NEED HELP, Luna is regressing

[Cindy]

Ok, I have 2 IRNs. One is Mrs. B, she didnt like hands and is now letting us pet her..Second,.Luna, who is/was hand tamed...When Luna came here he did the step up and would let you pet him, but grumbled about it...NOW, we like to bite if we do not want to step up, we now try to BITE if I change the food dishes. We now BITE if you even TRY to pet him...Plus, we now like to run off the top of our cage and lunge and BITE faces!..Hubby has a bleeding bite on up lip and son has bite on the nose..I, have been quicker in my response and do not have a bleeding bite, but bite marks just the same...Luna is just turning 3 years old and has fallen in love with a toy in his cage....How do I stop the progression of this biting...Take the toy out? (if this is the problem), Leave it in and get thru the hormone stage...Take him away from the play top on his cage (he is cage bound, sort of) hates to leave it (even on the outside), but he does walk down the ladder and on to the floor, just not very far from the cage...He gets a lot of time on the play top, same amount as Mrs. B Couple hours in morning and then couple hours in the evening.. I has been hard to hold him for long periods,as he wil start to bite after 5/10 min....Mostly trys to bite your face, maybe thats because we do not respond to bites on the hands, well most of the time we do not respond..Not unless he is mouth locked on a finger or something...The face thing freaks me out...We can no longer trust him to give kises like he used to. He does not get to sit on shoulder either..he just trys to lunge from your hand....I must break him of this or else rehome him with my breeder...I can risk my son losing and eye or stitches to his face............When Luna first came here he liked my Hubby, then he decided he liked me and hubby a little less...Then he went to my son and like me, but hated Hubby...Now its like he is not sure he likes anybody...Where do we go from here?

[Dani03]

How old is the bird? Sounds like bluffing to me

Dani

[Cindy]

Luna is just about 3 years old. He is a lutino with the rose ring and just about has all his white ring...So this being December and him just about turning 3 or a little over 3years old...This will be his first real breeding cycle...We not sure of his age as we are is 4th or more home....He was a rescue of a friend, of a friend, two months at rescue, the one night at breeder friends house and then my home since August.

[Donna]

Cindy Luna may be in the process of starting a molt. They do get grumpy at this time. Have you changed his diet? Is his wings clipped? And if there is a way to hide his cage where he can't see it when he's out playing that might work too. I hope it doesn't come down to rehoming him again. Be patient and keep trying new things.

Donna

[Cindy]

I tried something new today...I homeschool my son and we work in the den...Mrs. B can see us thru the door way, but Luna has been in the livingroom...Today we put his cage in the den with us....and I took away is sex toy...(geesh, never thought I would use the words "sex toy" in reference to a bird)...He seems better, but still very nippy at times...So I have been turning my back to him until he calms down...Yes, Luna is clipped, after flying into the kitchen one day and landing on the stove YES it was not being used...No damage done, but scared me to death...We are going to keep trying with him until the end of march (I think thats when breeding season is over)...Poor Hubby looks so bad today with a 1 inch gash above his upper lip. No stitches, he is lucky. Hubby does love Luna and forgives him, doesn't trust him, but forgives him. He even gave him a kiss again! I have kissed Luna several times today and no bitting, so maybe taking out the toy helped we'll just have to see.

[Bird crazy]

I am no expert but....
I think that you have to get a bird away from, out of sight of his cage. I would start with just short periods so as not to stress him too much but I would start right away. I'll tell you why, there is a pet store in this town that has a large selection of birds and they have sleeping cages in the back and larger day cages out front. And they do not always put the same bird in the same cage every day. They clean the cages and put fresh water and food there for them and then bring the birds out and put them either on a play gym or in or on a cage. No real rhyme or reason except proper size and bar spacing. None of the birds there seem cage protective except the smaller birds that are always in their same aquariium type cages.

Not a totally scientific method of deciding something just what I noticed by visiting the store and talking to the employees. I think it helps too if part of the problem is boredom. The biggest treat for my two are to cover the bed with an old sheet and scatter toys and treats and let them walk around the bed, it's in a totally different room and I put the pillows under the sheet to provide hills and valleys. They love it and look forward to it. They also have a playgym outside and I use the same words each time for where I'm taking them and they come right out and step up because they know where they are going and it will be fun.

I would also do the step up command with treats as an incentive over and over.

Hope that helps a little and I do hope little Luna does better for you.
You're right you can't risk a serious face injury.

We'll be sending all our good thougths your way.

[Mikaela]

I have bluffing going on here BAD.

It started about a week ago. He doesnt BITE but hits me with his beak.

I wonder what ringneck soup would taste like. And not the kind they make! Ew, stinky!

[Bird crazy]

Nila has been nipping a little more but not really bluffing. I think he's realized that Priya is in charge of him and he is trying very hard to establish that he is in charge of me.

Needless to say they are both in charge of me but Nila just doesn't realize it.