Cage aggression

Kiwi is just over a year old, and he's been doing this for a while now but I've been wondering if I'm supposed to be acting different or discouraging this in some way.

He gets aggressive when I'm feeding him (luckily the cage doors swing out) but he'll often lunge at the cage wherever my hand is when I'm bringing his bowls in.

He also has started being aggressive if we stand very close to his cage and mostly when he's at the same level of his food bowls (he doesn't do this when he's on his high perch or when he's somewhere else in his cage), just when he's "protecting his food perimeter".

He stands taller and his eyes change, the shape is more eagle like, I always know when he's about to get aggressive.


I've been told the best thing to do is ignore them when they do that, as any kind of attention (good or bad) will make them think what they did is OK.

The problem is if I'm ignoring him it means I walk away, but if he's trying to scare me off isn't that giving him what he wants?

In the past I've tried different things, such as joking back with him to make him see I don't take his aggression seriously. Now I ignore it but I wonder if that is good or not.

Is this just their instinct and normal and I should just understand he can't help it? (he can literally say HELLO a minute later so he doesn't stay aggressive long)

Or should I be somehow discouraging this behavior?


Thanks

LOL. So am I the only one with this kind of problem?

He's a sweety otherwise, the only time he growls or tries to bite is as described above, or if I try to pet him (he doesn't like being touched, I have caressed his head but it's very rare - once when he was cold after a shower and for some reason didn't mind me petting his head, and the other times when he's been wrapped in a towel)

The cage aggression I just don't know if I should be handling a different way.

Thanks

It's funny you posted this (and it's the first Eclectus post I've read since I joined today) because my 4 month old does this somewhat as well. More so when I offer his something new by hand, and at 4 months, EVERYTHING is new. I offered him a sliver of a strawberry for the first time and he put his head down, backed off, beak open and ready to strike.... instead of pinching the strawberry between my finger and thumb, I placed it on my palm trying to encourage a step up and tasting the fruit out of my hand. He just kept striking/biting the fruit with his beak until I gave up and threw it in his bowl to investigate on his own. I didn't keep pushing the fruit because I didn't want to make him aggressive. He has never bit me hard, but I'm just getting to know this breed so I try and give him his space when he wants it. It sounds like maybe your situation is territorial where mine is new home jitters? He's improved but he still gets freaked out if I offer him something new by hand.

I'm curious for other Eclectus owners to weigh in on this...

Hey natv. Kiwi's cage aggression sounds almost identical to Nalani's cage aggression. If she's on the bottom grate of the cage, I know she wont come out without a fight. She's fine with the food bowl, but if I try to add/remove toys she'll have a complete fit. Now, I haven't found the perfect solution, but I never reward her for the bad behavior. When she's aggressive I stay with her (same room) and talk to her calmly. Once she settles down, I walk away. Don't walk away when they're aggressive because it is giving into what they want, it's rewarding negative behavior. Instead, walk away when he sends the message that he wants to be left alone without aggression, but with a noise or body movement. Keep at it until it becomes a signal that he can use to let you know he wants his space or attention. So far I feel like it's helped quite a bit. Nalani hasn't had any cage aggression issues for almost a month now (aside from when she's on the bottom of her cage). Nalani will say "come here" and I know she'll be cooperative, if she makes a clicking sound and starts pinning her eyes I know she wants space. As for adding/removing toys, my solution is to have Nalani no where near the cage. Haha, I still haven't figured that issue out yet.

I hope this method will work for you as it did for me. Let me know if you find other solutions. I would love to get additional advice also.

Territorial threat display. You may not like my answer, although one quote I found useful when I adopted "Echo" was "With few exceptions, the best behaved Eclectus have owners' who are not afraid to allow their hands' to suffer to teach manners".

If he lunges at you to bite, and you do not move the hand. It may well hurt once or twice. But if you do not make a deal out of it he will stop quite quickly. He is doing it to obtain a desired reaction (as doing it requires energy and effort) without a reward.

Birds do not respond well to Negative Reinforcement such as removing dish. They do however read your body language of disappointment quite well, especially if they are not getting the desired reaction (e.g. you ignoring them, moving hand away, etc).

My two cents... Echo tried this stuff when he was young. I have never seen him do it since to anyone. As he knows it will only get him a disappointed scowl and he gets to see me rub my hand from the biting. He also knows he likely wont get treat today!

I don't know.. it's an interesting idea, but I'm once bitten twice shy...

In fact just now.. Kiwi was out on his play stand. I put some of his favorite food in his cage (chopmix) and then I took him off the playstand and walked him over to his cage. Right just before we reach his cage door he literally attacked my hand (this never happened before, I've gotten a nip here and there but he literally bit me several times on my wrist growling the entire time. Luckily I had a stick nearby and sweeped it under him to get him on it and into his cage.

Of course 5 minutes later he's saying "I love you" while he's eating...

How can I stay mad? Ugh. But seriously I don't know if I could stand letting him bite me :/