Alexandrine cage aggression

Hi all!

I'm new to this forum after being a lurker for quite some time. I acquired my 3 year old female Alexandrine named Rio a little over 3 months now after her owner couldn't cope with her. Unfortunately I know very little about her past (other than being passed around due to "she doesn't like me" etc.)...What I DO know is she is extremely aggressive and she hates hands. Most of the time, so much as walking by her cage will result in her lunging and viciously attacking the bars. Not being on my toes while replacing her food and water has left me with some nasty, painful bites.

Negatives out the way though...She will now take a treat from me very gently providing I am gentle also (this took a while for her!!). The quiet, shy girl is coming out of her shell a little...as soon as I put my key in the door she pipes up and she'll chat my ear off for a good 20 minutes when I get home from work. Something she doesn't seem to do with my partner or sister who also live in the house.

I would like to begin stick training her to work on the hand phobia, but I'm not sure whether it would be best to address the cage aggression first? Could anyone advise if this would be the best route to take? She is such a beautiful, funny girl - I desperately do not want to give up on her like previous owners have.

From the little you know about her history I would say that her taking food from your fingers within the first 3 months is very positive and impressive! Generally Alex's are not aggressive - although obviously there are individual personalities - so I wonder whether there are things you don't know about her past? Maybe mistreatment, but also she may have been in an aviary for a lot of her life rather than having been around people.

Cage aggression isn't unusual and isn't always a bad thing. She should feel safe in her cage, it's her place and she's defending it from scary humans. Obviously it becomes a problem when you're being wounded doing basic care though!

At this point I wouldn't try and change her so to speak, more it's about managing the situation to make it as good as possible for you both.

So...can you do these things when she's out of the cage? She might charge back to it, but you might buy yourself some time to avoid that beak. Did she come with the cage or is it a new one?...actually I'm not sure that's entirely relevant, what I mean is could you get her a new cage where there are doors that swing out so you don't have to put your hands into her space? This will be safer for you and also means she won't keep having to fend off your scary hands just as she's starting to learn they're not always bad.

For the aggression when you walk past, can you not walk so close? Or move the cage so there's more space around it? Or even cover one side if it's by a door or something so she isn't aware that someone is walking close to it. There will be a distance she feels comfortable with, you should try not to go closer than that. She's telling you you're too close when she lunges, listen to her.

Moving on to any type of training is easier if she'll take treats from your fingers all the time so I'd keep this as the priority. You could target train her to go to a particular perch and try and keep her there (probably with a nice big treat!) while you change water and food bowls.

So in a way I wouldn't be working on either the hand phobia or the cage aggression just yet. While she's doing so well and you're developing a bond carry on as you are, just try and manage things differently.

There is someone on this forum (I forget who!) Who says every interaction with you should be positive, so if she takes food from you and then has to lunge at you because you're too close she's having good and bad interactions. Good luck with her, I have an embarrassingly scruffy little boy who is going through a horrible molt at the moment, but I love him dearly!

I don't know what you mean by stick training, but target training can certainly help!

You can teach her to target to any location within the cage for a reward. Teach her to target and station in one spot within the cage while you change out the food and water bowls. It may help to have a second set on hand so you can literally take out one set and put in a new set.

When walking by the cage, try walking slower. Maybe even announce yourself before you come into view. If her cage is located right next to a corner, then move the cage away from that corner so you can't accidentally startle her when you walk by.

MonicaMc said:

I don't know what you mean by stick training, but target training can certainly help!

You can teach her to target to any location within the cage for a reward. Teach her to target and station in one spot within the cage while you change out the food and water bowls. It may help to have a second set on hand so you can literally take out one set and put in a new set.

When walking by the cage, try walking slower. Maybe even announce yourself before you come into view. If her cage is located right next to a corner, then move the cage away from that corner so you can't accidentally startle her when you walk by.

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excellent advise here!

Stick training is teaching step-up but using a stick to do so instead of a hand, something I greatly suggest doing with every parrot so if someone not as confident needs to or if they're in a bratty bitey mood you can move them without fear of getting chomped.

Just give her time, being moved so many times in 3 years she's not sure whether she's coming or going so her cage is all she really knows in regards to safety. Think like a child who completely loses it when their blanket is taken away, just instead this one has a can opener on their face. She's come on leaps and bounds already so just give her time and patience

Thank you all for reading and your advice
We've since cleared a larger spot for her in the living room so she now has more space surrounding her cage. I have noticed it's quick movements that seem to make her snappy so we all give her a wide birth unless we approach her, then if we do, we make a big fuss of her/give her a treat (Which she is LOVING).
I've managed to offer her with treats to keep her occupied whilst replenishing food and so far so good, she seems happy munching whilst I do what I need to. My plan is to spend some more time giving her 'good attention', and then introduce target training. I'm apprehensive to how she will react with a stick in her personal space. I have read it is best to do this sort of training on neutral territory but obviously getting her out/in is a no go-er.

I'm not expecting a circus bird, just to be able to move her around on a perch would be absolutely fantastic!

Training by shapeing ( google )For stick, she gets a treat when she sees it, she gets a treat if she takes a step towards it, she gets a treat if she just touches it and if course treat if she steps on the stick good luck

is one of the perches in the cage easy to remove and put back? I only ask because I use a small perch I had in the cage for stick training purposes and doing so seemed to work a treat. Every time my Conure saw it being held up he knew what it was and what to do with it. It was just a snapped branch off of a natural tree-like perch which I poked through the bars in the corner of the cage. It fast turned into the stick training perch, his in-cage treat spot and what I dubbed the 'attention perch' if he wanted extra fuss he would get on the perch and commence bobbing and hopping on the spot until I came to do his bidding, often a quick scratching or to be released from his 'prison'

LordTriggs said:

is one of the perches in the cage easy to remove and put back? I only ask because I use a small perch I had in the cage for stick training purposes and doing so seemed to work a treat. Every time my Conure saw it being held up he knew what it was and what to do with it. It was just a snapped branch off of a natural tree-like perch which I poked through the bars in the corner of the cage. It fast turned into the stick training perch, his in-cage treat spot and what I dubbed the 'attention perch' if he wanted extra fuss he would get on the perch and commence bobbing and hopping on the spot until I came to do his bidding, often a quick scratching or to be released from his 'prison'

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Amazing idea thank you! She has a perch right by the cage door. I've been holding treats there and she has started hopping over. Something to try most definitely.

On a side note the bobbing and hopping on the spot gives such a cute mental image!