Looking for help with sudden aggression in Meyers parrot.
Is anyone else having behavioral problems with their Meyers (or other Poicephalus) parrot? My Meyers has been extra aggressive lately, and I'm wondering if anyone can offer suggestions about why he's acting like this, or what I can do to change it.
Bartleby will be 4 years old this spring. He has always been a little territorial over me, where he sometimes bites other people that try to touch him, charges if people approach his cage (at least until he sees they have a treat for him), or very rarely if someone is too close and is holding something he's interested in, he'll run over and latch on to their finger with his beak. His other usual aggressive behavior involves flying to my hand and biting a finger if I'm eating or drinking something, or holding a glass, mug, water bottle, plate, or utensil. He just latches on and I have to pry his beak off, usually breaking skin and sometimes drawing a drop or two of blood. He also will get bitey if I haven't fed him his morning beans/veggies quickly enough. I've learned that I absolutely cannot have any human food or beverages out while he is out of the cage, even if I'm just preparing something to eat after he goes back.
The current problem is a lot worse. For a few days in a row, he seems to have deliberately gone after my fingers after willingly stepping-up. Here's how it went:
After each instance, he flies off to another surface, holds his shoulders out, nods his head up and down a few times, and gets a crazy look in his eyes, with tiny pupils and the irises paled from their usual light red. Sometimes he says "Hey!" which is what I say when he or the cats are getting into something they shouldn't. He sits like that for a minute or two and won't let me touch him. Each time I have to use a towel to pick him up.
He'll bite me while I'm making his veggies once every few months at most, so this frequency and severity is very startling especially since he has been so sweet and gentle in the last few weeks.
Today I fed him without taking him out, then went about my business where he can see me for a few hours before I let him out to play. He didn't try to bite me today, although he seemed hesitant to let me pet him or pick him up, except with my sleeve over my hand. He did, however, sit on my shoulder to preen himself and accept scritches for a few minutes.
& just to throw this out there, here are a few things that have been different lately: Over Christmas, we spent five days housesitting for a friend, where he got to meet an African grey and two cockatiels, and interact with the 'tiels, with supervision, in their aviary (the grey absolutely does not get along with other birds). I have been working more, mostly evenings, so my days have been starting and ending a lot later. Since I have been working more I have been home less, but I still let him out for the same amount of time as before, sometimes longer. And since I sleep later, I've started eating my own breakfast before letting him out instead of after, otherwise I'll have to wait too long to eat while I feed him.
I just don't know if this is hormonal, because of the weather, or because of something I'm doing differently?
Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated! (also if anyone follows DomesticBirds on reddit, you'll see this x-posted there)
Edited to add an adorable photo of the little guy enjoying a pumpkin:
Bartleby will be 4 years old this spring. He has always been a little territorial over me, where he sometimes bites other people that try to touch him, charges if people approach his cage (at least until he sees they have a treat for him), or very rarely if someone is too close and is holding something he's interested in, he'll run over and latch on to their finger with his beak. His other usual aggressive behavior involves flying to my hand and biting a finger if I'm eating or drinking something, or holding a glass, mug, water bottle, plate, or utensil. He just latches on and I have to pry his beak off, usually breaking skin and sometimes drawing a drop or two of blood. He also will get bitey if I haven't fed him his morning beans/veggies quickly enough. I've learned that I absolutely cannot have any human food or beverages out while he is out of the cage, even if I'm just preparing something to eat after he goes back.
The current problem is a lot worse. For a few days in a row, he seems to have deliberately gone after my fingers after willingly stepping-up. Here's how it went:
- Thursday he made one minor bite, when I put his food back in the microwave and then asked him to step up. He usually flies over to his bowl when it's ready, but he didn't this time, so I put his bowl in his cage and picked him up to escort him to it and suddenly he started biting my index finger again! Three separate bites, and two of them bled.
- Friday, he didn't seem ready to go to the kitchen with me, so I took his dirty bowl and when I came back to get him, he stepped up and then bit me again, hard enough to leave a mark for a few days but not break the skin much.
- Saturday I was away so someone else fed him without taking him out.
- Sunday, we had a normal interaction until I picked him up to offer him water, and he latched on to my index finger really hard and left a gash and bruises.
After each instance, he flies off to another surface, holds his shoulders out, nods his head up and down a few times, and gets a crazy look in his eyes, with tiny pupils and the irises paled from their usual light red. Sometimes he says "Hey!" which is what I say when he or the cats are getting into something they shouldn't. He sits like that for a minute or two and won't let me touch him. Each time I have to use a towel to pick him up.
He'll bite me while I'm making his veggies once every few months at most, so this frequency and severity is very startling especially since he has been so sweet and gentle in the last few weeks.
Today I fed him without taking him out, then went about my business where he can see me for a few hours before I let him out to play. He didn't try to bite me today, although he seemed hesitant to let me pet him or pick him up, except with my sleeve over my hand. He did, however, sit on my shoulder to preen himself and accept scritches for a few minutes.
& just to throw this out there, here are a few things that have been different lately: Over Christmas, we spent five days housesitting for a friend, where he got to meet an African grey and two cockatiels, and interact with the 'tiels, with supervision, in their aviary (the grey absolutely does not get along with other birds). I have been working more, mostly evenings, so my days have been starting and ending a lot later. Since I have been working more I have been home less, but I still let him out for the same amount of time as before, sometimes longer. And since I sleep later, I've started eating my own breakfast before letting him out instead of after, otherwise I'll have to wait too long to eat while I feed him.
I just don't know if this is hormonal, because of the weather, or because of something I'm doing differently?
Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated! (also if anyone follows DomesticBirds on reddit, you'll see this x-posted there)
Edited to add an adorable photo of the little guy enjoying a pumpkin: