Cage aggressive & biting, B&G Macaw

[mica21493]

Hi! I have a 26 year old macaw, Bebee, that has been in the family since he was a pin feather baby. I took him in 6 years ago from my mother because he bit her finger so badly he might have broken it. It's taken a LONG time, but he will now step up onto a wooden dowel out of his cage. I can give him head scratches and he likes to touch my hand with his tongue a lot. However, he is cage aggressive to the point that even with me he will usually bite his foot, ruffle his feathers up, and lunge when you walk by the cage. This has now started happening on his portable perch and that concerns me. Is there any way to diminish this behavior?
He also bites me and yells "ow!" sometimes with laughing. This only seems to happen when he is happy, sometimes when I am scratching his head/neck and sometimes when he is playing. Someone told me to put him on the floor when this happens but when I did, he just walked around in circles trying to regurgitate to my toes. That is the only time he has shown regurgitation behavior with me. Instead, I now tell him no bite and walk away. I have to say the Goffins cockatoo I recently adopted bites harder than the bites I've been been getting from Bebee, his leave a mark but no blood or bruising. They still hurt though and if there is another way to address these bites, I'd like to try.

 

[SailBoat]

In the Mac Forum there are many Threads and Posts to Threads by 'birdman666,' it is well worth your time to read his comments. In fact there are several excellent Posters in the Mac section that can provide you information. Also check the Behavior Forum as there are also Threads there that will help!

I have never been in favor of setting a Parrot on the floor as a way to either cool them off or to distract them. In my experience, a Parrot on the Floor and especially if misbehaving commonly ends-up with the Human getting bitten. Better to move your Mac to a specific cooling off location each time. This allows the Mac to understand that the behavior was not proper and 'yes' the statement of NO is correct, followed by turning and walking away. NOTE: Being away for more than a few minutes has no real effect as they quickly forget the why.

To be honest, it sounds a bit like your Mac is ebbing or is Hormonal. Hormonal behavior can cause the sweetest of Parrots to become chemically crazed. To a fair degree, they are not fully in control of their actions. I'm not a Mac expert, so I cannot provide a defined solution or specific body language that you need to be aware of...

Hope that this helps and with hope one of our Mac Members will be along shortly...

 

[Laurasea]

This article might be helpful.
I'd also say increase the birds exercise by a great deal. Is he flighted,? Birds often have a lot of pent up energy and frustration.
https://www.2ndchance.info/tameparrot.htm

 

[mica21493]

Thank you Sailboat, I will look up those posts and the behavior forum too. He could be hormonal, I am not sure. Good to know about the floor, I'm glad I didn't put him down more than once.
Laurasea, I will definitely read that article, thank you. He is flighted, he gets very upset panting and red faced and wanting to go straight back to his cage if he does fly though. And up until recently he never could fly up, only down. I was debating lightly clipping his wings because of this. He was cage bound for years with limited access to toys so flying is relatively new for him and I really need to look it up to see if I can handle it with him.

 

[Laurasea]

Wow, great that you have overcome do much with him! Don't clip, I've been reading a lot of behavior articles and they don't clip when having issues. As only makes things worse.
I put links to a bunch of behavior articles on my Ornithology thread , they are on page 10 if you want to go through them.
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...hare-discuss-scientific-articles-parrots.html

 

[wrench13]

Suggest a chair back as a 'No Bite" location, and turn you back for a minute, not much more. No peeking! Restrict the scratches to head only, no shoulders or body, thats mating behaviour. For a cage bound mac he seems to have come along pretty well. Trry to get him to play more ( destroy) with toys, to work off the excess energy. If he is not very interested, play wth them yourself, and make mmm good, and how much fun it is sounds. Someparrots either never learned or forgot how to ,well, be a parrot, and need some help.

I am a big believer in teaching parots tricks and letting them learn new things - those active avain brains are so very smart, they enjoy stimulating and interesting activities. Excellent way to build bonds and maintain communicaton and trust.

And ditto on reading over and over the threads started by and contributed to by birdman666, the man is a macaw encyclopedia (archaic version of Wikipedia),

 

[1oldparroter]

Good advices here. For sure go through the links they furnish and remember to use common sense when you see or hear people speak of other species. Heck birds (like people) are individualistic. Look on you tube. Use the search window and put in wingsNpaws or BirdTrix or your variety of parrot. Sometimes another view really helps. jh

 

[mica21493]

I have a lot of reading to do, LOL, thank you all so much for your advice. I am definitely going to read up and check youtube. I never would have thought to teach him tricks. I started reading about target training on one of the threads and I think it's very interesting.
Yes, he has come a very long way. He had repetitive behaviors, didn't play with toys, didn't come out of the cage, only ate cracked nuts, and tried to attack anyone who dared get close to his cage (we're still working on that one).

 

[Laurasea]

I hope you will post pictures of Bebee and keep this thread active. There is so much we would all learn from you. Often people come and ask for advice then disappear. We never find out what worked!

It sounds like you have already improved his life so much!

This is my favorite article, it covers so much. I'm not a fan of clicker training tho, I just say good birdie instead if clicking
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

 

[Laurasea]

Good advices here. For sure go through the links they furnish and remember to use common sense when you see or hear people speak of other species. Heck birds (like people) are individualistic. Look on you tube. Use the search window and put in wingsNpaws or BirdTrix or your variety of parrot. Sometimes another view really helps. jh

Though there are species behavior and nutrition differences, parrots are pretty similar. Almost all behavior issues stim from lack of social and intellectual stimulation. And lack of exercise. Also also early weaning, forced weaning, and not being allowed to fledge and learn to fly have a permanent effect on brain and behavior.
This link shows that African Grey parrots and Scarlet Macaws are closely linked by DNA
https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/press-...t-the-congo-african-grey-parrots-chromosomes/

Importance of flight, critical development of brain during fledging
https://www.windycityparrot.com/blog/2010/04/13/flight-important-parrots/#ixzz62HloSvKV

 

[mica21493]

Thank you Laurasea, I will do my best to keep you all posted. I am so impressed with the amount of knowledge and caring people on this forum. I've never been on one before and was hesitant to join.
I would love to post pictures but I have yet to figure out how to do it. I have to check out the tech section as I am not the most tech savvy person. I clicked the album but couldn't figure out what to do next.
There are some things I'd like to share after caring for my grey for 11 months with cancer. The biggest being keep your parrot hand-fed trained if you can. It didn't take much, maybe every two months or so of feeding her a little bit from a syringe. It was an extra special treat for her. That was critical in how I was able to give Mica her meds and keep her weight up. And check your bird's preen gland. It's a common place for Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Full surgical removal is the only cure, though sometimes it recurs. It's not necessarily an easy place to see especially if your birds wings are fully flighted like Mica's were. Mica's was the size of a dime before I caught it, unfortunately it had spread much further inside.

 

[Laurasea]

Aww sorry about Mica....
What you talked about with syringe feeding or spoon feeding is actually in the parrot stress article I linked! I thi k you are really going to like that article , it also talks about pattering to music. When your bird is calm, or as they go to sleep you play music. Then you can use the music to induce calm when you need to.

 

[mica21493]

Great articles Laurasea! I am still working on reading them, lots of good info!

 

[mica21493]

Just wanted to give a quick update on Bebee. We've started target training and he loves it! He gets super excited and I've been able to move him around the cage by having him go to the chopstick in different places

 

[Laurasea]

Yippie!! Great work!!! I think he is so lucky to be with you! And seeing a parrot overcome cage bound, overcome couch potato, overcome fear if new stuff is just so heart warming!!! My Penny rescue is really learning to make her own choices, getting better at flying, it just makes me so joyful. So I can imagine how much fun it is for you guys!

 

[mica21493]

Yes, it's a huge amount of fun for us, even my husband has commented on how much happier Bebee seems. And his progress from where he was years ago is just incredible!
We have a little bump with our training right now though. Bebee gets REALLY excited for the treats. His eyes dilate, he bobs his head a bit, makes yummy noises. And now that I am working on getting him to step up to my arm (he gets one foot on me at this point), he gives my hand a painless pinch and then starts regurgitating motions on my hand and mouths my fingers. Knowing his history and how aggressive he can be, it's everything I can do to leave my hand there. I try to distract him to the stick or treat and eventually it works but not before I've broken quite a sweat. I know it's not good to be afraid, I'm doing my best, I just don't trust him with my fingers. We do this training on his t stand, he comes off his cage onto the stand to work. Any suggestions on what I can do to stop him from regurgitating during training?