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Help Kiwi is a flesheater!

Yoyo'sMom

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Kiwi my Brownhead is one of the most confusing birds I've ever met. So for a little background, Ive had her since she was about 6 months old and of course she was very sweet but as she got older she started to develop panic attacks. She is now 5 years old. I trimmed her wings for a bit because she was bouncing into walls and let her come out and go in her cage on her own terms. So far so good. The crazy flying has stopped.

Last week I let her out and while she was exploring she was hanging on a piece of clothing that fell from the dresser to the ground. My mistake was I went to pick her up and boy did she nail me. Steps up perfectly and then proceeds to bite my finger and not let go. I didn't react but I did have to pry her beak open. Let me tell you that was very hard with one hand and it hurt like H. I figured it was my mistake because the fall might have scared her.

Today I let her out and am giving her scritches and she's loving it and she steps up several times no problem. At some point I realize I have to put her back to go get my son from school. Steps up fine and I turn to walk to her cage and blam! same thing. Now I have a big chunk out about 2 cm from the last one on my hand.

Somehow I'm missing whatever is happening with the body language but I swear she turns on a dime. I don't scare off very easily but I really don't want this to happen again. Thinking of maybe stick training but being that she's so flighty don't foresee this going well.

Help! Any advice appreciated.
 

Cynthia & Percy

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as far as stick training is conserned the best way is over a period of days get Kiwi to see it at a distance then slowly move it closer until it is close enough for treats do not worry if Kiwi stays caged for a few days
 

Yoyo'sMom

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Thanks so much for responding. I probably should have posted this in the behavior section. I really do need some advice! I'm kind of afraid of her right now. I've been around a number of birds and can usually read their body language but feel she is so unpredictable. I don't see how you can go from scritches to bites in a matter of seconds. I'm going to start with the stick training.
 

EvaBird

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as far as stick training is concerned the best way is over a period of days get Kiwi to see it at a distance then slowly move it closer until it is close enough for treats do not worry if Kiwi stays caged for a few days
I just started stick training with Eva and I have to say..amazing results. She went from being afraid of the chop stick to running to it when I saw "come" cause she knows as soon as she bites it she gets a walnut! She bites it hard but we are still in the early stages and she doesn't go for my fingers anymore. I also started playing "peck" with her, when she wants to play she gets aggressive so I say "play peck" and then jab toys around her cage and she jumps in jabbing and singing at other toys. When I stop I walk away for a min then come back and I say "lovies" and she bows for scritches. The word cue I am using are helping her respond with a bow (yes) or open mouth (no) etc. I start the stick training while she was in her cage and instead of hand feeding the treats, I put them in her bowl.
 

Wolf

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Yo-Yo's mom;
Kiki, my Senegal will do the same thing when she thinks that I am going to put her in the cage before she is ready to go in. So what I did was to ask her to step up and take her to the cage and put her on top of it, then step up and go some place other than the cage and then back to the cage and place her in . At each of these places I give a piece of nut. Try to get in the habit of asking for the step up at odd intervals just to move here around and placing her on top of her cage more frequently than other places and always reward the step off with a piece of a favored nut. At present, your bird knows that if you head for her cage that you are going to put her in it and resents being put in it, so mix it up and the behavior will change.
I don't believe in caging a bird for poor behavior that occurs due to my lack of understanding of why it happens. I feel that their out of cage time is vital to their well being and that they should have time to be out of their cage every day.
 

Yoyo'sMom

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Thanks you guys, your advice sounds great. I have been putting the step up stick near her when she's out and she doesn't seem too bothered by it. Wolf I think what you said is true about not wanting to go back to her cage. I honestly can't put my hand in her path right now though. I was giving her scritches yesterday and somehow she flipped her head around and nailed me. Definitely gonna be a work in progress:0 Just goes to show how babies who start out sweet don't always stay that way when reaching maturity.
 

Wolf

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This is true but you may also want to consider that as the mature they must go through a period of being hormonal which can vary in intensity, also now that it is breeding season she is most definitely hormonal and will in all likelihood remain hormonal until she begins molting. The first year that Kiki was hormonal she was a terror and I did not have any 1/2 in. space on either of my hands without at least two chunks of flesh removed. This year she is very lovey to me and although she bites for no other reason than hormones she at least quit tearing out hunks of me. She is still a terror to anyone other than me right now.
It is interesting that your Kiwi acts in the manner that she does with a dropped article of clothing as Kiki, Senegal, also does this. If it hits the floor within sight of her it is suddenly here favorite thing in the whole world and it is hers and must be protected at all costs. She will be sweet and loving and see it drop and is instantly aggressive if you go to pick it or her up, but it is slightly safer to pick up the article of clothing that to attempt to pick her up.
 

Yoyo'sMom

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Kiki and Kiwi sound pretty similar for sure. It's funny that such little birds can have such fierce attitudes. I'm hoping that once she passes through this she may return to her sweet self. I really do think she's broody because she's shredding paper and exhibiting some new postures. I'll just keep my hands to myself for now.
 

Wolf

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Kiki and Kiwi sound pretty similar for sure. It's funny that such little birds can have such fierce attitudes. I'm hoping that once she passes through this she may return to her sweet self. I really do think she's broody because she's shredding paper and exhibiting some new postures. I'll just keep my hands to myself for now.
But that is no fun! Where is your sense of adventure? Actually I would try to understand the new postures as this in still her body language and will help you to not get bit.
 
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