Losing hope. Desperately need help. (Port lincoln parrot)

[takatoo]

About six months ago as of today, I adopted a Port Lincoln parrot. A man on craigslist couldn't take him anymore, as the bird had attacked his girlfriend relentlessly. I was a fairly new owner at this point and had no idea what I was getting into, so I gave it a shot.

What greeted me was a traumatized animal: Several years old was what I was told, he was blind in one eye due to likely abuse or otherwise injury, no band or records and had a horrible fear of women. He still does. That's the only reason I gave in and took him.

For the first few months, he was very sweet. He got along extremely well with my cockatiel, Victor, and was... tolerant of my sister and mother.

In November/December (I adopted him in late sept), things started getting bad. He attacked my mother for the first time, and a month later, my sister. Things weren't in bad terms with us just yet, but instead of the friendly, if not skittish bird I'd adopted, I had an aggressive bird developing.

This has just been getting worse up until now. In the past few weeks he's been having what I called "off days", jumping at me when I walked by and trying to bite me when I went to feed him. They were getting more frequent up until this week and last; it's just been straight on aggression. I've sustained an injury to my upper right cheek, several severe bites to my arms and one uncomfortably near my neck.

I'll try to explain his environment as well as possible so anyone kind enough to read this can point out anything that could be causing problems:

He has a conure-sized cage (~25w x ~25l x ~60h), with 4 natural wood perches, a platform perch in the left corner and no more than 5 toys at once: a pinata like hanging toy, a string of colored wood blocks, a bamboo net with hooked pieces of bamboo stalk and a garland of wooden rings are in there currently. I rotate them out every week, however the vet has told me not to move the perches around more than once or twice a season due to his blindness. This is also why there's not much in his cage as he is prone to panic and hit himself on things.

He's on a mixed pellet-seed diet with minimal to no sunflower seed, with that portion making up about 30% of his diet and the rest being various fresh greens, fruits and rice/grains. He gets the occasional healthy table scrap, cracker or something that I cooked, but not more than one small bit a day.

His cage is half exposed to the window, and the rest is against a wall. The window portion has a towel over the out-facing corner to keep him from seeing any possible light from electronics when I'm pulling all-nighters. Sadly, both birds are kept in my room as we live in a 4-room townhouse. If we lived somewhere else I would certainly not keep them with me.

From what I've been able to see, he has no ill will towards the cockatiel. When I allowed them to be out and supervised before all this, they would preen each other. They do not show any sign of mate bonding.

The main reason I'm extremely concerned about this is that rehoming is not a humane option for several reasons.

1. Port Lincolns are very, very rare in this area, with him being the only one within hundreds of miles. I live in the Northeastern US. If he was rehomed I'm afraid he'd eventually be shoved into a cruel breeding practice and that's not something I can live with on my conscience.

2. He's got special needs. Again, he's completely blind (and likely deaf) on one side and cannot fly well, among other small quirks. Someone who can't care for him and doesn't care for him as well as someone possibly could (I'll admit I'm not the best bird owner, but I try) would eventually kill him. At least having a large cage and being fed and cared for properly is keeping him happy and not totally miserable.

Sadly what I'm starting to think is that a lot of his aggression is natural, because the vet compared his behavior to that of a rosella. Since there is almost no information regarding Port Lincolns, I've researched rosellas, who are apparently naturally quite aggressive. If this is the case, I'm even more unsure of what to do.

If you take the time to read through all of my ranting, thank you, and if you can help, thank you even more.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Oh wow, well I'm certainly glad he's in a better situation with you now. Thank you for adopting him! Part of me wonders if his aggression is mostly hormonal. Lots of time a sweet, if not at least tolerable companion can become unruly and unpredictable when hormones hit. Generally it starts to quiet down the older the bird gets, but considering you have no idea how old he is there's a possibility he's still young enough to be afflicted by them.

That being said, there are many, many ways to interact positively with a bird without having to open their cage. Target training is HUGE in helping establish positive reinforcement and bond building. Some birds also become extraordinarily territorial of their cages, which is something you can choose to work on and prevent or something you choose to accept and work around. Also, once birds become comfortable, there's a chance they'll either bond more strongly or start testing the limits with you.

Some of it can also depend on the way you react when a bird does attack. Birds don't do well when aggression meets aggression, but you shouldn't exactly take it quietly either. Making an association that biting = time out, or lack of a positive experience, can really help lessen the attacks. Alternatively, rewarding positive behaviour (sitting quietly near you or others, not attacking as you walk by or get closer, etc) can also help reduce the frequency of negative behaviours. Birds are complex, but once they understand something they are quick to employ it if it benefits them - ie. "If I scream my human comes back", "If I bite, I get left alone", "If I do this trick, I get a treat", "If I fly here, I can do this". A lot of it comes down to understanding what is causing it in the first place. It may not seem like you're doing anything, but birds rarely attack if they don't feel it's warranted. You could have moved too quickly, worn the wrong colour, changed your hairstyle/earrings, the list is almost endless. It can help to make a journal and write down an entry for each attack that happens. It gives you a chance to reflect on what may have gone wrong.

Hope this helps and that some of the more experienced members chime in!

 

[takatoo]

Thank you for the feedback.

Unfortunately, target training doesn't seem to be an option. I've tried it very often without a way to reward him safely (the last time I tried, I used probably his favorite thing: tiny bits of cheddar cracker), and he still went straight for my hand. Didn't even look at the treat.

I am currently considering the hormonal thing, though it is a bit weird: I've removed most hormone triggers from the environment (both birds are on winter hours, no small dark spaces, etc etc), but that could still be a possibility.

Thank you again! I'll try to be back soon with updates.

(also, here's an old picture of him and Vic before he started getting aggressive

 

[chris-md]

He's s cutie!

An old trick: Try handing him treat out of a cup instead of your hand, see if that makes the training easier.

Good luck to you!

 

[Dinosrawr]

My IRN won't take treats out my hand without becoming food aggressive, so I never use them. I always place it on a spoon or in a treat cup like Chris mentioned. The biting is a fear response towards the hands, so if you remove the trigger it shouldn't be nearly as stressful for either of you!

 

[Brittany741]

He sounds like he's been through hell.

I agree it could be hormone related. If you're getting injured, don't handle him the way you have been! Buy a Percher off Amazon ($12) and don't let him sit on your hand. No shoulders, ever.

Hormones can take a long time to settle down. Sometimes it can take many months, so your patience will be tested.

Is he getting enough sleep? 10-12 hours is necessary for many birds.

Because of his blindness, I would not move his perches at all. Just imagine being him and having the only place you know of change with no notice. That would be quite unnerving. He doesn't have the ability to see what's going on completely, so his other senses are heightened.

My suggestion is to always use a soft and happy voice with him. Diet could be an issue so I would offer as much fresh vegetables and fruit as possible. Many pellets, even expensive ones, have a lot of bad ingredients which can make hormones a lot worse. I feed Goldenfeast Golden'Obles to my entire flock.

My biting jerk foster CAG Molly who HATES me, gets Theanine mixed in with her food. It's much less expensive buying the human grade capsules than the powdered bird formula. She gets one pill per day. It has calmed her down A LOT.

We also discovered she is a completely different bird when my husband doesn't use his hands with her. She is scared of hands. She has bonded with and adores my husband. She just hates me.

With your guy, I would move him away from the window. Try it for a week or two and see if that helps. He may feel exposed to predators, and with a loss of vision and possible hearing, that may be terrifying to him. Cover the top and sides of his cage like a baby bird for a portion of the day and see if he starts feeling more secure. My honest take on what you've said is you've got a hormonal, scared, special needs baby who needs lots of patience and time. Calm music may help him, such as singer/songwriter. For TV, try NatGeo or other nature specials.

You sound like the right place for him. You care and you're thoughtful about his future. I think a few minor changes to protect yourself from injury and to give him more security and self-assuredness may be just what he needs to get through this hormonal stage. Hormones are the worst!