Aggressive play.

[bigfellasdad]

Hi there,

Enzo just doesn't seem to want to play nice with toys. Apart from her bell in the cage she doesn't seem to play with anything in the cage, not even boredom toys that can be ripped apart! She loves to throw things off tables and work tops etc, but when I pick them up and give them back she fluffs up her feathers, wings out and turns very aggressive, often running at and biting the 'toy', and sometimes even biting me. Mostly they are nips but this weekend she bit harder and in two spots on my hand. She immediately seems to calm and within a few seconds she is back to normal.

Ive tried to play alone with her toys in the hope she gets inquisitive and comes and plays with me, sometimes she has but it turns aggressive again but mostly she ignores me and carries on doing what she is doing.

Should I be worried as she does seem to be a happy girl without toys.

She LOVES to explore draws and cupboards and anything that is closed off with a lid. The bread bin for example, she can remove the metal lid but she cant look inside as its too high, so she will push smaller objects along and build 'stairs' in order to allow her more height (a cup then a coffee jar for example). This shows she is getting mentally stimulated and she is working problems out, so this is just her way of playing i think.

What are your thoughts please, just give up on the toys to avoid the aggressiveness?

 

[wrench13]

she seems ripe for trick training. Colored boxes with lids that she has to put matching rings into, or stacking colored rings on posts are good strter tricks. She seems very smart and inquisitive. Get a bunch of baby toys and see wat kind of gamed you can make up using them. Good luck

 

[bigfellasdad]

she seems ripe for trick training. Colored boxes with lids that she has to put matching rings into, or stacking colored rings on posts are good strter tricks. She seems very smart and inquisitive. Get a bunch of baby toys and see wat kind of gamed you can make up using them. Good luck

These are exactly the type of toys I have been buying. the stacked coloured rings she will take off one by one and simply throw on the floor. She will watch me place the correct coloured ball in to the correct coloured pot for a few minutes, when I invite her to have a go she will just throw everything on the floor, sometimes she will laugh whilst she does it...... I've not tried with lids though, that may actually work very well with her, ill have a look to see i can find something to suit. Thank you.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...f663-558f-8b4d-b15d5d46b197&pf_rd_i=196608011

https://www.amazon.com/First-Years-...-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1507639754&sr=1-6&th=1

Little wicker balls to go with the pots.


Maybe i should also try something like this

http://www.northernparrots.com/asso...rot-foraging-toy-and-refill-pack-prod377005a/

 

[LordTriggs]

if she likes dismantling rather than putting things in places maybe some simple clear pots with lids would be good? Put a treat in the pot and let her figure out how to get it?

Or maybe a bucket hanging with a treat in that she has to pull up?

 

[bigfellasdad]

I think you guys have got it, maybe i'm such an old bloke i've forgotten how to play lol.......

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

As far as "beating the c*** out of toys,Smokey had a few of those,a rubber bell on a chain she'd literally pick up and SLAM it down on her roof,often being all fluffed up and growling at it
She also had a stainless steel mirror that hung inside her house that she'd slam around with a bell hanging from it...entertained her for hours lol.



Jim

 

[bigfellasdad]

Well ive come to the conclusion that i cant allow Enzo out of her cage when others are around

She was playing/throwing things around yesterday when my brother came around. My brother started playing with her toy with Enzo and she immediately attacked, taking a big chunk of flesh out of his hand, i simply cant have this happen so the safest thing is to keep her caged unless its just me with her Gutted.

She did lay egg number 4 last night so maybe there is a link, but frankly, i cant afford to take the risk, my brother was lucky she didnt actually remove the flesh totally so it should mend/bind back in place.

My whole family have been in touch demanding she remains caged when they visit, i really can not blame for feeling like that. She's adorable with me only it seems.

The only main play thing she has is with a deep oven tray filled with news paper and a hand full of seeds. She rips thee paper up and searches for the seeds, she can forage like this for hours!

I wont give up on her but the new restrictions are definitely get enforced, as my new girl friend visits more her 'out time' is going to have to reduce.

 

[LordTriggs]

oh no, silly Enzo. I think the laying is 100% linked making her a bit flustered to say the least.

hope your brother isn't too sore. the whole family calling you to tell you do that seems a bit much but I guess they're just fearful

sounds like some slow socialization and bite pressure training will be on the cards in the near future

 

[wrench13]

Hey big fella, have you tried working with Enzo, to teach her any tricks? If you have the stacking cups, they make a great trick. Check Saltys youtube channel and look for the video Salty Parrot trick cups

 

[bigfellasdad]

i dont think anybody will help with socialising now Ive not heard of bite pressure training so ill do some research, thanks Mr Triggs

 

[bigfellasdad]

Playing with cups makes her extremely aggressive, she even nipped me lightly. She has a dark side and its becoming more apparant. To be honest, she step-up's a lot less these days and i struggle to get her in the cage more and more when i go to work so i have to physically pick her up with my hands.

She's getting too big for her boots.

 

[LordTriggs]

well if you've looked around any of the other subforums and seen me and clark talking you'll have seen our method already a hundred times!

any touching of the beak that is strong then a mild pinch results in her being put on the floor and ignored until she returns to you to apologize. A simple yet seemingly effective training method.

Like you say she's getting a bit big for her boots so now is definitely the time to impose the rules on her, of course remember she's a little PMS right now so to speak considering it's hormone time and she has some eggs

If I were further up north I would nominate myself as sacrifice to her maw but that drive is a little too far for me!

 

[DRB]

It will get better. It has to have something to do with her egg laying.

 

[bigfellasdad]

cheers, ill definitely do that, she so rarely beaks me but i think ill try that method for everything naughty that she does now, im convinced she realises. hormones or not she needs taking down a peg or two!

thanks very much for considering the drive