Behavior- Extreme Aggression

by Brandon Skinner
(Deland, FL., 32720, United States)

My name is Brandon Skinner. My wife, Kristian, and I have had our Green Cheek Conure, Coco, for about a year and a half, but we are unsure of our Coco's actual age and sex, although I will be referring to Coco as a male so as to avoid any possible confusion.

This whole thing started in the pet store where we purchased him. We walked in, and my wife walked over to the pen where he was being kept with all the other conures and put her hand down in. Coco was the only bird that took any interest in her, and climbed up onto her hand. It looked like the beginning of a great relationship between them.

We brought him home and the three of us got along perfectly, with the exception of the occasional crankiness. Fast-forward to about six months ago. The relationship that had started out so great between my wife and Coco began to rapidly deteriorate, while the bond between him and I became stronger.

Now, he won't let my wife anywhere near him, and when she tries to touch him he will either skitter away, or try to attack her outright. If I have him out of his cage and on my shoulder, he "stares down" my wife if I get close to her.

A couple theories for this behavior my wife and I been bouncing back and forth were maybe it's because we've been slacking, and let his claws and flight feathers grow out. My wife's theory is he thinks that I'm his mate because I coddle him, and kiss him on his head and beak. I didn't find anything wrong with it because some of the books we have actually have ways to teach conures to do that.

My question(s) is/are why is he behaving this way, and is it possible to go back to the same relationship we had in the beginning?

Also, if he thinks I'm his mate, would it be possible to break him of it, and how would I go about doing it without risking him getting depressed and plucking feathers?