Befriending an aggressive Green Cheek

So about a month ago I bought a 7 year old green cheek conure from a friend of my roommate and I've been having some issues. I am relatively new to birds but my roommate who is fairly experienced and has a caique of her own has been helping me. Dexter, what I've been calling my green cheek, seemed to be very sweet and curious for the first 2 days we had him and then all of a sudden became very aggressive, both in and outside of the cage. We thought he would settle down, because he did come from a home with 2 high energy pitbulls, but he did not. At first he was only aggressive while inside the cage and now just lunges if I come anywhere near him unless I have a treat. However, he seems to get bored of the treats fairly quickly and at times decides to stop eating them and instead lunge for my fingers. He draws blood when he bites. Also, he is blind in his left eye, but I always approach him from the right so as not to startle him. As someone relatively inexperienced with the species, any tips/insight regarding how to gain his trust etc. would be wonderful. Thanks!

Ok those first few days were what is called the honeymoon period, he wasn't sure what was up so he was subdued then he got the idea it was a new home and now he is trying to impress domaince this would be a time to start with the stick training for step-up and targeting . The reason for the stick (I prefer wooden spoons as they are cheap and look like an extended finger) is to protect your fingers from bites and therefore stop you from reacting to his lunges if you need more information you can message me or I'm sure you can find a video on youtube that will show you how to do it.

I would make sure to aproach him slowly and just sit beside him until he relaxes and every day keep moving closer until he is more relaxed ...plus how long have you had him for?

I had actually started doing target training with a chopstick but he ends up not taking the treat after about 5 minutes and just starts fluffing up and getting aggressive.

basia said:

how long have you had him for?

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About a month

i'm having the same problem actually but my gcc is only 3 months old. he was adorable, only nibbled and only ever REALLY bit down when he was playing. now it's like, he's all grumpy all the time, always grunting at us anytime we're near him and he doesn't really even like to come out of his cage, even though before he would actually hop off of his cage/the desk his cage is on to come near to us. now he just sits in his cage and watches us... i'm all ears if anyone has ANY, AT ALL, advice!

Keep the training really short if he gets disinterested then leave it at that, forcing him to train will only make him crabbier.
Maybe try going up to the cage and giving him a treat through the bars, talk to him softly for a little bit then go away. Hopefully then they'll associate your presence with treats and be happy to see you. After a couple of days try coaxing them out of the cage with the treat and see how you go then, lots of positive reinforcement!

Akraya said:

Keep the training really short if he gets disinterested then leave it at that, forcing him to train will only make him crabbier.
Maybe try going up to the cage and giving him a treat through the bars, talk to him softly for a little bit then go away. Hopefully then they'll associate your presence with treats and be happy to see you. After a couple of days try coaxing them out of the cage with the treat and see how you go then, lots of positive reinforcement!

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what type of training do you suggest i use? target training? we bought a clicker but i'm still skeptical to use it. i want crowley to want to play with me because HE wants to not because he wants a treat. :/ i've been giving him space, opening up his cage door when i get up, letting him do what he wants to do, and giving him attention when he seems to want it. i just don't know what to do.

Sometimes I play with a foot toy in front of my birds for a minute without making eye contact with them. Soon they want the toy and want to play with me more. If they are being aggressive, I would avoid eye contact and wait for them to be in a better mood for treats. It is like being coy and not being too interested in them and then they want to be with you more.

Only really did step up and down with my birds to start, didn't want to overload them. Also handled a lot, soft words and treats for that, want them to be as hand friendly as possible, we have our good days and bad.
Bribery is where you gotta start, he will bond with you and want to play, just gotta help get his baby birdness there =)

TmrMcc said:

basia said:

how long have you had him for?

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About a month

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So that means he could still be new to you especially if he had a previous owner who he really liked.As i said just work with him a bit every day if he gets bored or agressive take a break and just prove to him that he can trust you ...when i had my gcc i had the same thing at first dont worry

Also, you could pick up or towel the bird and bring it into a neutral room for step training. When birds are away from the cage, they less aggro and territorial.

Conuregirl said:

Also, you could pick up or towel the bird and bring it into a neutral room for step training. When birds are away from the cage, they less aggro and territorial.

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Whats the best way to do that? (I guess what do you mean by towel the bird?) He gets really angry if I get near him and I dont want to stress him out.