Behavior Cangez

[Birdmom54]

I adopted my Ekky about 7 months ago, she is 17yrs old. This last month, she has changed her behavior. Growling when being placed back into her cage at night. Lunging when she is on top of her playstand. I leave her out of the cage during the day and after feeding sit at night with her on my chest. Some days are great and other days she gets aggressive. Is she spending too much time out of cage? Some days I feel like she hates me.

 

[WingDing]

Sorry I'm late to the party... Just seeing your post.
I believe it is very common for Eclectus to be cage aggressive/protective. My male is very protective about his cage at most times of the day. To clean his cage, I have to move him to his play stand which is out of view. To get him out of the cage, I have to open the top, let him decide to come out (he always does) and ask him to step up to get him off of it with the reward of a treat. I can't stick my hand in the cage to get him or put him in. It has to be his idea or there will be growling and lunging.

To put him up at night, I have to put an almond or a couple of blueberries in his bowl and let him go in by himself. I have to close the cage before he gets to his treat. If I wait until he gets there, he will growl and bang his beak on the cage.

It doesn't matter if we've just been having a few sweet moments together, his attitude changes as soon as the cage is involved. I've learned that my birds aren't considerate, grateful, loving or even friendly when it comes to certain things. His home is his, period.

One more observation: The more time he spends out and about the house, the less possessive he seems to be. I think lots of interaction with different people in different locations can help a bird not be so possessive.