Territorial Parrotlet

He is 10 months old and seems somewhat well adjusted to his home. I got him when he was 3 months old. The breeder said he was very sweet and hand raised. I am very patient with him, but he really does not seem all that tame to me. He has not moulted yet as far as I can tell. He is not talking at all. He chirps a great deal and has his noisy times during the day. He plays with his toys occasionaly but not nearly as much as I expected from all the research I have done. He does not seem to interested in playing.

Well, it took him at least 4 months before I could hold him. He still backs off when I try to have him step up to my hand, but will jump on my shoulder when he wants to. He lets me scratch his neck and head and really enjoys that.

My problem is that in the last 2 weeks he has begun "attacking" my hand when I am near the cage. This is when he is on top of the cage. He will come at me and bite, back off and do it again. I don't know what prompted this. He does it wherever he is and I come near him even when I am filling up his food. He is free to come and go in and out of his cage all day. I keep him on a schedule of uncovering him at 8 am and bed at 10 pm.

Any info or thoughts on why this is happening would be greatly appreciated.


Dear Karen:

Sounds like a completely normal parrotlet to me. He’s just being territorial over ‘his’ stuff. Also, he is getting way too many hours of daylight which is probably interfering with his hormones and/or creating a perpetual molt.I have written tons of blogs, articles and chapters in my book so you can look up that information for details but he needs to be taught to step up, you need to keep control over where he goes including the top of his cage, keep his wings clipped, lower the day light hours to 12 or less and make sure he is not in a position of dominance – which may mean keeping him off the cage top and keeping him off your shoulder. Just takes some patience and training but all parrotlets are aggressive and territorial and he is simply doing what all parrotlets do.

Best of luck!

Sincerely yours,

Sandee L. Molenda, C.A.S.
The Parrotlet Ranch, Owner, www.parrotletranch.com
Join the International Parrotlet Society, – the World’s Largest and Oldest Parrotlet Organization www.internationalparrotletsociety.org
A Chattering Bird Builds No Nest.
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