Coco the attacker.

[dizzydreamerJEN]

Hello I'm Jenn. I have a Sun Conures he's 3 years old. For the last 1 year and half he attacks kids. I baby sit a friend kids, whenever they come to my place I have to put him in his cage because if not he will fly to them and attack them. Recently my brother and his gf moved in, to an empty room I had. They have a almost 2 yo daughter (my niece) , he attacked her when she was a new born and a couple other times. Now that they're back Coco spent most of his time in the cage unless I take him to my bedroom or my niece is taking a nap. Is there anything I can do to correct this behavior of his? Did I do something wrong for him to act this way? He used to get along with kids, he even used to go on their shoulder. Any suggestions? :45:

 

[Violet_Diva]

Sorry to read your Coco has gone loco!

I don't really have any direct experience with this specific problem, but when I first got my female parrot she used to take chunks out of my fingers. She hated my hands. So I had to try and train her while she was caged and reward her through the bars via a long spoon. I effectively target trained her, tapping perches in different locations in the cage (accompanied by the verbal request 'come here') and when she went to them, I rewarded her. Over time I gradually moved my hand further down the spoon until I could give her treats by hand through the bars without use of the spoon.

Ultimately, it was about slowly building up proximity whilest reinforcing the exposure with positivity (ie treats).

I know it's not the same situation, but would it be possible to have Coco caged, have a child in the same room (not close to the cage) while you give treats through the bars. This would build an association between the child's presence and good things happening (treats).

You could repeat this daily, (building the proximity of the child closer to the cage). Start giving the treats for target training in the cage.

Eventually build to the child being the one delivering the treats through the bars. Once this is accepted by Coco, you could then work on having Coco out whilest a child is in the room.

The target training may also help if you see Coco wanting to launch an attack, if you can re-direct Cocos attention, it may help.

Hopefully if you don't find this helpful, maybe someone else can suggest something else?!

Good luck!

 

[dizzydreamerJEN]

Thank you for your reply. Any treats you recommend? I'm very interesting in trying this... I'm thinking of just having my niece around since she lives here, but my only concern is how would he knows that I'm giving him a treat not to attack her. I don't want him thinking I'm rewariding him to attack her. If that makes any sense.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

When I first got Skittles, he was fine around other people. I had support workers over three days a week and he was fine with them. They could pet him and he'd even fly onto their shoulders.

Over time though, he had a lot less exposure to people when the support workers service stopped. Now, its just him and I and I occasionally have my neighbor over. I've never really been one for company (I don't like other people in my house, lol). So Skittles and I are of similar mindset when it comes to that.

Only thing is, now I have to cage him when my neighbor comes over. He will attack her if I don't. He's fine at the vets office, doesn't attack the vet or the neighbor that goes with me while we are at the vet.

It boils down to proper boundaries and socialization I think. Sunnies can become very territorial of their chosen human and the more they are socialized and exposed to others, the better it is at curbing that territorial behavior.

I would suggest using target training and treats as well. I find that setting limits and using positive reinforcement as well as confronting bad behavior with limits does work wonders. It takes a lot of patience though.

I haven't bothered to try to socialize Skittles with others because he almost never is exposed to other people. I'd have to have people come over and play with him in order to do that and I don't want to because I want him all to myself. lol.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I'm not an expert but all I can do is explain what I'd do in your situation. I hope it helps! Obviously my pair are eclectus and not conures but hopefully the method should transcend across species!

Each bird will have is own preference with regards to treats. My Bella will work for pomegranate arils, which is nutritious but messy OR slivers of almonds, and Dexter will currently only work for banana chips, (but I keep trying different things in an attempt to get him to convert to something healthier!)

Find His Favourite Treat
Just try offering Coco different things until Coco clearly loves something! Then that's what you'll need to start training with. So you'll need a bit of trial and error in finding what treat motivates Coco the most. Keep in mind, it needs to be something that doesn't take long to eat. And only small so you can give many.

Reward Ignoring The Child's Presence
So at first, have the child as far from the cage as possible, at this point you are rewarding Coco for giving no reaction for the child being in the room while they are far from the cage.
If Coco starts going loco in his cage from the child's presence, turn your back on Coco. He wants your attention and your treat. Once he starts to behave normally again (no aggression) reward him straight away with an affirming 'good boy'. Hopefully after doing this consistently, he will build the association between behaving well (ignoring the child) with treats and your attention.
Behaving aggressively = being ignored and no treats!

Start Target Training In The Cage
Once he's gotten used to treats coming from you - start getting him to work for them! Tap a perch with the added verbal 'come here'. Reward with a treat when he goes there and say 'good boy'. Initially start with a perch close to where he is already to try to make it easy to begin with, once he gets the jist of this, gradually tap perches that are further away from him.

Gradually Increase Proximity
Once he's fine with a child being in the same room at a distance - reduce the distance slightly (where he's still comfortable and not behaving aggressively). You can do this over a number of days, maybe only 1 step at a time (or maybe over weeks depending on how fast he learns).
Eventually you will reach the point where the child is close to the cage, and Coco isn't interested, as he's focused on waiting for you to show him and tell him where to go in the cage to get the treat.

Start Working With Cage Open
Use the target training for perches inside the cage, including a perch on the inside of his cage door (with the door open). Initially keep the child further from the cage (like before) and work towards bringing the child closer over time.

Start Working Outside Of The Cage Too
Start including locations outside of the cage (perch / playstand / table?) as well as inside the cage using the same method. Again you can initially have the child a bit further away to begin with and gradually Increase the proximity.

Eventually all of this should culminate into being used to the child being around without being phased while associating their presence with treats!

This process could take minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months for him to understand. But the most important aspect is being consistent. Always reward good behaviour and always work at a pace that your Coco is comfortable with.

Good luck!

 

[dizzydreamerJEN]

Skittys_Daddy thank you ver much.

 

[dizzydreamerJEN]

Violet_Diva thank you very much. I definitely will be trying this. I'm hopeful for this to work. It breaks my heart that he spent so many hours in his cage. I feel like a such a bad person.

 

[lplummer52]

Just to let you know you're not alone, my Sun attacked both my brother and sister when they were here for a visit. She's fine with everyone else.....cleaners, landscapers, visiting health care nurses, etc. I'm sure it's jealousy. She's jealous of the dogs and will nip them if they get too close when she is getting scratches. She knows my bro and sis are taking attention away from her and the others are just visiting. So she's banished to her cage or back porch when they're here.....maybe twice a year.

 

[PickleMeDickles]

My male Sun is an attack bird. I have no idea why, my girls are just fine. They are flighted, and the first time Winston took off and flew INTO my friends face, somehow slipped to her shoulder and tried ripping off her ear. I have tried almost everything, and I am sure if I found the right method it would click, but at this point Winston has to stay in his cage when company is over. He puffs up when someone other than family approaches his cage but will still accept treats from them. He has done this on several occasions and it is so blatantly violent that I have just stopped working on it (plus I was going to start losing friends!). He is fine with all family members.