I'm new here and I'm looking for some advice. I have an adopted Meyer's, presumed to be female somewhere in the vicinity of 12-20 yrs old. This is the third home she has had, that I know of. Apparently she had one owner for many years and she was at least semi-tame at that time. I was told her owner passed away and she was given to a rescue where she was adopted out to a woman and her adult son. That woman passed away after about 18 months and the son (at some point) did not want the bird. When I met this bird (Baby Bella) she was terrified of everything and we could not come within 3 feet of her with out her throwing herself about her cage and screaming. She is terrified of hands and of sticks and the only way to subdue her is by toweling. The rescue said she was not this bad when they had her the first time so who knows what all happened to her.

I have had this bird about 9 months and she has recently started letting herself out of her cage. I allow some of my birds extended periods of out time so I have allowed her a great deal of freedom recently in hopes that she would calm down with more exercise. She will take food from our fingers when she is in the cage but sometimes she will also attack the bars when we offer her food.

The problem is that she has begun to attack me. She tolerates everyone else in the household but she will land on my head and run down to bite my ears as hard as she can. If I raise my arms to protect my ears she bites large hunks out of my arms or hands. She knows the difference between bare and covered skin and seeks out my skin and tears out chunks. She does not do this with anyone else, although she has landed on others' heads.

I'm trying to wear a fleece and teach her to step up onto my covered arm and she has begun to do that, attacking the fleece, but she runs up my arm towards my ears. At that point I offer her the other arm and tell her to step up, which she does, while looking for my hand hidden in the hole of my sleeve.

What's up with this behavior? It's truly vicious. I would honestly say that of my MANY birds, while I have others that get overloaded and bite, this is the only one that is truly mean. Has she decided I am the one that must prove myself trustworthy? It is very difficult to stand up to repeated bites that get infected and take weeks to heal. Am I doing something wrong or should I continue and persist in the hopes that she will settle down?

I'm really confused.

At this point i can only offer my condolences. Not a lot of advice or experience with this myself. My friend has a Sennie [15 years old approx.] who will get really mean if she's too busy or about to go out - it's a discipline the human thing.

If it was my bird i'd be keeping her in the cage a bit more - can the cage be relocated to places you are working during the day? Maybe with some hang out time she might settle down - no interaction but companionship? Then i'd restart the out times again - maybe just before feeding time - to see if she is more docile?

I know one member kept a 'chew' toy/object handy for these moments.

So sorry to hear you are going thru such a hard time - too bad she doesn't realise you're her friend. Do you think it is sexual aggression? Is she disciplining you? If everyone else can handle her maybe you will have to back off. I think Irish can say more - she has a small Macaw that only likes her husband - for no apparent reason hates her.

Poor girl. She is definitely special needs. It could be alot of things and it's possible to help her relatively quickly depending.

I'm sorry I have to rush out but the major issues I'd look at would be:

Is she getting enough sleep, dark quiet, uninteruppted sleep with no human distubances. I'd suggest following a natural daylight schedule with no artificial lighting from early afternoon, including providing dusk and dawn /sunrise and sunset.

I would DEFINITELY have a good vet workup. This anxiety is a sign of a few things calcium deficiency for one. Even malnutrition if her diet was/is "bad". Just because they are ingesting stuff doesnt mean they have nutrition.

She may be in a hormonal overload and if you are her primary person she will direct alot towards you.

If you have other birds they can be a negative stimulous too.

Poor thing, thank you for caring about her. Please continue with patience and trying to figure it out. It's something for sure...even if it's psychological it can be worked on and she can live a normal life in time. But the vet check is really important IMO. And sleep.

Welcome to Parrotchatter btw and I hope you stick around so we can learn more about her and follow her progress which I'm sure she'll have once the puzzle comes together. Forgot to ask is she home all day alone or are you around?

A minor miracle ocurred last night! After a full day of sitting, quietly, reading and being attacked by this flippin' bird (including, despite my best efforts, four minor bites) I think we finally turned a corner!

After dinner, during which our Baby Bella enjoyed some handfed chicken and a bite of french fry, she made a new sound. It was an unmistakable, squeaky, kissing sound! After which she put her head against the cage bars, hooked her beak over one and let me scritch her head and ears while she closed her eyes in sheer enjoyment, not once, but half a dozen times. Just to make sure I hadn't dreamed it last night, I came down this morning, made the kissy sound and she let me touch her again!!!

I have no doubt that there is a long road ahead and this bird will continue to have trust issues but she's finally given me just enough encouragement to believe that she can eventually be salvaged as a pet. I was really beginning to wonder if I had it in me to find the way.

Thanks for your encouragement guys!

That's good news! I have found when working with these guys that have had such a difficult past that it is a very long road. Some days it's two steps back and no steps forward. Other days leave a perma-grin on your face. Just know that every little bit you do does help them even though you don't always see the results everyday. Thank you so much for hanging in there!

I, too, think that it's all about the baby steps when working with a bird with a history. The fact that you're trying to stick it out and find some answers says volumes in itself. I would start with some basic things that Cindy suggested, get a vet check to make sure it's not health-related, and see if adjustments such as getting more uninterrupted sleep make a difference.

I missed this when you first posted, sorry about that! I'm so glad to hear that things may be turning around a bit in your relationship with Bella. As Karen said, some days are diamonds, some days are coal, so I'd expect some set-backs; but you know that. Unless it seems to you that she really has changed her attitude toward you, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend getting in touch with a behaviorist. They might be able to pinpoint something that no one else has tumbled to. Definitely good news about last night, though! I've said this before, and I'll say it again, because I really have found it to be true: When dealing with bird behavior issues, it often seems darkest just before the dawn. There have been several occasions when I have been in total despair and questioning whether I have 1/10th the brain needed to keep birds, when all of a sudden things start getting better. I can't explain it, maybe they can sense our despair and decide they better "straighten up and fly right"?

Shesacharmer-

I'm glad to hear Bella is doing better !! Keep up the good work !!

Oh yeah, she's doing AWESOME! She only drew blood 8 times today! BUT she is now letting me touch her head OUTSIDE the cage although she can't wait to bite my hand or jump onto my head for a full bore attack. Tonight she actually gave me a kiss through the bars of her cage...talk about a leap of faith! I wasn't sure about letting my lips get anywhere near this carnivore!

Like Cindy said, first things first and that means a thorough physical with blood work, skin, cloacal and throat swabs and feces analysis. One always needs to rule out medical problems first. But I have to tell you that I have found Poicephalus species to be the most aggressive little things. I have three Senegals, one male and two females. The male, Sabu (a prodigious talker with a huge vocabulary and incredibly clear voice for his species), is the meanest bird in Creation and will fly accross the room like a bat out of hell to bite me on the head, face and ears (he has missed my eyes by 1/10 of an inch and made a hole in my head that did not heal for weeks, the little bugger!). Tobita, his girlfriend, will take chunks out of my feet and ankles but kiss my face on a regular basis. And, Elvira (who calls herself Cowboy), loves me to pieces so she gives me love bites when I pay too much attention to another bird and attacks me mercilessly at the peak of the breeding season out of sexual frustration.

The biggest problem with these birds (aside from the fact that they seem to be, in my personal experience, the only psittacines that hold grudges for years) is sexual frustration so the solution is to keep them to a strict natural daylight schedule so as to reduce the period of time their hormones are raging (all birds react to photoperiodism, even equatorial species). You also need to make sure that their consumption of protein and vitamin E is low during the winter (both breeding triggers so re-evaluate her diet), that they get a lot of exercise (they are the fastest fliers!) and that no nest-like cavities are available (if she has one of those birdie tents, take it away).

I might as well tell you that, if she has been kept up after dark and free-fed seeds for a long time, these changes will not bring an immediate solution, it will take time because her hormonal production needs to re-adjust from being out of whack. But it will happen.