One step forward, two steps back

[Amlamb]

I was super excited. I've been leaving the cage door open hoping that Athena would come out. Today, she decided to come out!
She started to come to me so I decided to sit on the floor and share breakfast with her....she made a b-line straight for my foot, and she got it, good! She drew blood this time.
I went to get a towel to put her back in the cage. At this point, she is distressed and breathing heavily. I got her up on the towel but she was trying to crawl up my arm to my bare skin. I gotta admit, it's difficult not to get discouraged.

 

[tashawithanekkie]

Oh no, your poor foot!
Try not to lose all hope, though. At least she came out of the cage.
I really wish I had better advice. Hopefully some experienced parronts will pop in soon. I just couldn't read and not reply.

 

[Amlamb]

The worst part about it is she doesn't trust me anymore. She puffs up every time I get near the cage.

 

[Amlamb]

Is there a way to post videos? She's at the bottom of her cage, kind of swaying, knocking her beak on the bars, gently honking. Is this territorial or "I'm sorry mom, please open the door."

Being a first time bird mom is difficult. No matter how many courses, books, videos, species specific research there is, it doesn't compare to first hand experience. I wish I knew more about eclectus behaviors and what they mean. I think I'm making progress, and reading her well, but sometimes I'm not sure if she's telling me she's happy or back off.

The rescue offered me to exchange birds, but I really don't want to do that. It's only been a little over a week, and I think I can get her bonded and comfortable.

Thank you all for your nonjudgmental support!

 

[tashawithanekkie]

It seems like folks post vids to youtube and link them? i don't really know.

I think you can earn her trust and bond with her, too, I really do! A week is such a short time. And yeah, being a new parront is TOUGH! Duke is our first parrot, too. He came to us in February, and we're still working on getting to know each other. You'll get there.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Well, here's my story...
I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand.
In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.
Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it. So food reward is a necessity for me.
But please... listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Don't surrender until you know you've done your best. Then just accept and love whatever/whoever your bird turns out to be.
Oh, and... every now and then, he breaks up with me. Gets mad for no apparent reason and won't come to me, won't call my name, won't even look at me. It can last days or weeks. Then he gets over it and takes me back. Little monster.
Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Amlamb]

I'm definitely not ready to surrender. I really do think we can do this, it's just might be a long road. I'm willing to put in the effort and work.

I do think her behavior was more "back away from my cage." She was more lunging, head feathers puffed, and eyes dialated. I've just got to learn to read her. She's on her perrch honking now...content??

 

[Amlamb]

[ame="https://youtu.be/Vu0n8cYQqIY"]Eclectus dancing? - YouTube[/ame]

 

[StChelle]

It has taken my brother a few months to "tame" Petra, his female Eclectus. She bit a lot when he first got her and he was about the only person she liked. Now she is a diff bird even with me. There are still times when she won't step up and will try to bite. That will likely always be the case with any bird.

I have had Harley, my male Eclectus for right at a month (he came home May 14). That is still a work in progress and yes there are days we seem to go backwards. Be patient and consistent and always include bite pressure training. Maybe have her step up on a thick stick or dowel rod. You'll get bit much less often and can keep building trust. I am a new parront myself, but your girl sounds a bit like my boy and I am just sharing what is working for me. And that is far from perfect, it is overall positive progress from when he first came home.

 

[Amlamb]

It has taken my brother a few months to "tame" Petra, his female Eclectus. She bit a lot when he first got her and he was about the only person she liked. Now she is a diff bird even with me. There are still times when she won't step up and will try to bite. That will likely always be the case with any bird.

I have had Harley, my male Eclectus for right at a month (he came home May 14). That is still a work in progress and yes there are days we seem to go backwards. Be patient and consistent and always include bite pressure training. Maybe have her step up on a thick stick or dowel rod. You'll get bit much less often and can keep building trust. I am a new parront myself, but your girl sounds a bit like my boy and I am just sharing what is working for me. And that is far from perfect, it is overall positive progress from when he first came home.

So let me make sure I have the bite pressure training correct...when my finger is in her mouth, I tell her "good girl." When it becomes too much, I tell her "gentle." Today, when she bit, I told her "no," and gave her a timeout in the cage. (Problem is she likes her cage and the issue is getting her out.)

I tried the dowel rod and it worked once. Ever since then, she runs and then bites it immediately. I'm just going to have to try several things and see what works for her I guess.

 

[StChelle]

It has taken my brother a few months to "tame" Petra, his female Eclectus. She bit a lot when he first got her and he was about the only person she liked. Now she is a diff bird even with me. There are still times when she won't step up and will try to bite. That will likely always be the case with any bird.

I have had Harley, my male Eclectus for right at a month (he came home May 14). That is still a work in progress and yes there are days we seem to go backwards. Be patient and consistent and always include bite pressure training. Maybe have her step up on a thick stick or dowel rod. You'll get bit much less often and can keep building trust. I am a new parront myself, but your girl sounds a bit like my boy and I am just sharing what is working for me. And that is far from perfect, it is overall positive progress from when he first came home.

So let me make sure I have the bite pressure training correct...when my finger is in her mouth, I tell her "good girl." When it becomes too much, I tell her "gentle." Today, when she bit, I told her "no," and gave her a timeout in the cage. (Problem is she likes her cage and the issue is getting her out.)

I tried the dowel rod and it worked once. Ever since then, she runs and then bites it immediately. I'm just going to have to try several things and see what works for her I guess.

Hopefully the experienced people will chime in I'd recommend that you check out the advice I was given on thread I started on this forum seeking biting advise lol. Some great tips in there. There is also a sticky post on bite pressure training on the Training forum with some great advice by Anansi.

I am no expert, so I can only share my limited experience with Harley and Petra. For me, at first I would make him step up on a stick when he was biting to make me go away. I felt this was important to do in order to show him he can't bite me to get his way, and what he wanted was to be left alone. This is why time outs didn't work on him and likely won't for a long while. They DO work on my galah, but he is way more social.

When I had him step up on the stick, I kept him in the cage at first then gradually brought him just outside of the cage door. When he stepped up on the stick I would tell him good boy and talk to him softly while feeding him treats. Now, sometimes, when he was really pissy, he would walk to the end of the stick I was holding and try to bite me. When he would try, I would distract him with a treat to make him pick his head up, and would say "Good boy, no Bite". I would only have him perch on the stick for a few minutes before I put him back on his perch in his cage where he felt safe. My goal was to show him 1) nothing bad will happen when he steps up for me and 2) that good things happen when he does (and doesn't bite). Distracting a biting beak with a treat works well too btw Anyway, I did this every day before work and every day after work for a few weeks in the beginning. I eventually stopped using the stick and did the same exercise using my hand, wrist and forearm. I haven't had to use the stick for stepping up in a while.

On the actual bite pressure training, when he is perched on me, I tell him good boy when he doesn't bite down hard. When he does bite down and starts to increase his pressure to where it starts to hurt, I will gently grab his top beak between my thumb and finger, say "No, no bite" and remove his beak from my skin. After a while he got the hint when I say "no bite" and reach for his beak.

Whatever method you chose to train her not to bite, you have to be consistent and patient, and learn their body language of when they are trying to bite you hard vs. not.

Harley stepped up on my hand very easy tonight. I have it on video. I'll try to post it when I figure out how. Just keep working with her and keep in mind that a week (especially the first week home) isn't enough time to expect any drastic improvement. It will take several weeks to months, but you will see it if you are consistent and patient

 

[StChelle]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/upload_thumbnail?v=iFxwuo-IAoo&t=hqdefault&ts=1497923724307[/ame]

Hope this works! This is the culmination of lots of patience, time, and work! Love every minute of it. He is also playing with his new toy I got him today.

... and, in full disclosure, the result of two small scars on my hand! haha

 

[Anansi]

StChelle, great advice given, and I'm glad to see your progress with Harley! Patience, time and work, indeed! Nicely done!

Amlamb, don't get discouraged. Thing is, you've only had your ekkie a short time. The most important thing is to build a bond with her. You're right, timeouts don't work very well for you at the moment. First you need to build an association in her mind between you and good things. You need to become synonymous with tasty goodness in her mind.

No need to rush. Take your time and nurture a relationship with her. Once you get there, she'll value her time outside of the cage.

All that said, a few other tips: if you use a perch to get her to step up, you can avoid the situation where she runs down the perch to bite by using a t-perch. Takes away the option.

Also, working with her in an entirely different room will shift her sense of the familiar. If you move her to an unfamiliar part of the house, relatively speaking you will be the most familiar thing to her. Changes the entire dynamic. You'll be her security blanket rather than the cage. But this can wait until after you and she have built something of a connection. No need working in a vacuum, right?

But the keys to everything, as StChelle already mentioned, are patience and consistency. You'll get there. Just remember that you always get out of it what you put in.

 

[coopedup]

It will be as much a learning curve for you as for her. Expectations, boundaries, and realities. As many have said in before me....time and patience. My hands were covered in bites the first month but as he learned to trust a tiny bit, they were less severe---and now a year later i never get bitten. He'll grab my finger and growl if he doesnt like what Im doing (mostly trying to touch feathers or rub feet/beak) but he's come a long way as we build that bond. We're still learning and growing...there are definately phases and moods...but let her go at HER pace, even if that means longer than you'd like. Would I like a more playful or cuddly bird? Yup...would I trade him for that "perfect" bird? No way! I adore my grumpy green man---he is who he is and I wouldnt change a feather of him. Ok, maybe i'd change the feather plucking---but who knew that an ugly gray half bald bird would steal my heart