Cage Aggression?

I'm not sure if cage aggression is really the correct wording used for macaws but it's the only thing I can think of to call it. I got my B & G macaw about a month ago from a family that had a serious illness and he was confined to his cage for 3 years we are adjusting to one another great and if he is out of the cage he is super friendly and I can pick him up no problem, he loves attention, and if on the floor he will climb onto the couch and sit next to me. The problem I'm having is when he is in his cage or on top of his cage he becomes aggressive and tries to bite, and not just trying to psych me out he means it! Any suggestions on dealing with this behavior? I should add he isn't aggressive when I am feeding him but he will be aggressive if I try to get him from the cage or if I am cleaning his cage. I also don't know for sure if he is a male, I am going to have the vet draw some blood next week when I take him in for a beak trim and have him sexed.
Sorry that got kind of longer than I wanted it too. Thanks for reading!

Hello there!!

Yes this is cage aggression. Macaws can get like this just like other species, I presume because he spent SO much time in the cage in his previous home that he/she feels the need to protect his turf/nest, as it were. Is this the original cage that he came with? Perhaps switching him to a new cage would erase the problem, though the change may confuse him, he would need some time to adjust to it.

I'm not a huge expert on macaws, and I highly encourage you to look up Birdman666's posts about his experience with macaws. It's very insightful stuff. Also, here is a thread posted here a few years back but dealing with the same macaw cage aggression you are speaking of. I encourage you to look through that one, and go from there! Hope that helps

Thank you for the suggestion! I could not get back to thank you right away my computer broke and it was a little while before I could get a new one. We implemented some target and clicker training as well as stepping to a perch from his cage and then to me and he is doing much better!

itzjbean said:

Hello there!!

Yes this is cage aggression. Macaws can get like this just like other species, I presume because he spent SO much time in the cage in his previous home that he/she feels the need to protect his turf/nest, as it were. Is this the original cage that he came with? Perhaps switching him to a new cage would erase the problem, though the change may confuse him, he would need some time to adjust to it.

I'm not a huge expert on macaws, and I highly encourage you to look up Birdman666's posts about his experience with macaws. It's very insightful stuff. Also, here is a thread posted here a few years back but dealing with the same macaw cage aggression you are speaking of. I encourage you to look through that one, and go from there! Hope that helps

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