Is this Plet behavior normal?

[SterlingSL]

I gave my daughter a "gateway parrot[let]" for her birthday. Daughter is 19 and grew up around my former birds - some kind of conure, BFA and a CAG. So she's not new to parrots at all. She ruined our cat with constant picking (it's in our genetic code) but I told her you cannot do that with birds. So far I haven't noticed her picking on her parrotlet 'Pickles'. Pickles goes everywhere with my daughter except to college classes. I've even caught her in Home Depot with Pickles hiding out in her jacket. I wouldn't be surprised if Pickles has attended a class or two without my knowledge.


BUT - her lil Pickles is one aggressive bird. If that bird was any bigger, we'd all be missing body parts. She's extremely aggressive towards other birds and anybody that gets near my daughter. She's as sweet as can be to my daughter unless my daughter is not doing things in an approved manner by Pickles. It's really cute but only because Pickles is the size of a flea. I have to really work at it to get near Pickles without the 'honking' and snapping of the beak. If you get in there and happen to get some scritches going, she really gets into that.

I'm just wondering if parrotlets are normally this way or has my daughter already found a way to ruin this bird? My daughter has also 'acquired' my GCC who was a rescue and would have nothing to do with people. Well, the GCC is now a cuddle muffins at certain times. Pickles and 'Stuart' as she calls him, seem to really get along. Stuart loves to be preened by Pickles who really gets aggressive about it.

I'm thinking of just letting go of 'Stuart' since the three of them seem to be a unit now. Hopefully this is just normal parrotlet behavior. I know conures and Stuart is actually getting much better than he was when we took him in.

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

Yoshi is this way. When we first brought him home, he would go to my husband and my son willingly. Now that nobody else has really put forth a ton of effort with Yoshi, he is very possessive of me. Especially with my husband. The second my husband walks through the door Yoshi gets out of his cage and waddles towards my husband while going off on him chirping away and biting at him. And if he even thinks of hugging me....geez, he will get the full display from Yoshi. It has been really bad the past month or so....Yoshi is looking for a fight! The breeder told me that if everyone doesn't handle the bird a lot then this would eventually happen. Atleast, that is the case with us. Parrotlets sure are cute though when they are mad....

 

[JAM]

Although M-Star is a lorikeet not a parrotlet, she is extremely possessive and defensive of me. No other bird is allowed on me when she is there, she will viciously lunge and and bite them, if she can't get to them, she'll nip me instead as if to tell me off for even daring to let another bird on whilst she is there.

She's not aggressive fortunately to other people, but if she isn't in the mood to be handled by someone else she will scurry away to the other side of me to hide.

 

[Milo]

Yep, totally normal! Plets tend to think they're the biggest, baddest birdies out there. I have to have my hands covered if I have Milo step up out of his cage rather than from the top or from the couch.

Please don't let the GCC and the plet interact though... there is waaaay to much of a size difference and Stuart could kill Pickles without a thought.

 

[Anne & Gang]

are you kidding?? they are little macaws in a miniature package...aggressive, territorial nipply little devils!!

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

are you kidding?? they are little macaws in a miniature package...aggressive, territorial nipply little devils!!

LOL! I am much more scared of my p'let than my macaw! Little beak nips hurt! My macaw is an angel compared to my parrotlet.

 

[Tay05]

Sounds like a textbook parrotlet!

 

[Kia]

I think it depends how they are raised and from then on how much one on one they get because I know people with one and its a sweetheart and has never bitten anyone. They so get a bad rap but it is the time you put into them that makes a huge difference.

 

[Kia]

Check this out Parrotlet trick - YouTube

 

[Milo]

I think it depends how they are raised and from then on how much one on one they get because I know people with one and its a sweetheart and has never bitten anyone. They so get a bad rap but it is the time you put into them that makes a huge difference.

I don't think that's a fair assessment at all. I am Milo's first home and he is handled and loved on on a daily basis. He is very friendly but is still cage aggressive, so we work around it.

There is always going to be variation in personality, but a plet that isn't nippy is an anomaly, not the norm. Like a quiet too or macaw. It doesn't make them bad birds, just something people should be aware of when they're looking into a certain species as a companion.

I wouldn't give up my little green man for anything in the world.

 

[Carold]

I'm happy to have found this thread. I've had birds most of my life including budgies, finches and a yellow collar Macaw. I've had three plets. The first was a handfed baby who was not nippy but certainly opinionated about who should be in his space. When my first one was only a few months old I acquired the second one as a rescue from a pet store when he was sick and the shop was happy to get rid of him. The rescue has never enjoyed being handled regardless of positive training techniques and at age 13, I find it best to just keep him happy and well cared for. My first handfed plet died at age 10 from an accident. Which brings me to my 3rd plet that I also weaned. He was fun and sweet for the first two years but the last year has been nothing short of a challenge. He is a Jekyll / Hyde bird. He "screams" most of the day except for the times he is busy lunging at toys and me. I waffle between placing him with a breeder or trying to work through this. Just when I am ready to relocate him he will have a couple of good days and I change my mind. He is currently sitting on my desk next to my computer being a perfect little gentleman. I am wondering if this is just a year of sexual maturity and he might outgrow it and go back to being the sweet bird he was at age 2. He's also had recurrent bacterial infections that I wonder might have affected him. Looking for thoughts and comments. Thanks.

 

[BeakyBird]

I've already got a taste of my little plet's attitude and I only visited him once. I plan to keep my parakeets in the living room, and my little plet in my room so that they both have their respective space, and he can romp in my room as king.

 

[Trinity23]

Textbook p'let. They're naturally mouthy birds and i think that's just how they communicate. They are also very cage aggressive. But it's fine. Pickles will step up and come out of his cage for me. Unless he's been sleeping and then that's my own fault. He's possessive of me but socialized enough to go to people and family members. Usually he just wants to hang out with me. As Milo's mom said, I wouldn't trade my green munchkin for anything. It's me and him against the world!

 

[Moldybread]

Guess I got lucky. Nibbler isn't possessive of me, he likes to go to my daughter or anyone else. Would go to my husband but he isn't a bird person. He gets seriously bitey if I mess around in his cage with him in it. He can get picky, I mean sometimes he tries to remove freckles or other skin imperfections, and that hurts. Some days he's just compulsive about it. But he's a joy the majority of the time. By the way, I have no idea how old he is (definitely adult) or how he was raised. We found him.