another thread about green cheek biting

[Yeetsa]

hello, so update for you all! cypress has been doing better! marginally. progress is progress though, and I'm quite proud of him for it. unfortunately, we've run into another problem- we do our training sessions with him on top of his cage, but whenever my hand touches the top when he's not in the mood for stepping up, he immediately tries to attack it. maybe I'm just not good at reading body language, but it always seems out of nowhere. I'm starting to suspect that the location is the issue, as he doesn't bite when he's on the floor. problem with that though, is that when I try to move him to a more neutral space, he immediately attempts (he is clipped because of the place I got him from) to fly back to his cage. any advice?

 

[Rowlet]

Hi there,

Would you happen to have a playstand or any other perches in the room he can perch on comfortably aside from his cage? If he keeps flying towards his cage that probably means that's where he feels most comfortable so I would have some playstands or even t-perches around to give him more options to land. I don't recommend training on his cage as that should be his safe space and if he's biting it might be because he's being defensive of his safe space. I recommend training in very short bursts as they can easily get lose interest and get frustrated if you try to force them to train for too long. I have a training perch (just a t-stand) where my bird will fly to by himself to let me know if he wants to train for some treats.

Do you have treats everytime you're having him step up? If he sees the treat on your hand behind your finger he should be pretty motivated to step up each time. I wouldn't force him to step up if he shows he doesn't want to though and I would just let him decide where he wants to hang out for now. Since as you mentioned it's only been a short while you've had him so if you're constantly trying to move him or train him when he doesn't feel comfortable it can be a pretty negative association for him which can contribute to biting

 

[Yeetsa]

Hi there,

Would you happen to have a playstand or any other perches in the room he can perch on comfortably aside from his cage? If he keeps flying towards his cage that probably means that's where he feels most comfortable so I would have some playstands or even t-perches around to give him more options to land. I don't recommend training on his cage as that should be his safe space and if he's biting it might be because he's being defensive of his safe space. I recommend training in very short bursts as they can easily get lose interest and get frustrated if you try to force them to train for too long. I have a training perch (just a t-stand) where my bird will fly to by himself to let me know if he wants to train for some treats.

Do you have treats everytime you're having him step up? If he sees the treat on your hand behind your finger he should be pretty motivated to step up each time. I wouldn't force him to step up if he shows he doesn't want to though and I would just let him decide where he wants to hang out for now. Since as you mentioned it's only been a short while you've had him so if you're constantly trying to move him or train him when he doesn't feel comfortable it can be a pretty negative association for him which can contribute to biting

It has only been a week, but Cypress also constantly bothers me for attention- he hates being inside his cage and usually seems to enjoy the training. I've tried to go back to step one with bonding, but he paces the floor of his cage and screams if I just feed him treats from there and don't let him out. He also gets mad if I'm not in the room/not paying attention to him.

I give him treats every time he steps up, yes, and I always hold them behind my fingers. I tend to pull my hand away if he backs up or doesn't show interest. When he bites I try to refocus his attention on a target, and reward him for successfully targeting rather than just pulling my hand away. I currently don't have a playstand or t-perch, but I could definitely purchase one.

 

[Rowlet]

It has only been a week, but Cypress also constantly bothers me for attention- he hates being inside his cage and usually seems to enjoy the training. I've tried to go back to step one with bonding, but he paces the floor of his cage and screams if I just feed him treats from there and don't let him out. He also gets mad if I'm not in the room/not paying attention to him.

I give him treats every time he steps up, yes, and I always hold them behind my fingers. I tend to pull my hand away if he backs up or doesn't show interest. When he bites I try to refocus his attention on a target, and reward him for successfully targeting rather than just pulling my hand away. I currently don't have a playstand or t-perch, but I could definitely purchase one.

I think it would be a good idea to have more activities available for Cypress to do if he is constantly bothering you for attention. I would have some toys (chew/shreddable ones are my bird's favorite) around outside his cage. Teach him to have fun outside the cage that's not just training. Some foraging activities are great too. Just have a bowl/container and fill it with colorful tissue paper, wooden toys, colorful beads and throw some seeds and treats inside and have him look for his treats. You might have to teach them how (I showed my bird as I was putting the treats in the bowl so he would know there are in there) but once they get the hang of it, it can entertain them so much. You can hang around while he is playing and you can be reading or doing your own thing but you don't have to feel like training him is the only way to interact or bond with him. It's good to teach them to be a bit independent so they can entertain themselves and not have to rely on you to entertain them all the time.

Yes, I would definitely invest in a playstand or outside area for him to perch if that's the case. Or you can also hang some boings, toys, from your ceiling to give him some play areas as well. It would encourage him to land on more spaces than just his cage