Help, my 7 year old WB Caique keeps attacking me!!

[Parrotmom]

Hi all,
I have had my little WB Caique since he was 3 months old, he has always been the most adorable cuddly tame little bird as good as gold. When i have needed to take him to the vet to get his claws clipped the vet always remarks that he has never seen such a well behaved little bird.
At the beginning of this year, a month before his seven birthday all that changed completely, it's as if i have a completely different bird now. I was stroking his head and cheeks as usual when suddenly out of the blue he bit my fingers really hard drawing blood.I was completely shocked, it was without warning and I told him off in a stern voice and put him in his cage. i thought that I must have done something wrong but did not know what.From then on things have got worse and worse, I can't get his perches or his bowls out of his cage when he is in it, he bites my fingers and hands with such hate and agressiveness.The worst thing is that when he does come out of his cage now he actively attacks me always going for my face. He has badly mangled my lip on two occassions and my throat.
I have taken him to the vet but she has no answers.
I have been been keeping birds for 30 years and I have tried everything, I am at my wits end.
Any suggestions please.
Thank you.

 

[suebee]

hummm i may be wrong, but the facial attacks are very personal, and that is what nut did, that caused me to increase her cage time

my main worry with increased cage time was that it would anger her, an possibly de-so******e her! but its made her less bitey, an not one flying attack since the increased cage time, this was about 4wks ago, an she can change still but fingers crossed (but i know she is a hormonal bird)

ok when do these attacks happen? is there a time during day when he is calmer??

also have you been paying more attention to anyone/thing in front of him, or anything new in routine??

it does read like a hormonal thing?

i am so sorry to read this, but as always i think it takes them time to get over what ever, and once they have this time they are fine (if your nerves can take the pressure in the mean time!)

and please attacks on the face lips an throat are one thing, but your eyes need protecting, i had to seriously consider re-homing or putting nut down as her attacks where out of the blue an so aggressive, i could not afford an eye

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I had a somewhat similar thing happen with Auggie a couple years ago. We got through it, but it was quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with - not the bites themselves, though they were bad, but the fact that I had to seriously consider giving him up. I felt horrible.

At least for us I think it became a downward spiral. He attacked enough that I was afraid to hold him, or I'd pick him up differently - I didn't trust him. This made him less comfortable and more likely to bite, which in turn made me less comfortable ... etc etc.

Eventually I just decided to start like it was day one. It was so hard to treat my best friend like a complete stranger - but that's what we did. We started with basic stick/perch training and had strict rules about where he could perch and what he could do.

Things didn't really come back to "normal" as in being the same as before the 'change' but they did return to good. We rebuilt a new relationship that is in many ways better than before.

You should work to figure out why this is happening - but sometimes we just can't figure that out. You should also work on getting on an upward cycle rather than downward - for me and Auggie this meant throwing out all assumptions of what he should know or how our relationship was supposed to work - it meant starting out at day one as if he was a brand new parrot.

 

[Parrotmom]

Suebee, thanks so much for your reply.
Absolutely nothing whatever has changed in any way in the household or in the routine. This has all just come out od the blue!!

AuggiesDad, thnks for your reply.Yes, I must admit that I am frightened of him now and also realise that his facial attacks are very dangerous for me.
I just don't want to move him on, I love him in spite of everything.I am so very sad for him and for me that this is happening. He doesn't get any kisses and cuddles any more and I miss the adorable little chap he was for 7 years...
Starting with him as if he is a new bird, I would love to try that but all he has on his mind at the moment is taking as many chunks out of me as he can. Strangely enough when I took him to the vet in his carrier as soon as I was out of sight for a second he started calling me and it's the same thing at home.If he is in his cage playing with something for example and I get up to go out of the room he drops whatever he is playing with or eating and dashes up to the bars to call out to me.
I just don't know what to do, the whole situation has caused me a lot of tears..

 

[PrettyInInk87]

I am SO sad to read this! I would be totally HURT if my little guy starting acting this way out of nowhere and i've only had him for about a month, I can't imagine your 7 year relationship. Hope your able to get him out of it, good luck!! You've been given great advise.

 

[Abzeez]

Maybe its a phase? My amazon in the spring time went through his first change because it was breeding season. He would fly at my boyfriends head and attack him, and then he started doing it to my then 3 year old daughter. I thought for a moment that if this doesn't get better we will have to find him a new home.

We have been working with him all summer and he is back to tolerating my boyfriend, and no longer attacks people. He will step up for people other than me. He is not exactly the same cuddly amazon I had as a baby, he's a bit more moody, but he is much better than he was in the spring time. Best of luck.

 

[Parrotmom]

Hi Abzeez,
I am pleased to know that things are better with your parrot now.Thanks for your good wishes.

 

[suebee]

Hi Abzeez,
I am pleased to know that things are better with your parrot now.Thanks for your good wishes.

hows things with your little fella goin??

 

[JackSparrow]

My 6 year old male is doing the exact same thing but it started 2 years ago. I have been trying to get him to change his ways for so long and get nowhere. I have even been to several experts who tried to help but nothing worked. Did your situation get better? If so, what did you do? I miss my little buddy (Jack Sparrow) SO much. When I get near him, his eyes shrink, he puffs up and lunges at me. I give him his favorite food and he crushes it and throws it away, when my husband gives him the same food, he gets so happy and makes the sweetest noises. He has not turned on my husband, they get along great. Jack will actually go to anyone BUT me. I have never been aggressive toward him, nothing weird happened in the household (no yelling, nothing to scare him, nothing hurt him). I did have major neck surgery about the same time he turned on me but that can't be it. I need help and your situation sounds exactly like mine but mine has been going on for quite some time now. I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[MonicaMc]

My 6 year old male is doing the exact same thing but it started 2 years ago. I have been trying to get him to change his ways for so long and get nowhere. I have even been to several experts who tried to help but nothing worked. Did your situation get better? If so, what did you do? I miss my little buddy (Jack Sparrow) SO much. When I get near him, his eyes shrink, he puffs up and lunges at me. I give him his favorite food and he crushes it and throws it away, when my husband gives him the same food, he gets so happy and makes the sweetest noises. He has not turned on my husband, they get along great. Jack will actually go to anyone BUT me. I have never been aggressive toward him, nothing weird happened in the household (no yelling, nothing to scare him, nothing hurt him). I did have major neck surgery about the same time he turned on me but that can't be it. I need help and your situation sounds exactly like mine but mine has been going on for quite some time now. I would appreciate any suggestions.

I'm curious to know, who are these experts?

 

[Parrotmom]

My 6 year old male is doing the exact same thing but it started 2 years ago. I have been trying to get him to change his ways for so long and get nowhere. I have even been to several experts who tried to help but nothing worked. Did your situation get better? If so, what did you do? I miss my little buddy (Jack Sparrow) SO much. When I get near him, his eyes shrink, he puffs up and lunges at me. I give him his favorite food and he crushes it and throws it away, when my husband gives him the same food, he gets so happy and makes the sweetest noises. He has not turned on my husband, they get along great. Jack will actually go to anyone BUT me. I have never been aggressive toward him, nothing weird happened in the household (no yelling, nothing to scare him, nothing hurt him). I did have major neck surgery about the same time he turned on me but that can't be it. I need help and your situation sounds exactly like mine but mine has been going on for quite some time now. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Hi Jack,
It is now two years since my lovely little parrot turned into THE PARROT FROM HELL
The good news is that things are slowly beginning to improve little by little but it has been very very slow.

I tried so many things to "make things right again" but nothing helped

The only thing I could do was to start out as if he was a completely new and (untrustworthy) bird. Because I live alone I had to carry on as before. Fortunately his seed and water dishes are accessible from the outside of his cage but I have dropped lots of dishes full of seeds and of water on the floor when he has lunged at my fingers and managed to draw blood. I have continued to talk to him in the same gentle voice I have always used.Contrary to the usual advice I decided not to tell him off for any of the biting etc as I decided I would not make any reaction to what he did, parrots like reactions and continue any behaviour to get them.The only reactions I gave were when he did somthing "good" and then I praised him lots for it.
Recently in the past few weeks he has allowed me to put my fingers in between the bars to stroke his head, (I did this with great trepidation) and he didn't bite me.
When I have needed to take him out of the cage I have had to put goggles and gloves on, yes, not recommended, but I need my two eyes,and I now have a scar on my lip where he took a chunk out some time ago.
The fact that I have been able to touch him again is great, it's not much but for me It's huge progress in the right direction.
I don't think that he will ever be like he was and nobody seems to know why he changed.
I still love him
So the only advice I can give you is to be very very patient and be careful. Sorry I haven't been much help.

 

[goalerjones]

I know that sexual maturity changes some birds. I dont know when a Caique matures but my conure died before the change could happen at age 6. I was told by several people that he would probably have gone thru that change at age 7.

I know that when my Hahns gets hyper-agressive a beak and nail trim usually settles him down for a time. Perhaps taking him in to the vet for those services can help?

 

[Parrotmom]

I know that sexual maturity changes some birds. I dont know when a Caique matures but my conure died before the change could happen at age 6. I was told by several people that he would probably have gone thru that change at age 7.

I know that when my Hahns gets hyper-agressive a beak and nail trim usually settles him down for a time. Perhaps taking him in to the vet for those services can help?

He is 9 years old now and I am sure that sexual maturity played a large part in the change in him. He goes regularly to the vet for a beak and nail trim. My other caique is a female and is now 12 years old, she has never shown any agressive ness at any time in her life. I have had all my birds from babies and they are all 'silly tame'.

 

[aliray]

I just posted on another thread Smaller vs Bigger., About a caique that also started attacking his owner If you would like to read it

 

[Parrotmom]

I just posted on another thread Smaller vs Bigger., About a caique that also started attacking his owner If you would like to read it

Which section have you posted on? (which sub forum?) I have looked through a few but can't find your post

 

[Jtbirds]

well to start off i'd like to say caiques have a personaility that they think they are the biggest badest characters in town. They also have this issue because they are such busy little guys that once they start a mission if you interupt it you have hell to pay.

The biting is a big issue and even bigger is the face statitics show people take facial biting more personally then a finger or arm bite. I read in the first post you told him off after he bit. There is were one problem lies you have showed him a reaction to his mischeif so now his goal is to create that reaction with you. secondly you have shown a good amount of fear and he knows it and loves it. Sadly birds can be like this.

I believe timeouts work wonders with parrots if used in the proper manner. I also believe in a method i made for screaming but also works for aggression to work well in some cases. when i say time out i do not mean for a long period of time i mean for 10-15 minutes then rinse wash and repeat the same routine. If the bird bites shake your hand and distract them with a hand movement i like to take my hand and sweep it upward (kinda like a conductor lol). Say knock it off and keep direct eye contact to show dominance. Then proceed to the cage and put him in for 10-15 minutes. Do this over and over this means yes taking the bites and not being afraid and pushing through it. You cannot give a big reaction and yell and through a fit. You can lose a lot of blood before it will really hurt you=).

As for the facial biting if you see it coming there is nothing wrong with putting a hand up to prevent the bite. This can include you pushing him from flying at your face gentely to the ground. Never use force!! like a change of air flow is how hard this should be. Then pick him from the ground make eye contact say knock it off and take him right to the cage for a time out. Do this religiously or these methods will not work. Never let him get away with a bite for no reason, punish the negative reward the postive.

As well as stated caiques are busy little birds so keep him extremely entertained in all types of toys. Foragaging, shredding, chewing, and preening are the four major types of toys i believe makes a parrot happy. All of these can be made at home for a discounted price and hours of enjoyment=).

Hope this possibly will help you.(if you still need some).

 

[Jtbirds]

Then pick him from the ground make eye contact say knock it off and take him right to the cage for a time out. .

I have to disagree with this part. The cage should not be used as a punishment. This is his home and at no time should he be made to equate it with negative experiences. A T-perch in a room away from the household activity is the recommended "time-out" location preferred by behavior specialists.

But the cage is also a place of security and a place were energy can be released. To send a child to his or her room is the same concept. Let them go to we're they are common with and think about what has happened and then they will realize o wow I kinda hate when I am out getting sent back to my room so quickly. This will not make the cage punishing as there are still things to do in the cage, but it will make his actions less desirable to himself in the fact that this is not nearly as great as being out. A t stand would be bad in my opinion as it is still out of his cage and that is still rewarding. If anything a separate time out cage away from activity can be used in this sense if not comfortable using his own cage.

 

[Parrotmom]

Then pick him from the ground make eye contact say knock it off and take him right to the cage for a time out. .

I have to disagree with this part. The cage should not be used as a punishment. This is his home and at no time should he be made to equate it with negative experiences. A T-perch in a room away from the household activity is the recommended "time-out" location preferred by behavior specialists.

I too disagree absolutely with that advice. He loves his cage, it is full of lots of fun things to do, nice warm dark sleeping places and lots of lovely food. His cage is huge and is a bird's idea of Heaven.

Also if you had read all that I said in my original post you would see that I only reacted the first time.
You also say that there may be a lot of blood but you can get past that sort of hurt - maybe I should have said that to myself whist I was in the Emergency service of the hospital having my face and hands stitched!
I am sorry but I don't think much of your 'advice' some of it is quite dangerous.
Fortunately with a lot of patience and love on my side my little caique is almost back to the sweet loving friend he was before. Yes it took 2 years but we made it!!!

 

[Parrotdise]

I agree with a previous poster on starting over with your caique. I would think back to the first time your bird attacked and why he may have attacked. This might help give some insight. I have had to start over with Sam before, when he was a couple of years old he flew to the ground hitting a chair and i was worried he was hurt. For some reason me trying to rescue him from further getting hurt caused a loss of trust. It took a while to get him back to trusting me again. I think after a little bit of starting over, maybe add some clicker training to help rebuild the relationship. My Caique can be head strong, once she thinks of a game/behavior it takes awhile to get her over it, there are some things i have to ignore, eventually after the disliked behavior was ignored enough it got boring for her, and it ended. Lucky for me. My Mother's WB Caique is more unpredictable than Daisy, I know how they can attack and it can make you nervous, at least for me, i hate that feeling. I hope things get better soon =)

 

[Parrotmom]

I agree with a previous poster on starting over with your caique. I would think back to the first time your bird attacked and why he may have attacked. This might help give some insight. I have had to start over with Sam before, when he was a couple of years old he flew to the ground hitting a chair and i was worried he was hurt. For some reason me trying to rescue him from further getting hurt caused a loss of trust. It took a while to get him back to trusting me again. I think after a little bit of starting over, maybe add some clicker training to help rebuild the relationship. My Caique can be head strong, once she thinks of a game/behavior it takes awhile to get her over it, there are some things i have to ignore, eventually after the disliked behavior was ignored enough it got boring for her, and it ended. Lucky for me. My Mother's WB Caique is more unpredictable than Daisy, I know how they can attack and it can make you nervous, at least for me, i hate that feeling. I hope things get better soon =)

Hi thanks.
As I have said, things are fine again with my baby ( stubborn and lovable little chap )Thank Goodness!!!!!
Thanks