones are hormones. Do as much as you can to discourage it, and figure out how to keep people and bird safe when it does occur. It is hard not to take it personally. Hopefully other grey owners have more insight for you. Some breeds should not be allowed on the floor because they do tend to get aggressive with human feet.
I think it is very good that blood was not drawn.
sherri

 

[SherLar]

Explain what's going on to mom and tell her to put on her big girl panties on. It's just a bird.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!! You are so funny! I have seen the photos of your bird bites! Just a bird! BAHAHAHAHAHAAA. You love your birds too much to say they are just birds!

 

[SmallFeather]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will start keeping Aries off the floor while others are around, and yes, I think shoes are a must.

 

[TikkiTembo]

How long do birds tend to stay hormonal for? Anxiously awaiting our cockatiel to have his first hormonal experience Reading everyone's experiences has been very helpful and interesting!

 

[SherLar]

Gads, that varies a lot. And cockatiels have their own deal, as most birds do. There are a lot of cockatiel owners here and if they don't show up to advise, I would repost under the cockatiel section? And some owners are lucky enough to not have hormonal issues. We are not them sadly.
sherri

 

[TikkiTembo]

I actually chatted with his vet today while I was at the office with my cat, and she said that since we're closely bonded from a young age, his mood swings may be less severe than an adult larger bird. She had a cockatiel for 21 years, and said that his hormonal time was never their biggest issue. So that's reassuring