Bokeh
Moving in
- Joined
- 8/28/22
- Messages
- 13
I'm new here and so grateful for this resource. Hoping I can find some help.
I adopted a little peach- faced lovebird about a month ago.
He was hand-raised and lived with another lovebird before. The previous owner said the two did not get along so she wanted them separated.
He was super sweet for the first 3 and a half weeks we had him. Very gentle and friendly, always happy to do anything for millet or safflower seeds.
But something has changed over the past few days. Suddenly when sitting on my shoulder he has started to jump at my face and bite really hard. Before he would only give little warning nips on my hand when he didn't want to step- up (and I respected that, never pushed him) but now he's biting hard and frequently. And he rarely wants to step up anymore. Doesn't want to come off my shoulder and doesn't want to step up off of other surfaces either.
I've made changes to his care from what the previous owner did and maybe it's got to do with one of those? Too many too fast? I was assuming all these were positive changes that would only serve to help with his already wonderful disposition. But maybe it's too many changes too soon?
- started using a sleeper cage, making sure he gets 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night
-removed all fabric toys from his cage and gave him loads of destructable ones.
-changing his diet over from all-seeds to pellets (I've been taking the food transition very slow, but he's doing well and gaining some weight)
- working on target training and recall - which he's also taken well to
Could it be that he's missing having another bird around? Just need more time to adjust to new surroundings? Hormones? Just not sure why the sudden and very drastic change in behavior. My kids have all been so good with him, but are now getting scared to hold him at all. So any insight, tips and/or suggestions are welcome!
I adopted a little peach- faced lovebird about a month ago.
He was hand-raised and lived with another lovebird before. The previous owner said the two did not get along so she wanted them separated.
He was super sweet for the first 3 and a half weeks we had him. Very gentle and friendly, always happy to do anything for millet or safflower seeds.
But something has changed over the past few days. Suddenly when sitting on my shoulder he has started to jump at my face and bite really hard. Before he would only give little warning nips on my hand when he didn't want to step- up (and I respected that, never pushed him) but now he's biting hard and frequently. And he rarely wants to step up anymore. Doesn't want to come off my shoulder and doesn't want to step up off of other surfaces either.
I've made changes to his care from what the previous owner did and maybe it's got to do with one of those? Too many too fast? I was assuming all these were positive changes that would only serve to help with his already wonderful disposition. But maybe it's too many changes too soon?
- started using a sleeper cage, making sure he gets 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night
-removed all fabric toys from his cage and gave him loads of destructable ones.
-changing his diet over from all-seeds to pellets (I've been taking the food transition very slow, but he's doing well and gaining some weight)
- working on target training and recall - which he's also taken well to
Could it be that he's missing having another bird around? Just need more time to adjust to new surroundings? Hormones? Just not sure why the sudden and very drastic change in behavior. My kids have all been so good with him, but are now getting scared to hold him at all. So any insight, tips and/or suggestions are welcome!