Territorial bird won't allow me to feed her. Would a nest box to sleep in help?

I'm of the understanding that parrots are commonly given nesting boxes in a breeding situation. Something I was wondering, though, is if a nest box may be provided to a non-breeding bird simply as a place to hide and/or sleep in the cage. I wonder this because of a book chapter I read about cage territorial behavior, which my Alexandrine parakeet exhibits regularly.

According to this literature, cage territorial behavior is rooted in the instinct to protect the nest (for Alexandrines, that would be a nice hole in a tree). As a result, the bird will protect its cage from perceived intruders as it would its tree hole. Assuming what I read is correct, and that my bird would actually use the box, would providing a box reduce the cage territorial behavior? I'm desperate to find a solution to this problem. The bird's behavior is actually becoming detrimental to both her health and my relationship with her. I recognize that the cage is her space, but the problem arises when she spends 100% of the day in her cage and will not allow me to feed her unless I remove her by force (which I really would rather not do). If a nest box would help her, then so be it. I don't care if she's protective over a box that I can avoid. I can totally respect that she wants her own space; I'm the same way. But I NEED to be able to feed her safely. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Does she spend any time out of the cage?

Yes. I usually have to resort to using a thick leather glove in order to get her out, but I do take her out of her cage every day for extended periods. She only goes back at bedtime or if we have to go somewhere. On an average day, she'll be free roaming from 8-9 in the morning until 8-9 at night. There are days which she refuses to come out, however, which makes it a nightmare to feed her.

Are you definite this is a female? If so, giving a nestbox may encourage her to go to nest and lay eggs. This presents a whole new problem. Eggbinding and can even cause more bad behavior.
I would rather see you try and teach her target training. Using a most favorite treat and a long stick, like a chop stick. You touch a back perch away from her food bowls. As soon as she looks at the stick, treat her. Eventually encourage her to move toward the area you touch with praise and a treat. When she goes to the area really praise and treat. Use a word, such as "station". It will take some time and patience. Please do not use a leather glove. This has a very frightening effect on birds. It would be better to use a towel that is soft and envelops the bird.

I've tried that already. I'm familiar with target training in other animals, and it's been unsuccessful so far, in part because I can't reward her. While in the cage, she will not take anything from my hands. She ignores any sort of food I may have, and just goes straight for my hand.

I'm not particularly concerned about it encouraging her to lay eggs. For one, the very fact that she is female means that she WILL lay eggs at some point in her life, whether I want her to or not. There's nothing that can be done about that. For another, after I put up this thread, I did a bit of research elsewhere, and found that many people do indeed give their non-breeding birds nest boxes for the sake of privacy. There's no question about that as of now. What I need to know now is if providing such a box will make her sense of territory more focused, so it's just the box instead of the whole cage she's protecting.

Another problem you might have is that your Alex might not want to go into the nest box.

Nest boxes would be totally unecessary. They could cause your bird to become a chronic egg layer, causing horrible effect on your bird's health and lifespan. Captive female parrots do not usually lay eggs without a nest box. To add a nest box would encourage even more territorial and aggressive behaviour. It wouldn't help at all.

yramnot said:

I've tried that already. I'm familiar with target training in other animals, and it's been unsuccessful so far, in part because I can't reward her. While in the cage, she will not take anything from my hands. She ignores any sort of food I may have, and just goes straight for my hand.

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I have a tiel (who is target trained) who has a similar issue with taking food from my hands. A way I found to combat this was to use a familiar food dish (she has some of those small stainless steel ones). I take the dish out of her cage and fill it with her favourite seed treat (filling to the top makes it easiest)- Now I just offer her the bowl for her to have a couple of nibbles on the seed each time I reward her. For you the added bonus is that your hands are shielded. I found this an effective way of treating her without freaking her out. Also this does work in the cage as well as out, I just gave it a go Hopefully you can get it to work for your bird

My tiel is also a female and lays a few eggs each year in the back corner of her cage. For a few days before and after she is very aggressive. A few days latter she turns back into my little Buddy. As you say, just try to give your bird some space at this time. I agree that a nest box is probably unnecessary as this could encourage more territorial behaviour. Birds don't just protect the inside of the nest, but also the surrounding area.

Are you definite this is a female?

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This is a good question from GC, because it actually sounds more like cage aggression, more than nesting problems. Have you seen her actually trying to make a nest, checking out dark places etc...?

My Rosie tends to be cage aggresive. She will come out with no problem if she knows it is meal time. Other times when I need to tend to the cage or take her out for play, or showering I have a distraction on one hand (anything that the bird is not used to but does not frighten her) and tell her to step up on my other hand and she is so busy looking at the distraction that she steps up right away. It does not fix the base problem but she does not bite me. My vet told me it is a behavior that will eventually go away.

I would ignore the problem, it's most likely because it's breeding season so just keep her to a sunrise to sunset schedule and it will completely go away in a month or so. Females get all broody and silly during breeding season but they are fine the rest of the year. It's the sexual hormones that do it but once they stop producing them and you give them enough time for the ones in the bloodstream to disappear, they go back to been nice.

Good news, I've found something that appears to be working. Since she won't take food from me while in the cage, I've taken to using a spray bottle. Whenever I need to get into the cage, I'll do whatever I need to do while simultaneously hosing her down (something she thoroughly enjoys). Her behavior is beginning to change.

I can tell she's still uneasy about my hand being in the cage. She flashes her eyes as a warning if I get too close, but she's not being overtly aggressive. In fact, she's actually using friendly vocalizations now. I can't reach over to touch her or anything, but I can move about without fear of being attacked. I think she's starting to understand that I'm there to help, not to mess with her house.

well spraying her which you said she loves is actually building up a positive association with your hand being in the cage instead of a negitive one sooner or later you can even use the spray bottle or whatever your useing to intise (sp?) to come to you in the cage.

I could be wrong but I do not think that at 1 year and 3 months Rosie would be sexually mature yet. She having her first major molt though which could contribute to the cage agression.