Rowdy help(B&G)

[Birdman666]

Is Tusk the Grey?

Yes.

Tusk is my CAG with attitude.

 

[rowdy]

thank you everyone. when would be a good time to start taking him out and how should I go about it?

 

[Birdman666]

That depends on a lot of things, especially the bird's background, training, and disposition.

How long has it been since this bird was handled?

Is the bird cage bound? Does he know how to step up?

Is he acting fearful, or is he acting like he wants to interact with you?

Sooner is better than later. Maggie hadn't been handled in 8 years or so, when I got her. I handled her right away, and within 4 days she was my bonded, out and about trained, buddy bird...

(She was cage bound, but not by choice. She wanted interaction, she just hadn't been getting it. Once she got it from me, she responded, and that was that.)

It's usually getting them to do it the first time that's the key.

How? To start with, open the door, stick out your hand, and give the step up command. Then do the thing I told you about not letting the bird up on your shoulder.

Or put a chair next to the cage, and just sit down with the bird on your lap.

 

[Kiwibird]

This stuff happens to the best of us, and sometimes they do catch you completely of guard. But now that you've been bitten, you know what it feels like, that it isn't the end of the world (though painful) and will be more prepared for it next time. I would strongly suggest coming up with a bite protocol (i.e. what do you do after a bite and discipline to re-establish trust and reinforce positive behavior?).

Now, I personally do my best to not react/react as little as possible when Kiwi bites. At the moment he connects, I stare him straight in the eye until he lets go. Then he is "disciplined" (placed in his cage and covered until he calms down, usually about 5-10 minutes), and you can see it in his face the moment that beak connects, he knows instantly he's done wrong. I have found it to be an effective method of dealing with very bad behaviors personally. He KNOWS when I lower my voice to almost a whisper/growl and have an extra firm hand and stern look after a bite, he's in BIG trouble. He KNOWS it's a time out followed by step up drills because that has been my set course of action for serious (aggressive) misbehavior since shortly after I got him. I opt not to react verbally since I will never win a shouting match with him and that being loud/aggressive/uncontrolled myself exacerbates the situation. So I go into hyper-control mode. A time out to allow him time to calm down and myself to clean the wound (if needed) and step up drills after the time out to re-establish trust and re-enforce good bird behavior. I like to show him the bite too, they know what that bruise/wound is from:20: That's just me though.

For less serious infractions, he will get told "NO" and/or "MINE" (which he knows means get your big beak of that object NOW!). He responds to both. I do have a habit of snapping my fingers at him and saying "hey" if he's getting to loud and that generally brings the volume down, again he's picked up on that over the years as meaning "quiet down or you're gonna get a time out":54:

 

[Birdman666]

NOT TO OVERWHELM YOU WITH INFORMATION, BUT I'VE GOT TO ADDRESS A COUPLE OF OTHER THINGS HERE:

He climbed onto my arm before I knew what was going on and so I thought okay, ill just put him back before anything happens. Right as i thought that he started to climb up on my arm.

THAT TELLS ME HE WANTED TO BE HANDLED.

When he's on shoulders he loves to bite ears and hair. obviously I didnt want that so i tried to get him to step up onto my other arm. I didnt touch him with the arm, not once, but he lashed out and he bit me...HARD.

HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO DO WITH THAT HAND, SO HE REACTED AND PREVENTED YOU FROM DOING IT...

So, this is my first macaw and even though ive done TONS of research, it was still in the moment reactions. I know youre not supposed to give a macaw a reaction when they bite you.

WE ALREADY DISCUSSED THIS ONE. MYTH. YOU DON'T SHOW FEAR WHEN THEY BITE. YOU DO REACT TO IT.

I yanked my arm away and i guess he was still latched to my arm because he was pulled off of the arm he crawled on and he fell to the floor(not a huge fall, maybe a foot). I had to use a stick (something he's scared of) to "coax" him out from underneath his cage(i tried to use praise, treats, seeds, fruits/veggies, ect, nothing worked to get him out).

TRY JUST SITTING DOWN AND WAITING HIM OUT WHERE POSSIBLE. LET HIM COME OUT ON HIS OWN.

Letting me pet his wings and feet and even scritch his neck a few times.

NECK IS GOOD. WINGS IS NOT. THAT CAN STIMULATE THEM SEXUALLY, AND TRIGGER HORMONAL BITES.

He would put one of his feet on mt finger and just stand there.

HE WANTED TO BE PICKED UP.

Then, all of the sudden, a few days ago it's like he hates me. IDK what it is, maybe because I spending a little less time with him than i did a few days before that (not much less, no more than an hour less)?

GIVE HIM A STRUCTURED DAILY ROUTINE. HE ALSO HASN'T REALLY BEEN HANDLED IN AT LEAST 9 DAYS NOW. MINE GET OUT AND HANDLED FOUR HOURS PER DAY MINIMUM... IF HE'S SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME IN THE CAGE, THAT CAN TRIGGER ANGER BITES...

I'm trying to show him that he's not gonna get a reaction out of me by holding my hand close to the cage, just out of his reach, and keeping perfectly still.

YEAH, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH JUST SHOWING FEAR. "SHE'S TOO AFRAID TO COME CLOSE TO ME... LET ME LUNGE AT THE CAGE BARS, SEE IF SHE FLINCHES... HA HA! MADE YOU JUMP.... THIS IS "THE MACAW TEST."

The first 2-3 days I did this he would lash out, trying to bite me but I didnt move. Yesterday and today when I did it he only lashed out when i first put it there and then left me alone.

YOU DIDN'T JUMP. IT'S NO FUN ANYMORE.

He hasnt let me pet his wings very much the past few days and I havent attempted letting him stand on my finger yet (I dont want to go back to school in a month with only 9 fingers lol).

CONTROL THE BEAK WITH TWO FINGERS, SCRATCH THE BACK OF THE HEAD, WAIT FOR THE HEAD FEATHERS TO GO SPROING... THEN YOU CAN PROBABLY LET GO OF THE BEAK, CUZ HE WILL LOVE THAT... (NO WINGS.)


He used to lash out at me when i would put my fingers on the latches to his food and water bowl doors but I think he's learned that when I take them out it means i coming back with fresh food and water and he hardly lashes at me when i do that now.

YOU PROBABLY STOPPED JUMPING... PASSED THAT TEST.

I know a lot of people will tell me to take it slow but HOW should I do that? Where should I go from here?

BASIC STEP UP, NO BITE, AND TOUCH TRAINING WOULD BE NEXT.

I don't want to ruin anything and I just want this to be his forever home. I know I can take care of him. I change his water 2-3 times a day, feed him twice a day, mist him 2x a day, dance with him a few times a day, sit and talk to him alone everyday, eat some of my meals with him when i can share with him, give him toys, speak softly to him, clean his cage/change his papers 2-3 times a week (depending on how bad it gets).

YOUR MEETING HIS PHYSICAL CARE NEEDS. YOU'RE GOLDEN THERE...

 

[JerseyWendy]

Mark, you ROCK!!!

 

[Mariar]

Yes he does!!!

 

[Birdman666]

Thanks guys. I've done this dance a time or two...

I wish I could spend 15-20 minutes just showing you this stuff. It would be a lot easier than trying to explain it.

 

[ToMang07]

Thanks guys. I've done this dance a time or two...

I wish I could spend 15-20 minutes just showing you this stuff. It would be a lot easier than trying to explain it.

*cough*

youtube

*cough*

 

[Birdman666]

Can't U tube her bird, or what he's doing. Gotta actually see the interaction there, and see what the bird is doing.

I can U tube basic bird handling stuff, but that stuff is pretty much already out there in one form or another.