Baby territorial behavior

[Hamlet]

Hi,


I posted this on another forum and thought I could get some help from here as well. I recently got a GCC, around 3-4 months old. Now she can be cuddly, i only do head and neck cuddling. She does like to bite to explore but i can tell its not aggressive that shes just playing around, trying to get into bite pressure training. My problem is when she gets real aggressive. She still bites but her bites are no joke, she breaks skin and my fingers bleed. What triggers her is when i touch any of her toys. Thats not limited to what i buy as her 'toys', but anything she takes a liking to. For instance, there was this bag of candy that i got and she just took to the wrappers, now i cant get one of them open to eat without her feather getting ruffled up and a real nasty bite coming. I thought okay ill respect her territory shes a wild animal and try to deal with this. But it has become serious when i was cleaning out the room, she was on my shoulder, i picked up a pencil (she chewed on that like one time before?) and she lunged at my finger so hard i just had to flick her off and i feel so guilty about that. Ive heard about target training and stick training, should i get her used to me holding whatever toy with a stick so she can bite the stick and get no reaction, will that make it better, in a way desensitize her or do parrots not work this way? Is that going to provoke her more. Is this normal, never read of a baby being this aggressive?

Also, she is completely bonded to me, she asks for cuddles she asks to be let out of the cage, ive spent everyday with her thanks to covid, she isnt particularly scared of my fingers, she steps up, when she nibbles too hard and i make a loud sound she tones down her nibbling after that so i think shes getting that biting hard hurts.

What should i do, i dont want this to develop into something worse when she hits puberty!


I should add that im new parrot and this whole ordeal was unexpected and is really stressing me out, I do hope theres a solution to this

 

[clark_conure]

For a well bonded bird, the time out method is the best way to break that behavior.

Whenever a bird bites too hard in anger (note its ok for her to defend herself during a nail trim or whatever,) but if you're just hanging out and he/she bites, yell in an authoritative voice NO!

Then (and this is the important part,) get up, walk away from where you are put the bird down on the floor. (Not a play stand not his/her cage.) But someplace he/she doesn't want to be...about ten feet away.

This will 1) snap the bird out of it 2) it has to sit there alone and shunned as you go back to where you were before.

Now the bird will have to think....as it slowly walks (or maybe flyies) back to you it has to process why it has to do that. Wait fore the bird to come back, (it will) and more often then not will be super sweet.

You may have to repeat this a few times, maybe more for it to sink in but shunning the bird for it's bad behavior if it is truly bonded, really impacts them and the bites will stop.

Don't beak grab or earthquake those just add excitement, you want to calm the situation down and separate the bird and force it to think about why it is on the floor....

Hope this helps.

 

[clark_conure]

I should mention fighting over a toy or candy wrapper is not ok a baby conures mom wouldn't take a bite, neither should you. ALso what if it wasn't a toy but something harmful or poison, your bird needs to respect boundaries and your authority over it's safety.

Entering the cage uninvited or like I said a nail clip....the bird has a right to get aggressive, use a glove with a nail clip or get a friend to help/

 

[clark_conure]

Also welcome and I hope you stick around!

 

[Hamlet]

I should mention fighting over a toy or candy wrapper is not ok a baby conures mom wouldn't take a bite, neither should you. ALso what if it wasn't a toy but something harmful or poison, your bird needs to respect boundaries and your authority over it's safety.

Entering the cage uninvited or like I said a nail clip....the bird has a right to get aggressive, use a glove with a nail clip or get a friend to help/

I really appreciate this reply. Since she breaks skin do you think I should use a stick to hold the toy or wear gloves?

 

[clark_conure]

Nope, you may take a few bites, but if the bird is bonded and will come to you, then the time out method will work. Use it for any bite over a pain threshold. Not just bloody ones.

 

[clark_conure]

oh for a hard hand nibble, but not painfull you can push the beak a bit, (but don't grab or pinch that's aggressive) and say "gently" or "easy" in a soothing manner. that's the bite pressure training. But for biting yes always time out method and be consistent. It might take a week but it will work.

 

[Hamlet]

oh for a hard hand nibble, but not painfull you can push the beak a bit, (but don't grab or pinch that's aggressive) and say "gently" or "easy" in a soothing manner. that's the bite pressure training. But for biting yes always time out method and be consistent. It might take a week but it will work.

I tried this method twice just now and my poor finger will have endless holes by the end of it. She changes into a devil in seconds and pierces a hole in my finger. Would wearing gloves not have the same effect?

 

[clark_conure]

gloves WILL scare her/him.

no. take the bite, (you already are) I mean you can pull away before the bite, but any aggression put her on the floor 10 feet away. You don't have to be bitten if you see it coming.

You have to set in the pattern of I do this, I get that.

 

[clark_conure]

try bite pressure training after you stop aggression biting.

their mouths are their hands so the will use them but get rid of the aggression bite first.

 

[clark_conure]

it won't be a one time thing it may take a few days maybe a week. but your bird recognizes patterns......A = B. that they get. after a bit they will learn something like a certain noise will get more attention and less being shunned by biting.

 

[Hamlet]

it won't be a one time thing it may take a few days maybe a week. but your bird recognizes patterns......A = B. that they get. after a bit they will learn something like a certain noise will get more attention and less being shunned by biting.

Tried it a few more times, she is toning it down or so i think. Im trying not to make her hate me in the process. Do you know if this is typical baby behavior or is she unique?

 

[clark_conure]

pretty typical, testing limits etc. set boundaries.

 

[clark_conure]

if you bonded don't worry about that, if he/she is coming back each time....you're fine.

 

[clark_conure]

everything getting better?

 

[noodles123]

Does she have a hut or shadowy space in her cage?
How much sleep does she get nightly?
Do you ever let her exit (and re-enter) the cage on her own time (in supervising, but removed)?
If yes to my last question, do you always shut the door as soon as she re-enters?

 

[Hamlet]

I have tried to be consistent with this. But its just not changing much. She still gets angry when things are taken away from her, whether it be toys or food now.



Noodles, she doesnt have a hut, she has one of them sea grass mats laid out though.
Sleep shes in her cage at 10 and out by 8-9 (she screams at 7 40 every day till shes let out)


When she goes in her cage in her own, i just leave her to it till she comes back out. In terms of shutting the door, yes i do. I usually have to leave her in the cage for some time in the afternoon so i give her an apple to lure her in then i close the door behind her. Could that be the reason for her territorial behavior? If i dont do that she eats the apple and comes out, doesnt really stay in her cage

 

[noodles123]

I have tried to be consistent with this. But its just not changing much. She still gets angry when things are taken away from her, whether it be toys or food now.



Noodles, she doesnt have a hut, she has one of them sea grass mats laid out though.
Sleep shes in her cage at 10 and out by 8-9 (she screams at 7 40 every day till shes let out)


When she goes in her cage in her own, i just leave her to it till she comes back out. In terms of shutting the door, yes i do. I usually have to leave her in the cage for some time in the afternoon so i give her an apple to lure her in then i close the door behind her. Could that be the reason for her territorial behavior? If i dont do that she eats the apple and comes out, doesnt really stay in her cage

Your bird needs 10 hours of sleep MINIMUM per night (on a schedule) so you need to start setting bedtimes earlier--- yes, they do want out when they wake up. From the time bedtime starts to the time your bird wakes, you have 10-12 hours UNLESS you wake them up by moving around. Mine goes to bed fine if there is still some noise, but the second I get up, she hears the noise and stirs in her cage. If your bird is going to bed at 9 or 10 and waking up with you, that's WAY too little sleep.