Aggressive in or on cage

[melbourned]

My little guy is the sweetest thing when out of his cage. In the cage he is very aggressive when we put our hands in, even when feeding him. He will bite if we let him.

How do we discourage this behavior?

 

[melinda]

Most birds got through this sometime in there life. my conure does it every october. I know when it is fixing to start and remove his sleep hut. Work on stick training and rearange the cage daily. I have even found moving it across the room helps. I think most of it is the birds are ready to breed and the cage is the nest site. You may be able to move the perches and toys around once and it stops but you might have to deal with it until breeding season passes. When my sun is like that he has to step up on my hand when asked to get his fav treats. I give him the choice so if he doesn't i close the door and walk away for a few mins then try again. If you push a bird to make it do something it doesn't want it will bite.
Make coming out of the cage when asked the best thing that could ever happen for them. Special food they love, playing, and being loved on. You might want to teach him to step up on a perch to save your self a bite. Do not open the door and let him climb to the top his self. If he wants on top he needs to step up with no biting and let you place him there.
With a little work and training you will be able to put your hand in the cage at anytime and not get biten. Just remember lots of treats for good behavoir and if bad bahavoir shows up he learns he doesn't get the great stuff he wants.
Not sure how you feed yours but my vet told me to cut in half the fresh fruit and veggys when he gets in that type of mood. That tells his body that it isn't a good time to be thinking about breeding because of less food. I am not saying take his food away just offer less of the fresh stuff. After i started that the first year his "mood" only last about a month instead of two.
Good luck and keep us updated on how you two are doing.

 

[Spiritbird]

Suggest you stop putting your hands in the cage when the bird is inside. sounds like a case of cage possessiveness.

 

[Pedro]

My little guy is the sweetest thing when out of his cage. In the cage he is very aggressive when we put our hands in, even when feeding him. He will bite if we let him.

How do we discourage this behavior?

Are you still having problems with this? This bird knows that when you put your hand in his cage when he strikes or bites you will retreat. Mission accomplished. He wants to be left alone.

This cage aggression with this bird has probably started when he was very young. Probably the original owner forced him from from the cage to get him out so he has learned to bite to keep hands away. You have only had him for a few months & IMO you are still building trust with him. This could take time & a lot of hard work. But not impossible.

If you are able to attatch a perch to the door, you can target train him to come to that perch for a treat, once he is on that perch & the door is open ask him to step up. You can then put him on a play stand while you service his cage.

When a parrot is apprehensive to step up & come from the cage, to calm them & i guess build trust with them I first touch their feet only if they let me. If they try to bite i will stop but still leave my hand there if they are serious & look like biting i will still talk gently to them & retreat. We do this a number of times everyday. Once i am able to stroke their foot without any reaction i will slowly move my hand up to the chest. I also use a lot of verble praise. Talk gently & maintain eye contact. No sudden movements. Once the bird trusts the hand isn't going to hurt them, they will usually step up when asked.

Good luck,

 

[oled]

As melinda sayes teach him to step up on a perch and after that test with the hand

 

[melbourned]

Thanks for all the advice. I tried using a stick and that freaked him out. I will continue to be assertive with him. I find I'm more successful when I move without hesitation. So I'll continue with that.

 

[melinda]

most bird are afraid of a perch coming at them. It will take training with lots of treats for that too. I have found that most birds can see fear and will bite if they know you are afraid of them. I have meet plenty of macaws that call me on my bluff they are masters at reading faces. Your conure can see the small changes in your face eyes, color, and lines. Try to think of happy times and approach your bird in a care free manner. The will reflect your mood and become relaxed as well.

 

[chadwick]

Have you seen if he will just come out on his own!

 

[melbourned]

Have you seen if he will just come out on his own!

We leave his door open and he goes out an in freely. Even when on top of the cage, I must corner him, then he steps up. He seems very happy to be with us once away from the cage.

 

[Pedro]

Have you seen if he will just come out on his own!

We leave his door open and he goes out an in freely. Even when on top of the cage, I must corner him, then he steps up. He seems very happy to be with us once away from the cage.

This you can work with Melbourned, I am feeling that maybe you haven't made an accurate assessment of the cage aggressive behavior. Reluctance to leave his cage maybe that he just isn't ready to come out or he is fearful of something. Eclectus are like that. It doesn't mean he is aggressive or uncontrollable & i really don't see that he requires any behavior modification. I would say he is exhibiting survival techniques in which he is assessing any possible dangers in his environment before leaving the safe confines of his cage.

In many situations, some carers will perceive their bird is behaving aggressive when actually they are exhibiting fear or irritability in the only way it knows how, by it's distinct & classic, avian body language. Although there are many common signs of fear, or warning behavior in parrots, people need to be aware of those that are specific to the species of their own parrots. Those signals should be respected in the domestic environment as well. Behavior modification techniques will not be effective if implemented for the wrong reasons.

So you have to ask yourself why is my bird biting. Parrots bite for 2 reasons that i am aware of survival or control. I personally don't think you have really got to know your Eclectus yet. Once you work out what he really likes & doesn't like everything will fall into place.

You must also remember he is an adult parrot & you really don't know his full history. I wouldn't worry to much about the cage aggression at this point in time. It comes down to trust & from what i am reading in your threads your boy is a lovely bird. So rather that stress him out, I would wait until he was out of the cage before i did any cleaning or feeding. The best place to train a parrot & especially if they are attached to their cage is to work with them in a neutral territory out of sight of their cage.

The most important is to read his body language and get to know your bird. It takes many months or even years to truly appreciate a parrot.