Help!! Female cockatoo biting

[Mannie1985]

Hi I'm new I know I am supposed to do the newbie thing but I need some help ASAP. Me and my boyfriend have 2 umbrella cockatoos and our female is going insane. Our female has been biting lately and every time she is NOT provoked at all. She bites me more then anything, I have not done anything to scare her at all. She is about 5 years old and we have had her for about a month and everything was nice she cuddlyand talkative. Now all of a sudden she has been biting and very hard! She has struck blood the last few times she has bit me unprovoked. It is coming to the point where I'm literally scared of her cause she will crawl down her cage and charge at me bitethen walk away and back up her cage as I'm sitting on the couch looking up stuff about cockatoos. Can anyone help me, I don't want to get rid of her but I'm at a lost as what to do. I do not hit/or beat her I would never raise a hand to any animal her cage is kept clean food and water bowls kept clean. Our other cockatoo is scared of her also any advice would greatly appreciated

 

[Velimir]

Do you know what her history is? Was she neglect, abused, or antagonized before you got her?

How does she react to your boyfriend? Is she protective of him? Or does she ignore him?

What is her husbandry? What is/was she eating? What is her bedtime schedule? Has she been to the vet?

Have you changed anything recently? New nail polish? New perfume? Moved her cage? Anything?

Any of these (and more) can upset a bird. Especially a bird that is still new to your environment. If she will accept them, try offering her treats when she is calm. Watch her body language carefully. Do not reward aggressive behavior. When you walk by, give her a treat if she is calm. You want her to associate you with positive things. If you are afraid to offer them to her by hand, then drop it into her bowl. Eventually work up to offering them by hand. Then offer them after a scritch. Then offer them when she perches on your shoulder. Etc. Take small steps and do not progress until she has mastered the step before.

It is frustrating to have a bird suddenly decide to dislike you but they have a reason inside their birdy minds. Maybe she dislikes something you did and now she holds a grudge. It can be overcome but it will take time.

I would separate her from the other cockatoo if he is afraid of her.

 

[Mannie1985]

She doesn't bite my boyfriend at all and I don't know her history the people we got her from said that they needed to get rid of her cause they didn't have the means to take care of her anymore they said she wasn't beaten or anything I asked them if there was anything I should know about her and they said no they would keep her but they couldn't afford her anymore I don't wear nail polish anymore I haven't changed my perfume in a few years same perfume and when she bites I'm 98% of the time trying to relax and like I said just climbs down makes a b line for me bites me and then goes back to her cage and she does this weather or not my boyfriend is home I play with her and try to challenge her (figuring things out to get her treat) and I try not to show my fear but that in itself is hard when your scared or a bird lol

 

[Velimir]

I am not an expert but I do have many years of trial and error experience. I know it is difficult, but you must work on managing your fear. To her, your fear is a reward. If she has envisioned this to be a game, her reward is your trepidation and attention. Wear a sweater or a coat if you need to protect yourself. Wear gloves if she tries to get your hands. Then sit in the room and relax as you would normally do.

Since you say that it happens most often when you try to relax, that tells me she may think it is a game. I would first try to isolate what might be causing her behavior. Does she react when you have your phone out? Maybe you are reading a book? Maybe watching TV. If it happens every time, despite different activities, then we may never know for certain. If it is one of those things, you can work on slowly introducing it to her as she may fearful of the device/activity.

If you cannot identify the cause of her aggression, gauge how she reacts to you if you just sit near her cage (with the cage door closed) and talk to her. If she seems content, give her a treat. Do this for a day or two. Then open her cage door. If she is content, give her a treat. Again, do this for a day or two. If she seems happy to be the center of your attention, then perhaps her aggression is because she wants you to pay attention to her. Do not ever reward her bad behavior. It is best to ignore it if you can (much hard to do than to say, I know). Do not look at or acknowledge her. Get up and walk away if she is too threatening (this may become caveat if she afraid of you).

Without being able to see her, this is hard to diagnose. But you might have luck attempting to "re-tame" her. I have had to do this with birds before and it could take a little while, but you should notice progress that will encourage you along.

 

[Mannie1985]

well shes happy to see me when the cage door is shut (like when i come home from work) i open the door and shes fine and happy she climbs out and goes on her perch and i give her some loving (a short pet) and she gives me kisses. let disco (our other U2) and do the same thing to him and then give her another short pet. go about putting things away and then was about to give them both my full attention (mind you the cages are in completely different sides of the room and disco climbs down his cage and waits for me on the couch) Razzle (our female) usually does the same but lately has been wanting me to pick her up from the cage and ive been giving her a treat before i do so i dont get bit but she has been biting me reguardless and if she keeps this up my boyfriend said she will have to go ive been looking online on ways to stop her from biting so we dont have to give her up and everything ive read said its cause she is being provoked but like ive said before im not provoking at all lol....with Razzle biting all started sunday when i came home from work at 10am (i can only work 4 hour shifts right now) and my boyfriend was laying on the couch cause he has been sick for a few days.


the only thing that has changed is that im not home all the time anymore (due to an accident last may) but when i was out of work i would still go out to visit family or whatever for a few hours and come home and do what ive been doing.....idk if maybe thats the reason but i dont think it is but my only reasoning is that she is for some reason overly protective of my boyfriend but i dont get why all of a sudden biting. should was fine for the last month or so come to both me and the boyfriend be very loveable cuddle very talkative (mostly with my boyfriend and wouldnt have her out of the cage all the time either) just a few minutes ago i was getting my budgies and cockatiels food ready and she walked over as if she wanted to get on my shoulder her umbrella wasnt up or anything and bit my hand/finger and then walked away up her cage and this afternoon my sister in-law came over to visit and Razzle was good for about 20 minutes was being lovable and then out of the blue she bit her on her side and my sister in-law didnt even provoke her either so im thinking maybe she doesnt like women for some reason or what its so frustrating

 

[Mannie1985]

 

[Mannie1985]

the first pic is our female Razzle and the 2nd pic is our male Disco...... pictures were taken when we first got them

 

[Julierae72]

I don't have any real advice this is just a note to say I have been in your shoes. My female u2 tore thru my earring hole. bit my finger my side then my finger again, out of the blue. I trusted her before this because we have a male u2 and he had rarely bitten. She loved all the boys in the house just not me. I was the only female. I like to love my animals but sometimes you just have to be their parents because it's hard to love someone that mistreats you. Forgive her. I am sure you have already. You guys are all she has. Oh and my male hates my boyfriend of 6 years He gets very upset still when he is out and he sees us hug or even kiss. :64: