New member seeks assistance for a psycho alex!!

[Crunchie]

Howdy!! About 6 months ago I received a female alex parrot of unknown age and called her LEXXI. We`ve had our ups and downs getting to know each other but recently she has become a real terror! She screams non stop unless she completely covered ( sometimes even then!! ), has gone from always wanting to climb on ur hand and walk up ur arm onto ur shoulder to standing with her beak open in a threat display to biting ( hard enough to warrant wearing welding gloves and it even hurts though these! ) when u put ur hand in her cage which she used to get excited about as it meant she was going out of her cage but now moves away and gets aggressive. She has turned from a beautiful pet into a nasty, noisy, biting monster!

I talk to her all the time when im home and whistle back what she whistles but it only works for a little while then as soon as i do something else she back to screaming again. Very distracting trying to talk on the phone!!

When she does come out of her own accord ( as soon as I get home I talk to her and I open her cage door so she can come out ) shes still bites until she can fly onto my shoulder then she is like my old friend again. When she ends up on the floor or bench she cant climb up onto my shoulder quick enough but soon returns to her bad manners when she gets back onto or into her cage.

Unfortunetly im getting to the stage where if i cant calm her down im going to part ways with her.

PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

[MonicaMc]

Has anything changed in routine or environment or even about yourself that could have resulted in a change of behavior?

I would suggest looking into clicker training and positive reinforcement, since from the sounds of it, she just needs to be retrained. Through positive reinforcement, you can teach her good behaviors to do, making each experience a positive one. Barbara Heidenreich and Melinda Johnson both have great materials!

Some great [free] reading on positive reinforcement can be found in these three blogs.
Lara Joseph
Best in Flock – Parrot Blog
Living With Parrots Cage Free

 

[Crunchie]

Ok. Things here have gone from bad to worse! I purchased a laying box which she is constantly in and out of and pushing around the laying material BUT she is now lunging to bite anything that goes near her cage OR box! Handling is a non issue as she strikes at anything thats near her. She is also flying ( as well as she can with clipped wings ) to attack people, other pets or even objects she seems to associate with encroachment ( the sticks used to train her to climb on my hand ). She will now not climb on my hand if she is on the ground at all, only striking to bite! Her routine hasnt changed. My hours fluctuate from day to day and im often away for a few hours on weekends but she is almost always uncovered with the door access to her box open before i leave and I put the radio on before leaving too. I bought her the box because its spring so I thought she might be " clucky ". She can see and hear the native parrots outside but hates being out with them. Im staring to think its just me she doesnt like!! LOL but the feeling is fast becoming mutual! Im starting to tell people to just stay away from her cage as she just attacks everybody near her. She has even started coming out of her cage/box just to attack.

Im lost.

 

[Boysmom]

The box seems like a bad idea to me. It puts her in nesting mode and that usually triggers aggression. Do you have a male in with her ? If not why would you introduce a nest box ? My Buddy ( Alex ) doesnt want to step up onto hands, but he does step up on a comfy perch whenever asked to. I have had him just over a week and he loves to sit on our shoulders. Try taking the box away and offering treats by hand. You have to reteach that your hands pose no danger to her. Alex's bite can be quite harsh and I'm sure you dont want to take many of them. This does sound like hormonal aggression to me and unless your planning to breed her I would remove the box.

 

[Pwr_wrx]

I agree with boysmom. After I put a nest in, my cockatiel has gotten more n more aggressive. If anyone comes near the cage he comes to attack. But it's ok cuz he's breeding and his mate is about to lay eggs in the next few days! Yay

A nest box is definitely a bad idea in your case. Seems like ur bird is aggressive around the cage. Maybe you should keep the cage out of sight when handling and try to train the bird to do things. Birds don't like being bored.