Figured something out

[metalstitcher]

Tonight when I had Gracie out I moved my hand to get something out of the way for her from the side and she lunged at me. I have noticed lately if I move things from the side of her her will lunge at me till she hear my voice then she will stop and look at me like "Whatcha doing mom?"

I think she might be losing her eye sight a little bit because this has been going on for a bit. She will snap out but once she hear my voice she will stop herself and calm right down. Does anyone know of any tests they can do for their eye sight or is this just par for the course?

 

[JLcribber]

Is it one side or both sides? A vet could tell you is there is an obstruction in the eye (like a cataract) or something similar.

Geriatric birds do lose their sight.

 

[metalstitcher]

I want to say it's on her right side but I haven't tested her left too much she was to busy trying to go after her food dish and the bird snack bag I had in my hand after the initial lunge. I will let you know in the morning when I get home and see how she reacts if I move my hand on the left side of her. I understand the possibility of her losing her eye sight with her age but it would explain the snapping lately.

 

[Ankou]

Sometimes, especially in dark-eyed birds like lovebirds, we can even see the problem ourselves. (Though I do agree it's always best to have a vet take a look.)
Peanut has a cataract in her right eye for example;

It's pretty hard to get a good picture of it since she doesn't really trust the camera and wants to have her good eye towards it but in this case she was too busy yelling at her gift from fluffypoptarts to care.
See how the center of her eye is clouded? That is a cataract.

If you think she can't see as well you're probably right. You know her best and if things on the edge of her vision are startling her now when they didn't before, sounds like maybe her vision is decreased.
What I've started doing with Peanut is narrating what I'm doing around her, like always telling her when I'm going to touch her even from her good side. She's picked up on it very quickly and doesn't startle often.

One test idea I've done is to just leave some millet in her area to one side or the other, she may not spot the stationary treat in an unusual place if she can't see as well. I've found Peanut tends to walk right by treats on her bad side until I point to them (whereupon she'll lunge at me for reaching towards HER STUFF. How dare I signal where it is, she could find it on her own just fine in her opinion. )

 

[metalstitcher]

I will give that a try in the morning @Ankou and let you know how it goes. She has been lunging a lot more at thing she never did before. I hear you on the getting yelled at for pointing stuff out lol I still get yelled at for cleaning up her poop with a kleenex. She gets all bent when I do that. I'll take a look at her eyes as well and see if there is any cloudiness in them as well and make an appointment for her with the vet again and have him check her eyes out see if there is anything going on just to be on the safe side.