Ask Lafeber

Aggressive & High Emotion Conure

Hi! I have a one and a half – nearing two year old – green cheek conure. Recently, he’s been very “high emotion” with excessive screeching, biting, and refusing to play with his toys. Essentially all he does anymore is hold on to the side of the cage nearest to me and watch me. The refusal to play with toys is more of a recent installment, which is very unlike him; he’s a big “busy-beak” and shredder but at the moment he’s not really having any interest in his toys. I feel horrible about it and let him out as often as possible. However, when I do, it always resorts to me getting bit. He’s never really had a problem with hands, and he can sit with me on my lap or my shoulder for a long time before he gets angry, but sometimes when my hands come too close now, he starts aggressively lunging. I’ve had this problem once before many months ago but assumed it was a fluke and for the most part it was, but now it’s become consistent and it’s negatively affecting his health to be in his cage all the time. He’s been shredding his feathers for a few months, which I’ve been trying desperately to avoid him doing, but to no avail. Luckily the problem is not getting any worse, he’s mostly just chewing and “picking” at them like a bad habit, but if he were to start pulling them out I know it could be detrimental to his health. I assume having him out more would help this problem as well and generally keep him happier and busier but recently when I attempted to have him out he bit me on the face, which before seemed to be the one place he would never bite, and that’s where I drew the line. In the last few days I’ve been trying to go back to very basic training with him, simple “ups” and “downs” and showing him that I am indeed the flock leader, but I just don’t know what to do. He’s been having some problems with frequent spurts of head shakes too, which I know can be another sign of illness. However we also don’t have an avian vet in our near vicinity and I’m worried about his behavior if we did go.
Overall, I’m very worried about him. We used to have a very good relationship and I love having him out with me but it just doesn’t feel possible at the moment, and I know that can be very harmful to his health.
Thank you so much for your help!

Hi Jacey,

This does sound like it is hormonal related behavior. With some birds, it can hit them like this where they are a bundle of confused urges. You are actually doing the right thing as far as going back to basics. You should carefully evaluate any changes, even the smallest change. Can he see outside? If so, maybe something there has changed. Try a window cover in that case or something like a plant to obscure his view. Anything new can be a trigger for behavior changes for some birds – even a small change in routine. I would follow through with the re-training, and establish some ground rules. I am not a fan of birds on shoulders, as it leaves your face vulnerable and puts the bird in a superior position. Keep him at eye level or lower – get him a small playstand if needed, but nothing tall. Even though your lap is low, it can feel cozy and nesty to him. Your hand is now an intruder, which is why he attacks. He also sees your hand as the thing that gets him out and puts him back in his cage. Let him spend more time on your hand getting attention. Limit contact to head scratches – petting a bird anywhere else on the body sends the message that you are the mate, not just a companion. Again, it brings up hormones. If the biting isn’t getting better, you might try stick training him. But let’s try avoiding the hormone triggers first – no shoulder, no lap, no free roaming – he has to be on your hand or playstand eye level or lower, no bird tents or huts, nothing he can get inside of or under. Nothing to shred for now – regular toys with color, bells, leather. Shredding can be a big trigger and while on one hand you are worried about the feather issue, on the other, taking away paper or cardboard might reduce his hormones. Set an early bed time, cover his cage and make sure he only gets about 8-10 hours of light. Ignore him completely when he hangs on the side of the cage and calls for you. When he is quiet for as little as 20-30 seconds, immediately talk to him and praise him. If you see him self play, again give him verbal praise. Do not get him out unless he is being “good”, as in not hanging and screaming for attention. It can be hard to ignore a loud bird, but if you can get through it, he will get the message. Each time you give in, you lose any progress you have made. Leave the room if you need to, but don’t make a big deal out of leaving – just leave quietly and wait for silence before you return. Then you can give him praise or a treat. His hormones should settle back down and this will get easier. If you can’t seem to make progress, you might have to consider moving his cage where he doesn’t see you all of the time. We will be having a behavior webinar on December 4 that you can watch live or view later on Youtube. If you view live, you can ask questions.

Webinar: Heart to Heart: Pet Bird Behavior Q&A with Chris Davis

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda