Biting rose breasted cockatoo

[kbm1701]

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?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

You came to the right place! Many members are big fans of clicker training. I'm sure you will get responses from people who can help you with that and with the biting issue.

Years ago I had a Goffins Cockatoo who was a love sponge and he would bite when I tried to put him away, too. He never bit hard but I didn't know how to stop him either.
Good luck with Elvis. Cockatoos are such amazing birds and Rosie's are so beautiful!

 

[kbm1701]

You came to the right place! Many members are big fans of clicker training. I'm sure you will get responses from people who can help you with that and with the biting issue.

Years ago I had a Goffins Cockatoo who was a love sponge and he would bite when I tried to put him away, too. He never bit hard but I didn't know how to stop him either.
Good luck with Elvis. Cockatoos are such amazing birds and Rosie's are so beautiful!

Thank you!! Other than the biting Elvis is a hilarious and fun bird. I am sure we can work it out, as it is probably miscommunication on my end!

 

[wrench13]

See below. Make sure the bite is from not paying attention to signals and body language! See last part.

Biting, whether intentional or not, just over preening your skin or actually taking chunks of meat out - all are PAINFULL! In the wild that sort of behavior is not tolerated by the flock. They ostracize flock members who continue to act like that. We call it 'Shunning'. This WILL work, but needs to be done correctly to get the message across and it needs to be done IMMEDIATELY so the parrot can associate the bite with the shunning action. And it needs to happen every time and with anyone involved with the parrot.

When the bite or over preening occurs:

• Say in a forceful but not shouting voice "No Bite" or other endearments.
• Immediately place the parrot on a nearby, handy chairback. NOT the cage (that would only teach the parrot to bite when he wants to go back to his cage).
• Turn your back to him and ignore him for 1 minute. No peeking, no talking about or too him, NADA. NO eye contact. No less or the message is lost, no more or the bird will not associate the action with the bite.
• After a minute you can try to re-establish contact.

Rinse, repeat as needed. Most parrots get the message after a few times, some may need more. Also very important - make sure the bite is not your fault. Annoying your parrot, asking him to step up when he is otherwise preoccupied with eating or playing, bothering him during known moody times like mating season, or ignoring the warnings and body language of your parrot - these are bites that you deserve! Learn, and be a better parront !!

 

[kbm1701]

See below. Make sure the bite is from not paying attention to signals and body language! See last part.

Biting, whether intentional or not, just over preening your skin or actually taking chunks of meat out - all are PAINFULL! In the wild that sort of behavior is not tolerated by the flock. They ostracize flock members who continue to act like that. We call it 'Shunning'. This WILL work, but needs to be done correctly to get the message across and it needs to be done IMMEDIATELY so the parrot can associate the bite with the shunning action. And it needs to happen every time and with anyone involved with the parrot.

When the bite or over preening occurs:

• Say in a forceful but not shouting voice "No Bite" or other endearments.
• Immediately place the parrot on a nearby, handy chairback. NOT the cage (that would only teach the parrot to bite when he wants to go back to his cage).
• Turn your back to him and ignore him for 1 minute. No peeking, no talking about or too him, NADA. NO eye contact. No less or the message is lost, no more or the bird will not associate the action with the bite.
• After a minute you can try to re-establish contact.

Rinse, repeat as needed. Most parrots get the message after a few times, some may need more. Also very important - make sure the bite is not your fault. Annoying your parrot, asking him to step up when he is otherwise preoccupied with eating or playing, bothering him during known moody times like mating season, or ignoring the warnings and body language of your parrot - these are bites that you deserve! Learn, and be a better parront !!

Thank you! I do all of this already. I think I could be missing something in interpreting.

He does ask to step up and looks like he wants to. I try to give space and be like you don't have to (like just offering a hand a bit out and if he makes the connection then great. If not he can stay).

But I am struggling with him connecting and stepping up but then once up (a bit later) he will bite