Step by step advise for taming kakariki male

[Noodles]

Please help me. Thinking I was doing a good deed I adopted a 1.5 year old male Kakariki from a family having to leave country, when he arrived the family told me he had never bitten any of them and two of the children demonstrated this by putting hands in his cage. The owners said he had been bought for their son who after a few months lost interest in him, they had other pets so wasn’t let out of his cage much. The following day I went out and bought a larger cage for him. From day One he has been let out now twice a day for a few hours in the morning and again late afternoon. I will admit that I had no experience with birds & have probably made quite a few errors along the way, the main one I think is letting him out straight away without giving him time to get used to new surroundings and voices. He has seemly turned from not being aggressive to a bird that bites all the time. The minute you move in the room he lunges inside his cage at you, I can let him out now without being bitten as I praise and reward him for moving away from door. He will chatter and fly around the room, even land on me and lick an arm or leg - then for no reason take a chunk. Just want the best for him as he is a wonderful bird and I could spend hours just watching him. When he bites I do make a fist and gently push him away, but then he usually just jumps on my fist and then bites an arm. Every time I think I am making progress and go 2 days without any biting he turns into Hannibal Lector again. I have had him a month now and need advice on how to proceed. Kind of a ABC guide for the inexperienced.

 

[Jottlebot]

Hello, it's interesting that you say you want an ABC, because I would suggest you start exactly there! I think it's often helpful to think of the biting as a communication, so the bite happens because he is either not getting something he wants, he is getting something he doesn't want, or he is initiating the thing that happens after the bite. You can use ABC charts to works this out before you work out what to do (or not do)...
A is the antecedent, or what happens before the bite, probably quite close in time, but it might be a few minutes.
B is the behaviour, the bite.
C is the consequence, what happens after. You explained the fist approach, but he bites this, so then what do you do?
If you're going a couple of days with no bites then I would suggest that figuring out the A is the key.

I wouldn't worry too much about having let him out straight away. I think there are different schools of thought on this and I don't think either is the make or break of a good relationship.

I would start interacting with him and even trick training him in his cage. I personally would clicker train and target train him because it will help you both develop a differentway to communicate with each other. You can find plenty of things online about that and I also like BirdTricks' YouTube channel.

Also maybe think about some foraging toys for his cage, something to keep his mind active, that suits his size and that he can make a mess with if he wants. The foraging balls or boxes stuffed with shredded paper might be good because he's little.

 

[Jottlebot]

I forgot to add that once you have worked out what he does or does not like, really you have to allow him to avoid what he doesn't like and get more of what he does!

He's a parrot so behavioural change needs to be accepted as being minimal, in my opinion. It's not like training a dog not to go on the sofa, most dogs wouldn't just bite you because you don't let them on or make them get off. Parrots really have no interest at all in what you want! They expect to get what they want and will "tell" you if they do not. They're not mean or anything, it's just what they're like and how they should be.

They can be taught not to be scared of something, for example, but really I think parrot ownership is more about working out different ways to solve a problem than any other type of pet ownership.

It is incredibly worthwhile, don't get me wrong, but you do have to alter your expectations.

 

[Scott]

Might be helpful to "reset" the relationship by restarting with basics of bonding and building trust. This thread may be helpful: http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html

Another possibility is clipping wings. I do not offer this advice lightly as it is highly controversial and may not be safe depending on your home environment. However, clipping wings can make a bird less independent and therefore more receptive to your efforts of taming. Ideally, it could be a one-time clip with a strong bond by the time the feathers regrow.

 

[Noodles]

That’s the problem, nothing happens before the bite. We could be sitting quietly, me reading to him and he flying around or him coming over and sitting on my arm. A lick can turn to a bite in seconds. When he bites I use my other hand to form a fist and gently push him away while telling him NO, sometimes works and other times he jumps on my fist and bites that, then I again push him away with other hand. What I don’t understand and can’t get an answer to is why he has suddenly turned aggressive and how to proceed. He has a wonderful personality and I don’t have any expectations other than making him happy. Giving him a good home and safe environment, and maybe not being his personal chew toy.

 

[Noodles]

Thanks for the tip and I will read that thread but I will not clip his wings. Danny loves flying around the room, couldn’t take that away from him.

 

[Scott]

Wish I knew more about kakariki personality. Something is triggering Danny to Jekkyl-Hyde without much stimulus!

 

[Jottlebot]

That’s the problem, nothing happens before the bite. We could be sitting quietly, me reading to him and he flying around or him coming over and sitting on my arm. A lick can turn to a bite in seconds. When he bites I use my other hand to form a fist and gently push him away while telling him NO, sometimes works and other times he jumps on my fist and bites that, then I again push him away with other hand. What I don’t understand and can’t get an answer to is why he has suddenly turned aggressive and how to proceed. He has a wonderful personality and I don’t have any expectations other than making him happy. Giving him a good home and safe environment, and maybe not being his personal chew toy.

So perhaps it's the lack of something then? Maybe you aren't paying him enough attention. If you're reading to him then presumably you are not looking at him or giving him treats? He flies to you and bites you and all of a sudden, you're looking at him, your talking directly to him, your offering a hand to him. What fun! This could be what he wants. If you increase the direct attention you give to him when he is out of the cage what happens to the amount of bites?

 

[Laurasea]

Welvone to the forums and congratulations on yiur new burd.

The above is correct , bites aren't just random, there is always a reason, some reasons are harder for us to figure out, but tge burd has a reason. My GCC will nip me if I ignore her ,so jottlebot could be onto something with that

We talk about bites in tge GCC forum, so it might be wirh going through some past threads abd see what members said. Sometimes threads don't get as much h action , just due to who's on at the time, and what other things are going on. But nips and bites are common themes, as is people thinking they are for no reason.....

 

[Laurasea]

In this thread page 10-13 has links to some good behavior articles
http://www.parrotforums.com/general...hare-discuss-scientific-articles-parrots.html

This is a great link to an article I'm always sharing because it covers so many important things, like doing observation, cage placement, pattering, rituals e t
https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/

 

[Flboy]

Hi! This helped me tremendously!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html