Printable View
My parakeet, Sunny, used to be really friendly. We could put our fingers in the cage and he'd step right on them. We could even hold him. I always used to let him fly around, though he usually only went to the top of his cage. Now, when we hold him, he bites pretty hard, and he won't go on our fingers anymore. And he even runs away when we try to pet him in his cage. And he gets all crazy when I let him out to fly. I don't know what's wrong with him. Can someone please help?
Maybe he's going through bird puberty, not sure how that works though?? Or, he might be a little traumatized from some kind of experience or he might not be feeling so good for some reason. Any changes in diet or his eating habits? Is he going to the potty regularly? Do his droppings look normal? Not really sure, but hope I helped. Best of luk.
Is Cloudy a female?...
It looks like Sunny is way past birdie puberty. How long have you had him? By the cere coloration, it looks like he's a good few years old. As well, it looks like Cloudy is a moderately aged female. A few things come to mind:
1) Are Cloudy and Sunny living in the same cage? If so, bird friends are much more pleasing than human friends. Naturally, Sunny would choose Cloudy over you (mine do as well, but I don't mind). This wouldn't explain his abrupt change in behavior, however. Has this inclusiveness been going on for an extended period of time or was it just a sudden onset?
2) Though it's not very likely, Sunny may be going through birdie puberty. It all depends on what his age is. However, it could be an influx of hormones now that it's Springtime.
3) Have you been interacting with him everyday for the past months and years? If you've been leaving him alone just for a few weeks, he can still reverberate back to not liking humans.
4) Health problems are always in the question, but this probably isn't very likely.
My suggestion is to separate Cloudy and Sunny and interact with him individually. Keep feeding Sunny seeds from your palm and entice him to leave the cage. If you're up to it, I would highly recommend clipping his wings. Have you read Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot by Mattie Sue Athan? It's chock-full of simple games to play with your apprehensive parrot.
Yes, Cloudy is a female. But I do not keep them in the same cage. I have another male budgie, Sky, who is in the same cage as Sunny, and another female budgie, Stormy, who is in the same cage as Cloudy. Sunny is about one and a half years old. Cloudy is a little younger. I do interact with Sunny everyday. And yes, this did happen when spring/summer started. I've noticed the past few days, after I made this post, Sunny has been a little nicer and not biting as hard. He still won't go on my finger again but I can hold him for a while, then he starts biting. Thanks for your help, everyone.