A case of hormones?

[Peachfaced]

I'm interested in what you guys can make of this. Over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed Beep becoming more and more short-tempered. I don't know for sure if he is a boy/girl, but I've been assigning him the male gender role since I got him.

Anyways, I keep him on a schedule, and the only thing that has changed is his behavior. He'll be sweet for a minute or two and he'll snuggle under my chin, but then at random he'll snap and start biting me or start nipping my neck. His nips aren't investigative ones... they're really quite painful and he's left beak marks on my arms. Prior to this change in behavior, I was able to distract him with tiny wooden stars. Now it's really hard to avoid having him go ape on my skin.

When he gets this way I try to put him on my desk and not let him on me. It's not behavior I enjoy! I think I've been associating it with him needing to burn off energy so I've been working with his flight skills/recall. It doesn't seem to help his biting problem though.

I should note that when I brought him home in October, he was roughly 5-6 months or older. I have a feeling he's being hormonal, but I really have no past experience on which to base this claim. What do you guys think? And do you have any tips on how to deal with his excessive biting?

 

[JLcribber]

Spring is in the air and it sounds hormonal to me.

 

[Peachfaced]

Is there a length of time (like a season) where this behavior really dominates? Or does it take years to settle down?

 

[JLcribber]

It gets a little easier every year. The first few times are the worst because they are confused and somewhat frustrated with the new urges. In time they learn to handle them better. What kind of bird is Beep?

 

[Peachfaced]

Beep is a Peachfaced Lovebird. I really hope it does get easier with time. I hate to see him frustrated.

 

[Chicklette]

It should get easier in time. Try blowing on him gently when he bites. This kind of distracts them and it may even stop the biting. It worked for me.

 

[Brigidt36]

Hormone surges can be so frustrating for all. I'm not sure if the birds handle it better each season or if we are the ones who start handling it better, probably a combination of both. Good luck.