Aggressive female ecletus

[Tburns]

I adopted nalanis when she was 5 yrs old I was told that she had been rehomed 5 times before I adopted her because she was aggressive and would attack people . I've had her now for about 3 yrs and I have spent a lot of time helping her unlearn some of her aggressive habits but she still for no reason out if the blue will try to attack me it does not happen alot but when it does she scares me and her bites are really bad very bloody and I try to be calm I don't yell at her I just firmly tell her no biting out her back in her cage and ignore her is this the proper way to deal with this behavior I don't want to make it worse but it's hard for me to trust her when she wants to be on my shoulder

 

[Thechoplady]

I highly advise to NEVER let her on your shoulder. Please dont let your emotions override the fact that she is still a unpredictable non-domesticated animal. She can cause permanent, life altering damage to your face. My female ekkie is the same way. I honestly dont think they can help it. Nature made them to be pretty aggressive and territorial. In nature, its the female that is in charge of defending the nest and chicks against much larger birds such as cockatoos. Try to avoid situations that will lead to a bite if at all possible. I let my girl hang out with me but I dont pet her or touch her except for having her step up. I refuse to let her on my shoulder. When your ekkie trys to get on your shoulder, redirect her quickly off onto something else and then leave the room for at least 15 min. Over time she will learn not to try to get on your shoulder as she will figure out that every time she does, you end up leaving her alone. Discourage her from going into dark corners like kitchen cabinet drawers or under neath couches...etc. That will just trigger her territorial nature. Feed her a low sugar (low carbohydrate) diet and limit fats. Diet can go a long way to helping her behavior. I feed my girl chop in the morning (no fruit in the chop), topps pellets in the evening and nuts are only used in foraging toys and for training. Make sure she is getting 12-14 hours of very dark, very quiet sleep. (Having her in the living room at night while the family is watching tv wont cut it....it needs to be very dark and very quiet. You can have her sleep in a smaller sleeping cage in a different part of the house if necessary.) Also, do not cover her cage with anything at night. When you cover the cage, it can trigger hormonal behavior and she will resent you if you "dismantle her nest" every morning when you take the cover off. There is no reason to cover the cage if the room she is in is very dark and quiet. Start target training her and practice indoor flight training with her to strengthen your bond with her in a safe way. Hope this helps.

 

[chris-md]

Random, unpredictable, out of the blue attacks can speak to hormonal issues. It’s not always the case but usually the first place to start before looking at other, maladaptive behavior modifications.

How well read are you on eclectus hormonal behavior? Ekkie diets? Take a Look at the stickies in the eclectus subforum. They go very in depth into appropriate diets, hormonal controls, etc.

In captive ekkies, diet is often the biggest contributor to excessive hormonal behaviors. What is your Ekkies diet like?