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I cannot take it anymore! Lola has started lunge biting multiple times a day. For the past 2 weeks I cannot even get her up in the morning without her attacking me.
When I go to school and come home 2 and 1/2 hrs later, I cannot go near her cage or touch it b/c she wants to rip my face off!
So every morning, I have to put a towel over her, pick her up and put her on her poopy perch.

when I take her out when I get home, she comes out tries to bite me, I throw a towel over her and pick her up. Once I put her in the towel and put her some place else, she's ok.
She doesnt lunge bite at anyone else....

WHAT TO DO?!?

Freeze her beak with your fingers if you can, until she submits...look her in the eye when the beak is immobile. Worked for us.

hi michelle,

i'm sorry to hear about lola's behavior ..i pm'd you.

hey

Sorry to hear about the behavior change. Hope its just a hormonal spring time thing. All my best

Freddy

That first bizarre aggression always blows us away Where did our loving baby go and who is this monster in her body???

Think back to when you were 12-13 and puberty hit. Can you recall how moody, petulant, and obnoxious you were? I do, for myself, because post-menopause is a lot the same Your Lola girl has NO IDEA what's happening to her either. The sexual hormones suddenly flowing thru her body leave her pretty helpless to control her aggressive behavior. Please don't punish her. Simply love her, as you always have, and learn new ways of dealing with her.

Please lose the towel and let her wander out of her cage on her own. Submission is NOT the name of the game with parrots. You want TRUST, and trust is born of respect, even when her behavior is ruled by hormonal aggression. The first time is usually the worst, so it's not like you'll need to put up with this forever. Just go easy on her this season and y'all will do much better forevermore.

This article is almost decade old, but it changed my life as a parront its very first hour online on New Year's Day 1999, so I'm eternally grateful for Bobbi Brinker's wisdom: http://birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww30eiii.htm And this one is great: http://www.thegabrielfoundation.org/html/behavior.htm

Paca

Michelle

I have to agree with Paca - When our 'tiel was young and hormonal (and very aggressive) I used the grab the beak thing several times. He did stop biting me but that was only because he feared me. He did not come near me for a good two months and it was almost a whole year before we got our relationship back. He eventually trusted me again but it was a hard lesson. Ive never again used aggressive behavior to try to get them to quit doing an undesired action since. This simply leads to fear and distrust - someplace you def don't want to go with your girl. Broken trust is so hard to regain. I am not going to give any advice but to be patient - this hopefully will not last.

Freddy

Michelle,
Sorry to hear about Lola's agressive behavior. It is definitly spring time! I read somewhere that caiques will often only be agressive toward thier favorite person when hormonal. Uh..congrats on being Lola's favorite.

Sparky and Mika are both really worked up now too. Sparky isn't as bad as he's been the past two years; he just gets really excited whenever I go for a papertowl to clean up a mess. Occationally I have to watch my hands to keep from being chomped on. But when he gets too excited I just put him down and pay no attension to him. That way he knows I don't like what he's doing but I'm not threatening him. Note, this doesn't do much to alter the behavior it just gives me a momentary break and makes him work to continue being a pain. This is Mika's first hormonal spring so she is a handful. I think Sparky is her favorite as she has taken to flying at him to attack. You know the "I like you so I'll punch you as hard as I can" routine. She came after my face once and my husband once or twice which earned her a time out in her room until she calmed down.

I wish I had good advice on how to handle this but really all I can do is let you know you aren't alone. I would suggest that you just ride it out and don't let her intimidate you. A small bite or two may hurt but her learning that it upsets you is probably worse in the long run. When she is really worked up you may have to take percautions such as a towel or a beak grab. Anyway, good luck and let us know if you find anything that works well for you!

Thx for the advice everyone! I will ride it out...

She's still a beast! lol

I think it would be smart to invest in a T-perch to save your fingers but not use a towel. Your caique is just around sexual maturity age, right? I've heard alot about caiques in particular becoming more agressive at sexual maturity, sometimes switching to hating the favorite person. but don't worry, it should pass but treat her like nothing has happened. I really recommend Barbara Heidenreich's Parrot Problem Solver. It is awesome on using positive reinforcement. Hope this helps.

Well, take this morning for example. I come downstairs like I always do, uncover Lola's cage...she's chriping happily, talking jibber jabbing, I go to touch the door to open the cage and she climbs as fast as she can and lunge bites at my fingers. My dad thinks this is hysterical and says "She doesnt do that to me!" I tell him "Then you take her out, then!" He opens the cage, she happily steps onto his hand, and he puts her right on her poopy perch. She's happy as a clam. Then once she does her poop, she comes right to me. It really is the weirdest thing.

But I'll just ride it out!

It's cage territoriality and a preference for your dad, at least in that particular situation. Both are very common characteristics that CAN be worked around and are no indicators that there's anything "wrong" with Lola or with you.

This is a normal reaction at birdie puberty. It's harder than I wish to find good articles on this, but in the conferences and seminars I attend, it's discussed often and at length. If you begin to feel desperate and can't find reading materials to calm yourself, I urge you to work by phone with a behaviorist such as Pamela Clark (and she's just one of many you might call) to get reassurance that you're doing the right things to bring you and Lola through this trying time in good shape with each other. If googling leaves you with qxs, just ask here.

My best, Paca

I know that it must hurt your feelings! I hope that this passes quickly and you get your sweet Lola back.

Yankee hasn't hit puberty, yet. I don't know if it helps that I am the only person in the house. If he bites me, he's stuck in his cage for awhile.

My May Bird Talk just arrived and has an article by Mattie Sue Athan on the closely related issue of petting sexually mature birds. Might be a good one to read.

Update: So far we have had 3 good days in a row! No lunge biting! Hopefully it will stop!

thanks for all the advice!

Glad to here it Michelle. This is the only part of bird ownership that truly sucks. Im sure you will get through it with your relationship intact

Freddy