cage aggression

[AMR500]

Hey folks,

So I was away this past weekend and had a friend come and take care of Bela for me. Well apparently the little man thought a burglar had arrived and lunged anytime my friend came near his cage. She donned a heavy mitten and blocked the doors so she could get his bowls in and out. By the end of the weekend - he did take a almond from her without drawing blood - so this is good!
I'm just wondering how u guys recommend getting over this? I had Laura come over the day before I left and had him step up and spend time with her... I mean I COMPLETELY realize why he did it. She was strange, and I wasn't here. I'm thinking I just need to try to have more people over (lol - easier said than done) and get him out and socializing with them. I have no problems with him whatsoever - he was over joyed to see me when I came home. I'm trying to teach him to step up to a perch so that Laura could move him in necessary (or anyone else for that matter).
Any thoughts or experiential comments would be appreciated!

 

[MikeyTN]

My macaw's cage have 4 dishes. I told my friend to trick him with his favorite nut treats. Put couple on one side then remove dishes on the other side out right away. Then do the samething vice versa. He wont let them get the bowls out otherwise. I keep his door pad locked otherwise he will escape and they would never be able to get him in cause he will attack. He don't like nobody but me, he loves the dogs and cats....just no people...

 

[merlinsmom13]

I have the same problem, no boarding place & no bird people to take care of Merlin. Its compounded by the fact we were broke into last year. They took the tv that Merlin was watching cartoons on, it was right near his cage. I still shudder when I think about it. Our dog was locked in another room, no help there. They must have rang the bell until they were sure we werent home, Merlin goes crazy when the bell rings, we unhooked it. He gets kinda nuts when a stranger gets near his cage, we havent been on vacation since he came to live w/us. I really need to work on socialization skills.

 

[MikeyTN]

I don't work on that part cause I rather have people afraid of them so no one can steal them from us....Now I'm thinking about it too much....It's a scary feeling.....

 

[suebee]

lol just try an have ppl over, i have 1 very brave friend that comes over and lets nut chew her, nuts a funny bird, she will crawl all over ppl but if they try to touch her she will nip, but she gets to familiar with ppl so the wooden spoon i wave to get her off walls an tops ot things i cant reach (i do no make contact with her with spoon, and she is not afraid of it, she does understand its the spoon of disapline!) is waved again when she gets to nippy when she preens the guests lol
and will bite me if i try to remove her off them

knowing nut if some1 broke in, she'd prob ride off with them on there shoulders

 

[Spiritbird]

I no longer do vacations or visiting anyone overnight for this very reason. I am sure most people would not agree but Rosie is spoiled and that is ok.

 

[merlinsmom13]

I do love the ocean, has anyone ever took their bird on vacation w/them? Merlin is fully flighted (hes a jet plane) & it makes me nervous to think of taking him out of our home.

 

[nofearengineer]

I am lucky in that while my Mom is not a real bird person, Gandalf loved her to a fault, and Bitty loves her too. Bitty closed her eyes and let Mom scratch her head 10 minutes after meeting her.

My Mom is great, she will come over for a few hours every day while I am gone. I stock plenty of goodies in the fridge for her and Frank, my step dad, who comes too. a 52" LCD TV doesn't hurt.

We go through all of the feeding and care schedule ahead of time. They can let her out to play too. I've shown them if Bitty gets in one of her "but..but..I don't want to go back in my cage" moods, all they have to do is go get a piece of banana and put it in her food bowl. Ignore her for a couple of minutes and you'll hear her munching away, so you can close the door. Trapped by her gluttony.

 

[merlinsmom13]

Merlin likes my mom too. Shes actually the only other person that hes comfortable with, my niece is afraid of him. Shes the only little person he has ever met & he loves to fly on her head. Not a good start since she is the only next generation in our family. I kinda wanted to designate her as his next person (when we aren't around anymore). She is only 5, so maybe as she gets older, they will bond. I try to guilt my mom in to staying with her only grandson, but so far shes not biting.

 

[schbusmom1]

Not sure I'm posting in the correct area or not but here's my problem. My boyfriend and I just recently adopted a 4 yr old macaw, ( we were told that she was 2yrs from the people got her from) They were being relocated to Alaska and couldn't take her with them. I learned from making some phone calls to the pet store that her prior to her last owners(she was there 2yrs) that he got her from a lady that could take care of her anymore and she got her from a breeder. The pet store(was here about a year and half) also told me he used to spray her with a spray bottle to make her shut up. Hence why she doesn't like the getting a shower. Secondly the people we got her from(almost a yr) didn't keep her in cage for the last few weeks because they had her on Craigslist. Also they would smack her beak when she would bite instead of the using the wobble or earthquake idea. but they did have a cage for her that didn't fit in the house so we ordered a cage for her. so she had to sleep on a perch in our room for 3 days. She did okay, she wasn't too bad. But she has been aggressive at time toward the both of us. Sometimes more toward me than my boyfriend. Well we got her cage last night and got it all set up with her toys from her old cage. She did okay at 1st then last night she asked for a cracker while I was eatting so I went to give her a pc of my sandwich and she took a nice bite out of me. So we put her back in her cage and decided it was time to take things down for the night. Then is morning she has been VERY aggressive toward us both so after we took her out and tried to reassure that she wouldn't have to stay in the cage she went after us again biting and screaming at us. so we put her back in the cage for 10 minutes covered and being ignored (very hard to do lol) Well I went back to let her out and she went after my fingers when I was trying to let her back out. So I can't let her out because she wont let us let her out. I don't know what to do, I feel bad about not being about to let her out. but she needs to be taught not to bite us when we go toward the door of her cage. My boyfriend has even tried to let her out and she is doing the same thing. UGHHH... If anyone can give me any ideas I would GREATLY appreciate it.

 

[newtobirds]

Oh boy!?!

I feel your pain! You are making a number of the exact same mistakes I made when I got my first parrot! I hope you learn faster than I did and pay a lower price!

When you get a new bird, regardless of their history and story, you are totally starting over. The parrot has to be in control at first or you just can't develop trust. You have to read the bird's moods and intentions and give him or her choices.

If my parrot doesn't want to be touched, I respect that. If I need my parrot to go back in his cage and he doesn't want to, I put his very favorite treats in there to lure him in. The parrot gets to make the choices, but we get to manage the environment in such a way that his choices are easily made to match our own.

Slow down. Learn. Read the bird and let him have as much control over his life as possible. This will build trust. Once trust is built, life gets much, much easier and you will have more "say" over how things go. But at first, trust is everything.

 

[MaraWentz]

If you have the spac3 to create a bird proof environment go cageless. That's what I did with Erin and it made quite the difference. They're completely different birds. This doesn't work fir every one though due to bird proofing or space, for ex. It has to be blocked off area and you have to testthe paint, get rid of anything spooky, pointy, hot, etc