Blossom headed parakeet Puns

The latest addition to our flock is a plum headed parakeet named Coti who recently turned 1. He lives with 2 cockatiels, ages 5 and 23, my husband and myself.

We got Coti as soon as he was weaned, and even though he was timid, he was the sweetest bird. He would sit in my shoulder or lap for hours and preen or nap. He loves being handed foot toys and target training. He has learned several phrases and whistles and practices frequently. He seems to enjoy the company of the cockatiels. He is fully flighted and LOVES flying.

About a month before Coti turned 1, he started biting every so often, especially in the evening, when he was being denied food (the vet said he isn’t allowed to eat cheese but the little bugger always seems to find some and sneak a bite), and when it was time for him to go back in his cage. Now, 2 months later it has gotten MUCH worse. Today he flew onto my shoulder and punctured my upper lip before I had time to react! It bleed for a long time.

Whenever he bites, I tend to jump which startled him and he flies off. My husband and I have been putting him in a time out in his cage after he bites, but he has been getting more difficult to get in his cage. He flies around with us running around trying to pick him up until he is tuckered out, at which point we pick him up and put him back. He is so angry at this point, he is hissing, lunging at the cage door as it closes.

After the bite and fiasco of getting him in his cage this evening, he lunges and tries to bite me whoever I approach his cage. I feel like this cycle is only making things worse and harming our bond. I’m feeling discouraged. I know asiatic parrots go through a bluffing stage, but at this rate I’ll be covered with scars by the time it is over (if it ends) and I don’t know if he will even like us.

I know I need to make changes. Please Reddit help us with our beloved Coti. My next steps are scheduling an avian vet visit, clipping his wings (as much as it pains me to do so since he loves flying), disallowing shoulder time (which may lead to more biting), getting him a bigger cage, and more target training and trying to introduce more positive reinforcement.

Does anyone have any other tips or ideas? At this point I cannot imagine him coming out of it.

I got a plum headed parakeet 4 years ago from a breeder when he was just a couple of months old and since the day I got him he has scared of me. I previously owned a Green Cheek Conure and he was never scared of me so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Basically, when I put my hand inside of my Plum-headed Parakeet's cage he starts flying and refuses to let me touch him, he doesn't bite but just try's to get as far away from me. When I let him out the cage he starts flying away from me and sometimes he hits his beak on the wall pretty hard and I'm not sure what to do, I do keep him in the cage more often because I don't want him to be injured.