Hi! I adopted an ~8 year old rose breasted cockatoo named Elvis September of last year. I was told he is a male but it isn't confirmed by DNA. The previous owners rehomed him because they didn't have time to spend with him.
He is generally a very good bird with lots of personality. He loves to talk, dance, and play with toys (especially if they make noise).
About a week or two after adopting him he started biting me really hard (I still have a scar from the first time... so they can get really hard and break skin and leave bruises). I first noticed he would bite when I ask him to step up to come out of the cage, so now I have him come onto his door and then offer. He sometimes will ask to step up (lift his foot) and I say step up and he gets up. But then he almost thinks about it and then goes to bite me. I first thought perhaps he didn't want to step up and was perhaps telling me that, so I try and give him space and time to make sure he does indeed want up. Sometimes that helps but sometimes it doesn't.
He also bites when I go to put him away. Sometimes when he is out and I do not go to put him away, he will still bite.
I asked the previous owners if he bites and they said only when he doesn't want to be put away. I wonder if he started to bite them when they had no time for him and he got frustrated with them.
I work remotely and have a bird perch/tree in my home office that Elvis and Archie (my first rose too') hang out on, so he does get a lot of interaction with me and his too' friend during the day (they do not share a cage). They get along pretty well so far.
Any recommendations on how to work through this with him? I know I am still relatively new to him so that could play a role as well. I try to take everything slow.
Side question: I do have experience training service dogs through clicker training... is it a stupid idea to try that with Elvis? I do notice that he gets excited and bitey when filling his food bowl so using treats/food might encourage or incite biting than reward behavior. Any other reinforcement ideas? I did work with a dog that was motivated by toys but I doubt that would be a good idea for Elvis in discouraging biting. Would positive verbal reinforcement be enough?
He is generally a very good bird with lots of personality. He loves to talk, dance, and play with toys (especially if they make noise).
About a week or two after adopting him he started biting me really hard (I still have a scar from the first time... so they can get really hard and break skin and leave bruises). I first noticed he would bite when I ask him to step up to come out of the cage, so now I have him come onto his door and then offer. He sometimes will ask to step up (lift his foot) and I say step up and he gets up. But then he almost thinks about it and then goes to bite me. I first thought perhaps he didn't want to step up and was perhaps telling me that, so I try and give him space and time to make sure he does indeed want up. Sometimes that helps but sometimes it doesn't.
He also bites when I go to put him away. Sometimes when he is out and I do not go to put him away, he will still bite.
I asked the previous owners if he bites and they said only when he doesn't want to be put away. I wonder if he started to bite them when they had no time for him and he got frustrated with them.
I work remotely and have a bird perch/tree in my home office that Elvis and Archie (my first rose too') hang out on, so he does get a lot of interaction with me and his too' friend during the day (they do not share a cage). They get along pretty well so far.
Any recommendations on how to work through this with him? I know I am still relatively new to him so that could play a role as well. I try to take everything slow.
Side question: I do have experience training service dogs through clicker training... is it a stupid idea to try that with Elvis? I do notice that he gets excited and bitey when filling his food bowl so using treats/food might encourage or incite biting than reward behavior. Any other reinforcement ideas? I did work with a dog that was motivated by toys but I doubt that would be a good idea for Elvis in discouraging biting. Would positive verbal reinforcement be enough?
