Aspie_Aviphile
New member
- Jul 19, 2018
- 145
- 13
- Parrots
- Biddy, budgie, departed 2nd Sept 2018; Bo, Indian Ringneck, 5th Feb 2020; </3
My loving but willful fid has started biting me if he suspects I'm not going to immediately give him food that he thinks I'm going to pick up, even if I'm simply opening a cupboard or refrigerator where he knows I don't always offer him what's inside. When I try to take food out of the microwave he tries to get inside it and is nippy as I try to remove it and dish up. I can't touch the fruit bowl even when he isn't interested in eating the fruit. He won't let me remove pieces of bread from its packaging, despite the fact that I always offer him some before eating any myself. He will steal a whole slice and fly off with it instead of the small piece I break off for him, then launch an aerial attack on me for getting myself another slice, and will keep chasing me away from the breadbin. When food except bread is actually on the plate and I sit and offer him the first bite, he settles down on or with me and shares it nicely. As soon as food is out of sight his demeanor goes back to normal and he's my best friend again.
I want to start using food rewards instead of praise and excitement alone so I can start adding more challenging training to his enrichment activities, but at the moment if I show him the treat he's meant to work for and don't instantly hand it over, I get bitten.
I know ringies are usually greedy, but I haven't heard of parrots having irrational possessive aggression specifically over food before. Is this normal and how should I handle it? He is definitely getting enough food, as I took him to the vet just a few days ago and he weighed 128 grams.
I want to start using food rewards instead of praise and excitement alone so I can start adding more challenging training to his enrichment activities, but at the moment if I show him the treat he's meant to work for and don't instantly hand it over, I get bitten.
I know ringies are usually greedy, but I haven't heard of parrots having irrational possessive aggression specifically over food before. Is this normal and how should I handle it? He is definitely getting enough food, as I took him to the vet just a few days ago and he weighed 128 grams.
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