3 Biting Hormonal Females!

[Sashagirl]

It has been a tough year and now this.We have a housefull of parrots and other pets.Lately it's been a biting feast.I will start of with 1)Yoyo 4 year old(CAG)she hasn't been with us too long but when she is out or around her cage be prepared to be bitten.This happens with no warning.2)Rosie 15 year old(CAG)she has been with us over 1 year.Before she was out of quarantine she laid an egg.She was Rocky Lee's chosen mate(he recently passed away)Her new thing is to wait until you go to pick her up or pick her up and then she will bite you.She also will bite you if you have no shoes on.3)Paris Rose 3 year old(Eclectus)she's the worse one as soon as she comes out of her cage she heads for her spot under or by the dresser.If you dare go hear her to put her back in her cage when the time comes be prepared to get bitten.The other day Elliott tried to put her away and came to me dripping blood.My response was did you bite her back?:rofl:All joking aside it's really getting bad.Our house consists of majority females who are hormonal or reaching maturity.What are we to do now?The raging hormones are winning.:(

[too&me]

The ekkie is trying to lay claim to under the dresser as a nest area, try & keep her out of that situation. The CAG's maybe you could use a stick with a paper plate, cardboard or piece of plexi between your hand & them until the hormone crisis is past. Is there no one you would feel safe placing one of them with at least temporarily to take a little charge out of the air? More of us will be contributing to this question as the day rolls on. I do know trying to avoid the bite is half the battle, it can take some rearranging & some imagination to accomplish that. Hang in there Marcia you do have your hands full.

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

eekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk s o unds like fun omg

[Sashagirl]

We're making arrangements to move the dresser out of the area.The stick will only work with Rosie.Yoyo came from a situation where she was teased by kids so she has many issues.As far as housing them somewhere temporary it's not an option our families aren't animal people.The only friend we could house them with husband is allergic to the birds.Thanks for the suggestion though.:)


The ekkie is trying to lay claim to under the dresser as a nest area, try & keep her out of that situation. The CAG's maybe you could use a stick with a paper plate, cardboard or piece of plexi between your hand & them until the hormone crisis is past. Is there no one you would feel safe placing one of them with at least temporarily to take a little charge out of the air? More of us will be contributing to this question as the day rolls on. I do know trying to avoid the bite is half the battle, it can take some rearranging & some imagination to accomplish that. Hang in there Marcia you do have your hands full.

[birdie]

. 1)Yoyo 4 year old(CAG)she hasn't been with us too long but when she is out or around her cage be prepared to be bitten.This happens with no warning.
2)Rosie 15 year old(CAG)she has been with us over 1 year.Before she was out of quarantine she laid an egg.She was Rocky Lee's chosen mate(he recently passed away)Her new thing is to wait until you go to pick her up or pick her up and then she will bite you.She also will bite you if you have no shoes on.
3)Paris Rose 3 year old(Eclectus)she's the worse one as soon as she comes out of her cage she heads for her spot under or by the dresser.If you dare go hear her to put her back in her cage when the time comes be prepared to get bitten.

are any of them stick trained? I would work on that if they are hard to handle. Maybe the distraction of training them a new thing will help.
If a bird is agressive on the floor, don't let them down there. At my house the floor is a privelage and they must be nice to be able to play there.
I would say keep Paris Rose away from the area of the dresser. To avoid the bite, you must prevent it. Watch for triggers and prevent the bird from getting to the point of a bite, divert their attention to something more constructive.

[bonnie]

How lately is lately? Has it been days? weeks? months?

[Sashagirl]

Lately is more like daily for the hormonal girls and we will be in for more becoming hormonal soon.:eek:

How lately is lately? Has it been days? weeks? months?

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

My cockateils who stay in the bedroom are under the bed the second they get let out. I am going to home depot to get plexiglass that I will run along the bottom of the bed frame. I figure if I miss the measurements a little bit because of the carpet it'll bend a bit.

[iti hoa's mom]

It has been a tough year and now this.We have a housefull of parrots and other pets.Lately it's been a biting feast.I will start of with 1)Yoyo 4 year old(CAG)she hasn't been with us too long but when she is out or around her cage be prepared to be bitten.This happens with no warning.2)Rosie 15 year old(CAG)she has been with us over 1 year.Before she was out of quarantine she laid an egg.She was Rocky Lee's chosen mate(he recently passed away)Her new thing is to wait until you go to pick her up or pick her up and then she will bite you.She also will bite you if you have no shoes on.3)Paris Rose 3 year old(Eclectus)she's the worse one as soon as she comes out of her cage she heads for her spot under or by the dresser.If you dare go hear her to put her back in her cage when the time comes be prepared to get bitten.The other day Elliott tried to put her away and came to me dripping blood.My response was did you bite her back?:rofl:All joking aside it's really getting bad.Our house consists of majority females who are hormonal or reaching maturity.What are we to do now?The raging hormones are winning.:(

Leave them in their cage more. Have playstand they cannot get down from. there are pros and cons to this one: put a carboard box in the ekkie cage and let her do her thing. Increase number of bathes. Pack them up and take them for a ride in the car. It really does calm some down.

Stick train. Paper plate as a guard is a great ideal. The other I have seen is a 2 liter bottle with the bottom cut off. Put the stick through the bottle opening and your hand inside the bottle. Makes a wonderful guard.

Allow for some natural foraging. I will cut branches from my bottle brush tree and stuff them in the cage. They really have to work at chewing things up. packed encourages chewing and also allows for a bit of a hiding place.

Hormonal may mean they need a bit of privacy. Rearrange the cage to maybe a shielded corner using toys etc.

Change lighting. Increased light may make for more breeding behavior so decrease the amount of light. don't offer quite as much protein but increase veggies.

And here is the final thought. We all have met, seen or been the women with a major PMS moment. How is that handled...DON'T MESS WITH THEM, give them their space and a few "yes dears" usually does wonders. A little added sleep time is quite helpful as well.

[Darryl Jones]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned trying leather gloves. I buy ones that are too large for my hands. That way if the bird bites they get leather instead of my hand. I have eighteen parrots and although I have been bitten before basically it is not a behavior that I accept. You just have to avoid the bite if at all possible. I always watch their body language carefully and don't rush or be in a hurry. That is when they get you good when you are in a hurry or distracted from watching them carefully. By the way I don't wear leather gloves any more with any of my birds. It is a matter of trust and asserting yourself as the leader of the flock. Always be higher than them when trying to get them to step up. Expect the best and you will get the best. It is about attitude.

[EasySpirit]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned trying leather gloves. I buy ones that are too large for my hands. That way if the bird bites they get leather instead of my hand. I have eighteen parrots and although I have been bitten before basically it is not a behavior that I accept. You just have to avoid the bite if at all possible. I always watch their body language carefully and don't rush or be in a hurry. That is when they get you good when you are in a hurry or distracted from watching them carefully. By the way I don't wear leather gloves any more with any of my birds. It is a matter of trust and asserting yourself as the leader of the flock. Always be higher than them when trying to get them to step up. Expect the best and you will get the best. It is about attitude.


Leather gloves generally are not encouraged to be used. Frequently they make birds worse. You are fortunate that you have had success with them. Birds coming from a background of where they have been used are one of the hardest birds to work with when rehabing (working with one now).

Birds have a fight or flight response. Leather gloves and forcing a bird to do something would be placed in the flooding category which is negative training. Flooding is very hard on birds taking away all their responses to an unacceptable situation for a bird.

[Sashagirl]

Darryl

I didn't want to mention the gloves.We do have several pairs of welding gloves which comes in handy for times like these.But sometimes we just do think to go get them for times like this and bam here comes the bite.:o

I am surprised that no one has mentioned trying leather gloves. I buy ones that are too large for my hands. That way if the bird bites they get leather instead of my hand. I have eighteen parrots and although I have been bitten before basically it is not a behavior that I accept. You just have to avoid the bite if at all possible. I always watch their body language carefully and don't rush or be in a hurry. That is when they get you good when you are in a hurry or distracted from watching them carefully. By the way I don't wear leather gloves any more with any of my birds. It is a matter of trust and asserting yourself as the leader of the flock. Always be higher than them when trying to get them to step up. Expect the best and you will get the best. It is about attitude.

[Sashagirl]

Yes out of these 3 only 2 are stick trained.Yoyo the CAG came from a bad situation where she was picked on my small children so she has many issues.She feels she must always defend herself no matter what.Unfortunately we are the ones who end up being the victims even feeding her is a task.Paris Rose is having her dresser removed we have tried blocking her access underneath with wood but she is too determined to do what she wants.Don't mess with a mad hormonal Eclectus female.:eek:


are any of them stick trained? I would work on that if they are hard to handle. Maybe the distraction of training them a new thing will help.
If a bird is agressive on the floor, don't let them down there. At my house the floor is a privelage and they must be nice to be able to play there.
I would say keep Paris Rose away from the area of the dresser. To avoid the bite, you must prevent it. Watch for triggers and prevent the bird from getting to the point of a bite, divert their attention to something more constructive.