Conure acting, strange...

Question
I have 2 sun conures... a male and a female... bonded but not mating. They're both about 10 years old, and have lived in the same cage for just under 2 years. The question is about my female.

When we first got her, she bonded with my dad only and hated the rest of us to the point she'd actually go out of her way to attack us. When my dad passed away 5 years ago and my mom and I were all she had left, she started with tollerating us... and within the last year she actually became tame. We could feed her right from our hand, and even pet her tail gently.

We took her to the vet maybe a few months ago and they said she was hormonal, but showed no signs of eggs and was in otherwise good health.

we took her back to the vet a few weeks ago for a wing/beak/nail trim and they said she was still in good health.

Suddenly out of nowhere... my mom went in to change her food, and she sat in her food bowl and started attacking anyone who got too close. It took one of us to distract her and the other to pull the dish out to change it. When we finally did change it, within minutes she intentionally tipped the food out, then sat in the bowl and refused to let us near it.

The next day she jumped out of the cage and actually attacked my mom. Same thing, we fed her and she dumped the food out. Everytime you get close to the empty dish she jumps in and won't let you near it.

Today when we changed her, same thing, she tried to attack us, so I distracted her while my mom changed her food. She couldn't tip it over for some reason, so she jumped at the water dish and started throwing the water out with her head till the water dish was almost empty.

This was an all of a sudden behavior change. She doesn't have any aggression towards the other conure... in fact they still cuddle and preen each other. Just just suddenly has this attitude towards us from out of no where.

what could have caused this behavior change?

Answer
Your conure is what is called "broody"  - and as you know, it's quite unpleasant for everyone around her, including her!  


Here are some steps to take to end this and make sure it doesn't happen again:

First, once and for all you're going to have to remove the food dish.  Feed her from a flat plate or shallow bowl (like a pasta bowl or deep salad plate) 2-3x's a day, preferably out of her cage.  

With the water dish, try changing the location inside the cage - put it somewhere different - and change the height of it.

Second, change out ALL the toys and additions in the cage.  Get her new things or different things - rearrange her perches in there and even consider moving the cage itself to a different location.

A slight movement, like just a couple of feet, is better than nothing.

The whole idea is to make her less comfortable with the idea of having a familiar place to 'brood'.  

Brooding is when a female bird readies her nest and settles down to lay.  

Some birds won't actually lay eggs, but just brood; others will lay (infertile eggs if there's no male of the same species to breed with).

In any event, egg laying is highly discouraged for many reasons.

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Establishing a separate "sleep cage" is a good idea.  A smaller cage with just the basics:  A soft perch (I use rope perches for sleep cages), a food and water bowl and a 'snuggly'.   The snuggly can be an old, clean, thick sock tied through the bars at the side or hanging from the center-top.  It's just something for the bird to snuggle up to and give them the feeling of roosting near a flock mate.


 If you're not doing this already:  Covering a cage at night is a good idea.  Leave about 1/2 of the front door uncovered so the bird can see out and have a sense of security.  


It's important to regulate these sleep hours carefully.  If you normally start your day at 8 a.m., then covering your bird at 8 p.m. (as early as 6 p.m. during winter months) is what you should aim for.


Don't be late though - when you start your day, uncovering the bird is the first thing you need to do.


Keeping the noise level down while the bird is sleeping (or in their sleep cage) is important too.


You can see the sleep cage set up and more about all of this here



 www.4AnimalCare.org/birds  


In about a week you should be able to replace her food bowl - but again, in a different location in the cage than she's used to.


Finally - it would be a very, very good idea to have the two birds in separate cages.  This will also make them both more friendly toward YOU and the rest of the human family.

 And as long as they can see and hear each other, they'll still be wonderful company and companions, but allowing two birds to touch - if you're not intending to breed them - isn't the best idea if you really want them to be bonded to you most of all.


 Please, really see this site http://www.4animalcare.org