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I have learned over the years, that most things that go wrong can end up being my fault but really, this is too much! Yankee fell the other day from his gym and he attacked me when I picked him up. He has never bitten me, so I was completely shocked! He has bitten me twice since then and I am assuming that it is because it is Spring and he is a male and he is also into his first molt. Whatever, it is painful!

Yesterday, he was reaching for something and fell a short distance and he caught himself and then attacked the gym. He pecked and shouted at it like it was alive. Needless to say, I learned my lesson and didn't try to comfort him! Is this normal caique behavior?

I don't know Cathy, but Pepita is just a few days younger than Yankee, and quite frankly, I actually took a huge sigh of relief when I read your post. I currently have a bandaid on my thumb from a bad bite and a mark on another finger from a nip that broke the skin, but did not bleed. Our birds are too young for real hormones, but mine has been decidedly nippy in the past 3-4 days and I am not sure how to successfully handle it. (I got the bad bite when she got her foot caught in something and I had to get it out and the nip when I removed her from my husband when she would not step up) BTW, she wasn't hurt when her footsie was caught,but she was really afraid. Do caiques have a 10 mo old "terrible twos"?

Diana

Just to add to my last response-she will NOT be going back to school until she is a little more under control. I understand when she bit me when she was scared, however, she has been nippy and throwing tantrums like never before.

Oh yeah they can have tantrums like that. Lola does it all the time. If she doesnt want to do something she bites the hell outta me. Take last night for example. I got home from work at 8. Her bed time is 8, so she wasnt out with my parents or brother. So I took her out when I got home. When I'm gone at work all day, and she sees me, she gets pissed and gives me one heck of a bite. It's time for her to go to bed, i go to put her in, she bites me to hold on and she piggy squeals like mad. I dont give in tho!
I shook her off and she went into the cage a bit ticked off but she'll get over it. this morning she was a bundle of love!

I learned the hard way when I didnt come home on new years eve... came back new years day, lola was on the playgym, went to give her a kiss and she attacked my lip and bit me. Had a fat lip for a few days.
Remember, I live with my parents and brother. She is never alone. She just sees me as her primary care giver which i am. So when I'm not there to get her up in the morning shes just not as happy.

So you gotta read their body langage.

I feel better after hearing from y'all. It is so upsetting when he attacked me the first time for no reason. Yankee has been the perfect bird since I got him in October and I was absolutely floored when he bit me. The first time, he didn't draw blood, but he just kept screeching at me. I thought that he was going nuts! Now, I know what you have been talking about! I wish that I didn't!

I guess that Yankee won't be going back to school for a while, either. I had promised to bring him in this week because last week was state mandated testing or the week from h...! The kids will be disappointed but safe. I'll take my lovebirds in. They haven't been to school yet, so that should be ok.

Yankee has also gotten thinner since he has been molting which worries me, but he has been eating like his usual piggy self.

Hi Cathy,

I don't think it's hormones - I think that Yankee is just growing up. It does seem that Jamie is more cheeky during spring (separate from hormonal behaviour) - it's probably all that light and sunshine

I suggest you read "The Beak Book" written by Sally Blanchard.

Hang in there and don't give in or become scared


Kate

I ordered the Beak Book last night to help with Pepita. Today, she is her little, sweet self. I would defo be concerned about weight loss. She has remained at a constant 156 since I got her, even during a rough molt.

I don't know why it seems cute when other people's birds act like this, but Lola's tantrums seem cuter than Pepita's. Why is that?

It is because we weren't getting bitten and we could look at our babies and think, "you would never bite Momma, would ya?" I guess the "honeymoon" period is over!

Don't worry, I am not giving up on Yankee. I raised 3 sons, he is easy, comparatively speaking! He was super sweet today and yesterday.

I am not sure if he has lost weight or the molting is making him look thinner because I can't weigh him because I don't have scales. But, he is active and eating like usual and his poops are okay.

I am going to go look up Sally's book.

I have a 15 yo. son, dobermans, AND I teach high school. Pepita is easy! She is definitely nippier and testing the limits more than before. So far, distracting her words in a limited way. But, I am open to other suggestions.

dwiseley wrote:I ordered the Beak Book last night to help with Pepita. Today, she is her little, sweet self. I would defo be concerned about weight loss. She has remained at a constant 156 since I got her, even during a rough molt.

I don't know why it seems cute when other people's birds act like this, but Lola's tantrums seem cuter than Pepita's. Why is that?

ha ha.. lola's tantrums can be bad! lol.. nothing cute about them sine I'm usually on the recieving end of the bite! lol

Mika is the sweetest bird normally, but if you try to take a toy from her or get her to step up when she is intent on something, she throws a bitting screaming fit. Sparky's fits durring his first spring were nothing compared to when he hit the terrible twos at about two and a half. For about two months he would get so worked up, about once a day, that he would be on top of his cage screaming and take off about a foot up in the air, hover then land again, then take off and land again. He wasn't going anywhere just basically jumping up and down with some wing assist and screaming, with his eyes wildly pinning the whole time. The first few times I tried to calm him down, and got a good bite or two, after that I just let him go and wear himself out. He has stopped doing that but he will still get really worked up sometimes. When he gets really bad and actually tries to attack one of us or Mika, we grab him with a towel and lock him up in his cage, by himself for a bit, until he has calmed down, or we grab him with a heavy wash cloth and soak him under the faucet, then let him rub on a towel. Both of these work and if you use the same towel all the time they begin to know what is coming and sometimes will calm themselves down. Of course sometimes it just makes them mad. The good part is after the tantrums they go back to being their sweet little selves. My husband and I often joke about actually having four birds: the good, sweat Sparky and Mika and the terrible, mean, upset Sparky and Mika.

Welcome to the world of parronting a caique! LOL They can be a Jekyll & Hyde sometimes and over time you'll learn to recognize the 'Mr. Hyde' personality and keep your hands and lips to yourself. Don't be discouraged, it's natural caique behavior and it's why learning to read their body language is so important.

Well, I ordered the Beak Book but it I won't get it for a couple of weeks, so bear with me.

Sally, does Mika have his wings trimmed? That behavior sounds scary and I hope that Yankee will skip that behavior. The goods news is that he won't be sexually mature for at least another year!

I'm sorry, Sandy. I'm horrible with names.

Cathy,
Don't worry about the name, I knew who you ment.
Sparky's wings are not clipped. He's the one that threw the jumping, flapping fits. They were very scary at first but really, he was just very frustrated and ichy and wasn't hurting anthing or anyone as long as we left him go. He'd just wear himself out and then want to cuddle. He seems to have grown out of it now, too.
Mika's wings were clipped when we first brought her home and her new flights are just now growing in. She hasn't shown the same vigor in her tantrums yet, but she is only 13 months old. Sparky didn't really start that until about two and a half.
All in all, I think being able to fly has helped Sparky burn off some of that nervous energy and frustration. I know it has improved his confidense and balance and coordination. I'm looking forward to Mika regaining the ability to fly. It does however mean a bit more firm training, but I think its worth it. I think the maturity process is a bit different for each of these birdies. But if you think about it, it is eqivalent to a person going through their teenage years. Even good teenagers can be a handful, but they usually come out of it ok. I'm sure Yankee will too.