Bipolar Birds?

[jessabelle]

I had been doing little bit of training with my GCC, using a straw for her to target and then giving her a treat with my hands. I didn't train much just getting her to come to me, go to the straw, and stand tall. I was getting her to come down from her cage so I could pick her up and she came charging down the side and attacked the straw. I thought it might have been a bad day but it's been a few weeks and shes still going after the straw but she also started going after my hands if I try to give her a treat (pumpkin seed, safflower seed, nut, etc) she's completely fine with my hands at any other time, she loves snuggles I don't know why shes become so aggressive so suddenly and I don't know what to do. How am I supposed to train her, if she tries to attack me when I do so?

She had aggression toward the spoon I use to put food in her bowl a few weeks ago but then just stopped and I think it's about the time she started going after the straws

 

[Ankou]

Do the attacks only happen when you are trying to get her off her cage? Or is it when you offer her a treat from your fingers? Both?
If so, it sounds territorial to me. Is she young, around 7-15 months old? Or older and new to your home/this cage? (Or neither?)

Now, without knowing your full story this may be a shot in the dark but my advice is to get a nice play area for her set up outside and away from her cage and restart training her away from her cage.
If she attacks around her cage she's likely defending it and is trying to let you know she isn't falling for your bribes to lure her away. She probably knows what you expect her to do and feels pressured to do it, and is letting you know she isn't okay with that.
When my territorial lovebird went through this phase I ended up adapting ways to get her away from her cage without making her feel pressured. Instead of asking her to come to me I would sit nearby with a favorite treat and foot toys and wait for her to come to me. She could then make the choice on her own if she wanted to leave her cage or not and be rewarded with food, play, and attention once she did.

If she bites you when you offer the treat she may be guarding the treat too. Unfortunately this is something we can easily accidentally reward; if a bird bites our fingers while we are holding a treat, at least at first there is a good chance many people are startled into dropping the treat.
If you think the source of her aggression is food guarding, try offering it in different ways. For example, if you hold it pinched between fingers, what happens if you place it in your palm and keep your hand flat? If she still doesn't like that, I recommend keeping a cup or flat perch/surface nearby while training and just set the treat near her.
My lovebird will also guard any high-value treats and even 15 years later she will still eventually bite if I offer a specific treat 'wrong.' Some treats I can offer from pinched fingers, (bits of nuts, fruit) others I cannot pinch but she will accept from an open palm (millet, soaked pellets) others I dare not touch at all (nutriberries.)

It's a matter of learning your own bird's quirks and limits and unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to help that process beyond time spend together.


Also if she seems more aggressive of the straw at first than your own hands, why use it? I know a lot of sources recommend something like that for target training but if she's more comfortable with your hands just try pointing for now and acclimate her to the straw by leaving it nearby her play area so she can see and attack it on her own. Hopefully she'll get bored of it and let you use it again.

 

[jessabelle]

She's about 8 months old I think, I got her about 6 months ago. It is usually when I'm trying to lure her away from the cage but the confusing thing for me is if i try to leave the room, she'll scream for me to come back or she'll be banging the cage doors to get my attention (I leave the main door open for her all day) She's a very moody little bird but I thought hormones were supposed to effect birds more in the spring? This is my first parrot so thank you very much for the help and I'll try bringing her somewhere else to train. I thought attacking lip balm tubes was just a quirk but she started going after the straws with the same ferocity so maybe it's a thing about plastic

 

[scoobdoo63]

Is your bird getting enough flock time with you.I take stormy on my shoulders most of the time when I'm doing things in the house .laundry, dishes, making beds, sweeping..keeps him from screaming and being lonely .his cage is open all day unless I go somewhere. Sometimes he will take bites of food from my hand other times he wants it in a bowl on my lap. I set up a play gym on his cage he climbs all over it I have foot toys and food on a tray it all is on. I'm always messing with it so he is used to my hands. He will go hay wire if he is in his cage and I'm in there trying change his water/ food.. just recently he has started climbing down his cage and coming to me in my.rocking chair / climbing my leg and saying what cha doing? If I want stormy on my shoulder I just go up to the cage and tap my shoulder and say come on..that's all I ever did. If I want him.to step up I give my forearm..He feels more secure..I say come on..I point my finger or the kids point their finger at him he lurches at them and want to bite..maybe he feels threatened by the straw pointing at him? Stormy is about a year old now and a teil, he does nip at me when he wants scratches and I'm not paying attention to him and on the kindle lol!!

 

[lexalayne]

Second the "sitting on the floor"!!! worked for mine really fast and I was at my wit's end.

 

[Monica]

Could you possibly try attaching a perch to the outside of the cage, then teaching her to go to that perch before teaching her to step up?

 

[scoobdoo63]

I have a perch out side of his cage to he will go on forearm better.. just doesn't really feel secure w fingers.. He never did. For arms and shoulders..