OWLSTAR
Checking out the neighborhood
- Joined
- 1/26/23
- Messages
- 4
- Real Name
- Sprocket
I have a 5 y/o green cheek conure named Kiwi (I know not very unique) and up until a few months ago she absolutely loved my boyfriend. I have owned her since she was 12 weeks old and lived with her all but 9 months. My boyfriend and I have lived together for the past two years and she has had absolutely NO problems before now. In maybe the past 2 or 3 months, she has started biting him out of nowhere and very viciously, holding on and biting harder when he tries to pull away. She has drawn blood a few times, but mostly it just leaves a nasty red mark. She's begged him for cuddles and then after a few seconds of getting them she bites as hard as she can. She'll sometimes even fly over just to bite him, when he was just sitting still on the couch doing absolutely nothing and making no noise. For a little over a year she would sometimes bite him when he asked her to step up. It was rare and funny when it happened (mostly because she would say "good girl" after) but now it's every time she steps up and she always says "good girl" after the bite.
We've been doing our best to try and solve the problem but nothing has worked. We originally thought it was a hormone issue, so we removed all shredding toys and replaced them with wooden ones. She very happily chews the wood and has destroyed a few balsa blocks. We stopped petting her beak, the only other place we pet being her head. We put her in her cage for a few minutes after a bite. We've been putting her to bed from 8pm-10pm to get her 12 hours of total darkness. Still, she bites my boyfriend without warning and as hard as she can. Our veterinarian has suggested three hormone blocker injections over the course of three months to bring down her hormones and cause her to bite less, but I'm not completely convinced this is a hormone issue anymore.
Weird thing is, she still absolutely loves my boyfriend. She freaks out when he goes into the bathroom or closet and he's out of view. She gets so upset she flies around the apartment at her top speed, taking really sharp turns in the air and flying in and out of the bedroom (and making me panic she'll run into something). Me speaking calmly and/or petting doesn't calm her down, she just stays flat until launching into the air and zipping around to the point of panting. I have to hold her still when she eventually lands on me so she doesn't take off again. When he comes back into the room she gives him an earful, chattering and looking at him pointedly. She gets so excited when he comes home from class, dropping absolutely everything she was doing to fly to the perch closest to the front door to say hi. She begs for pets and cuddles with him and sometimes preens his beard and mustache and gives him kisses. She will be so so sweet and suddenly bite and draw blood.
I can't tell you how many times we've both googled "my bird is biting me/my boyfriend" to find nothing that helps us, or a situation so close but ultimately not close enough to what Kiwi is doing. I feel so guilty that she still cuddles and kisses and loves me but hurts him, and I know he's in pain from the sudden loss of a birds love. Does anyone have any advice or change of care to help us? I'd appreciate absolutely anything.
We've been doing our best to try and solve the problem but nothing has worked. We originally thought it was a hormone issue, so we removed all shredding toys and replaced them with wooden ones. She very happily chews the wood and has destroyed a few balsa blocks. We stopped petting her beak, the only other place we pet being her head. We put her in her cage for a few minutes after a bite. We've been putting her to bed from 8pm-10pm to get her 12 hours of total darkness. Still, she bites my boyfriend without warning and as hard as she can. Our veterinarian has suggested three hormone blocker injections over the course of three months to bring down her hormones and cause her to bite less, but I'm not completely convinced this is a hormone issue anymore.
Weird thing is, she still absolutely loves my boyfriend. She freaks out when he goes into the bathroom or closet and he's out of view. She gets so upset she flies around the apartment at her top speed, taking really sharp turns in the air and flying in and out of the bedroom (and making me panic she'll run into something). Me speaking calmly and/or petting doesn't calm her down, she just stays flat until launching into the air and zipping around to the point of panting. I have to hold her still when she eventually lands on me so she doesn't take off again. When he comes back into the room she gives him an earful, chattering and looking at him pointedly. She gets so excited when he comes home from class, dropping absolutely everything she was doing to fly to the perch closest to the front door to say hi. She begs for pets and cuddles with him and sometimes preens his beard and mustache and gives him kisses. She will be so so sweet and suddenly bite and draw blood.
I can't tell you how many times we've both googled "my bird is biting me/my boyfriend" to find nothing that helps us, or a situation so close but ultimately not close enough to what Kiwi is doing. I feel so guilty that she still cuddles and kisses and loves me but hurts him, and I know he's in pain from the sudden loss of a birds love. Does anyone have any advice or change of care to help us? I'd appreciate absolutely anything.