female eclectus,biting and not letting go

[muellers820]

Hi,i am new to this forum,and i am very desperate.
We have a female ekki named precious.She is 4 1/2 years old and we have owned her since she was 9 mo..She is a good bird,but for a while now,she is biting,mostly my teen(16)daughter,and NOT letting go.She is usually very very attached to my daughter,sits with her and eats with her etc..There is no provocation of any kind.she is out of her cage all day,gets floor time,or outside on her perches.she can get territorial,but we always watch her boundries
Like today,my daughter was sleeping on the couch and precious bit her nose and didn't let go.It was hell to get her to let go,all the while my daughter of course crying.This was not the first time.She always tends to go after her,however she has bitten every family member at least once.I have tried to find reasons for that behavior,but i am at a loss.Is it possible that the bird senses my girls "time of the month",because that may be a reason i haven't looked into yet.but that wouldn't explain biting my son and husband.
someone please please help me find an answer and maybe even some advice.

 

[Mike17]

Hi Mueller, hopefully more experts in eccies will come online later. I have no direct experience of an eccy biting and not letting go- our tame boy occasionally bites my wife (but not me, usually) but always a quick "stab" not latch on without letting go. My wife shrieks with the pain when Alex bites her ear, I can only imagine how painful it was for your daughter to have an eccy beak latched onto her nose!

I have fond memories of Hawaii having visited several times in the 70s (Rimpac '75 & '77) when in the RAN. Even got to do a "flyover & around" of several of the other islands (i.e. apart from Oahu) including a brief landing on the "big Island".

 

[Anansi]

Hello, Muellers820, and welcome to the forum! My own eclectus is only 5.5 months old, so I have yet to experience what you and your family are going through with Precious; but from all that I have read, my thought is that your girl is entering sexual maturity.

What you are describing sounds consistent with hormonal behavior. You're going to have to adjust your interactions with her and, above all, just be patient and ride out her hormonal phase. From all accounts, if this situation is handled with patience and love, Precious should eventually revert to her more accustomed behavior.

A similar thread, funny enough, popped up earlier today in this very Eclectus sub-section. It was an old posting mistaken for a new one, but I believe you will find it very helpful. This thread, posted by Robyn, is called "Sexual Maturity (and biting??)".
There is a link there provided by Pedro that you'll definitely want to reference.

I hope this info will prove helpful. Please keep us updated on your progress.

 

[MikeyTN]

You need to set her boundaries! They should never be allowed to roam on the floor freely especially for a hormone driven female ekkie. She needs to be on her play stand or outside on her perches. Should not be able to allow to roam and become territorial. She obviously needs to be trained properly to know her boundaries, not the other way around. Cause this is not going to end well if you don't set her boundaries.

 

[sonja]

The worst parrot bite I have ever received was from a female Vos ekkie that wouldn't let go. Took me forever to detach her from my arm, and now, 15 years later, I still have the beak-shaped scar as a keepsake.
I'd definitely keep her away from people's faces until you get things under control.

 

[drlisaort]

Although I can't compare my experience to yours as I have a male eclectus and he's only 15 months old, I can say that as of late he sneaks a bite of my 25 year old son's finger whenever he picks him up. This is new and in my case I think it's because one time my son picked him up from the waist (when I wasn't paying attention otherwise I would have corrected immediately) and now he seems to have it in for him...no hissing or aggression but rather a sneak bite...

With that said, I agree with Mikey in that you should not let your Precious roam wherever she wants because she will become territorial. I move Oliver around from stand to cage to basket and take him out on regular weekend outings in hopes of avoiding any territorial behavior.

 

[muellers820]

thanks for everyone input,her not roaming around is kind of hard to break,because no matter where she is,she will find a way down,even leap down(her wings are clipped),and i am not a person to keep her locked up in her cage since i find it wrong.i guess,i will have to just keep her apart from my daughter for a little while,specially on her time of the month.

 

[c3honey84]

Would she find a way down from a tree stand? My tree stand is almost 4 feet off the ground. If she is jump/flying, her wings may not be trimmed enough. You can try putting treats on whatever stand you have for her to keep her up there. Eventually she will realize that if she stays up there, she gets a treat. And each time she jumps down, pick her up and put her right back.

Here is another option. You can try getting her a small stand with a perch that you can move around easily. Like this one: http://azbirdstore.com/Small%20plastic%20table%20top.jpg Take her with you when you go into another room, that way she will be with you and not try to roam around looking for you or someone else. Do the same thing and give her treats while she is staying on the perch.

Your female is right at the age where they get really hormonal. Don't worry, it will lessen over time. But you have to really keep an eye on them and watch their every move. The slightest thing will set them off. I cannot let Roxy on the couch, near pillows, under the coffee table or near any other dark places. Good luck!

 

[SoCalWendy]

Birds need to be conditioned to stay on a stand, and learn boundaries. Kinda like a sit stay with a dog. With training, time, and treats she will learn to stay where you put her. I have four areas in my home that Rio is allowed to go. Although at times she will jump on my screen (Grrr..) and believe me, we do have a conversation about it. She will either remove herself or I will remove her. Never is she happy about it either way. Haha to bad!

 

[maillet]

You are playing with fire. Unrestricted freedom and hormonal female is never good combination. You could have her bite an eye next. This is a territorial display, or its a response she has learned due a chosen reaction, or your daughter is stimulating.

a) Begin monitoring the setting of each bite for a pattern. It could be something as simple as clothing color, to time of the day, to how much she ate, to a weather. You simply have to remember this is not happening for ZERO reason at all - Find reason.

b) Begin 'punishing' bird whenever she does anything resembling a bite. Eclectus do not understand pain as punishment. They do however understand isolation. A lot of books recommend a dark room (e.g. bathroom) for like a 5-Minute time-out span.

c) Based on what all you described it could be sleep deprivation. If bird is allowed to wander freely every day. I would try placing her in a quite room (close door) where she can sleep for a period of afternoon she is least active. Girls need Beauty Sleep.

 

[Zaxx_x]

What u should do when ever it bites just blow In it's face and say 'no' - it dosent harm them and teaches them a good lesson - it might take a while but it will stop doing it eventually - also show him who's boss dont let him show you around or anything like that and when you do blow in his face and say no if he stops give him a treat good luck