Need some help with Parrotlet, still.

[Exotics_Keeper]

Hi everyone. I posted a while ago after getting my first bird and it's been something I've been working on, but months have gone by to no avail.

He's male about 1.6 years old and as far as I'm aware he's in good physical health.

However I'm running into two problems. He's very aggressive towards people, especially hands. Try and get him to step up or do something similar and he will just bite the heck out of you. Sometimes he'll sit on your shoulder and stay still, other times he'll try and rip the skin off your neck or ear.

He's also very loud, as in he doesn't stop screeching in or out of the cage. I've had to cover him up from time to time to get him to stop because I've had noise complains from down the street..

Could anyone perhaps give me some advice? I've probably left some info out here.

 

[Kitekeeper]

Hi,

Parrotlets reach their sexual maturity around 12 months or so. It seems you have a bird struggling to deal with his hormones.

Some people say male parrotlets tend to be more aggressive than females, although I know that for roseicollis lovebird it is the female that shows more aggressiveness.

Parrotlets are also very territorial and you might expect bites when you put your hand into the cage.

All that put, it is also possible that your bird is bored and have had little interaction either with humans or other birds.

Have you tried to put some toys and other stuff that he might chew up like paper or cardboard? These birds are really inteligent and need to have some degree of challenges in their environment. Perches positioned in a fashion that allow him to go up and down in many different ways would help him to exercise his malabarist nature as well.

Regarding the loudness, you could try to have it close to you to reduce loneliness or maybe try a mirror in the cage. Covering the cage is of little help as its treat the symptom but not the cause of the screaming.

Many of my birds love music. My linnies just light up when I put some blues to play in the room. My parrotlet loves to hear the TV or our budgie that lives in another cage close to him. At the moment both parrotlet and budgie have learned to reproduced each other sounds and I have two bird singing like an hybrid of the two species...

 

[Exotics_Keeper]

Hi,

Parrotlets reach their sexual maturity around 12 months or so. It seems you have a bird struggling to deal with his hormones.

Some people say male parrotlets tend to be more aggressive than females, although I know that for roseicollis lovebird it is the female that shows more aggressiveness.

Parrotlets are also very territorial and you might expect bites when you put your hand into the cage.

All that put, it is also possible that your bird is bored and have had little interaction either with humans or other birds.

Have you tried to put some toys and other stuff that he might chew up like paper or cardboard? These birds are really inteligent and need to have some degree of challenges in their environment. Perches positioned in a fashion that allow him to go up and down in many different ways would help him to exercise his malabarist nature as well.

Regarding the loudness, you could try to have it close to you to reduce loneliness or maybe try a mirror in the cage. Covering the cage is of little help as its treat the symptom but not the cause of the screaming.

Many of my birds love music. My linnies just light up when I put some blues to play in the room. My parrotlet loves to hear the TV or our budgie that lives in another cage close to him. At the moment both parrotlet and budgie have learned to reproduced each other sounds and I have two bird singing like an hybrid of the two species...

Thanks for the reply.

He has lots of toys and I replace them often, especially the paper and wood ones he rips apart. He has swings, bouncy things, bells, foraging toys (which he totally ignores) and a hide, just in case.

He's not just aggressive in his cage, but out of it as well. He's always been in my room, which I'm mostly in because I'm disabled and only spend a few hours out of the house.

I've tried several attempts at "taming" him including point training and he doesn't seem interested.

 

[Kitekeeper]

Thanks, that last post was of much help to have a better understanding!!

It looks like you have done an impressive job to make him confortable, well done. I am sorry to hear you are disable, you have my sympathies.

I think there is a topic here in this forum addressing the issue of excessive biting.

Anyway, you might be in one of three situations:
1- You have a bird that need to learn tha biting is not acceptable
2- You have a bird that is under sexual hormones influence
3- You have a bird with a difficult temper.

It might be a combination of these three options too, of course.

From the top of my head I would try to not force contact. Let him get outside the cage by himself when it is allowed. Then, in the first bite you might say "no" and put him in the cage for a few minutes without interactions with you. After you observe he seems relaxed, open the cage again.

You might combine this with positive feedback, giving him his prefered food anytime he touches your fingers with his beak without biting.

Make sure theses sections are not too long. Small birds tend to get tired quickly and many times the biting outside the cage is just a tired and hungry bird saying he had enough.

I hope this helps.

 

[Exotics_Keeper]

Thanks, that last post was of much help to have a better understanding!!

It looks like you have done an impressive job to make him confortable, well done. I am sorry to hear you are disable, you have my sympathies.

I think there is a topic here in this forum addressing the issue of excessive biting.

Anyway, you might be in one of three situations:
1- You have a bird that need to learn tha biting is not acceptable
2- You have a bird that is under sexual hormones influence
3- You have a bird with a difficult temper.

It might be a combination of these three options too, of course.

From the top of my head I would try to not force contact. Let him get outside the cage by himself when it is allowed. Then, in the first bite you might say "no" and put him in the cage for a few minutes without interactions with you. After you observe he seems relaxed, open the cage again.

You might combine this with positive feedback, giving him his prefered food anytime he touches your fingers with his beak without biting.

Make sure theses sections are not too long. Small birds tend to get tired quickly and many times the biting outside the cage is just a tired and hungry bird saying he had enough.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for this, I'll try. I let him have a lot of "out of cage time" and when I first got him he would go back to the cage when tired, usually at night. Now not so much.

How should I get him back to the cage if he wont step up? All I can think of is grabbing him with something as to not hurt him, or shepherd him back?

Oh also I doubt it would help but would he calm down with a female or something?

 

[Kitekeeper]

I'll try. I let him have a lot of "out of cage time" and when I first got him he would go back to the cage when tired, usually at night. Now not so much.

That might be an explanation why he bites you even outside the cage. He might consider now the whole room as his territory.

You could try to keep him in the cage more often and letting him out for short periods to make him associate being out as something not regular but very positive. If being outside is acknowledged by him as something common he might expand his domain and territory to the outside cage space. Outside cage should be perceived as a common neutral space. Also try to make him go to the cage before he bites you. When training an animal, it all comes to how the exercise ended. If it ended well, a good memory is recorded. If everything went great but in the end he bited you and was put back in his cage, he will remember just the biting and going back to the cage in a bad mood. Of course, if he bites you from the start, he must be put back in the cage immediately.

Regarding how to make him go back to the cage, as long as it is swift and careful you can grab him. Just try to not push his trust, keeping him in your control the less time possible. Some birds might get resentful for this sort of "power abuse".

On the female subject, I doubt it would make him calmer. As he shows a strong sense of territorial behavior, he might be as territorial towards the female as he is with you. It has been told to me that parrotlets are more easily paired up if you let them choose their company. You could end up with a frightened female bird to accomodate away from your male parrotlet.