Vicious Green Cheek?

[juhason]

My Green Cheek was acquired by me at about 1 year old, so I think I may have missed the chance to train biting behaviors out of him as a baby. He is fine with me because I properly deal with his behavior however not everyone in my family wants/can deal with his biting. (I have tougher skin I guess )

He is doing a bit of molting on his head so I think that is adding to his crankiness but he is biting members in my family viciously!!!!

He also used to be good with meeting new people but he met my aunt for the first time and bit her so hard he was hanging on as she pulled away. He is also incredibly territorial about his food dish and generally his cage. Sometimes even if people walk past his cage he starts trying to lunge at them through the bars. He has better days but this behavior has been pretty constant lately. I am a bit worried about his lunging because right now he can't fly (a horrible wing clip by previous caretaker) but once his wings grow out I'm afraid of him flying and attacking friends and family.

I need tips on how to fix this behavior or just make him as less aggressive as possible! Thanks in advance.

 

[ZephyrFly]

I don't have all the answers you need but I can suggest something for his territorial cage behaviour.
Change his cage layout around. Move or switch out toys and move some perches. Leave him a high perch (maybe leave his favourite perch alone) but change it. Change it however you see it working for food/water bowls and his favourite perch.
Generally I'd recommend doing this every few months or more but if he's getting aggressive then maybe once a month til he settles.

Molting! Not much to do but offer him more chances to bathe, and see if he'll let you help remove some of his pin feathers. Gently squishing of the pin feather between thumb and finger/nail, do not pull or twist the feather, he'll let you know if you do (ouch!).

As for his wings, keep an eye on him and those wings. You're not wrong to be concerned but lets hope you can straighten out his aggression before he's flying.

Personally what I do with my gcc and new people (my way is not the only way) is they come see/meet him in him room/living room while he's in his cage, run down basic do's and don'ts with the people, then take him out. If he were being poorly behaved with people then I'd get them to give him a seed while he were in his cage.

These are not all perfect solutions, and there are others in this site with more experience and better advice. But this is just what I'd advise

Goodluck

 

[Upcountrygirl]

We've got a similar problem with our cinnamon conure Timmy who is about 18 months old. He's a fine physical specimen but not at all tame and has taken to attacking my fingers, hair and ears. Really frightening! He's also trashing the papers in the bottom of his cage. Our theory is that he's now in mating condition (his plumage has got especially bright) and he's defending his cage and getting frustrated at the lack of Mrs. What I'd really like to know is whether this behaviour is seasonal, so will pass in time, or whether it's likely to be permanent. Good luck with yours.

 

[ZephyrFly]

Upcountrygirl:
gcc's do seem to have periods of high hormones but I don't know if its seasonal but it does end. A good way to curb it though is to make sure their diet isn't too high in protein (stimulates hormones). This doesn't mean they'll never be hormonal but it can discourage it. You can do this by giving your bird more fresh veg and less pulses/lentils/natural proteins. Some pellets are higher in protein so you can feed less pellets and more veg fill chop. They need protein so don't just cut it out completely.

As for the aggressive behaviour, I can't help with the paper issue other than recommend having a cage with a grate in the bottom then you can separate your bird from the paper.

I would also recommend changing your bird's cage interior around as well (like I said in my first post on this thread).

As for dealling with taming your bird, I'm afraid the best I can do is tell you too look out for some of the threads on this site, there are some very good training threads, dealling with aggression and more. I have 1 bird, he was handfeed and human raised, very social and I've generally been very lucky with him so I can't honestly help much for that (dealt with his hormonal phases but they;ve been really light compared with stories I read on here).
I'll have a quick look on the forum and add some links to this thread in a bit that might help.

 

[ZephyrFly]

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

From a quick look that'll all I found. You know more about your situation so you'll be able to do a better search than me. I'd also recommend starting your own thread if you havent already.

 

[Flboy]

Another good thread.
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

A GCC seems to hit the terrible 2s at about 18 months, just do your best to get him through it without effecting your relationship!

Following MonicaMC's thread turned Bongo the Barbarian around.... And changed my attitude, I was 3/4 the problem!

 

[juhason]

I don't have all the answers you need but I can suggest something for his territorial cage behaviour.
Change his cage layout around. Move or switch out toys and move some perches. Leave him a high perch (maybe leave his favourite perch alone) but change it. Change it however you see it working for food/water bowls and his favourite perch.
Generally I'd recommend doing this every few months or more but if he's getting aggressive then maybe once a month til he settles.

Molting! Not much to do but offer him more chances to bathe, and see if he'll let you help remove some of his pin feathers. Gently squishing of the pin feather between thumb and finger/nail, do not pull or twist the feather, he'll let you know if you do (ouch!).

As for his wings, keep an eye on him and those wings. You're not wrong to be concerned but lets hope you can straighten out his aggression before he's flying.

Personally what I do with my gcc and new people (my way is not the only way) is they come see/meet him in him room/living room while he's in his cage, run down basic do's and don'ts with the people, then take him out. If he were being poorly behaved with people then I'd get them to give him a seed while he were in his cage.

These are not all perfect solutions, and there are others in this site with more experience and better advice. But this is just what I'd advise

Goodluck

We've got a similar problem with our cinnamon conure Timmy who is about 18 months old. He's a fine physical specimen but not at all tame and has taken to attacking my fingers, hair and ears. Really frightening! He's also trashing the papers in the bottom of his cage. Our theory is that he's now in mating condition (his plumage has got especially bright) and he's defending his cage and getting frustrated at the lack of Mrs. What I'd really like to know is whether this behaviour is seasonal, so will pass in time, or whether it's likely to be permanent. Good luck with yours.

Upcountrygirl:
gcc's do seem to have periods of high hormones but I don't know if its seasonal but it does end. A good way to curb it though is to make sure their diet isn't too high in protein (stimulates hormones). This doesn't mean they'll never be hormonal but it can discourage it. You can do this by giving your bird more fresh veg and less pulses/lentils/natural proteins. Some pellets are higher in protein so you can feed less pellets and more veg fill chop. They need protein so don't just cut it out completely.

As for the aggressive behaviour, I can't help with the paper issue other than recommend having a cage with a grate in the bottom then you can separate your bird from the paper.

I would also recommend changing your bird's cage interior around as well (like I said in my first post on this thread).

As for dealling with taming your bird, I'm afraid the best I can do is tell you too look out for some of the threads on this site, there are some very good training threads, dealling with aggression and more. I have 1 bird, he was handfeed and human raised, very social and I've generally been very lucky with him so I can't honestly help much for that (dealt with his hormonal phases but they;ve been really light compared with stories I read on here).
I'll have a quick look on the forum and add some links to this thread in a bit that might help.

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

From a quick look that'll all I found. You know more about your situation so you'll be able to do a better search than me. I'd also recommend starting your own thread if you havent already.

Another good thread.
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

A GCC seems to hit the terrible 2s at about 18 months, just do your best to get him through it without effecting your relationship!

Following MonicaMC's thread turned Bongo the Barbarian around.... And changed my attitude, I was 3/4 the problem!

Awesome thank you so much guys! He is pretty great with me, occasionally he'll bite my ear if I let the cat get too close or won't share my food with him but I promptly deal with him and he's getting better. Generally all he wants to do is cuddle up on my face and give me kisses, it's my family I am worried for. Hopefully this stage passes and I do it correctly, ugh! The stress.