Banging the door for fun (even though she’s on the outside) then so aware of the camera when I point the phone at her…. wait, wait are you filming this?

She’s done this before sometimes when I’m holding her, but whenever she does it I just put her down because I don’t know what it means. Usually when she does it she’ll also put her tail up so her cloaca is like out. Today I saw her doing it on her tree next to her toy. I picked her up to make sure she wasn’t injured or something and she stopped doing and seemed to be fine while I held her, but then flew back to the same spot and continued the behavior. Is this hormonal behavior? Should I take her to the vet?

New addition to the family. His name is Gnarly or Gnar for short. Because he definitely is that at this stage lol.

I must hold him like this every day or face his wrath

She's fine, she just took a bath

Today my 8-month grey flew to me and landed on my arm for the first time. It may or may not have been for a grape. Rewarding nonetheless. I can’t wait to wake up in the morning and hang out with her again :)))

We have Rosita since like 2020 and she is our oldest bird!

Hi everyone! Clearly our parrots are very smart animals. Here is Simba, he's 19 years old and he's a delight. But I have a fun little debate for you all. Our parrots can talk. But clearly they don't possess the same language capabilities we do. Today I was walking into the room and Simba was standing on his gym and was just looking at me, and I started talking to him to tell him he's such a pretty birb, what a good birb, who's the baby? He's the baby! Etc. etc. And all the while he was just looking at me, paying attention. What do you think they actually get from this? I imagine it like Charlie Brown's teacher-esque chatter. How about all of you?

Firstly details about the parakeet

I have a sun conure (parakeet). 2 years old. I bought him from an owner. The owner seemed to be a bit hesitant to let go of him. The owner claimed he can talk and do some tricks. Right now he still hasn't done it and sometimes doesn't like to get on hands. Although he does sometimes get on arms. Its kind of hard to train him, and clearly he only seems to feed of roasted sunflower seeds which is no good and we've tried changing his diet. He does eat bananas and apples, we've tried feeding him vegetables but he just doesn't want. Also; for a sun conure, hes actually kind of calm. Like, he doesn't scream all the times unless if he really wants to go out the cage or is alone, and he doesn't really play (with toys too) but he does sometimes when he missed me.

**My main concern*\*

The parakeet was called mango by his owner. So, mango sometimes gets all droopy, then he suddenly freaks out. Like he tumbles, almost like a seizure behavior. Sometimes happens after I bath him and I just sprayed him gently. Though, mango sometimes also begins to freak out and tumble around (possibly falling off the cage too but I always notice him and grab him before he falls), and after freaking out or seizures? He bobs his head slowly, looking exhausted and puffed up. Yesterday he looked tired, and i knew something was wrong. And still today he feels weird.

Ive gotten him to a vet, I'm very worried for mango, although this vet doesn't really deal with birds I dont know but the veterinarian recommended scans or like analysing from other vets (I will bring him tommorow there). He doesn't seem to display any sickness symptoms... ill update after I get to the other vet. My parents say maybe a chronic illness something in his brain, so did the veterinarian conclude that. I actually don't know what to do. Sorry. Btw I dont know if its a boy or a girl

Post shower pasta!!

I know parrots are not domesticated in the same way as cats or dogs. They are still inherently wild, highly temperamental animals, and biting is unfortunately part of living with them. I understand that logically—but emotionally, I still get so hurt and angry whenever it happens.

I used to have two parrots: a cockatiel and a Senegal parrot. My cockatiel recently passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. We tried to do everything right: a good diet, a fully flighted and trained bird, and nothing toxic in the home. Even the necropsy found nothing visibly abnormal or gave us a clear explanation. It has only been about a month, and the loss has been devastating.

Both of my parrots occasionally bit, especially when their hormones were elevated, but the larger the beak, the more painful and emotionally upsetting it feels.

My Senegal used to be the nicest parrot on the planet. I could hold him upside down, take him out on a harness to parks and shopping malls, and let him meet all kinds of people. He was extremely friendly, cuddly, and gentle.
Then he hit puberty and became an absolute menace.
He began bullying the other animals, smashing plates and cups, throwing my phone onto the floor, and becoming extremely aggressive toward me. He also just likes chewing on forbidden items despite having 10000 different toys stationed everywhere you can imagine reasonable.

I took him to the vet and had all kinds of testing done, but apparently nothing was medically wrong. They even tried Prozac in case anxiety or another emotional issue was contributing to the aggression, but honestly, I am not sure it made much difference.

I got him when I was around 17. When I was 18, I came home from school one day, and it felt as though he had suddenly decided he hated me. He would hiss when I approached his cage, turn away from me, and try to avoid coming out. He stopped willingly stepping onto my hand. Sometimes he would sit in the corner of his playstand, facing the wall for hours. He went from being my perfect little boy to an extremely difficult bird, and because there was nothing physically wrong with him, I felt as though I just had to tolerate it and hope the phase eventually passed.

After my cockatiel died, however, my Senegal suddenly became incredibly affectionate again—almost obsessed with me. I cannot put him down for more than a few seconds before he flies straight back onto my shoulder. He is cuddly, allows me to kiss his chest feathers, and is far more willing to step onto my finger than he was before. I am careful not to overdo the physical affection because I do not want to overstimulate him hormonally.

But the biting is still there.

Since my cockatiel passed, he has bitten me twice—once on the face and, tonight, directly on my lip. It caused a small puncture, bleeding, and a clear indentation from his beak. Sometimes he will also be calmly sitting on my shoulder and suddenly take a random chomp at my neck.

I know this is part of parrot ownership, but it still makes me feel so infuriated and want to cry. It hurts so badly that I immediately tear up. Obviously, I cannot smack him on the butt or on the forehead as you can with a much larger animal… if nessecary. Usually, all I can do is react verbally, put him down somewhere safe, or if he refuses to let go I just have to swat him off hard enough before I bleed everywhere, rinse the wound, and try not to cry. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, I yell that this is why my cockatiel is my favorite bird! He’s not mean like you are! I am going to rehome him—even though I never actually would. I just get sooooo ragebaited.

He has also clearly been grieving my cockatiel. For a while, he barely ate, stopped playing with his toys, and hardly made any sounds of his own. Whenever he did vocalize, he copied my cockatiel’s whistles, chirps, squawks, and screams. I took him to the vet again, and he was still physically healthy. He has only recently started playing with toys and causing trouble again, which makes me happy because it means he may finally be returning to himself. At the same time, I cannot help thinking, STOP BITING ME.

He is also not especially food-motivated, so training can be difficult. He enjoys snacks, but when I am actively trying to teach him something or redirect a behavior, he often does not care enough about the treat to cooperate.

I have several different species living in the same home, all with carefully managed routines and separate free-roaming sessions. My other animals are not particularly bitey at all.
(Well his menace stage started way before other animals existed. I’m turning 22 soon so it’s been a few years. He did get 20% more nicer the past year, and then 70% nicer after my cockatiel died. BUT THE 30% of aggression and menacing is still cooking me)

There is just something about being bitten by my Senegal that burns me up inside with anger, sadness, and rejection. Maybe it is because I love him so much, especially after losing my cockatiel, and I want to trust him. Then, out of nowhere, I am bleeding again.

(My cockatiel was one feisty guy. Especially during puberty. My fingers did bleed a few times. But after his puberty passed, he was a pretty chill guy. Although his occasional bites do sting… but his beak was so small that he really didn’t bother me too much)

Does anyone else feel genuinely emotional after being bitten by their parrot? How do you calm yourself down in the moment without taking the bite personally?

lol they be fighting over this piece of wood

After having my african grey (Addu) and ringneck (Mithu) for almost 4 years, we gave them to my brother's friend (Dec 2025) who also has an african grey and a happy little family with around 4 kids - the reason for giving them away was because my parents were moving countries and me and my brother's work lifestyle in dubai we couldnt look after them properly.

P.s he also gave away his birds around february due to personal reasons.

Due to lack of knowledge and being stupid, we always fed our birds sunflower seeds and fruits not knowing they cause fatty liver.

From december 2025 until june 2026, everything seemed alright, until i got to know that my african grey had developed a fungal infection in between his legs and was bleeding (probably because of anxiety or depression he removed all of his feathers from the chest to the lower body and kept biting the infected area) and he was taken to a vet in sharjah, uae. He was hospitalized there for a week and was given a cream for the fungal bacteria to reduce. After a week he was discharged and brought back to my friend and he fell sick after 2 days to a point where he could not balance himself and was using his tail bone to stay upright. I rushed him straight to the same vet and he was hospitalized under emergency care and please note vet clinics in UAE are very expensive. They treated him with heat therapy as his temperature had dropped by 2°, gave him some medicines and oxygen. After 2 days, they suggested that we hospitalize him for another week, by now i had spent around 5k AED and after about a week the fungal infection still remained but his health was a little stable.

So on 6th July, I decided to take him to another vet clinic in Dubai who are parrot specialists and only exclusive for parrots. They suggested to perform some blood tests, xray, food grain, bacteria culture and pcrs. They found that his body had inflammation and high uric acid in his body which was the reason for imbalance and 3 bacterias which were chronic diseases that would stay life long but can be in control - his weight had also reduced drastically. They also said because of feeding an all seed diet his liver is weak and is affected. His WBC's and monocytes (responsible to fight chronic illness) were high which allows them to fight these diseases so we had hope.

During this period of him being hospitalized for a week i was unable to visit as my uncle was also in his last stage due to liver failure and was given few days to live so I had travelled to India. I received regular updates about Addu and he looked fine, by now they changed his diet and were giving him pellets and fruits and seemed to be improving. And because I was in India, i had no option but to extend his stay at the clinic under their care and observation for another week until i came back.

Fast forward to 21 July, It was my birthday and i flew back expecting to take him back home until i got a voice note from the clinic saying that he's become unstable and that he's started getting seizures. I rushed to the clinic and i got to see him in a way i wish nobody else has to see their bird, i did not know what to feel and was questioning myself what have I done to see my bird who was so healthy and alive, in this state. His uric acid had increased and he started developing neurological symptoms. The main doctor said that we will keep him under observation and give him intensive care.

22 July, i got a call from the clinic saying that he passed away in the morning. I went to see him one last time. The clinic gave us 2 options, either they do Addu's body disposal or give it to the university for research purposes, i asked them to give him for a good purpose for research in hopes that this does not ever happen to anybody else's bird.

Despite being away from him for so long somehow it hurts the most right now not knowing that he isnt present in this world and i cannot stop crying.

My message to you all please do not give away your bird.

I feel i failed as a parrot parent by giving away my bird not knowing that he probably was attached to me and he kept biting himself out of anxiety. I feel i should have visited him more often and please do not feed your bird an all seed diet like me.

Please spoil your birds a little extra today, I wish i had my addu here right now so i could hold him close and tell him how much I love him and spoil him with head scratches.

So, I have a ring neck (62 days, still eating formula but getting more and more used to proper food and vegetables) and he is a sweetheart, but I've been having a hard time these last 8 days or so

I had a medical emergency about 8 days ago and had to be rushed to the hospital and my wife came with me, so our ring neck stayed closer to 6-8h alone during this event inside his cage (he got properly fed before we left, and had food and water available to him); a few days after, I had to go back to the hospital and the same thing happened (he stayed alone for about 6h)

We tried making up to him by staying with him all day long after those medical emergencies, but now he gets EXTREMELY anxious whenever we put him on the cage, running from one side to the other and trying to force his way through the bars to get to us; he sleeps in it fine and doesn't make a fuss when we leave the house for work or to do other chores, but leaving him alone during the day to do anything inside the house, even for short periods of time (like cooking and cleaning) has become really hard and troublesome

No matter what we do, we just can't seem to get him to relax and be comfortable inside the cage anymore during the day: I've tried giving him a few of his favorite seeds while inside the cage, staying close to him while he is in it, toys, food, attention, nothing seems to work

I'm starting to get worried because I can't just leave him free when I'm cooking, cleaning or doing other chores, but he has become so anxious that he hurt himself a tiny bit against the bars today while i was taking a small 30 min nap

What can I do to help him? Like I said, sleeping in it and staying in it while we are out of the house is fine, but putting him in it while we're home has basically become impossible

What eldritch horror shall he summon today?

(Squirt is a lesser sulphur crested cockatoo that I’ve known for over 30 years. He’s about 50 years old, and belongs to the owner of my local bird store, Omar’s Exotic Birds. He’s a sassy old man and I adore him!)

Watch this dork try to press me at the end.