Aggressive behavior in Rescued C2

[JaneyB]

Hi all. I need some advice on how to handle aggressive behavior in a Citron Cockatoo that I adopted (rescued) from a bad situation. The bird had been basically locked in its cage in a bedroom for 2 years, after being rehomed from the place he'd been for 11 years before that. I don't know the history of that home, but I do know that he had little to no attention for the last 2 years.

I have large bird experience, and have raised both a C2 and a B&G Macaw from babies. The Macaw is now 12 years old and the C2 lived to be 14, before passing suddenly from an unknown cause. So I know a bit about their normal behavior. The problem is that this bird has become cagebound and cage aggressive. He didn't come out of the cage for the first few days even though I left the door open and talked quietly to him from across the room. (He will let you pet him when he's in the cage...sometimes. He will not step up onto a hand, and is terrified of sticks, I can only imagine why, so I can't try to stick train him.)

Yesterday, he climbed out of his cage by himself, and I was encouraged. I continued to talk to him and he seemed very content so I walked over and stood about 2 feet away. He began to lunge and try to bite so I went back across the room and sat down and talked to him. Eventually he went back into the cage.

Today, he came out again, and after talking quietly to him for about a half hour I tried again to approach the cage. This time, he actually flew off the cage and attacked me. Landed on my arm and gave it quite a painful, damaging bite. Once on the ground he ran at my feet and tried to attack again. I had to use one of my dog toys (a rope toy) to basically keep him away from me and walk him back to his cage. Later my husband toweled him (he actually isn't as aggressive toward him) and we clipped his wings, to stop him from flying off the cage and hopefully change the power dynamic.

I am so disheartened! I have a lot of bird experience but never with a bird who has so many problems. Can someone help? I need all the advice I can get. I don't want to give up on this bird, I mean it's only been 4 days, but I don't want to keep him locked in his cage and can't have him shredding my flesh every time I try to get close. At this moment I'm waiting for him to climb back into the cage because I can't pick him up to put him in myself. Help!

 

[Molcan2]

Im on my phone so please bare with the typing errors. I wish you hadnt clipped his wings. Thats never a good idea with the larger Toos, esp after they know they can fly. Not only are his chances of starting to pluck just increased greatly by you doing that, but he also has a higher chance of becoming more aggressive now that he may feel more vulnorable now. Larger Toos dont take physical changes very well and this may lengthen the amount of time its going take for him to trust you. You havent had him very long and he came from a bad backround. I would anticipate anywhere from 6mo (at the min) to 5yrs before you have a really good relatiinship with him. Hes just had a lot of major changes in his life and he needs some time to settle. He doesnt know you nor does he trust you yet. Hes not comfortable in his surroundingds (he hasnt had enough time to become comfortable) and he doesnt know his boundaries. I would strongly suggest that you seek the advice of an avian behaviourlist to come in to your house to help you. You can often find the ones in your area by calling the state universities. I would strongly advise either getting the help of a prffessional or re-homing him to someone with experience of Toos with behavioral problems. If it took your husband to come in and take over, then he has just learned that he can intimidate you. This is very bad and he will use this to his advantage. I dont suggest trying to rehab him on your own. Toos like this can be very dangerous if not dealt with properly. I think that he can be rehabbed but i think you need someone there to assist you or that it be done by someone else. If you are in anyway shape or form scared of him, then you have taken on more than you can handle on your own. By trying on your own you are putting yourself at risk and may cause him to become worse.

 

[Molcan2]

Please dont get offended by what I just posted. Dealing with issues like that with a male Too, is very complex. It requires someone there to watch him, intervene before his behavior gets to far and show you what to do with him. Just suggesting a behavior modification or two is not going to cut it with this one and could risk serious injury to yourself. These guys can take off lips and fingers. Its not that you don't have any bird experience (I think thats the only reason why you would be able to work through this with someones guidance), its that you don't have experience with this type of behavior on this scale.

 

[Molcan2]

On a positive note he is very pretty, you don't see C2s very often. I hope things work out.

 

[JaneyB]

I appreciate your candor, and thank you for your advice. I'm not ready to give up on him yet, and I think that he could be a nice bird if given some time. I'm not afraid of him, and haven't shown him that I am in any way. I have been bitten by macaws and toos alike. It's not enough to frighten me, lol! We don't have any animal behaviorists anywhere near us, so that's not an option.

To clarify about the wing clipping; he hasn't always been flighted. His wings have been clipped regularly but have not been done in awhile, because the woman who had him previously didn't take any time for basic care. (He hadn't been bathed in months either, and loved when I spritzed him the other day!) Also, my husband didn't come in to take over. This happened when I was alone with the bird. My husband and I discussed clipping the wings later, after he got home from work and I told him what happened. We decided that it would be better to have him clipped while taming him and possibly letting them grow back later. I know there are two schools of thought on wing clipping, and I actually like to keep my birds fully flighted, but in this case we decided that in order to allow the bird out of his cage he'd have to be clipped. He actually took to being toweled and clipped without much problem at all and is now back in his cage contentedly eating and preening.

I'm going to give this a few months, and see if we can get him less aggressive and cage bound. If it doesn't work out, I will find someone with experience in "behaviorally challenged" birds. I just wanted some advice from some people who may have dealt with similar problems to make sure I don't do the wrong things.

Again, thanks for your take on things.

 

[JaneyB]

It's like I said in another thread... if I'd only been thinking of how much work and time this could take, I'd never have taken this on. But once I walked into the room they had this poor guy in, I couldn't get him out of there fast enough!

Tiny room full of junk, with one tiny window. The cage he was in was covered with dust, with 2 plastic toys, no wood.

Anyway, like I said on the other thread, if he never warms up to me enough to let me pet him, so be it. He's in a clean place with lots of toys and gets out of cage time for a few hours a day. He's loved and cared for and so he's MILES ahead of where he came from. That's all I can hope for. Anything else is a bonus!

 

[Mare Miller]

You are a gem, Janey! I have a U2 and a goffins. The goffins, Sassy, came to me VERY cage aggressive. Time and understanding, is key. Sassy will now let me pet her while she is in her cage AND,,, I can take her bowls in and out with no issues! Progress, for sure!

 

[Clueless]

Way to go for saving the little fellow! I have NO experience with those guys other than listening to one scream during the time that Barbara Heidenreich worked with a group of rescue birds during a seminar. That bird basically wanted the one person he liked BACK with him NOW!!!! Barbara basically showed the group (by using that favorite person) how to make the parrot wait - and reward for silence. Stretch the time out a little more - go back and reward the bird for silence. It worked!

I can tell you I have 2 amazons (blue fronts) that were in the same shape yours were in - back in a room, all alone and ignored. My husband and I had no bird experience (zip-zero) and weren't about to open a cage door right away! Apparently it worked - when we were courageous enough to open the door & let them out, we had to find a way to get them back in. Cheerio's on a perch for one - a tiny piece of shredded cheese worked for the other one. It was hard to get those in the cages too!

It's been over a year now and we've advanced to not letting them out of the cage unless they will step on a T (wooden perch stand) to come out. I was too scared to try to use my hands - one parrot was scared of a hand more than a stick. By using a T shaped stick it resembles a perch in a way - perhaps that is why mine weren't so scared. The first time I used a broom by their cages - it was awful. Again, it's been a year and they have improved sooooo much.