Problem with my biting Alex

[smudge]

Hi guys,
i have had my alex now for about four months. I am still having problems with gaining her trust. i trick train her every day. she can now spin, shake and step up. I am not sure what else i can train her? Even thought i spend maybe 15 mins a day with her she still bites and lunges for my hand if i dont have any treats. However, i think she has somewhat bonded to me, as she doesnt like anyone else in the family and flies away from them. At least she comes to me when I have food.

Her cage can be seen from the kitchen, and i think she knows her food is in the pantry. so every time we go into the kitchen, she screaches continually, until we give her something or leave the room.

I have been ignoring her when she screams hoping that if i dont give her attention, she will learn that however hard she tries she will not get anything until she is quiet. However this doesnt seem to be working?

She is the same when biting. if i put my hand in the cage with food, she will run to me and take the food, but if i put my hand in the cage without food, she will run to me and lung at my hand.

Can anyone give me some good advice to stop her from biting or to help me bond more with her? i have bruised fingers and hands from her biting me. If i cant get her to stop biting or minimize the screaching, i am going to have to sell her, as i cant live with her for 40 years, when every time i go to the cage my finger bleed or she continually screams while i eat breakfast.


Please help!!!!
Any advice would be excellent!!!!

 

[weco]

i have had my alex now for about four months. I am still having problems with gaining her trust.

Four months is not all that long to have accomplished what you have, so congrats on where you are...even though you're frustrated.....

i trick train her every day. she can now spin, shake and step up. I am not sure what else i can train her? Even thought i spend maybe 15 mins a day with her she still bites and lunges for my hand if i dont have any treats. However, i think she has somewhat bonded to me, as she doesnt like anyone else in the family and flies away from them. At least she comes to me when I have food. Keep up her other trick training, but you'll need to start weaning her from the treats when she screams...actually, a stern NO, then either walk away from her or turning you bach & ignore her (not looking at her or acknowledging her) also when you tell her NO, you want to do it with a very displeased look on your face...birds are all about body language, it's just that we humans don't take the time to learn to read theirs.....also, every time she screams, tell her "NO screaming, nice voice...or something like that" and again, ignore her for a couple of minutes...they want your attention and do not like to be ignored.....


Along with you teaching her about screaming and biting, you need to use basically the same technique to socialize her with the other humans in the house...and...they need to interact with her at times, changing water bowls, feeding her, talking softly to her & offering her treats.....it only took her 4 months to get you to do what she wants, but it might take you a little longer to get her to change her ways, but as long as she wants your company and attention, she'll change.....we humans have to learn about as much as our birds do...we just have to learn that jumping up and running to them every time they make a noise is wrong.....

I have been ignoring her when she screams hoping that if i dont give her attention, she will learn that however hard she tries she will not get anything until she is quiet. However this doesnt seem to be working? It'll work, just be patient.....

Can anyone give me some good advice to stop her from biting or to help me bond more with her? Time & patience, like I said, 4 months is not a long time to teach a bird, it took me over a year to just get a sun conure to fly to my hand..... i have bruised fingers and hands from her biting me. If i cant get her to stop biting or minimize the screaching, i am going to have to sell her, as i cant live with her for 40 years, when every time i go to the cage my finger bleed or she continually screams while i eat breakfast. Bruised and bitten fingers are sometimes part of owing a companion parrot...I've got several scars where I made a mistake and didn't pay attention to a bird's body language or wasn't fast enough to get my hands/fingures out of the way of their angry beaks.....

You've done a good job with her trick training because she wanted to please you, it's just that you didn't realize she was also training you to do what she wanted (the screaming, lunging & biting), but it can all be fixed.....

You know, allowing her to eat with you might help also...I often set an extra plate for my birds and let them eat with me...

Good luck.....

 

[Minimaker]

I have a cage aggressive conure, I take him out of the cage with a stick. The bird loves me but defends his cage to the death from anyone. I would do that every time instead of putting your hand in. And Walt is right, four months is not enough time for some birds. My vet just told me she wouldn't be surprised if it took us eight months to get our new macaw to trust and love us. And bites come with the territory if you own a parrot, they have not had the time in captivity that dogs and cats have had to get domesticated. You can own one for 20 years and still get bit if you don't watch their body language. Most parrots are one or two generations removed from being wild animals. They may retain that wildness for more generations to come.

 

[Betrisher]

I agree with what other posters have said: congratulations on teaching your bird so much in such a short time! That's great progress!

My Beaks were a bit like your Coco when they were young. Alexes are incredibly food-greedy birds and will do whatever it takes to get what they want (ie. treats). You need to be extremely careful not to offer treats unless it's a reward for good behaviour. If you do it indiscriminately, sometimes a piggy little Alex can take that as a signal to bellow until more food arrives.

You say Coco is doing a few tricks quite competently, so I'd wean off the treats gradually and simply tell her 'Good girl' when she performs as you want her to. Once a trick or behaviour has been established, you don't have to keep on rewarding with food: praise can sometimes be enough, at least much of the time.

Alexes will lunge and bite to get what they want (eg. food, a toy or to be left alone). To prevent a bite, close your hand into a tight fist and present the back of your hand to your bird. She won't be able to get hold of the tight skin on the back of your hand and so will gradually learn the bite is fruitless (figuratively speaking...)

Don't give her a chance to bite! If you're opening her cage and about to take her out for her daily exercise, say clearly 'Step up' and present your hand. If she attempts to bite, calmly say 'No' and back away, closing the cage and leaving the room. Try again in five/ten minutes. You'll win in the end because every birdie wants playtime!

If she's biting you for not giving food treats, you must put her straight back in her cage every time she tries that on. She will learn very quickly that biting brings a poor outcome. This method has stood me in great stead with my Barney and Madge, both of whom tried to 'persuade' me with their beaks when they were little. It was especially fun with Madgie, who loves shiny things and who has singlebeakedly destroyed several pairs of my favourite earrings. She no longer does that: she has learned that chomping Mum's earrings earns her a return to The Cage!

Having said all that, I'd just add that you need to be careful not to ask too much of your bird. Some people like to force the bird to stepupstepupstepup incessantly for no particular reason. If you approach your bird with your hand and say 'Step up', watch what birdie does in response. If she shies away, pins her eyes or turns from you, then you can bet she's not in the mood for your company. Leave her alone for a while. She might just want to eat or poop or ponder the meaning of life. Try again in ten minutes and if she still rejects you, leave her alone for a few hours.

Also, keep your training sessions short. A young bird can really only cope with ten to twenty minutes of full-on training before becoming bored or fatigued. It doesn't take long for them to learn that 'step up' could mean a gruelling hour or so of trick-training, so be sure to keep your sessions short and sweet.

A last point about the screaming. Alexes are loud. They just are. My pair competes with the (large) flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets that live nearby. There's no way I'll ever get them to shut up, but I've found that keeping them busy with lots (and I do mean LOTS) of chewy toys and shredding toys helps. Fresh tree branches with young leaf tips and blossoms/fruit are great. I use eucalyptus and callistemon because that's what our native parrots enjoy and thrive on. You'd need to find out what's non-toxic in your area and provide that. You can also swing a plant hanger in the cage and fill it with different textures of chewy toy: plastic lids, paper cups, straws, plastic spoons, bamboo items, corrugated cardboard etc etc etc. One of my favourites (and the cheapest of all) is a tightly-rolled junk-mail catalogue poked between the cage bars. That keeps the Beakies nibbling away for a good couple of hours. Another good one is to put a sheet of corrugated cardboard on top of the cage and allow birdie to climb along her ceiling to get at it. That's good exercise for her. What else? Cotton reels, paper cups, toilet roll cylinders, corks, shredded paper stuffed into a box with a small slit in it... there's so many wonderful chewy things you can give your bird to keep her mind (and beak) active so that she won't want to scream. As I said, you'll never shut her up completely, but you ought to be able to manage her calling so it's bearable.

The last thing I'll say is that the one thing keeping my Beaks gainfully occupied and moderately quiet is each other. They play together, argue together, sleep together and basically take care of each other. I know many people say 'If you keep a pair, you'll never get a strong bond with a bird', but that has simply not been the case for me. My Beakies love me and they love each other. When I'm busy, I'm so glad I have a pair and not a singleton!

Good luck with your Coco. Please let us know how you get on. I feel sure you'll do very well with just a few small changes.

 

[Taw5106]

Birdman recommended using two fingers to push the biters beak back. I take my thumb and forefinger, place each on either side of Venus' beak and push her back. This has worked extremely well. While I push her back gently I say no firmly. Try that, I was amazed at how well it worked.