Aggressive? :(

[BirbMom]

I’ve had my green cheek for a little over a month. He’s two years old and by far the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. He’s getting along well with my parakeet who is also two years old. Though I’m a little worried because lately he’s been pretty aggressive with me ( biting, fluffing out , sizing me up) it really upsets me, I don’t feel like I’ve done anything wrong to him. Could it just be the re homing? Does anyone have any tips for this kind of behavior?

 

[MonicaMc]

Can we have more details about the behavior that's going on?

That is, in what situations is he biting? As in... are you opening up the cage door and reaching your hand in towards him and then getting bitten? Or are you ignoring him and he goes out of his way to bite?

Although the end result may be the same - i.e. a bite, the behavior can be completely different.


This thread may be a good start and with more info, we may be better able to help you.

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

 

[clark_conure]

Same advice I always give, IF THE BIRD IS ALREADY BONDED TO YOU.

If he bites, Say "NO" and put him on the floor about 10ft away, or someplace he doesn't like, but can walk away from. Not a playstand and not his cage. Then go back to where you were.

Make him walk back to you. This imprints on him that he is being shunned for his bad behavior and gives him a moment to calm down and to think about why he is on the floor. When he comes back he will generally be a lot sweeter.

Might take a few tries before he has it figured out, but he will. I disagree with grabbing the beak or the earthquake method, that will most likely excite the bird and might fuel more of the bad behavior. While being separated teaches that a bite means being kicked out of the flock. At least for about a minute or two....

 

[BirbMom]

Can we have more details about the behavior that's going on?

That is, in what situations is he biting? As in... are you opening up the cage door and reaching your hand in towards him and then getting bitten? Or are you ignoring him and he goes out of his way to bite?

Although the end result may be the same - i.e. a bite, the behavior can be completely different.


This thread may be a good start and with more info, we may be better able to help you.

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

He normally bites me when I’m change his food or water Bowles. He seems to get really defensive when I get near the cage at all.

 

[BirbMom]

Same advice I always give, IF THE BIRD IS ALREADY BONDED TO YOU.

If he bites, Say "NO" and put him on the floor about 10ft away, or someplace he doesn't like, but can walk away from. Not a playstand and not his cage. Then go back to where you were.

Make him walk back to you. This imprints on him that he is being shunned for his bad behavior and gives him a moment to calm down and to think about why he is on the floor. When he comes back he will generally be a lot sweeter.

Might take a few tries before he has it figured out, but he will. I disagree with grabbing the beak or the earthquake method, that will most likely excite the bird and might fuel more of the bad behavior. While being separated teaches that a bite means being kicked out of the flock. At least for about a minute or two....

He’s not fully tame and I don’t think he’s bonded with me yet. The most he will do is sit on my shoulder, but that’s less and less these days .

 

[MonicaMc]

He normally bites me when I’m change his food or water Bowles. He seems to get really defensive when I get near the cage at all.

Okay that helps!


If he'll come in and out of his cage easily, you might try only changing his food and water dishes when he's out/away from the cage.


Alternatively, teach him to station (aka "stay put") on a perch away from his dishes. Work on this behavior *BEFORE* you need to refresh the dishes! And preferably when he's at least a little bit hungry so he's receptive to eating.

To start, if he's sitting on a perch that will be your station, give him a treat - preferably through the cage bars. Make sure that the treat, aka reward, is tiny. Such as the size of a piece of millet or 1/4 or less the size of a sunflower seed. Once he finishes, give him another. Keep feeding him in this way and slowly increasing how long between the time you reward him. Once he's kind of got the behavior down, you can start pairing the word "station" (or any word, really) to being on that perch.

In time, you can tell him to station, change out his dishes, then reward the behavior. It may also help to have additional perches so you don't have to leave to refresh them and clean them.

 

[BirbMom]

: | apparently my green cheek doesn’t like my new bath robe, I realized today that he only bites me or seems defensive while I’m wearing it. Thank you everyone for all your help

 

[Inger]

: | apparently my green cheek doesn’t like my new bath robe, I realized today that he only bites me or seems defensive while I’m wearing it. Thank you everyone for all your help

They’re so funny! When I first got Bumble, she hated anything turquoise-which is my favorite color. Once I figured that out, she sweetened right up. Good news, though. She doesn’t seem to care anymore so maybe you GCC will grow out of it too!


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