Tasha is so very protective of me.

[terry52449]

This has me a little concerned for my wife and Cameo. Tasha has become very protective of me and won`t let my wife come into the office if she is out of her cage. She bit Jean the other day when we were cleaning and moving her cage around in the office. A pretty good bite that left Jean with a very sore finger. I know this can be a normal thing for parrots but how do I get Tasha to accept Jean as a dominate membe of the family with out another biting. I don`t think Jean would bite back.LOL

 

[MickeysMom]

Not sure on this one.... Mickey has chosen my husband as her mate, The early spring was pure H E double hockey sticks at our house! I do all of her care, feeding, cage cleaning, whatnot.....but if he was in the room, I would get bit! Sometimes hard, sometimes not as hard, but inevitably it would happen. We have learned her body language, and when she starts getting "upset" with me, he leaves the room....she is then my best friend in the world!

Does Jean spend time with her when you are not in the room? Perhaps start there. I still get the occasional bite if he is in the room with me, but not nearly as much now that she knows if she bites, he will leave the area.

Just a thought. I feel for Jean:31:

 

[greycloud]

Cockatoo bites really hurt! Right now Tasha does not trust your wife. Therefor the only way this can change is if your wife takes the step forward to build a bond with her. The first thing you need to do is to find a very favorite treat that Tasha loves. Pine nuts, popcorn, etc. This treat should only be used by your wife when she works with Tasha.
Keeping Tasha in her cage have your wife sit in a chair across the room from her. She can read, sing, talk very calm and friendly to Tasha. Every few minutes she should get up and place a treat in her bowl through the bars then sit back down. If Tasha eats the treat or shows any positive behavior she should be positively reinforced with happy verbal praise. Every couple of days she can slowly move her chair a few inches closer. If at anytime Tasha shows she is stressed or upset move back a step. Eventually she can offer treats right to Tasha instead of dropping it into her bowl. This way Tasha is learning that your wife brings yummy goodies and does not expect anything in return. If all goes well you can open the cage and move back and start again that way., eventually moving up to giving her scritches.
Know that these are baby steps and must not be rushed. Patience is the key and with time Tasha will love to spend time with your wife.

 

[Molcan2]

Greycloud thats really good advice.

How was she in her previous home (how many previous homes has she had and why was she re-homed)? Was she really out going and interact with strangers a lot? Did they say anything about any history of biting when you got her? I'm just trying to figure out if she has learned to use it to get what she wants or if shes just still really nervous about the move (a nervous bird = an unpredictable bird). I really think that its probably the later of the two. Its probably all a lot for her to take in right now. I think greycloud has excellent advice and is good to start with, I would do it over a few months and then see how she is. She may just be trying to figure out her surroundings still. Its to soon to tell if its aggression or if its just her trying to protect herself.

She may end up being a one person bird (cant help but think about MikeyTN's Java or MareMiller's Amigo). When I was in my teens my mom got a male U2 for herself (without meeting the bird first - in her defense he needed to desperately get out of his previous home). No matter how hard we tried, he was a one person bird - to me. I was the only one that he would let handle. As long as I was home he wouldn't 'attack' people (he still wouldn't let anyone else touch him) but if I wasn't around and someone let him out - God help them. When I was at school one day my parents re-homed him. I came home and my bird was gone . Then that person ended up re-homing him to someone else because he couldn't handle him either, don't suppose I'll ever be able to find him at this point. He was able to run off everyone else because he knew they were scared of him.

 

[terry52449]

No interaction that I know of and the owners sister was bitten by Tasha so she was afraid of her. The owners father was feeding Tasha while the owner is in the hospitol. Now that they feel he may never recover they decided to give up the bird to a good home.
Jean loves to pet Cameo but is not the parrot lover that I am. Cameo loves the attention she gets from Jean whether I am thee or not. So this is a new and different challenge. We will try to slowly have Tasha get used to Jean from afar and the treats are a good idea. Thanks