Serious Behavior Problems

[erin1990]

I have a 10yr old african gray who suddenly will not let anyone touch her. she used to be very picky about who could pick her up and who couldn't, but now almost no one can.

She was fine with me until one day she was standing on my hand and suddenly bit down as hard as she could on the webbing between my thumb and pointer. I actually had to pull her beak off to get her to let go. If this tells you how hard she bit, my hand bled all the way to the bathroom and was black and blue for 3 days. Nothing happened to prompt the bite and I was not moving when she did it.

Since then she lunges at me through her cage and screams when I walk in the room.

Last night I worked with her for about an hour and she stopped screaming, but would try to bite if I got within about a foot of her.

Her diet is a steady seed mix with plenty of vegetables, meats and fruits. Nothing has changed in the environment and she appears just as healthy as ever.

Has anyone experienced sudden behavior changes in birds of her age? Any advice? We miss playing with Val!

[chapala]

Sorry you're seeing such a behavior change and the biting behavior. I would suggest Dr. Susan Friedman's positive reinforcement training forum to see if someone is available to help you with the problem. Here's the forum address:

ParrotBAS : ParrotBAS

By the way, parrots do not do well on animal protein - you mentioned feeding meats. Animal protein is hard on parrot kidneys. They do better with mainly vegetable protein, found in most pellets, or the combination of grains and legumes (two parts whole grains to one part recommended legumes) along with vegetables and some fruit.

Good luck with the behavior change - hope that forum will be able to help you!