Unprovoked Vicious Attack...

[SkidRowSennie]

Hello, new here, and a new owner of a rescued male Senegal, aged 4 years named Bibi. About one month ago, my husband and I rescued Bibi from his second set of owners. They were literally going to just let him loose outside. Bibi was living in a rusty dog kennel, drank from an old coffee cup, had no toys, rarely any fresh fruits or veggies...you get the point. His first owners, from what I hear, ran a daycare, owned a dog, and the father was loud and verbally abusive. Bibi was attacked by the dog four times, and never really bonded with the owners, so he ended up with the people I rescued him from. He has an intense fear of dogs, and his cage was on the floor...right across from a dog's food bowl and kennel. Obviously, this poor little guy was dealt a rough hand, but he had been purchased from a highly reputable shop here in South Orange County, so I knew he had a good start in life, and I figure with lots of love, patience, and understanding, we can get Bibi off Skid Row!

Anyhow, when it was suggested that we take Bibi, I brought him a couple of treats from my parrotlet's stash. I held an almond up to Bibi, and he gently took it from me. He had the most grateful look on his poor dirty little face! 10 minutes later, he had willingly stepped up onto my finger. We took him home the next day. Bibi bonded with me within the first week, had a "trust, but verify" stance with my sons, and an intense fear of my husband. He would willingly step up onto his finger (not pushed at all) but once on my hubby's finger, Bibi would flap his wings, stretch his neck, and have a wild-eyed look of terror. My husband has been very patient with Bibi, since he seems to be afraid of men. My husband speaks gently to him, moves slowly, doesn't force anything, etc. For the past 28 days or so, Bibi has made very small steps with hubby. A few days ago, he accepted a treat from him for the first time, and allowed his head to be scratched. Now, within the past two days, Bibi's demeanor has changed rapidly.

Bibi thinks I am his girlfriend (started making advances towards me about two weeks ago) , and now within the last 48 hours, his fear has turned to extreme aggression towards my husband. About 30 minutes ago, he attacked my husband without any provocation, biting him and clamping down hard, and not letting go! He has a nasty purple bite on his forearm- I mean- it's a really bad bite. All my husband was doing was sitting on the couch. Bibi was on his play stand, decided to step down, get onto the couch and just attacked him. I wasn't on the couch- I was across the room. Yesterday, he bit my son's ear, drawing blood, once again, without provocation.

I am at a loss. What happened? How do we turn this around? I have written as much detail as I can, in order for you to know what was going on at the time. I deeply appreciate the time you took to read this, and I eagerly await your advice.

Thanks!

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Have you had him into a vet for a check up yet?

How much time do you spend with him? Where is is cage? What's his daily routine like?

I hope we can help, but at first it's best to avoid the situations: if he attacks your husband but is okay with you then for the time being he shouldn't be out with your husband right there. Not an optimal or long term solution, but you don't want it to become a habit.

 

[SkidRowSennie]

Thank you so much for the prompt response, Auggie's Dad!

We have not taken him to the vet yet. Frankly, we just don't have the money right now. We can't even afford a new cage at this time, but fortunately, we are getting a free hand-me-down that will suit him just fine within the next week. We have brought him into the place he was purchased several times, and they have not seen any obvious illness. He is not a plucker, is now bathing with enthusiasm, eats his fruits, nuts and seeds with enthusiasm, shreds and chews toys with vigor, and loves to talk. His plumage looks great now that he is interested in preening himself again, and he has has been fully groomed at the shop. I know that birds are excellent at masking illness, but if we take him to the vet right now, we'll all be living under a bridge tomorrow! I know this is not the ideal situation for him right now, but he is at least now safe from being "let loose", and we'll get him into the vet as soon as we pay our property taxes.

OK, now that I have made excuses for myself, onto answering the other questions.

His cage is in my bedroom. We figured having his cage away from the noise and excitement of our two boys would be best. Around 7:00 in the morning, we uncover his cage, and the "Bibi Show" begins. My husband and I laugh and dote on Bibi, praising him for his antics. He's very talkative in the morning, saying, Helooooo Bibi, pretty bird, Hi Bibi, Ashley, Tommy, come eat!, come here, several whistles, the sound of a Star Wars blaster, and several cat meows.

After the "Bibi Show", I take him out of his cage, love on him for a while, and then he tries to woo me. At that time, I tell him no, and will put him on his play gym in the front room. He gets sunshine, and can look out the window. I rotate toys, he has a place to bathe- it's pretty posh. I stay at home, so he's around me all day. I hold him periodically throughout the day, and usually the interaction time ends because he starts in on his wiggle necking and regurgitation routine.

Bibi's day ends around 8:30 pm.

OK, so I will anxiously await your advice, and in the meantime, will keep Bibi and hubby separate. Since my first post, Bibi has started ruffling his feathers, laying low, pinning, and raising his wings at my husband.

 

[antoinette]

Hi SRS
So glad Bibi was taken away from those idiots !!!!!!
Such awful things Bibi has been through and endured.
Even if you don't have much now, he is at least in a safe environment, with a family who shows love and affection.
Perhaps previously, he was badly treated by a male. I once had an AG named CONGO, whenever a male approached him, he would ruffle his feathers and raise his wings. He was petrified of all males.
Hopefully by now, there has been an improvement. If not, let hubby sit near the cage, and talk to him. Offering him treats through the bars.
It could take a long time, let Bibi make the first move.
In time I'm sure they will bond.
You doing a great job, keep it up.
Keep us posted !!!!
Take care

 

[Tumbala's Girl]

We had a similar problem with Tumbala. To start with he didn't like men. I know of one bad experience for sure that he had but I have a feeling there were others because the first owner got rid of him when her boyfriend told her it was him or the bird. Stupid girl chose the boyfriend and they evenutally broke up. I think she was better off with the bird. Anyway...it did take a lot of patience for my husband to get the bird to trust him but things are getting better. The biggest problem was the attacks. He got my husband several times. Flew to the daughter and bit her. Trying to attack the cats. But he was most vicious with me and he loves me. I'm his favorite person. He spends most of his out of cage time on me but I had to start putting him up all the time because I couldn't eat without him attacking my hand...the one holding the fork. I couldn't use the remote without getting attacked. Anything in my hand seemed to flip him out. And the wierd part is that he didn't start attacking me like that till he'd been there for like a month. He was nippy to start with and he's still kinda naughty but we had some real issues for a little while. What really helped his attitude was clipping his wings. I know that there are some people on the forum that will disagree with clipping their wings (there was a debate about it just recently if you get a chance to read earlier posts) but honestly it made him a better bird. To start with he couldn't just fly to whoever he wanted and bite them. This included that cats. Not that he won't try if they get too close to him. But he started being better with my husband (who he uses as a taxi to get from the cage to mommy) and for some reason quit attacking my arm when I was holding things. In general his attitude changed for the better. He's still naughty but it's minor in comparison to how he was acting before. I don't know if this will help your situation or not but I wanted to throw the idea out there. It might be worth a try. From everything I've read it's difficult when you get a bird that has had a couple of previous owners. There are deffinatly issues that you will have to deal with. I was at the end of my rope and didn't know what I was going to do (not that I considered getting rid of him).So trust me I know it's difficult to deal with and it really hurts your feelings too but if you can suffer through this...hopefully he will end up being the kind of bird you know he can be. Hopefully it's just a phase. Good Luck.

BTW...How awful it must have been for him in those other homes. You did a good thing taking him out of that environment. He is deffinately better off.