Hi there! I’ve got a brown throated conure named Hiccup who has become excessively territorial about his food and cage lately. He’s definitely going through a hormonal time right now, being a bit over a year old and he is on the tail end of his first molt, neither of which can help. When he’s out of his cage he’s chipper and friendly and doesn’t nip or bite at all. He’s definitely not a touchy-feely bird and doesn’t accept scratches, but his recall training is good, and he loves training and doing tricks, showering with me, hanging out on my shoulder while I clean or garden etc. Outside of his cage I’d say he’s as normal as a bird can be. But if I open his cage door to try to fill his food or water up I’m suddenly enemy number one and he lunged at me and growls and bites me hard if he can get at me. If I want to get him out I can’t get him to step up from the cage door anymore, I have to wait for him to climb out to the top of the cage before he’ll step up without trying to bite me. I’ve never reached into his cage and grabbed him or invaded his territory for any other reason than to fill his food or water. Has anyone else experienced this or does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this behavior without losing my bird’s trust? Thanks!