What happened to the progress??

[c3honey84]

Hey guys. I joined this forum when I got my 3 year old female eclectus Roxy. I was having issues with her biting me when I tried to get her to step up, and she was being cage aggressive. It has been 5 months, and honestly I don't think we have made any progress. She does step up on my arm, but still bites me 20% of the time. I guess she bites when she just doesn't feel like stepping up, but it hurts like hell. And it's not lunging. She leans down slowly, and I think she is going to hold my arm with her beak to step up, but no she will bite and hold on and not let go. And I don't want to just grab her feet because I know she will bite me even harder. I end up just using the stick. But after five months I wouldn't think I would have to use the stick anymore!

Also, she is still cage aggressive. If I try to pet her through the cage, she will try to bite me. She still will not let me touch any part of her body without trying to bite me. I handle her every day because I want her to get used to it. I am always putting my hands near her head and body because I am trying to desensitize her to it. It has been 5 months of this and I can't believe how jumpy she still is!

Also, when she is on her stand, she sits right on top of her bowl. When I try to put food in her bowl, she tries to bite me. So, I now put the food in the bowl first and then screw it on the stand before I put her on it. I just want to know if this is how it's going to be forever. I hate that she is so unpredictable and I never know if she is going to bite me or not.

 

[Spiritbird]

I can address one issue - the cage possessiveness. My grey Rosie has been this way for a while and I really do not expect it to go away. I put a perch on the inside of the door and just to the side of the outside of the cage door. I do not put my hands in the cage at any time while she is inside. You are asking to be bit. I just open the door and wait for her to step on one of the perches and she usually does. At that point I can access the inside of the cage.

 

[dirtpoor]

Rhett is food bowl aggressive (acts that way at least) but he's not a biter so it's easy for me to put him somewhere else when filling his bowl. He did a* test bite* one day but I put pressure on his beak with my fingers and he stopped. I don't know if it was the right thing to do or not but it got his attention and he hasn't done it since then. Keep trying and good luck!

 

[mygirl]

we had the same problem with mylah our female not the cage aggression but the biting, we started to use and oven mitt (glove) when handling her just to build up the trust, now my husband can handle her without it but no one else can its like she has a fear of hands? maybe you could try this, don't give up it just takes a lot of time and patience feel free to private message me if you need any help with anything

 

[suebee]

don't go down the route of the glove! for step ups, i've tried, they will just bite harder an when you dont react, they'll look for exposed skin! and bite even harder!

honey, please dont feel that you have not progressed, birds are funny things an as for handling her, let her come to you! she is not jumpy as such, but does not know what your going to do! or most probably not in the mood for a stroke.
if she comes to you, just give her a treat

if she is happy to step up on a stick, leave it at that for now, or use the stick to transfer her onto your arm maybe

nut still bites me! an some days more then others, i had to knock her off me other day as she kept flying to me to bite, an not little nippy ones

what your doing with the food bowl thing is great i cannot even put food into nuts cage bowls when she is about, so i do it all night before when she is in bed etc, that way it removes any extra tension for the day

i can generally tell if nuts in the biting mood, (well moody) so i leave her to it.

and yes it can be very dis heartening, when you are the one constantly trying to make the bonding work, when a relationship is un balanced like that, leave it be, relax and stop trying so hard! when you do, it will feel less of a chore and better in yourself and you really should be giving yourself a pat on the back for perservering!

 

[c3honey84]

I can address one issue - the cage possessiveness. My grey Rosie has been this way for a while and I really do not expect it to go away. I put a perch on the inside of the door and just to the side of the outside of the cage door. I do not put my hands in the cage at any time while she is inside. You are asking to be bit. I just open the door and wait for her to step on one of the perches and she usually does. At that point I can access the inside of the cage.

It's funny, I hardly ever have any problems with putting my arm in her cage and taking her out. (Except for that 20% of the time that she decides to bite me.) It's when she is in the cage and I am sitting on the couch next to the cage. She sits next to me and will watch whatever I'm doing. I will reach over and try to rub her belly, foot, or chest and she tries to bite me.

 

[merlinsmom13]

I've had Merlin almost 5 years & when I touch his back or chest he bites me. He doesn't like to be touched except on his head or feet. I respect that. She may never let you touch her like that. The best way to curb biting is to avoid the bite. You get to know what triggers her biting & don't do it.

 

[Pedro]

c3honey84, you may not get any further with Roxy than where you are now. With eclectus hens you haven't got a clue when some of them are going to strike. Some will fluff up & at least give a warning but then there are the hens that are like Roxy. I can symathize with you as i also have a hen that will give no reaction at all when she decides to chomp on me. So i avoid the bite no matter what. If Roxy is happy not to be handled & just wants to hang out with you so be it. It time she will learn to trust you but you just need to take it very slow. From what your saying you have come a long way with her in the last 5 months. Who knows what the next 5 months will bring.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

She sounds like a female Eclectus... let's discuss the wild and breeding behavooir of a female Eclectus and then you will see how much sense she's really making, and that she is being remarkably predictable... then I'll give you a few suggestions on how to deal with this (which will make more sense when you understand why she does it). First, while female Eclectus are beautiful birds, they find themselves rehomed far more than male (about 4 to 1 roughtly). Males almost always keep their homes... Here's some insight... In the wild Eclectus are not monogomous.... a female will have a clutch and the babies could each have different fathers (and often do). A female starts her mating life out choosing and violently defending her nest (it isn't the male, they just show up and mate with a hen and feed her and then leave). A female will choose a nest near food and she VIOLENTLY protects her spot. She chases off males she doesn't like and has to fight to keep her food from other females.

In captivity this almost always translates into cage and food aggression... Her instincts and hormones are driving this behavoir more than anything... I had VOS named Lily that some people asked me to tame for them and I had never done it before, so here's what I did. She was terribly afraid of people, so I moved her into a safe cage and allowed her to see people... eventually she got to the stage that your bird appears to be at now. I was at a loss until I did some research. The only bird that a female Ekkie doesn't abuse in the wild is a male who brings her food. I decided to use some of my homemade goat cheese (birds love cheese). I forced her onto a parrot stand (took her away from an environment she felt protective of, and I offered food to her before I ever asked her to step or anything... It took a few months, but in my experience (I've done 2 other hens since) Female Eclectus respond well to the person whi hands them their favorite food. You can offer it through the bars of her cage so she gets less nasty about petting her through them. My advice is simply... Use food to make her see you as her companion.

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

And of course continue your. Trust bilding techniques as they really are gonna help you two do better together.