How do you deal with aggressive behaviour?

sunshine.within · Feb 7, 2019

Bianca is a sweetheart 90% of the time, quiet and tame. That said, sometimes she gets upset for no apparent reason and lunges in an attempt to bite either my husband or me.
Today she did this to me and I think it was because she didn’t like that I put her back on her perch from having her on the couch beside me.

What should I do in these cases? Can one ever hope to fix this behaviour for good, ever?

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noodles123 · Feb 7, 2019

It will be okay.
1- make sure you aren't triggering hormones (10-14 hours dark sleep, adequate nutrition, no shadowy spaces, head-and neck petting only, lots of chew-toys/activity).
2-Read body language and look into ABA (I harp on this because it works)...don't tip-toe, but don't "poke the pig" (so to speak). If you avoid the triggers, the you can avoid the fall-out.
3- Ignore the bite (in terms of reaction--if it happens, as it was intended to manipulate you in some way)..I know that is easier said than done, but love and confidence are powerful. If you can avoid the bites, do, but IF/WHEN they happen, the worst thing you can do is change what you were doing (excluding times when you may be causing pain or extreme fear). Best-case-scenario, you know your bird well enough to avoid the bite altogether. In the "best" of the worst-case-scenarios, you are bitten quite hard and you don't pull away and respond in a flat tone with an expressionless face (as you have an adult bird who, in this case, is likely doing it to get something out of it).

4. Do not flinch or show fear if posturing occurs---my bird gets a bit moody sometimes (especially with new people whom she likes). She will act sweet and then suddenly jerk her head and act like she is going to bite them...or peck their head (if she is somehow able to con them into letting her up there). My point is, in her case, it is a test. She is in LOVE with my dad because the first time he went to hold her (and she was interested), she walked over and stepped up (and then bit him hard)---he hardly did anything other than mumble "d*amn" ..Didn't scream, didn't leave, didn't flinch etc. I am not saying to force things on her, because reading signals matters, but if your bird is testing (as mine does), then it is very important the she doesn't get a thrill out of it. Fear is not the same as a test, so you will have to read things well enough to know that ahead of time. That having been said, she knows and trusts both you and your husband, so fear and pain are very unlikely causes for this behavior. If a bird is choosing to be near you and wants you to be near them and allows you to touch them, then fear is unlikely (amusing you can be near, touch and interact peacefully at other times).

If she bit when being put back on the perch, make sure she gets back on the perch. That is like a kid crying to get sweets---if you indulge them and give in, they will do it all of the time.

ABA and ABC charting is really helpful---I swear...I think it works better with birds than many people.

ChristaNL · Feb 8, 2019

No Too here, but Sunny seems to be used to get her own way with that intimidating beak of hers...

do not be intimidated!

I do not want to call it "dominance" or something as nasty as that

but a bird has to learn that some of our decisions are not debatable, lets call them "house rules".
One of those rules is: do not lunge at/ bite people to show displeasure or get your own way.
(unless it is an emergency)

Not sure if you ever can permanently "fix" a behaviour (parrots are prey-animals, so selfpreservation is build into them and with that come unpredictable reactions some of the time) but.... not giving into this biting will minimize the "going on repeat".
If a behaviour is succesfull (bird profits one way or another): bird will use it more and more, if what it does it is useless....why bother?

So, you did the right thing by showing her you were not going to give in.

sunshine.within · Feb 8, 2019

noodles123 said:
It will be okay.
1- make sure you aren't triggering hormones (10-14 hours dark sleep, adequate nutrition, no shadowy spaces, head-and neck petting only, lots of chew-toys/activity).
2-Read body language and look into ABA (I harp on this because it works)...don't tip-toe, but don't "poke the pig" (so to speak). If you avoid the triggers, the you can avoid the fall-out.
3- Ignore the bite (in terms of reaction--if it happens, as it was intended to manipulate you in some way)..I know that is easier said than done, but love and confidence are powerful. If you can avoid the bites, do, but IF/WHEN they happen, the worst thing you can do is change what you were doing (excluding times when you may be causing pain or extreme fear). Best-case-scenario, you know your bird well enough to avoid the bite altogether. In the "best" of the worst-case-scenarios, you are bitten quite hard and you don't pull away and respond in a flat tone with an expressionless face (as you have an adult bird who, in this case, is likely doing it to get something out of it).

4. Do not flinch or show fear if posturing occurs---my bird gets a bit moody sometimes (especially with new people whom she likes). She will act sweet and then suddenly jerk her head and act like she is going to bite them...or peck their head (if she is somehow able to con them into letting her up there). My point is, in her case, it is a test. She is in LOVE with my dad because the first time he went to hold her (and she was interested), she walked over and stepped up (and then bit him hard)---he hardly did anything other than mumble "d*amn" ..Didn't scream, didn't leave, didn't flinch etc. I am not saying to force things on her, because reading signals matters, but if your bird is testing (as mine does), then it is very important the she doesn't get a thrill out of it. Fear is not the same as a test, so you will have to read things well enough to know that ahead of time. That having been said, she knows and trusts both you and your husband, so fear and pain are very unlikely causes for this behavior. If a bird is choosing to be near you and wants you to be near them and allows you to touch them, then fear is unlikely (amusing you can be near, touch and interact peacefully at other times).

If she bit when being put back on the perch, make sure she gets back on the perch. That is like a kid crying to get sweets---if you indulge them and give in, they will do it all of the time.

ABA and ABC charting is really helpful---I swear...I think it works better with birds than many people.

Thanks Noodles. I think it was a test this time. Either that or the little time she spent on my lap triggered her hormones, which resulted in her lunging at me.

Everything I do seems to be wrong here. On one hand, I try to make her feel included and end up stimulating her. On the other I try to give her space (with her huge a** aviary) and she appears afraid of it. Ugh.

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chris-md · Feb 8, 2019

What do you do? Lure her into the perch with treats. Easy, right? Train her to step DOWN. If she won’t do it, it’s because you are a reward just sitting with you.

Grab her favorite treat and give it when she steps down. Done! And no biting to boot!

GaleriaGila · Feb 8, 2019

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd... in the SHAMELESS Department...

How do I deal with aggression? I do use some of the above wisdom, but I also just give in a lot of the time.
Personally, I have reduced biting to almost zero over the years I've spent with the Rickeybird. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. Some will say I have let him get away with too much, and that's a fair criticism, but, well... I'm okay with it. I don't do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I'm disappointed/embarassed at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.
So that's my shameless confession.

Scott · Feb 8, 2019

Great advice, and Gail suggests an important aspect. Sometimes best technique is to train ourselves to avoid triggers.

Have you tried bite-pressure training? http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

sunshine.within · Feb 9, 2019

So, bite pressure. I think I worked this out with her at the very beginning because now whenever she’s successful trying to bite, she applies little pressure. It still hurts but she doesn’t leave a mark like before. In the beginning I would get large, ugly looking bruises (or worse) where she bit, now I don’t anymore, so that’s good.

In any case I got better at understanding when a bite is coming so I am able to avoid it mostly. I just wish her to stop as there’s no reason to lunge and get upset!

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noodles123 · Feb 9, 2019

If she understands that biting doesn't work, she will resort to it less. If you can find out why she is biting then you can find more appropriate ways for her to meet whatever need she is after.

sunshine.within · Feb 9, 2019

I think it was this that triggered her hormones.

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noodles123 · Feb 9, 2019

LOL!
It could be...Cockatoos are seriously weird about hormones...They seem to go into over-drive over little things (and to us, they look adorable doing it, so it's a mess)
We we visit family, mine sometimes watches TV in my parent's room with my dad (sitting on his back) and I just realized the other day that the dim light in there is likely part of the reason she is obsessed with him--it's not super dark, but dimmer than a standard room..It also probably has to do with the fact that his personality is pretty much identical to a cockato's (minus the cuddles LOL).

How do you deal with aggressive behaviour?

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