[Christy Walton]

Oh my gods. My sweet little jerkface, Charles, is really a jerkface now. He is a year old this month and really needs a Valium.

I can handle the jerkfaciness with snuggles and petting and soft talk but I am getting worried/grossed out. Charles has found a girlfriend. He cuddles with her and even... oh, dear heavens... right now, behind me... has intimate relations with her. Very loud relations.

Charlemagne and his girlfriend:

Other than removing his gal, or altering her with a fluff-remover, which may be the only option, do you have any advice for getting his creepy, hormonal self back to my sweet, jerky, little boy?

As a note, he gets about 13 hours of dark/sleep, eats Volkman Parrotlet mixed with Runzas, leafy greens, carrots, radishes, raspberries and/or blackberries, and, this week, African violet flowers (and other stuff at whim and possession). He ignores Runzas' choppy stuff and pellets. He forages for millet in flower petals and may get a millet sprig if I am lazy.

He has a giant 62"x34" cage, a little playground that moves from counter to my desk, a FU-jerk-naughty-box cage that is rarely used, and has about 6 hours of open cage door freedom to fly about in my large family room/office daily. The room has a heater set to 73 but never gets that warm and does get significantly cooler when the door is open. He has a small bird heater in his cage that doesn't get very warm at all but I am paranoid about him getting too cold.

Advise please?

 

[Rubydoo252]

Puberty is awful for parrotlets and their humans. I definitely suggest removing the girlfriend. There is nothing good that can come from that relationship for you or him. Don't be afraid to give him more cage him when he is being horrible to you. When parrotlets get wound up, there is nothing that you can do other than let them calm down on their own.

 

[Christy Walton]

Puberty is awful for parrotlets and their humans. I definitely suggest removing the girlfriend. There is nothing good that can come from that relationship for you or him. Don't be afraid to give him more cage him when he is being horrible to you. When parrotlets get wound up, there is nothing that you can do other than let them calm down on their own.

Thank you so much! I had my son help me remove her to another room where she can't be seen and placed a BirdTricks stuffed coconut in her place. This one is far less pleasant to snuggle and he may or may not be terrified of it.

We had a snuggle while all of this was going on so there wouldn't be any shrieking. Thus far, he's just randomly complaining/doing bird stuff.

Thank you so much! I hope he's okay without his girlfriend.

 

[Rubydoo252]

Hopefully removing her combined with all the other things you are already doing will help you survive puberty. Parrotlets can be jerks on any given day, but when they hit puberty some of them really take it to the extreme.

 

[Christy Walton]

It's so weird, my late, sweet Julius never did this! Charlemagne is seriously living up to his freaking name. He's fun and adorable but i'm super tired of being bitten because i'm breathing.

And today's fun thing to do is coprophagia so I get to change the poopy side of his house now.

 

[ozzie3860]

Rio is in this phase of life. He is into anything yellow is. So medicine bottles are a big fan. There there is a Pam Spray bottle that it is better not to talk about. I think he likes her read head.

 

[Christy Walton]

Charles is loathing all things that might possibly be a plastic bag. I am kowtowing to a 5 inch tall bird to keep him from screaming at me, i have to hide bags. It's a brand new hatred. Last week, he was fine.

 

[Rubydoo252]

Tumi always has reacted to plastic crinkling sounds. It is a very passionate love, not hatred, but makes for a very over-excited parrotlet.Tumi right now is exploring the new passion that is pill bottles.

 

[Christy Walton]

Charles is VERY upset today. He is hopping and flying around the cage, Cheeping With Purpose. Methinks he has figured out that his girlfriend isn't just out foraging.

My cat is obsessed with plastic. I don't think I can't handle the bird wanting it, too. I do have a crapton of empty pill bottles that he can throw around, though.

 

[Rubydoo252]

Can you rearrange the whole cage? Sometimes intentional unsettling can help him overcome this.
Until Tumi's obsession, I never knew how much in my life crinkled. It was a challenge to keep him from being overly excited.

 

[Christy Walton]

I can and I will this weekend. His whole cage needs a good scrub so everything has to come out anyway. I'll shift everything but his sleepy-ball because no one needs a sleep-deprived bird. Thanks for the suggestion.

I think I might have a clue on the plastic. Plastic is where the bread comes from and sometimes he's allowed a tiny pinch off a corner.

 

[Anya]

If Charles is still hormonal your might add another hour of sleep every night until he is through with the Terrible Two's. (They don't call them terrible for nothing, do they?) Giving them extra darkness every night makes them think it is wintertime and not the best time to mate. Also, diet plays a factor, so do not give him too much protein, or foods that are high in fat, sugar, and carbs. Cut back on the fruit and nuts for now. No human snacks - these are usually high energy foods. The last thing a hormonal bird needs is more energy! The good news is that "this too shall pass." Your cutie pie will be a sweet birdie again! Love the pic, by the way! He's a beautiful blue! 💙Once he is over his hormonal period, you can try giving him back his "girlfriend" toy. If it does not cause him to become hormonal, he can keep it, but if it does, then you need to remove it permanently.

 

[kirstenmae]

Ah, so these are the things I have to look forward to... Cirrus turns one tomorrow (we share our birthday), and so far he's been crabby but not yet a nasty boy 🙃 or intolerable. 🤞

 

[HarryTheParrotlet]

A good post by Flock Talks:

Flock-Talk on Instagram: "“My bird is a demon spawn”, “he’s just like that”, “he just screams all the time”, “he hates my partner” New behaviours form because they serve a function, serving that function is usually reinforcing, behaviours that get reinforced get repeated. Ignoring undesirable behaviours is unlikely to cause them to go away on its own. When you ignore a behaviour a few things can happen: - the behaviour will continue to get rehearsed and as such will not stop - the bird may become frustrated by the lack of clear instruction which can worsen the behaviour or start new problem behaviours -the behaviour might go away at the expense of the bird experiencing a lot of stress Say your bird is screaming for your attention, naturally you’d want to ignore them so you don’t provide reinforcement through the attention they’re seeking and you would be right! Your attention is reinforcing, but your lack of instruction on what To Do instead is confusing and frustrating which can make screaming worsen (especially if screaming has worked in the past) as they go through an extinction burst and that frustration could cause the bird lash out at you. Instead of only ignoring what you don’t want, focus on rewarding what you Do Want. Pick an alternative behaviour the bird can do to receive your attention and reinforce that instead, reinforce moments where they are playing independently or quietly. They’ll quickly notice what behaviour is working to achieve their desired reinforcement (your attention) and the other behaviour will fade away without that immense frustration. This applies in a variety of contexts, ignoring aggression, waiting for them to “grow out” of it, thinking they’ll stop biting your partner and sort it out on their own? Clear instructions make learning so much faster and so much smoother! You have to work for the change that you want! #forcefree#forcefreetraining#parrottraining#limatraining#positivereinforcement#birdtraining#birdbehaviour"

779 Likes, 8 Comments - Flock-Talk (@flock.talks) on Instagram: "“My bird is a demon spawn”, “he’s just like that”, “he just screams all the time”, ..."

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