Terratorial Aggression question

[natv]

He's pretty much fine all day (except if I stick my fingers in his cage he'll want to lunge at them to bite) but especially when I fed him he'll lunch at his bowl or at me.

Luckily his cage has the food doors swing on the outside so he can't actually bite me when I'm putting his bowls in, but he lunges/growls/and basically bashes his beak into the cage bars. This really aggressive action only happens when I'm feeding him and only for the first few minutes he has his food (if I approach him again).

After a few minutes even though he's still eating he doesn't seem to mind if I go near him.

I do understand that his cage is his home and he should feel safe it in it and want to protect it.

I'm just wondering - is there anything I should be doing to try to discourage this? Or is this simply instinct and is perfectly normal?

Right now I pretty much just make fun of him when he does that and call him a coocoo bird and make it seem like I find him amusing and that he's not actually scaring me.

Just curious if I should be acting different or handling this a different way?


Thanks

 

[jugoya]

When my bird Porter started getting cage aggressive we got him a 'sleep' cage.

That way he wasn't in one cage all the time and it dramatically lowered the aggression problem. Other people have told me this helps with their birds as well!

 

[Peeker]

natv, My boy Jax acts that way. Some days he's fine and others he lunges or bangs on the bars when I go to put the food in. I just let it go and watch my fingers. He's good any other time and I've never seen it escalate except in the Spring when he's especially hormonal. My boy also likes to sneak out the feed door when I put his water dish in, but goes around to the front and I let him back inside so he can eat.

 

[natv]

Thanks for the replies. Yeah it doesn't really bother me thst much and in some way it's actually amusing (when my feelings aren't hurry by it

It's not so bad that I'd consider a sleep cage. As you said Peeker just gotta watch the fingers!

 

[drlisaort]

I feed Oliver in different spots throughout the day and it does make a huge difference. I also try and place his food before he's in the designated spot to eat which also helps.