My parrot is very agressive

[Bean1]

Hello I'm new to this forum but I'm in desperate need of advice. About 8 months ago I got a parrot from a home that did not want her because of how mean she was. At first I thought they were being ridiculous, until about a month of having her did I realize.
She was sweet at first then totally turned on me and I've tried to do everything and she still attacks. I have a family member that can hold her but after a minute trina(my bird) attacks her too.
It's come to the point that I no longer like the bird and she is physically and mentally draining me. After almost a year of me just walking by her cage and have to avoid getting bit or having my clothes attacked I want to re-home her.
I have someone who would take her and has had her before. Please any advice for me would be extremely helpful and please no negative comments, I'm already beating myself up for even considering giving her up.

 

[EllenD]

While no one here would ever attack you for considering to rehome your bird, the negativity is going to come because this poor bird was set-up to fail just simply based on the multiple homes and different owners. So the first thing you need to understand is that hand-taming a bird starts with first, before anything else, EARNING THE TRUST OF THE BIRD, WITHOUT THIS IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO TRAIN THEM; AND THIS BIRD HAS BEEN GIVEN NO REASON TO TRUST ANYONE. THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE STARTING FROM.

First of all, before we can help you, can you please answer some questions the best you can, as you didn't really provide any information about the bird or it's history at all. This is important if we are going to be able to help you at all:

-What species of bird is this?
-Do you know how old this bird is?
-Do you know what gender this bird is FOR CERTAIN? (without a DNA test it's impossible with some species, with others you can tell by looking at them, it just depends on the species)
-Do you know how many owners this bird has had?
****-Do you know if this bird was hand-raised/hand-fed by a human as a young baby by a breeder, or was this bird raised by it's parents with no human interaction until after it weaned? IT WASN'T A WILD-CAUGHT BIRD, WAS IT?
-Was this bird ever bonded to another bird of the same species, or a part of a breeding-pair of birds at any point?
****-Can you explain what you have done in the way of training/taming exercises in the almost year since you've had this bird? Have you spent a good amount of time every single day with this bird doing hand-taming training? Do you give this bird ample hours every single day of time out of his/her cage, in a room with a shut-door? IS THIS BIRD FLIGHTED OR ARE IT'S WINGS CLIPPED? WHERE DO YOU HAVE THIS BIRD'S CAGE LOCATED IN YOUR HOUSE? IS IT LOCATED IN THE ROOM OF YOUR HOME WHERE PEOPLE USUALLY ARE LOCATED, WHERE THE "ACTION" OF THE HOUSE IS, LIKE THE LIVING ROOM, FAMILY ROOM ETC., OR DO YOU HAVE IT'S CAGE LOCATED IN A BACK BEDROOM, SPARE BEDROOM, ROOM THAT IS OUT OF THE WAY AND NOT WHERE THE PEOPLE IN THE HOME SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME?

If you could please answer these questions to the best of your ability, we'll have a much better picture of what's going on and what is the best way to approach taming/training your bird. YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT HAND-TAMING/TRAINING A BIRD THAT IS NOT TAME AT ALL AND WON'T EVEN STEP-UP, AND IS BITING, ESPECIALLY ONE THAT HAS HAD MULTIPLE HOMES/OWNERS TAKES A LARGE COMMITMENT EVERY SINGLE DAY FROM YOU. This process can take months and months to years to accomplish, but this is what is going to be required to first earn this bird's trust, and then get the bird to be receptive to training time with you every single day, as well as out of cage time with you every day...YOU ALSO NEED TO REALIZE THAT SOMETIMES IN SITUATIONS LIKE THESE IT IS NECESSARY TO CLIP THE BIRD'S WINGS TO START THE HAND-TAMING PROCESS. Some people disagree with me on this, but as someone who has hand-tamed dozens of non-tame Budgies over 30 years, I can tell you from experience that the easiest and quickest way to earn the trust of a bird like this is to take away it's ability to fly. By doing so you are essentially forcing the bird to RELY ON YOU, AND IN ORDER FOR THE BIRD TO COMPLETELY RELY ON YOU FOR MOST EVERYTHING, EVEN FOR SIMPLY THINGS LIKE GETTING BACK TO IT'S CAGE FROM THE FLOOR AFTER TRAINING TIME, IT MUST TRUST YOU. IN ADDITION, IT'S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE PROGRESS IN HAND-TAMING AND TRAINING TIME IF THE BIRD SIMPLY KEEPS FLYING AWAY FROM YOU EVERY TIME YOU GO NEAR IT. All that ends-up happening in this common scenario is you spend your hour or two of daily hand-taming/training time, in the room you have chosen as the training room, one with a carpeted floor and a latching door, running around chasing the bird from picture frame to picture frame, window or curtain rod, etc. AND THE MORE YOU CHASE A BIRD AROUND A ROOM, THE LESS IT IS GOING TO TRUST YOU, AND THIS IS ACTUALLY MAKING YOUR TRAINING GO BACKWARDS INSTEAD OF FORWARDS...FOR THESE REASONS, THE FIRST THING I DO BEFORE I START HAND-TAMING/TRAINING A BIRD LIKE THIS IS TO CLIP IT'S WINGS...

 

[Bean1]

Thank you for getting back to me. All I know about trina is that I am her third home, she is a monk parrot but I'm not sure she is a she . I've heard that she is 14 years but I cant be sure and she's never been around other birds.
Her first owner had to move and gave her to a family(the second home) to hold onto but ended up not wanting her. The second home she came from did not want her so they kept her covered and when she was held it was with gloves( due to her biting ) I took her because she was covered all the time and felt bad for her. As soon as I got her home we uncovered and left the cage open so she could get a feel of my room( she stays only in my room because she does not like our dog)
She adjusted luckily and was a sweet heart but after a month she turned on me. I have several chunks missing out of my hand and she attacks me when I'm sitting(she goes out of her way to bite my clothes) . I have her by my bed because she screams and starts plucking when I move her somewhere else. So trina is always with me.
I haven't clipped her wings until recently because she really doesnt fly but got spooked by a loud noise and flew into the wall.
Ive tried many ways to tame her such as getting her use to hands or gently wrapping her in a small blanket and petting her. After these she is sweet but then turns back to being mean. Every movement I make is usually followed with her hissing and trying to bite.
She has bit several people who either tried to pet her or just accidently walked to her cage.
Its coming to the point that I want to avoid my room because she is so mean.
My family members were the ones who told me to get rid of her because no one likes her. But I feel awful knowing this would be her 4th move.
Trina is by no means my first bird with aggressive issues. My cherry head conjure passed away before I got trina and he was heavily abused. But this is the first bird Ive had just seems to be mentally draining me.
Please help and if there are anymore questions about trina i can answer feel free ask.

 

[EllenD]

That's a very sad and difficult situation. Quakers (Monks) are very stubborn parrots, but in this particular situation it sounds like this poor Quaker is only acting this way due to the way he/she has been treated in the past. 4 homes, being covered up 24/7, and god knows what else has taught this poor bird to not trust a single sole, and since you don't know the bird's gender or age, this could very well also be impacted by hormones, and quite frankly by illness.

Has Trina ever been to a Certified Avian Vet for a wellness exam? My guess would be that he/she has not, not ever in life, so the problem is that you have no idea whether or not the bird is ill and this is impacting the way Trina is acting. He/She could have a bacterial or fungal infection in the GI tract, the crop, etc. making them feel badly. There could be a plethora of things going on here. So the first thing that needs to be done is getting Trina to only an Avian specialist vet for a wellness checkup that includes fecal swabs and routine blood work. I realize that you live with your parents, I don't know your age, but getting anyone to care about this bird enough to come up with a couple hundred dollars is probably going to be difficult, but it's absolutely necessary.

A DNA test can be done by many companies online, like Avitech. All you do is order a kit from them for between $20-$30, they send you a kit, and you send them back a couple of feathers. While not urgent, it's well worth knowing what Trina's sex is, if for no other reason than to be prepared in-case of egg-binding or other gender-related health issues.

As far as training Trina, I don't suggest toweling her or wrapping her in a blanket, that isn't typically something they enjoy. Now of course you can do this to trim nails, file the beak, give medicine, vet trips, etc., but it's not a good way to earn trust.

THE FIRST STEP TO TAMING A BIRD IS YOU HAVE TO EARN IT'S TRUST...AND WHAT YOU HAVE TO REALIZE IS THAT POOR TRINA HAS BEEN GIVEN ABSOLUTELY NO REASON IN HIS/HER ENTIRE LIFE TO TRUST ANYONE AT ALL...

I will comment more later today when I have time, but the first step would be getting Trina on a natural light schedule every single day. You can search for that here in the forum, but basically it means getting her up at sunrise and putting her to sleep at sun-down. There's more to it than that, but that's basically the idea. This helps to control hormones, ensure that Trina is getting at least 12 hours of sleep every night, etc.

What is Trina's regular, daily diet? This may have a lot to do with the behavior as well, as if the bird is on only a seed-mix and nothing else, this is not a healthy diet and the bird is probably malnourished.

 

[eagle18]

If she is threatening your mental and physical health than I agree that she needs to go.

Let's look at it this way, if you are constantly stressed out, and your feelings for her have changed, than you are doing her no favors by keeping her. This is not a pass or fail test, this is both of your lives we are talking about.

 

[MonicaMc]

Bean, have you ever tried using positive reinforcement training techniques to tame her?

The method you mentioned is known as flooding and is not recommended. It can either result in a bird that simply gives up or one that becomes more aggressive... *NOT* recommended!


Please look into this thread more.

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/72250-free-training-resources.html

 

[Bean1]

Thank you all for getting back to me. From what I know trina has never been to the vet. I make sure to give trina plenty of fruit and veggies that she is allowed to have(but of course not to much) and I have a special blend of food I get her (she refuses to eat anything else) and I have gotten her use to getting up at 6 in the morning when I get ready and to go to bed at 9 or 10.
I have put in a lot of thought about trina and was truly considering giving her back to her previous owner.
You see, her first home said that if I can not keep her then to give her back to them.
But these people are a bit older and they don't give trina the proper attention she needs, they leave her alone. But they never miss treated her she was uncovered she just didn't get the attention she needed.
It was the second home that had her covered all day.
None of these people ever abused, yelled or did not feed her properly but she has always been mean and that is why no one wanted her, I know that is no excuse for them to have her covered all day, but I can see where they are coming from. The one time they had her uncovered a small child walking by got bit.

She is truly affecting my mental health but I don't think I could give her to someone knowing they wouldn't treat her like I do. Because even though she is emotionally draining I try to give her everything she could want to make her feel more comfortable. I can deal with her not liking me but I can't deal with her being miserable.
Besides the methods I have tried no much training has gone into her. Due to the fact I really don't want her to stress.
When she stresses and it doesn't take much she looks as if she's going to have a heart attack, she won't move and breaths very heavy.
Just recently she took quite a bit from my hand and ever since I'm not quite fond of trying to be near her. It's a fight for me just to put food in her bowl or fill her water. She hisses and climbs down to attack me.
I just don't know what to do. Sometimes I avoid my room so I don't have to get hissed at or charged at. I know it sounds ridiculous but it brings my spirits down knowing I've given her my all and she doesn't trust me enough for me to even shift on my bed without getting hissed at me.
She is sweet at times but it never last long and it depesses me and I think she can tell when I'm stressed out by her , causing her to become even more aggressively.

 

[MonicaMc]

Does she have a favorite treat you can drop into a cup any time you go by the cage?

Do you have a picture of her cage setup?

 

[eagle18]

Thank you all for getting back to me. From what I know trina has never been to the vet. I make sure to give trina plenty of fruit and veggies that she is allowed to have(but of course not to much) and I have a special blend of food I get her (she refuses to eat anything else) and I have gotten her use to getting up at 6 in the morning when I get ready and to go to bed at 9 or 10.
I have put in a lot of thought about trina and was truly considering giving her back to her previous owner.
You see, her first home said that if I can not keep her then to give her back to them.
But these people are a bit older and they don't give trina the proper attention she needs, they leave her alone. But they never miss treated her she was uncovered she just didn't get the attention she needed.
It was the second home that had her covered all day.
None of these people ever abused, yelled or did not feed her properly but she has always been mean and that is why no one wanted her, I know that is no excuse for them to have her covered all day, but I can see where they are coming from. The one time they had her uncovered a small child walking by got bit.

She is truly affecting my mental health but I don't think I could give her to someone knowing they wouldn't treat her like I do. Because even though she is emotionally draining I try to give her everything she could want to make her feel more comfortable. I can deal with her not liking me but I can't deal with her being miserable.
Besides the methods I have tried no much training has gone into her. Due to the fact I really don't want her to stress.
When she stresses and it doesn't take much she looks as if she's going to have a heart attack, she won't move and breaths very heavy.
Just recently she took quite a bit from my hand and ever since I'm not quite fond of trying to be near her. It's a fight for me just to put food in her bowl or fill her water. She hisses and climbs down to attack me.
I just don't know what to do. Sometimes I avoid my room so I don't have to get hissed at or charged at. I know it sounds ridiculous but it brings my spirits down knowing I've given her my all and she doesn't trust me enough for me to even shift on my bed without getting hissed at me.
She is sweet at times but it never last long and it depesses me and I think she can tell when I'm stressed out by her , causing her to become even more aggressively.

If she has been left alone so much of her life then chances are she has become dangerously unsocialized.

She just may not be the kind of bird who does well with humans. She may be far better off in a sanctuary surrounded by her own kind.

But you know her better than anyone and I wish you and Trina all the luck in the world.