Growling and biting

[Jeepnman]

Our 2 year old Bella is not the sweet bird we had hoped for. She screams alot and seems to like me the most. After much research, I decided on an eclectus because they were supposed to be more of a family bird. She tolerates my kids at times, but I don't trust her with them because she will bite. My wife hates her because of the screaming. I think she calls out a lot when I am not home or out of site. She loves to sit on my shoulder and bite my ear or pull my beard, I think she likes to hear me say ouch. In the evenings, when I walk by her cage she wants to get on my shoulder. I let her sit on my shoulder and watch tv, but lately she eventually growls at me and kind of lunges for my face or ear. She has even tried to bite my eye before. I usually put her back on her cage or sometimes I put her on the ground. She doesn't like to be on the ground at all. I don't understand why she wants to get on my shoulder one second and the next she is growling at me. The growling does seem to be mostly at night. Any suggestions to deal with this growling bird?

 

[Mariar]

How long have you had her? Even though some breeds claim to be family birds...if only one member of the family takes the time to interact..then that bird becomes bonded to one person. End result? Over bonding and aggression towards others and you when you leave them alone to long. Maybe floor time with other family members will do her some good...being on the floor for some birds, makes them feel helpless and rely on others to pick them up to safety. My severe macaw only likes my fiancé when she is put on the floor and wants up...I make him pick her up. It may work it may not..I don't own an eclectus

 

[Uglow]

Try doing some tag team training with you and another family member. 5 minutes a session. My boy was friendlier with me because I work from home and my wife works a long schedule. She trains with him maybe once or twice a week. When it comes to evening hang out time, he makes and effort to hang out with her now. It didn't take much.

Growling could also be a sign of play. When Uglow is feeling like grabbing a hold of my ears, I put a stocking cap on and stuff paper in the fold. keeps him busy for a while.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jeepnman]

We've had her since she was 6 or 7 months old. So about a year and a half.

 

[Eitak579]

We rescued a male Ekkie last Aug and decided on the species for the same reasons you listed. Unfortunately I'm also facing similar issues with Johnny not open to accepting my bf (RW) or really anyone like he does with me. His behavior towards RW the same way your Bella seems to be acting with you, seeks out his shoulder, is great for a spell, then growls and nips. We keep working on it, I really believe as others have stated, you really do get what you put into the relationship, RW is still apprehensive and Johnny knows. I would absolutely suggest target training it’s really helped a lot.

I know the females go through puberty and it can really affect their behavior between 2-3 years so maybe that could influence some of the issues you’re experiencing.

Keep us posted, I’m looking forward to some of the other Ekkie folks weighing in on this one.

 

[Dopey]

Please don't let her sit on your shoulder until the biting has stopped.

She may be tired at night. Please make sure she is getting 10-12 hours of sleep a night.

I have one of the sweetest Ekkies but she really only likes to be held for several minutes and then she wants back either on her cage or in her cage. Look for the changes in the way she sits on you. Mine starts moving around more and starts beaking me more.

My male Ekkie is doing the lunging, biting, and growling thing right now because of hormones. I'm very careful when letting him out and putting back in the cage.

Please have your wife put on long sleeves when handling the Ekkie until she stops biting her. It will soften the blow/bite.

Ekkies can be sweet and I adopted mine the way she is but in order to keep her that way I have to work with her.

 

[Scott]

My experience with two Ekkies is while they are wonderful companions, cockatoos they are not from the POV of congeniality.

My Vos female is about 25yrs old, and I am the only person she will socialize with. From the moment she came home, Angel would dart and growl towards any female, even my mom who finished weaning her. (very experienced with hand-raising parrots) Shortly thereafter we acquired Sasquatch, a male Vos from different lines from the same breeder. He was a bit friendlier but rather mercurial. Angel tolerated a cage with Sasquatch for just a few years before she made it clear they weren't friends!

Growling and body language may be the only warnings you will get, as IMHO they are difficult to read - no Amazonian pinning of the eyes or strutting displays.

 

[Anansi]

Please don't let her sit on your shoulder until the biting has stopped.

She may be tired at night. Please make sure she is getting 10-12 hours of sleep a night...

I agree heartily with the above. Shoulder privileges should be revoked if there is any nippiness going on. You have to set boundaries that they can understand. Especially when it comes to your face. An ekkie beak can do monstrous damage to your face, so you shouldn't risk it.

For me, it wasn't even just about hard bites. Jolly used to have a thing for gently nibbling on ears. It didn't hurt or anything, but I just don't like it. So I worked to build the association in his mind between nibbling my ear and being immediately removed from my shoulder.

They catch on. Believe me. So long as you're consistent.

Nowadays he's a model citizen on my shoulder. And he understands that there is a tacit agreement between us. He retains shoulder privileges for as long as he does not beak my ear. So he'll kiss my cheek, but he respects the boundaries set.

And for hard biting such as you're describing, shoulder privileges would be temporarily lost until any biting or lunging behaviors were reliably under control.

And yes, it could very well be that she's sleepy. Maya, my female ekkie, definitely gets a little testy if she's still out with us once she's feeling tired. Especially when her hormones are spiking a bit. Just try putting her to bed a little earlier.

 

[AsaiahMom43]

My male ekkie will growl when he is playing on top of his cage. He doesnt do it very often , and I was wondering the same thing; if it was normal or ok. He is only going on 8 months old. I like the suggestions given here.

 

[camo]

My male ekkie will growl when he is playing on top of his cage. He doesnt do it very often , and I was wondering the same thing; if it was normal or ok. He is only going on 8 months old. I like the suggestions given here.

I am actually typing this now, as Gizmo is growling at his favorite toy (a baby key toy), he has climbed into his open cage so he could play with it, so he is definitely having fun even though he has growled at it about 20 times in the last few minutes. I think growling in Eclectus parrots is like with dogs to a certain extent. Some Eclectus parrots will only growl for one reason, a warning, my girl Pebbles is like that (I have never been bitten by her, but she gives me fair warning with a growl if she is not happy). Gizmo, my male eclectus will growl if he is upset, but also growls if he is playing with a toy (especially if he is getting really into it), so I think you have to consider what the body language is and the circumstances (if he was growling when you went near the toy or tried to take the toy, that would be a different story), by the sounds of it, your guys growl is just playing with the toy, in this circumstance and I wouldn't see any reason to try and stop him (personally I would prefer all the audible clues my guys can give me, they are far better at reading body language than I am).

Cheers,

Camo

 

[AsaiahMom43]

My male ekkie will growl when he is playing on top of his cage. He doesnt do it very often , and I was wondering the same thing; if it was normal or ok. He is only going on 8 months old. I like the suggestions given here.

I am actually typing this now, as Gizmo is growling at his favorite toy (a baby key toy), he has climbed into his open cage so he could play with it, so he is definitely having fun even though he has growled at it about 20 times in the last few minutes. I think growling in Eclectus parrots is like with dogs to a certain extent. Some Eclectus parrots will only growl for one reason, a warning, my girl Pebbles is like that (I have never been bitten by her, but she gives me fair warning with a growl if she is not happy). Gizmo, my male eclectus will growl if he is upset, but also growls if he is playing with a toy (especially if he is getting really into it), so I think you have to consider what the body language is and the circumstances (if he was growling when you went near the toy or tried to take the toy, that would be a different story), by the sounds of it, your guys growl is just playing with the toy, in this circumstance and I wouldn't see any reason to try and stop him (personally I would prefer all the audible clues my guys can give me, they are far better at reading body language than I am).

Cheers,

Camo

Thanks Camo, I couldnt figure out if he was happy or if the new toys I put on his cage were making him feel scared. My Little guy makes all kinds of funny noises and he answers me back if I address him in any way. They are cute inflections of voice that sound so much like real words. If I say, what are ya doin, i swear it sounds like he is saying I dont know. Which i think is hilarous. And the more I think about it. When I approach his cage, he stops playing and walks over to see me, he has never growled at me. Just his toys.

 

[camo]

My male ekkie will growl when he is playing on top of his cage. He doesnt do it very often , and I was wondering the same thing; if it was normal or ok. He is only going on 8 months old. I like the suggestions given here.

I am actually typing this now, as Gizmo is growling at his favorite toy (a baby key toy), he has climbed into his open cage so he could play with it, so he is definitely having fun even though he has growled at it about 20 times in the last few minutes. I think growling in Eclectus parrots is like with dogs to a certain extent. Some Eclectus parrots will only growl for one reason, a warning, my girl Pebbles is like that (I have never been bitten by her, but she gives me fair warning with a growl if she is not happy). Gizmo, my male eclectus will growl if he is upset, but also growls if he is playing with a toy (especially if he is getting really into it), so I think you have to consider what the body language is and the circumstances (if he was growling when you went near the toy or tried to take the toy, that would be a different story), by the sounds of it, your guys growl is just playing with the toy, in this circumstance and I wouldn't see any reason to try and stop him (personally I would prefer all the audible clues my guys can give me, they are far better at reading body language than I am).

Cheers,

Camo

Thanks Camo, I couldnt figure out if he was happy or if the new toys I put on his cage were making him feel scared. My Little guy makes all kinds of funny noises and he answers me back if I address him in any way. They are cute inflections of voice that sound so much like real words. If I say, what are ya doin, i swear it sounds like he is saying I dont know. Which i think is hilarous. And the more I think about it. When I approach his cage, he stops playing and walks over to see me, he has never growled at me. Just his toys.

I seem to be playing chase the post with you...lol. I just saw your other post and the way I read that, he was actually growling and lunging at you, so I corrected myself and just came back to update this.

If he is just playing with the toy, especially if it's something that swings and using it like say a boxing bag and he growls, then that would be what Gizmo does, but lunging at you or growling at you when you approach would be more likely cage aggression (this is mine stay away or else), and cage aggression does need to be managed and sorted out. Sorry for the mixed messages, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't suggesting to let him carry on only to turn out it was cage aggression.

If he was scared, I would expect him to growl when you try to put him on the cage, and perhaps walk up your arm (my guys would fly off). If they couldn't fly away somewhere else, they would basically go as far away from the toy as possible (if in the cage, the other end, or if on the cage the furthest point on the cage). I would doubt he would interact with it if he was scared of it, if that makes sense and helps you determine what he is doing.

A video of him would be good to help confirm, oh and simply because I want to see a video of your boy, hint, hint

Cheers,

Camo

 

[eclectus39]

My 5-year-old(+-) adopted hen came to me with a 'rep' as a biter. She bit everyone in the household she was adopted into. So, they re-homed her to me. And, for the first several weeks, she was a perfect angel, would sit for hours and preen and sit with me and watch TV. Then, the egg came. Jekyll and Hyde personality change, and she tried to carve a hole in my face. Then, multiple injuries on my arm. Then, started biting/at other people in the house. The 'cure' has been to let her have her nest box, which she now claims as 'home', and she'll interact in a limited fashion, but no longer has shoulder privileges on account I'm tired of bleeding on her account. There's a 3-ft. 'kill zone' around the 'tree', now. She'll come out of that area and let herself be lifted, but inside that area, she's gaping and rarin' to fight, eyes pinned and whole 9 yards. Lately she's tended to abandon the 'tree' and spend more time of her own accord with people, no snapping, growling, or bite attempts. Still, no shoulder rides anymore.