Ouch! Biting....what the heck??

[Stitchy]

So, I have now had Stitchy for 4 months, he is 1 1/2 years old. It has been slow going, he still refuses to step up, but we have been allowing him to come to the outside of his cage. He generally will stay on the cage. He has been allowing us to scritch him, when he goes to his 'corner' of his cage (only inside the cage though). For a few weeks he was getting extremely noisy in his cage and I hung a bird mirror in there. He loves that darn mirror. But, now he has become a bit aggressive. Puffing up when we try to change his food and rushing our hands. Now, when we try to scritch him, he bites. Hard. Ouch. I took the mirror out today, wondering if he was becoming territorial or just protecting his mirror. Any thoughts? How do I stop the biting now? The only thing I have been able to teach him is to mimic 'kiss kiss' and to let us scritch him.

 

[weco]

By giving him the mirror you gave him a pseudo mate which he or she is trying to protect from you.....

If you search through the forum's archives, you'll find these links and more if you search under "training."




http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Your Pet Bird Doesn't Hate You

 

[EAI]

He could have been turning territorial because you gave him a "mate" and is having thoughts of defending his nest. Honestly, bird mirrors bring out the inner demon in birds because they can and will get attached to their new found "mate".

It's that or he's starting to mature and you're beginning to experience the post-honeymoon phase or is getting more dominant over his cage--being the only "safe" spot he has.

Something that may help is to teach him another physical trick as in spinning around or tapping a toy so that when he starts to rush or bite you can give him a command instead to distract him.

 

[Stitchy]

Thank you both for the replies....I kind of had a feeling the mirror was a big part of the problem. I will not put it back in the cage, that is for sure. I just hope I can get him back to his normal self. Training him has not been easy since he shies away from us but I will be persistent. I know I am not giving him enough time out of the cage and I have to bite the bullet and change that. It is just such a challenge getting him back in the cage and the whole time he is out, my dog is distracting him because we gate her away from the room. I don't think she will go after the bird, she is a bit afraid of him, but I don't want to take a chance. I have so much to learn!!!

 

[Kantia]

It is just such a challenge getting him back in the cage

Maybe you could try and put something in his cage to entice him? Favourite treat or a toy? That's what I had to do with mine. I'd show him the treat (in my case, it was a few sunflower seeds in some hanging bottle caps) and put it in his cage. Tich would go back in in no time.