Crazy Aggressive BFA

[Fae]

After the initial "honeymoon" stage with Arco, he's become a complete butthead with me =\ He's become super aggressive about just about everything and I'm not sure how to break this attitude.

He started off by talking with me, and singing, now he'll only sing if he needs food or wants a treat. He refuses to talk other than to the toddler where he'll say "hello!" when the kid is near him.

He LOVES our toddler, and there in lies most of the problem which I think led to this hate towards me. I'm a stay at home mom to the toddler and feather baby flock so I'm with them all day, including when I have to discipline the toddler and make him cry like all kids do when they're told they're not allowed to have something they want.

Unfortunately, whenever this happens, our amazon goes NUTS like he wants to grab me by the throat and kill me on the spot. He actually mangled my finger a couple days ago when I was trying to pull crap from his cage the toddler had put in there. I had never seen him move THAT fast. The door was open, I greeted him and he made his usual "wark wark" sound he does when I sit beside him offering treats, then he just descended the side of the cage and chomped onto my hand, refusing to let go. I ended up pulling him from the cage while he was latched on and flipped him to his back and pacified him. This old crank of a bird usually just walks on his perch barking when he's upset with me, he's NEVER done something this bad.

I always make sure to calm down and get rid of any residual anger as best possible before approaching Arco, but sometimes the toddler will come over and start bawking at him to get him excited and completely ruin my efforts.

At this point I'm not sure if our house can stand to keep the old bird and work with him or if we should re-home him to a home without children. I still love my arco even if he gets into his demonic moods, but I'm not sure how to make him love me at this point.

 

[Sammy01]

I always recommend the same article for this case. It seems like the reason your parrot "hates" you is because you changed. Unfortunately, if you want him to go back to being sweet then you have to go back to how you were or separate them.

The article I was talking about was (easy to google):

Think your parrot hates you by Sally Blanchard


Here's a the intro:

When people call me for a parrot behavior consultation, there are two things that I hear quite frequently. The first is, “My bird suddenly turned mean,” and another version of this is, “My bird hates me.” The choice of words depends on how people interpret the fact that their bird has either been aggressive with them or suddenly wants nothing to do with them. Both statements are rarely, if ever, what is really going on. Of course, people tend to take the changes in their parrots’ behavior personally and they also interpret these changes as if parrot logic is the same as ours. While it is true that there are occasionally situations when a parrot genuinely wants nothing to do with an individual, it is very rare for parrots to suddenly “hate” someone that they have previously trusted.

Our misinterpretation of a parrot’s behavior is one of the major causes of problems with the human/parrot relationship. I hear lots of rules and absolutes about parrot behavior but I believe there is one golden rule in understanding our avian companions; parrots are more comfortable with people who are comfortable with them. Many times a parrot changes its behavior toward its caregiver because it is no longer comfortable with that person. Something that has happened is confusing the parrot and this changes the parrot’s reaction to its caregiver. The most problematic aspect of this is when the parrot’s reaction changes its behavior towards the person; then the person’s behavior changes towards the parrot. Parrots are very intelligent but they are most likely not capable of thinking, “This person whom I used to enjoy, is not acting normal towards me, and therefore, she no longer likes me so I can’t trust her and I have to be very careful around her.” However this is basically what is going on and the more reactive the person is towards the parrot’s behavioral change, the more the cycle continues. The person changes behavior towards the parrot; the parrot changes behavior towards the person and on and on until the relationship is almost lost. Notice I say almost because I have worked with many people who have been able to rebuild a trusting relationship with their parrots.

 

[getwozzy]

Sorry to hear he's turned into a cranky old feather butt. I just wanted to let you know- we also have a toddler, and Jackie was also protective over him when he would cry or throw fits. He would get really excited/upset, but I also think there was something in his previous home that made him upset when he heard crying- he would say "don't cry! It's ok! It's alright! Don't cry.."
So, maybe your zon also has an issue with hearing someone crying?

Try not to handle him if you see he's excited/upset, or at least use a perch/stick to pick him up if you need to. The best way to not get bit is to avoid it in the first place- watch his body language, and if you need to- just walk away and let him settle down on his own.

Spend some time alone with him daily- read a book to him, talk to him, give him food/treats if he's interested,.. Play hard to get and take your time.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Would you be able to touch train him? That way you could use a 12" skewer, or a wooden chop stick, without your fingers being in risk of bites. When giving him a treat you can use a bowl that will also keep your fingers out of harms way. I always use a clicker when it comes to this.

I always have the pointed side towards myself

 

[torrap]

RiosMom recommended to move the cage to a different location in the house. I didn't have any aggression from my bird though...my bird just didn't want to step up from her cage.
I was surprised how much change it made for the better. Sometimes the bird is not comfortable where the cage is or too combortable and feels like the boss in the house. Try to move his cage, it could give him a little pause to think about his attitude............Good luck.

 

[Fae]

I've read the article previously, as much as I try to take the advice, as I mentioned, the toddler is almost always with me without fault, when I try to get him to play in his room he antagonizes me and the bird from afar, screaming mindlessly because he knows Arco gets a rise out of it and screams.

The home arco came from, the old man was very... uh... ignorant? to the bird's behaviour and needs. They cage bound him after his wife died and he was left alone with minimal food or interaction for presumably years. The old man had one of his daughter's living with him and the bird "hated" her, she told us. Apparently he escaped his cage one day and savagely attacked her, but I could tell she teased Arco a lot with how they were interacting when we picked up up. She kept sticking her hand at him tauntingly screaming "You're a brat arco! a brat!" and upsetting him.

They mentioned grandchildren visited frequently, so I'm sure arco has gone through healing children when he was younger and again when the grandchildren were there.

I was also thinking of the cage position, when he first came home we had him more "sheltered" away from the windows. we then bought him a massive cage and moved him near a window where he gawks outside like a creepy neighbour. I wonder if he's getting sensory overload from the views outside. We have a low traffic neighbourhood but there are kids across the road from us who play loudly in the street.

 

[Sassysmom]

I am far from an expert in bird behavior. I have had my almost 4 year old Catalina for about a year now. She is very sweet now... but my goodness was she MEAN when she first came to live with me. She still has moments when she's "testy", but I have come to find that when she gets this way it always seems to out of boredom.
A few days ago she was nearly driving me nuts with her "haw-wa", "haw-wa" calls non stop for hours. so I tried to interact with her and she just kept lunging at me so I would walk away and go back to what I was doing then she would scream and scream. Mind you she has access to an outdoor room connected to my house, and her swing, perch and cage indoors and she can go back and forth as she pleases so she should never be bored. lots of toys too. Anyway, it turns out after trying several things to soothe her, she wanted to go for a walk and socialize with the neighbors and the kids she could hear outside. Since our walk, she has been her old self again.
My point being, what works the best for us is just changing things up once in awhile. I change her foods regularly. (not basic food but the kinds of fresh fruits and veggies she gets every day) Yes EVERY day....shes a bit spoiled, I know.
Another thing that seems silly but ALWAYS works for me is a little trick I learned by watching parrot training videos on you tube. Don't know how or why it works but it does. I stand just out of her reach and without any expression on my face and without saying a word I hold up two fingers kind of crooked, like if you were imitating a birds beak with your hand. I silently hold that pose for as long as it takes her to back down and sit back calmly. I can totally see a change come over her. Then I walk away silently and ignore her for a few minutes. Then in a bit I try again to get close to her and usually she will be her sweet self. If not I go through the process again. Eventually it works every time.
Hope some of these suggestions will help you and your bird get along better. It is a joyful relationship when it works. I LOVE MY SASSY GIRL.

 

[gizzygirl]

I would teach the child not to put stuff in his cage and not to scream. That should help.

 

[christinereed]

I think that the Sally Blanchard text is pretty accurate. Also, I think a lot of the time when birds act up it's because they need attention.

 

[Birdman666]

That's not an attention thing. From the sound of it, this bird is either protective of your child - protecting the child from the perceived threat - i.e. an angry YOU.

AND/OR this is one of those people get upset, so the bird gets upset things which zons are famous for. And when zons get upset they also tend to displacement bite the nearest anything, in this case, your fingers.

My zon was mad at my CAG the other day. I have a bruise on my arm from it. She demonstrated her displeasure on "the perch" which happened to be my arm at the time.

It happens.