12 year old Congo A. Grey

Question
I have raised my Grey, Levi, from a baby and he will be 12 in June. In the last month he is making a high pitched screech about 100 times a day. He is driving my husband crazy. Levi has always been laid back and generally a sweet boy, until now. He's biting and screeching and I think he is now in love with our dog. When do Grey's reach puberty? Is this what's happening? I'm a stay at home mom and I'm home all day everyday with him and he gets plenty of attention and very healthy diet. What would cause him to change so suddenly? How can I correct this behavior? Help!  

Answer
Hi Terianne,

Grey's reach sexual maturity by about 4-6 years of age. Your bird is long past that, although I have seen birds take many years beyond that to become sexually active.

Without a much more extensive evaluation of your bird's housing, diet, environment, daily activities etc. I really cannot determine the reason's for you bird's behavior. Your first step needs to be to have Levi examined by an avian veterinarian as these behaviors could be symptoms of an illness. Especially since this is a sudden change in behavior for him. Beyond that I recommend that you work with a parrot behaviorist/trainer and continue to research parrot behavior and training.

I do offer parrot consultations. You are welcome to contact me through my website for more information. My website also has links to parrot resources to help you.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help on this one. After an avian veterinarian visit this is the type of case where I would need several in depth questions answered by the owner in order to understand the bird. Unfortunately that is difficult to do in this format.

Jennifer
www.feathersandscales.com