Territorial Agression - Green Cheek

[clawmarkes]

I just adopted a green cheek conure 10 days ago. He is 15 years old and believed to be male (but never tested). He was raised by the same family since he was very young and is supposedly tame. His primary human went to college and as a result, has not received enough attention for awhile - which is why he got rehomed to me.

For the first 3 days with me, he did VERY well. I left him alone the first night and he settled down shockingly fast - so the next 2 nights I allowed him to come out of the cage for a bit. He allowed me to hold him and ate treats from my hand. I couldn't believe I had a bird that was so quick to trust me (I have only ever had 'tiels who were rescues and not tame and it took months before they would let me hold them).

Then day 4 came. He did not have sufficient perches and some of the toys were old and ratty - so I switched out a couple toys and added several new perches. Since then, he has been showing severe territorial aggression. Intimidating posture every time I walk near his cage. He attempts to bite me when I open his cage or change his food and water - even if he was on the other side of the cage, he will rush over to me just to bite. He even bites me sometimes if I offer treats.

I'm not entirely sure where to go from here. I am trying to touch his cage as little as possible and trying to be fun and sing to him and talk to him in a soothing voice - but he is still so distrustful of me. How do I get back to where we were a week ago? And if he is this territorial, am I going to go back to square one every single time I clean his cage? HELP!

 

[SassiBird]

I'm sorry nobody has jumped in yet.
Did any of the new toys have a mirror? Sometimes they bond to the image in the mirror and defend it. It's a longshot, but I had to ask.

A "honeymoon" period is not uncommon, and your rearranging the cage may have nothing to do with it. Everything is new the first few days, but once he has gotten used to the cage he sees it as territory to defend.

I have a territorial GCC myself. It's a struggle everyday, but we've cut down on the bites. The best advice is to avoid the bite in the first place. Can he be away from the cage when you are doing maintenance? Can you have him on top of the cage when you do food and water? Disrupt his "predictors" of what's to come in your routine. If you always do food then water, try doing just food or just water one at a time. Open the food doors and walk away, come back later to do food and water. Having an extra set of dishes can be helpful so changing food/water goes faster. Feed some millet while you change food/water. If rearranging the cage causes a bite every time, then he has to be away from the cage when you do it. I'm lucky, it's just the food that is the issue. Maybe try more than one food dish.

Long term you can try "stationing" training so that he can stay in one spot while you maintain the cage.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with some ideas.

 

[noodles123]

He has just been through a huge transition (like a child losing his/her parents)---it actually sounds like he is moving at light-speed compared to most. Give him time, keep letting him out, don't push physical interaction but DO associate yourself with positive/low-stress scenarios--treats can be placed in a dish (he will see you put them there and if that is more comfortable for him for now, do not try to feed him from your hand).
It is WAY too early to be concerned or even pushing training really. You want him to want you around before you dive into asserting yourself (e.g, interact in scenarios where you do not get bitten--if a bird feels the need to bite then you are either pushing too hard OR they learned that this behavior can be used to manipulate people).
No hammocks, shadowy spaces, boxes or tents and 10 hours of sleep on a set schedule (10 being bare minimum) are also important.

If you are getting bitten, you are not reading his cues. Birds don't bite in the wild generally. Biting is a last-resort that is A) a last resort to being "unheard" in other ways and/or B) a behavior that has been inadvertently reinforced via reactions to the biting (e.g., providing any form of attention, leaving after having been bitten etc) It really depends on the function of the behavior, but reinforcement varies depending on the function.

 

[Laurasea]

All good as above!
Territory cage, just let him out for cleaning and feeding. I have to do this with mine. She is still great away from cage.
Also changing the cage quickly like that can stress some birds. I did this to a new bird and she was very mad and unsettled for about two weeks.
Just keep all things positive and give time. And lots of safflower seeds bribes!
Thanks for taking a rehoming!!!