A meltdown today

By me that is. Sammy and I have been having some issues the last month or so. I've gotten bitten like 4 or 5 times. I've had Sam almost a year now and he has some issues. He's very insecure and nervous. He gets scared easily. Anything new freaks him out completely. In the year he's been here I've been trying to work on making him feel secure. I'm beginning to think I'm doing something wrong. As I said, I've gotten bite 4 or 5 times in the past few weeks but today takes the cake.

I was cleaning and going through some papers and Sam was on my desk. Apparently he decided that he wanted what I was holding and jumped from the desk to where I was standing. Unfortunately the only thing available to grab on to was my thumb. He grabbed it and then, because he had no footing, he bite tighter to hold on. I could feel the beak sink into the flesh and hit the bone. Ooooowwwww!! The good part was he didn't rip the flesh, the beak pulled straight out so I ended up with 2 very deep, but small, punctures. It was one of the most painful things I've ever had happen.

Initially I freaked out. I told my husband that I was going to get rid of him. That I couldn't handle him. Etc..... I even went so far as to start an email to someone I know who might take him. But as I was typing that email it suddenly dawned on me that this behaviour is new, only a few weeks old, and very unlike Sam. That's when it hit me. Spring is coming. He is probably moving into breeding mode. Male cockatoos get vicious when it's mating season. I think that may be what's going on here. I can't do anything about hormones, but I am going to have to get back to training him. I can not let him think he's the top dog. I have to become flock leader, so to speak.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. He spent some time locked in his cage but I let him our around 4:30 and we had a peaceful evening. He's now in his sleepy spot and grinding his beak. What a day. I hope it's not repeated anytime soon.