Adopted CAG deteriorating attitude

[ST1]

Hello Everyone,
I have a 13 year old CAG that I adopted 6 months ago. I spent almost 3 weeks of regular visits at the adoption center getting to know him (guessing on gender) before we decided to pull the trigger. Things went OK, some days he would seem really happy to see me and other days I left bleeding. But all in all he really seemed to warm up to me.

Upon bringing him home he did amazingly well, he was very shy for 2 days then did brilliantly. For two months it was incredible, he took to me very well, he wanted to be picked up and cruise around with me all the time, he made fast friends with the dogs, he even took to my wife despite preferring men (or so I was told). It was awesome, and I was telling myself "wow I really lucked out I adopted the PERFECT parrot". It was a dream, despite changing poo covered clothes all the time.

Then one day he decided I did something wrong and he bit the hell out of me. Kind of funny to think about his little head whipping back and forth trying to inflict maximum damage. And he was upset for about a week, fluffing up when I came to the cage and rocking back and forth. Then it went away and we were fine, then he bit me again and he was mad for 2 weeks. And now we're to the point he's upset more times than not. He has also started plucking or twanging his cage bars nearly incessantly when I'm nearby. He is right behind me with towels draped over the top of his cage so he can't pluck them. He is amazingly adept at finding the right tempo to drive me insane. I've had to leave the house before as I was about to go on a rampage. He even tries to trick me by holding his leg up to be picked up and then biting the crap out of me. Although I've learned that he exaggerates his "pick me up" stance big time when he's up to no good.

Now from what I've read this all seems like boredom and general malcontent but I've run out of ideas. I work a normal 8-5 and my wife works half days so he is usually in his cage alone for ~6 hours a day without anyone home. But he is out of his cage the rest of the time. When we leave we put on nature sounds on youtube or the andy griffith show (he loves the theme song). I also have 6 foraging toys that I rotate out randomly. I've experimented with putting him near (not right up against) a window so he can see wild birds, and outdoor goings on. When we are home we try to include him constantly. If we're cooking dinner he's roaming around the counter chewing up the food being prepped (kinda gross) or sitting on a stool eating veggies and talking to us. If we're watching TV he's on a stand in the living room, or walking around the back of the couch. In the fall we had him outside on a stand in the sun while we raked leaves. I think we're doing a reasonable job with stimulation. Although he's been hanging out with us less due to not being able to move him.

Despite this behavior decline he seems healthy and lively and his tail which was previously completely gone (zero red) is coming in finally, so his plucking seems to be improving.

I really hope I haven't bitten off more than I can handle, I really love this guy and want him to be content. Any help is appreciated.

 

[ST1]

One point I've left out is I do touch training with him. Although he picked it up in about 15 seconds and does it perfectly... sometimes. I can use a chopstick and point it almost anywhere to touch it with beak. Although sometimes he looks over at it and then at me and seems to be saying "meh".

 

[Sambamama]

I can't advise about CAG behavior specifically, but it sure sounds like you are doing everything right by him so far! It's a bummer that he seems unappreciative of you, but could this just be a testing phase? Perhaps to see how dedicated you really are going to be for him, especially knowing that he came from a rescue situation? He could be resentful of being moved around....?

I wonder if he could be hormonal too? That would be a double whammy for you to deal with.

I honestly think that if you stick it out that in another few months you will see a different bird. Don't give up! My adopted bird took a full year to really begin to trust and accept me. It's only in our second year together that I feel like we have a real relationship.

I really hope your bird will come around for you eventually too.

 

[Sambamama]

I'm bumping this to see if you will get more helpful responses than mine. I am sure that with the knowledgable folks on this forum that someone can give you real insight.

 

[Sadie13]

i am by no means an expert, but it sounds like you are providing a dream home for your cag!
Mine is an older rescue form a hoarding situation, so her first 5 yrs was living in a cage without more than a dowel perch and a toy that was as old as her.
i know with her we had to go slowly as it seemed like if she had an overly exciting day out she would regress and be more annoying (microwave beeps and fire alarm) the next day.
Maybe taking breaks in between out time to let him absorb everything to keep him from getting overstimulated?

her first 2 yrs here was no walk in the park but we are getting to where she no longer does the beeps (ok so she does occasionally...) and she is beginning to show more interest in toys.

good luck and i hope everything works out for you!!!

 

[Tierhog]

Hi ST
My post is right above yours and I adopted a 15yr old male CAG. I'm not an expert by any means, but perhaps you can give him basic pellets and save anything perceived as a treat for hand to hand interaction. Don't reach in for him at all. Leave cage open when home for several hours. Hold all food back when you get home and prepare your family meal. Enjoy dinner. Couple hours later he will be hungry and feel left out from the flock when he missed eating dinner. He will probably exit cage to forage. When ready show him a treat, put in pocket, approach, distract with left hand, mount with right. If he raises his leg or lowers for a sucker punch scratch, roll hand into fist and force his belly to top of your fisted hand. He will either mount or fly. If he flies he will leave cage and not have the security blanket of his cage. He will mount. Take him to another room without cage . Spend time together. Treat him

Return him to top of cage. Put food bowl back.

Just a thought.

 

[Birdman666]

Hello Everyone,

Upon bringing him home he did amazingly well, he was very shy for 2 days then did brilliantly. For two months it was incredible, he took to me very well, he wanted to be picked up and cruise around with me all the time, he made fast friends with the dogs, he even took to my wife despite preferring men (or so I was told). It was awesome, and I was telling myself "wow I really lucked out I adopted the PERFECT parrot". It was a dream, despite changing poo covered clothes all the time.

He is amazingly adept at finding the right tempo to drive me insane. I've had to leave the house before as I was about to go on a rampage. He even tries to trick me by holding his leg up to be picked up and then biting the crap out of me. Although I've learned that he exaggerates his "pick me up" stance big time when he's up to no good.

Despite this behavior decline he seems healthy and lively and his tail which was previously completely gone (zero red) is coming in finally, so his plucking seems to be improving.

I really hope I haven't bitten off more than I can handle, I really love this guy and want him to be content. Any help is appreciated.

He is being a little manipulative stinker!

Yeah, that little [raised foot/pick me up] gotcha game is fairly common - I've known a few macaws that play that game as well... Same as the head upside down, poofy feathers, pathetic look, come scratch my head -GOTCHA!!!

SUCKER!!!

The POOFY BIRD DANCE... this is what my CAG does to me when he challenges me... "You can't make me!" I go and get Mr. Towel. Mr. Towel says "Yes I can!" (This one comes mostly at bath time.)

They are stubborn.

They are instigators.

You are probably entertaining him by your reactions.

Stop being quite so entertaining, and he'll find another game...

I was lucky. My CAG had macaws to play with. He used to pull tails, and play the chase me game... HE BUGGED THEM, AND NOT ME!

 

[Able1]

I've got two Timneh Greys that I adopted from a parrot rescue organization, Timi who was 6 yrs old and Dewc (formerly "Duke" until they realized she was a girl), who was wild caught as a youth and kept as a breeder for 20+ years, then bounced from foster home to foster home for years. She is now approximately 32 years old.
When adopting a mature bird, you need to realize that you really know nothing of their life experience.
Dewc had from zero to very little human interaction throughout her life. She had very little trust concerning us human beings. She did not like to be picked up AT ALL, but necessity won over that little quirk and we began picking her up with a perch, then moved to picking her up with a glove. After a while she began to let us pick her up by stepping up onto our hands. We thought, "how awesome is this!?" That really did not last very long at all. She began biting (HARD) after we would walk away from the cage with her in tow.
I finally realized that while she WOULD step up for us, she PREFERS to be picked up with the glove. The human touch was a little too invasive for her. I respected her boundaries and picked her up from then on with the glove.
The glove has become her "safety blanket." Two years later she has went from not allowing any human contact to allowing us to scratch her head, rubbing her little face along the side of our fingers, and demanding to be right in the center of the action. She loves to sit on my knee while my husband and I are sitting on the bed watching a movie and get her share of the "loving" attention, BUT she sits on TOP of the glove which sits on my knee. It's her little quirk and that's okay.
It's all about patience. As Birdman666 stated, the more you react to his indiscretions, the more he will continue the negative behavior.
It takes a lot of patience (we have the scars on our hands to prove it) but as time goes by, the trust will grow. I don't think Dewc has bitten either one of us in over 6 months.
Try a glove. I use a thick leather welding glove. Be consistent, be patient, and respect his personal boundaries. It takes a while but the rewards are AMAZING.

 

[ST1]

I remembered I hadn't been back to updated everyone, sorry it has taken so long. Things are improving. I think a lot of it is experience and while I still have a lot to learn I think that is what has helped. After my initial post his attitude continued to deteriorate and he spent probably 3 weeks on his cage without roaming around with us. I finally decided it was more important to get him out and about with us than it was to allow him the "choice" to come be with us. So I wrapped my arms in a towel and corralled him off of his cage. He bit the hell out of the towel but settled down pretty quickly and then I put him on his stand for some forced family time. He seemed to resent it the first couple times but his aggressiveness toward us while on his cage diminished significantly. We now have the "play time blanket" which he recognizes as a positive thing and when I wrap my arm in it he usually comes over to the edge of his cage and hangs a leg out. Occassionally he bites the towel a little for seemingly no reason but not that often. Once he's "immersed" with the fam for a few minutes he is pretty good and I can get him to step up most of the time and when he really doesn't want to be picked up he doesn't bite he just gives a little push with his beak.
I've read quite a bit that you shouldn't ever force a parrot to do something but so far I think a daily socialization, like it or not, has been really helpful.

and here is the little devil as I write this.

 

[thekarens]

Sometimes they don't know you're offering something good until they experience it. Sounds like you're doing really well.

 

[TheImpaler]

It is amazing how like toddlers they are, always testing limits. Patience is so very necessary for both I have noticed. Even more so when they are teens hahaha (sob)

 

[GW.Joe]

Just make sure to work with him every day, Little treats work good for me

Joe