Hissing & Biting Again...

I have been doing LOTS of training with my untamed Cockatiel, Arka, since she has started to bond with me. She knows how to step up, fly to my hand (recall), and give me kisses now. And it's only the beginning!

After all of this, she is still showing some aggression. When she steps up, she does very well. But when I have her step down, she turns and bites one of my fingers. HARD. I know that it's an aggressive act, because she also hisses. I don't touch her, I don't move my fingers AT ALL. She just sees them there and decides to bite. It happens every time. I tried to ignore it, but now I am hesitant to train her, because I know she is going to bite me for no reason. Now, I'm assuming that she simply doesn't like hands. Why is she doing this? How do I stop it? Will I have to resort to having her step up onto my forearm instead? I always ignore the bites, and just keep training. But it's not enjoyable for me when she does this.

It is not natural for birds to step-down & many will refuse to do it, but if you hold her so that she is stepping up to wherever you want her to step onto, you might find the sore fingers will feel better.....

Good luck.....

I second Weco, I always ask my birds to step up to wherever they need to go just because it's a more natural behaviour. Perhaps try positioning Arka so that she's always stepping up instead and seeing how that works

I know that birds are different, but as somebody with a dog with "issues" involving fear aggression that's the first impression I got as I read your OP. I reckon doing as suggested may fix this. My feeling is that she feels threatened and afraid and she's biting you to "protect" herself.

weco said:

It is not natural for birds to step-down & many will refuse to do it, but if you hold her so that she is stepping up to wherever you want her to step onto, you might find the sore fingers will feel better.....

Good luck.....

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Understood. Thank you!

Dinosrawr said:

I second Weco, I always ask my birds to step up to wherever they need to go just because it's a more natural behaviour. Perhaps try positioning Arka so that she's always stepping up instead and seeing how that works

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Thank you, I'll try this.

strudel said:

I know that birds are different, but as somebody with a dog with "issues" involving fear aggression that's the first impression I got as I read your OP. I reckon doing as suggested may fix this. My feeling is that she feels threatened and afraid and she's biting you to "protect" herself.

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It's odd, because she honestly doesn't seem afraid. When I'm sitting on the couch, she always crawls into my lap, onto my arm or shoulder, or onto my leg. She'll play with my hair and my hair-bands on my wrist. She often tries to eat with me. Lol.
To me, it feels more like anger rather than fear...

MustLoveAnimals said:

To me, it feels more like anger rather than fear...

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"anger" is a human emotion. It's aggression, for sure, it's just that with fear aggression the motivation for it is "I'm under attack, oh no, have to respond quickly or I'll wind up dead!". It's defensive (something's being done to me, gotta fight back) not offensive (I hate you, gonna kill ya, just because). It looks the same, it's just what is happening in the animal's head is different. It's not a general thing, it relates to what is happening right then (that hand, coming towards me, it's gonna hit me, better BITE so I don't get hit), not a general "this person is scary, I'm not interacting with them at all".

Anyway, I'm extrapolating from dog behaviour. It COULD be "stepping down puts that giant above me, it is probably going to do something horrible, I'll give it a bit of a nip to make sure it doesn't" instead of "up I go, king of the world, ma!"

It's obvious she's super bonded to you if she has a favorite treat, use a verbal command to have he step down to get it, offering lots of praise and attention when she does it. Practice in different areas until she gets it. Then use the same technique to get her to step down off you. She's being a possessive brat and basically saying "I'm not going anywhere"
Positive reinforcement will resolve this in time. After a while you won't need the treat for her to do it, she will respond to the verbal request and attention.
Stick training also helps with this....I actually used a bunched-up towel or t-shirt (whatever was nearest) in lieu of a stick. Whatever works. But you're obviously the center of her universe

I have a different take on the "step up" command. When I say "step up" it is either an invitation to step-up to my finger/shoulder OR leave the finger/shoulder and step-up to a perch/cage/playpen. It's all a matter of context, with a twist:

Example: When it's time to play/cuddle/transfer position, I'll offer my finger/shoulder and say "step up." Once they comply, I'll say "good bird!"

When play time, cuddling, etc is finished, I'll pick them up, place them where desired, and say "step up" and roll the finger towards the desired location. Likewise, a verbal "good bird" is offered with compliance.

All of my tame birds understand the context and finger-roll.