Need help with re-training my parrot

[matt049]

I have a female eclectus parrot and she is nearly 2 years old ( i have had her since she was about 3 months old). she is usually well behaved but will bite my fingers and face in what appears to be anger. in the past this had shocked me and without thinking i have hit her and tossed her off of me in panic and i know this has negative effects on birds and since have tried to remain calm at all times when she bites and to calmly tell her no and she will let go and start clucking with her eyes pinned in an angry way and if i give her time out she will be nice after about 10 minutes. i have also tried squirting water at her at the moment she bites as a sort of self correctness training i was told by a behaviourest, but am unsure of the long term effects it may have on her. the last thing i want is for her to bite some1 and be hurt in retaliation as she means alot to me. i deeply regret acting in a negative way to her in the past and am trying to teach her that but need help.
Please provide me with the best techniques that can calm and make my feathered friend happier. and giving her up is not an option i will not give up on her.

 

[triordan]

Everyone makes mistakes, but it sounds like you need to start all over again. I am no way an expert on these things but I'm sure someone will chime in and give you advice~ glad to hear you are willing to work with her and not give her away~ Good luck!

 

[matt049]

thank you for your response and i know how it might feel to a bird to be mistrusted and given up to a new family and despite the hundreds of bitings i have had from her and how others seem to treat her with hostility i would never want her to feel untrusted or unloved. its a terrible feeling for all emotional creatures human and parrot alike. but hopefully i can find some answers to the root of the issue so she is more trusting and happier.

 

[matt049]

could she possibly be lonely? i have her out almost all the time when im home so at least 6 to 8 hours a day. she is friendly with a couple of the other members of my family and the worst she gets is with me usually during training possibly through frustration. im just trying to eliminate some other under lying causes and thought mabe she wanted a feathered friend rather than people all time?

 

[lene1949]

Welcome to the forums...

How long ago did you hit her - was it when you first got her or recently, or maybe both?

All my birds love to be sprayed with water, but I suppose, if it's done in anger, they wouldn't like it...

I would start from the beginning... Pretend she a brand new bird joining your household and then go from there...

Best of luck...

 

[lene1949]

could she possibly be lonely? i have her out almost all the time when im home so at least 6 to 8 hours a day. she is friendly with a couple of the other members of my family and the worst she gets is with me usually during training possibly through frustration. im just trying to eliminate some other under lying causes and thought mabe she wanted a feathered friend rather than people all time?

If she's out 6-8 hours a day, it might just be too much for her... Eclectus are very independent (if allowed to be), so I don't think she's lonely...

When do you train her? Why do you think she gets frustrated?

 

[matt049]

well i would have to say both every few months when she got really angry. i didnt mean to hit her it was a shock when she bit and my first reaction was to push her away from me or get her off of me. i have started again with training with treats teaching her to come and to step up and shake hands and she remembers them all but is still abit grumpy and tried to bite me a couple of times to get the treat without doing what i told her. but it went well no bites and she ended up in time doing everything during training (which is usually about 5 minutes as i heard parrots have short attention spans and i want training to be fun fore her).
i have also read punishing her is useless as she wont understand she is doing anything wrong. any suggestions to use in replacement of any form of punishment that works without causing long term trust issues?

 

[matt049]

i have tried giving her her space and more than 1 hour in the cage and she starts squaking and carrying on. i thought her frustration might have been from not understanding how to do some commands like when i tried to teach her to fetch she would get frustrated by not completing the command so i didnt give her the treat.

 

[lene1949]

Does she know how to play with her toys? Or is she solely reliant on you for her entertainment?

 

[matt049]

she plays with her toys some times. i bought her 2 new ones with wood and bells and fruit flavoured blocks and she loved them but got bored an hour after. most times she doesnt play with her toys. she eats, preens and sits still or climbs around for a bit.

 

[Pedro]

Oh dear matt049 you have your work cut out for you gaining her trust. I am not going to explain why you have made this huge mistake. I want you to read these links & then i want you to google as much as you can on parrot behaviour.

http://www.naturalencounters.com/im...s/Anatomy_of_Parrot_Behavior-Steve_Martin.pdf

Body Language

 

[matt049]

thats what i have been doing. but ever time i read from a new source it contradicts the last 1 i read. gaining her trust has never been an issue before usually the next day we are best of friends again. and although she is still biting they arnt as bad as before only a few drops of blood if any at all. seems to like what is described as a warning bite. so i was thinking i was doing something she didnt like. i know she like to come out of the cage herself most times and doesnt like it when i sit on the computer or watch tv and dont play with her (these are the most likely time she will bite). i have also started using a wooden stick to get her to step up on to when she is in the cage because i cant afford any more wounds on my hands. i gotta say i agree with what alot of people on the internet have said. a bird bites doesnt hurt physically as much as it does emotionally. i have also tried the mini earthquake thingy when she bites or is about to bite and where most things have shocked her temporarily, this seems to be different like she is learning not to bite from using this technique. early days though we will see how we go in the future.

 

[matt049]

oh dear. everything was going so good. she was really sweet and then just started to get nippy so i told he to be gentle quietly and she got my finger and was trying to eat it so i did the shaking hand thing to make her release and she gave those signals i read in one of the posts on body language that she wanted to bite me so i have put her a few feet away from me and ignoring her.

 

[CathnPoe]

My heart goes out to you.