Aggressive Congo

[Trex]

So ive had a congo for 7 years, for the first few he seemed great. Then i made a few mistakes having to leave the house in a rush and needing to put him in his cage quickly. Hes always hated his cage and doesnt seem to like any of the toys you hang up. Anyways i got my first bite putting him up in a rush. Long story short he ended up with his own room so he never had to be locked in his cage. He also bonded to my mother which he always seemed to like more from the start.

he will only gently grab her finger if she upsets him, but if i put my hand near him its attack mode, grinding bite then flying away.

in an attempt to fix this i would open door to his room get him to fly to a dog gate at door, fed him nuts on the end of a straw. Feeding a nut with pinched fingers at head level was hit or miss with him sometimes choosing to just bite me instead. After months of the straw technique and hit or miss hand deliverys I switched to feeding nuts from my palm at feet level. This surprisingly works every time, but if its pine nuts where he eats it as he grabs it, when the nuts run out he looks at my hand like he’s deciding if he should eat my hand next.

fast forward and i make a t stand, and use clicker and point training which i cant do much work with because its just run to the other side touch the stick and heres a treat. He does it, it’s technically training, but i feel like its going nowhere. So then I alternate between trying tosee if he will let me scratch his head, and stepping up.

for the head scratch we have a game where i whistle and tilt my head,then he tilts his head, its our go to game. So its hard to know if he wants a scratch or to play that. I slowly go in and his eyes will slightly pin so i back off, but he will tilt the other way like heres my head. Anyways its a trap or i read him wrong and i get bitten.

for stepping up, i slowly come in and hold watching his eyes.Sometimes he drops his head so i know to back off. If i try baiting with treats in the other hand further away, that causing the head drop quicker so i being the treats in before he gets to my hand or remove my hands. Sometimes his eyes just pin and i know.

so after that happening every time for weeks and weeks, i decide being brave might work, it didnt. I came in slow with hand steady fingers straight and stiff, stopping as he pins slightly. I hold position ask him to step up, he raises one foot, i come in closer he hops on and immediately grind bites me and flys away. My reaction is being still and silent, then targeting him back to the stand, and i give a treat to end on a good note and thats the end. Next day i dont attempt any of that, day after that i try stepping up and he nails me again same way. This time he drew blood i didnt want to shake him off and scare him more or whatever so i did a quick shhhh at moderate sound, he stops biting, he looks at me, takes a deep breath and shhhh’s me back then flys away, again i wait a minute, target him, treat, and leave. I dont know if thats the right thing i just always heard never leave on a negative note, but im basically at my wits end here because i feel like theres no way to progress from here. If i cant get him to step up i cant engage in any other target training really. Im stuck at the door of his room with a t stand. Oh and he used to fly at me when i went in too. Which he landed on my hand once and bite.

admittedly in the past i would make a ouch noise because i heard sometimes they simply dont know the pain they inflict and in some cases that would help, i also would leave right after but again i stopped doing that or any reaction, then just resetting for one more target.

So i have no idea if this is territory issues, or him being scared. When he hopped on my hand he seemed panicked, very quick, ect. But at the same time he eats from my hand, but then wont let me touch him. What in the world is the next step or steps in this process? I heard training in other places can help especially if territory is an issue, but that requires moving the stand with him on it which could cause anger. The other issue is once hes out of the room he has no way back for the most part. So if he bites and flys away, theres no picking him back up and putting him on his t stand. Yes hes bonded to my mom but to involve her puts her at risk of a bite and breaking or damaging their bond. Im just kind of lost here

 

[Fuzzy]

Trex! Sorry to hear of your difficulties - what is your Congo's name?

You may already have realised this, but train when your mom is out of the room as he may be more likely to bite if she is present.

Love that you are taking great care to read his body language and trying all sorts of methods. The best way to deal with biting is to avoid it in the first place – ie. note and heed the body language as you have been doing. However, it sounds like he has learned to give mixed messages or no message, so I would avoid touching him at all for the moment even if he solicits head scratches, because the more he is allowed to bite, the more he is learning to in that scenario. I would say your goal right now is to do everything you can to keep his body language relaxed and avoid doing anything that could end up with a bite. You have PLENTY of time in the future to desensitize him to your touch.

Why not train him to step up on a hand held perch rather than your hand so that it is easy to pick him up from different locations if you have to? If you choose something he is used to/not afraid of then you don’t have to spend too long desensitizing him to it – it could be a wooden perch the same colour as one in his cage, or a rope perch or a basket handle or even a cushion.

Step Up Training For Your Parrot Using Shaping | ThinkParrot

Teach your parrot how to step up using a process called shaping. A picture heavy step by step guide for success!

thinkparrot.com

You are doing absolutely the right thing in pairing your presence with favourite treats – love your ingenious delivery! Have you ever tried to get him to stretch upwards for the treat? This 1) ensures that he really wants it, and 2) it’s hard for a parrot to stretch upwards and then bite. Use bigger treats to begin with, ie. I wouldn’t use tiny pine nuts – too easy to get your fingers/hand. I’m also thinking that if you get him to stretch upwards for the treat, it will be easier to (eventually – not yet!) lure him onto your hand without biting. Teach him to step up on a hand held perch first.

As for target training – well done! Let’s take that further now. How about teaching him to turn around on the spot by following a moving target on his training perch. You could also get him to target increasingly bigger distances like flying to the dog gate to target, etc. You would have to break these down into smaller approximations. You can see me teach Bobbie (Amazon) to turn in a circle in a video at the end of this target training article:

Target Training Your Parrot | ThinkParrot

Target training is a fantastic first behaviour to teach. It can be taught inside or outside the cage.

thinkparrot.com

As for playing/toys, have you tried giving him pieces of soft balsa wood or cactus wood or corks? Materials that are really easy to destroy to get him more interested. Then you could gradually introduce harder woods like pieces of untreated pinewood. All my parrots love foot toys - they each have an empty food bowl in their cages filled with all sort of things. I wonder if he'd like birdie bangles too - coloured cardboard rings great for shredding.

And yes, always leave training/shaping on a good note, however don’t ignore the bite as it suggests to the bird his attempt at communication has not been heard, that he has no control over his environment. You are actually putting him in a position of learned helplessness which results in loss of trust and he has no option but to bite increasingly harder to try to make himself understood. So let him know it hurt but don’t go over the top or else he might look for a “drama reward” next time.

You might find these articles interesting (have a look at the resources too):

Help! My Parrot Bites! | ThinkParrot

Biting is communication. Usually it means “I’m not comfortable”, but can also be a response to over excitement or to get a "drama reward".

thinkparrot.com

Aggression In Parrots | ThinkParrot

What is the purpose of aggressive behaviour in our parrots? How to address aggression using the least intrusive methods.

thinkparrot.com

 

[Trex]

Thanks for the reply, his name is jack, i had read before a bird will attack who hes bonded to or on at the time of someone or something he doesnt like is near so i always kind of knew to avoid that, plus whenever my mom comes near during training he looses all focus anyway and is only interested in watching her.

for a hand held perch i had a few concerns like he would probably just make a dash for my hand or arm. And if he cant reach those, i would basically have one hand used, which puts me at a disadvantage should he choose to then do a face bomb. Hes bit my lip once when he was young, i still mostly trusted him went for a beak kiss and he grabbed my lip i backed up and he just held on. I took it as him just trying to play and hang on me not knowing but maybe not. He flew a few times at me on entering his room before and had i not raised me hand he probably would have face bombed me so there’s potential for that. But its been a year or 2 since hes tried to do that. The training seems to have calmed him on that long as i dont go far into his room. I pretty much just avoid it to not trigger him.

i did try the stretch for treat way, and it was hit or miss. Sometimes he would take it but sometimes he would act like he couldnt quite reach so i come a tad closer and boom he found what he was looking for my finger not the treat, he tricks me. Hindsight yeah i can just keep it out of range, and not let him turn it into a game.

now the toy thing, he has 2 or 3 hanging toys in his cage and one outside on his other cage( yes he has 2 lol). He’s literally had the ones in his cage for a year or longer and he has chewed on them but basically hes chewed one block in half and a few nibbles on others. They were the big expensive kinds so i couldnt justify wasting money if he wasnt even interested on more i still get him the small toys once in a while just to try but he just doesnt. Like right now i have the really soft “kabob” type toy, he took 2 bites out of it and its been there for weeks now. My conure if i still had him would have chewed through that in a day. I also heard to keep his toys natural so if he eats them he dont get sick. Which becomes a problem because im sure he would play with pen covers or straws stuff like that. So i avoid giving him those things not sure if thats the right approach? Also if im usually giving him food then hand him a straw he might think its food? So if that raising eyebrows, what im actually doing is giving him shelled nuts so those are kind of his foot toys per say.

ill try a hand perch and hopefully that works to make some progress. And add in some circle spins into training. I considered just moving training to the ground so he can be targeted to follow me around the house but i worried that might be barking up the wrong tree

 

[Fuzzy]

Would love to see a pic of Jack if you have one!

Really glad to hear the training seems to have calmed Jack down for the last year or two. If you use a folded rope perch, hold it up like this so that Jack is on the highest point. It's very unlikely that he will climb down to your hand:

Also if you shape the step up in small approximations and allow Jack to immediately step off each time, there is no reason for him to attack - he's in control of what is happening. Then you can shape duration (the amount of time he's on the perch before having him step off) and finally shape his staying on a moving perch, as in the article.

Yes, if you have him stretch upwards for the treat, he will stretch if he really wants it - if not just remove it. Soon he'll realise that he has to make the effort or not get anything. Same goes for how he takes it - if he snatches, drop the treat. Don't make a fuss or anything just let the consequences do the work.

Re the toys - try keeping a few different ones in a box and rotate them into his cage so that he doesn't get bored, ie. put one in his cage for a few days, then replace it with a different one, so it's like he's getting a "new" toy each time. You could try making your own toys for him - I find my birds much prefer the toys I make, plus it's cheaper. It is easy to thread different materials on a strip of leather or Paulie rope... things like slices of untreated pinewood from a hardware store, you can get lengths of balsa wood from Amazon which again you can saw down into pieces and drill holes in the middle for threading, wooden beads, pieces of untreated leather, pieces of cardboard, folded paper, paper straws etc. Nuts in shells are a great toy! If he can't get to the nut you can crack them slightly. My guys love coloured paper straws - I cut them in half and put them in their foot toy bowls - you could put some pine nuts inside and twist the ends to give him a foraging surprise. Also try willow sticks sold for small animals. He is unlikely to eat something inedible. Here's an example of one of my homemade toys:

Do you ever just sit in the same room with Jack and just ignore him/do your own thing?

I don't know if it is a good thing to have Jack walk around the house. He may get stepped on. Do you have a dog... you mentioned dog gate in your first thread? If you do, it is definitely not a good idea as dogs are predators. You could fix some spring swings to the ceiling (sounds like Jack is flighted) so that he could fly to and hang out in different parts of the house. I tend to have them everywhere. Spring swings/boings (the middle hanging toy) aren't too expensive. BUT it could end up that you can't walk freely around the house if he decides to attack if you approach him when he's hanging out on a swing. You would have to weigh up the pros and cons, especially if there is a dog in the mix too.

 

[Trex]

Thanks for the tips. before he became aggressive his cage was in my room, so we always hung out. Now my interaction is simply his training at his door. Im not really sure what would happen if i attempted to be in the same room with him for long periods. Outside of his room means he got out with my mom, which means a risk to her and their bond if i upset him. So really the hand held perch seems like my next solid move, if that pans out then that would change everything.

But things really seem 1 step forward 2 steps back. I tried the spinning trick today and after 2 tries he turned his back so hes half way there.Then i tried getting him to turn away from me for a second time, this time he was opening his mouth more than i would like for stick training so i pulled the stick away before he could grab it. Immediately he flew to my arm startled me so i raised my arm and off he flew, he either bite me or scratched me in the process-enough to draw blood again.

 

[Fuzzy]

Fabulous photos! Thank you. Jack is beautiful and it's nice to see unclipped wings. His beak is a tad long so it would be worth encouraging him to chew some untreated pinewood (which is technically a softwood). Trouble with most ordinary shop bought toys is they use hardwood which is not such fun for Greys and Amazons as it is almost indestructible so they give up. Do you have access to safe woods like branches of apple or willow? You could secure branches inside or on top of his cage. One of my Amazons, JoeJoe, loves chewing big branches - that may be another way to get Jack to chew. What's his diet like? Does he get lots of fresh veggies and fruit? Another reason for an overgrown or fast growing beak is liver problems. Not by any means inferring that Jack has liver problems, but it's just something to be aware of and to make sure his diet is healthy and not too fatty. As a toy/foraging you could even put half a squash/pumpkin or some whole carrots on top of his cage and hopefully he will tear them to pieces as well as eat some. I would add a lot more toys/things to do to keep him occupied. Love the stand you made!

Sorry you got bitten or scratched. The positive is that you have learned not to do that again - it probably took him by surprise. Really it doesn't matter if Jack bites the target - he is still doing what you asked him for, so should still get a click and treat. If he grabs it, let him grab it, it is not the behaviour you were asking for, so he doesn't get a click or treat. Maybe you were asking for too big a step and he got frustrated? Remember to keep training sessions very short - stop well before the bird gets tired or bored. A minute or two, here and there throughout the day is much better than a long 20 minute session.

Hope the hand held perch training goes well.

 

[Trex]

he had his wings clipped when he came in as a baby but never since, honestly ive had thoughts about doing it because of all the aggression and the slim chance it might help somehow but id never get him in a carrier anyway so mute point. Yeah situation is a bit out of control but it is what it is now.

his beak i always assumed was due to him not chewing on much. When he was a baby with wings still clipped he had a fall and the tip broke off, was a tad long then too. He bleed and put the powder on. Now it seems the tip breaks off every 3-6 months and doesnt bleed.

hes always been fed Harrisons’s,up until he got aggressive he was getting fruit and vegis but was always hard to tell if he was eating or just playing with it, the fruit he would eat a few blueberrys or a blackberry, and crunch on some carrots. About a month ago we started dropping a small plate of fresh things ontop his green cage about the same response, most just gets tossed on floor.

as for nuts, i would give him about 1-2 whole pecans or walnuts per day for training, i recently have been using pine nuts, about enough to fill the dip in my palm, so maybe 15 or 20, always around 3-4pm. Then near bedtime my mom grabs him and she will give him a nut or 2 then another one when she puts him up in the morning. He sleeps in her room on that other t stand most nights. with the training videos i seen, it seemed like this was mostly on par with what they do, maybe a nut or 2 extra? I never really seen a guide that said feed only x amount of nuts per day you know? It was more like dont over feed on nuts or dont have it the main diet, so im curious whats considered to many nuts? I know he eats his harrisons because hes a dunker and its always in his water every night when we change it.

ill have to see what kind of trees we have if i can properly id them, and whats bird safe. Most of his toys are in the big white cage, the green one i keep closed, just there for him to play on the top. Based on him hating his plates we bring him food on, im thinking those might make a nice toy stringed together. So ill work on some ideas like that the next few days.

and yah all of those wounds were bites except on the forearm not sure about that one.Its hard to see but on the thumb he almost connected the two entry points for a removal i knew taking treats away after showing them was a big no no but it never occurred to me the target stick would upset him like that, lesson learned there. My focus at the time was a gentle tap on the stick, so i let him touch it, but hes slowly been opening his mouth up more and more each time for a grab so after it touchs i pull away to not train a bite, but i guess i should be just letting him fail. However at that point it could become his toy and not let go which creates another situation where i lose my clicker since its tapped to the stick lol

 

[Tazlima]

he had his wings clipped when he came in as a baby but never since, honestly ive had thoughts about doing it because of all the aggression and the slim chance it might help somehow but id never get him in a carrier anyway so mute point. Yeah situation is a bit out of control but it is what it is now.

his beak i always assumed was due to him not chewing on much. When he was a baby with wings still clipped he had a fall and the tip broke off, was a tad long then too. He bleed and put the powder on. Now it seems the tip breaks off every 3-6 months and doesnt bleed.

hes always been fed Harrisons’s,up until he got aggressive he was getting fruit and vegis but was always hard to tell if he was eating or just playing with it, the fruit he would eat a few blueberrys or a blackberry, and crunch on some carrots. About a month ago we started dropping a small plate of fresh things ontop his green cage about the same response, most just gets tossed on floor.

as for nuts, i would give him about 1-2 whole pecans or walnuts per day for training, i recently have been using pine nuts, about enough to fill the dip in my palm, so maybe 15 or 20, always around 3-4pm. Then near bedtime my mom grabs him and she will give him a nut or 2 then another one when she puts him up in the morning. He sleeps in her room on that other t stand most nights. with the training videos i seen, it seemed like this was mostly on par with what they do, maybe a nut or 2 extra? I never really seen a guide that said feed only x amount of nuts per day you know? It was more like dont over feed on nuts or dont have it the main diet, so im curious whats considered to many nuts? I know he eats his harrisons because hes a dunker and its always in his water every night when we change it.

ill have to see what kind of trees we have if i can properly id them, and whats bird safe. Most of his toys are in the big white cage, the green one i keep closed, just there for him to play on the top. Based on him hating his plates we bring him food on, im thinking those might make a nice toy stringed together. So ill work on some ideas like that the next few days.

and yah all of those wounds were bites except on the forearm not sure about that one.Its hard to see but on the thumb he almost connected the two entry points for a removal i knew taking treats away after showing them was a big no no but it never occurred to me the target stick would upset him like that, lesson learned there. My focus at the time was a gentle tap on the stick, so i let him touch it, but hes slowly been opening his mouth up more and more each time for a grab so after it touchs i pull away to not train a bite, but i guess i should be just letting him fail. However at that point it could become his toy and not let go which creates another situation where i lose my clicker since its tapped to the stick lol

Hmm. For that last point, there's an easy solution. Time to detach the clicker!

Re: grabbing the stick - what's the worst case scenario? He takes it from you and chews it to bits, eh? That's okay. It's just a stick. There are lots more sticks in the world. If he likes chewing on sticks, you could even work that into the training. Get some disposable chopsticks or collect bird-safe sticks outside and leave him the stick itself as a big reward that also marks the end of training. (Note that there's a big difference between grabbing the stick and attacking the stick. Grabbing the stick is fine, but if he's attacking it - striking fast and biting hard - I would immediately back off completely and come back when he's calmed down).

Long ago, I worked in a magic shop and I had a pionus that came to work with me. This bird LOVED chewing on cards, so I developed a trick where someone would pick a card, I would shuffle it back into the deck, and then the bird would be the one to find the correct card. The beauty of the trick was that as far as the bird was concerned, the card itself was the reward, so he would pick the card, I'd show it to the audience to end the trick, then I'd casually hand the card back to him and he'd proceed to chew it into little pieces. The card itself was the reward, and "pick a card" was his favorite game.

My grey is mischievous and sometimes she'll grab for the clicker (mine are on springy boingy things so they can go around my wrist and she LOVES to chew through the springy boingy part). I keep it out of her reach, but sometimes she'll pull a fast one and get ahold of it. When she does, I don't really mind and use the opportunity to be playful back with her and make a big pretend fuss "Hey! What're you doing with my clicker? That's not yours! You think you're sooo smart, huh?". I'm happy she's interested in the training tools and having fun in her own way, and it becomes a bonding experience.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - training should be fun, for BOTH of you. Yes, you're working to avoid getting bitten, but "not getting bitten" isn't fun. Grabbing the stick and playing keepaway? That can be fun. Being gently dramatic? That's fun. Luring in the silly human to chomp on them? Unfortunately, at the moment, that appears to be very fun! If you play your cards right, maybe "steal the stick" will become more fun than "chomp the human."

Anyway, if, at any point, you're getting stressed or you can see the bird getting stressed, step away, take a deep breath, and ask yourself what stopped being fun and how to fix it. Sometimes it's as simple as recognizing the bird isn't up for training at that moment, and deciding to stop and try again later. Other times, (for me at least), you can get so focused on what you want the bird to do, that you start to overlook what the bird is actually doing that could potentially be a good trick or game if you're willing to play along.

As far as targeting back and forth, you're right. He knows that, and it's boring now. Bored birds will try to liven up the game to keep things fresh (by, for example, grabbing the stick). Time to up the stakes. Turn around is a good one. You can also put a second object next to the stand (another perch, the back of a chair, whatever), and have him target between the two. Since he's flighted, you could start with stepping between them and slowly build up to flying between them, that's good training AND good exercise. You could get some colored sticks and teach him his colors, where you teach him to touch "red" or "blue", then present both at once and he has to pick the right one.

It sounds like you're on the right track, just keep trying, and if he still wants to bite, pick training and games that keep you safely out of reach. He's not ready to "accept scritches" and maybe he never will be, but if he looks forward to seeing you and enjoys your training together, that's a huge accomplishment.

 

[Fuzzy]

he had his wings clipped when he came in as a baby but never since, honestly ive had thoughts about doing it because of all the aggression and the slim chance it might help somehow but id never get him in a carrier anyway so mute point. Yeah situation is a bit out of control but it is what it is now.

his beak i always assumed was due to him not chewing on much. When he was a baby with wings still clipped he had a fall and the tip broke off, was a tad long then too. He bleed and put the powder on. Now it seems the tip breaks off every 3-6 months and doesnt bleed.

hes always been fed Harrisons’s,up until he got aggressive he was getting fruit and vegis but was always hard to tell if he was eating or just playing with it, the fruit he would eat a few blueberrys or a blackberry, and crunch on some carrots. About a month ago we started dropping a small plate of fresh things ontop his green cage about the same response, most just gets tossed on floor.

as for nuts, i would give him about 1-2 whole pecans or walnuts per day for training, i recently have been using pine nuts, about enough to fill the dip in my palm, so maybe 15 or 20, always around 3-4pm. Then near bedtime my mom grabs him and she will give him a nut or 2 then another one when she puts him up in the morning. He sleeps in her room on that other t stand most nights. with the training videos i seen, it seemed like this was mostly on par with what they do, maybe a nut or 2 extra? I never really seen a guide that said feed only x amount of nuts per day you know? It was more like dont over feed on nuts or dont have it the main diet, so im curious whats considered to many nuts? I know he eats his harrisons because hes a dunker and its always in his water every night when we change it.

ill have to see what kind of trees we have if i can properly id them, and whats bird safe. Most of his toys are in the big white cage, the green one i keep closed, just there for him to play on the top. Based on him hating his plates we bring him food on, im thinking those might make a nice toy stringed together. So ill work on some ideas like that the next few days.

and yah all of those wounds were bites except on the forearm not sure about that one.Its hard to see but on the thumb he almost connected the two entry points for a removal i knew taking treats away after showing them was a big no no but it never occurred to me the target stick would upset him like that, lesson learned there. My focus at the time was a gentle tap on the stick, so i let him touch it, but hes slowly been opening his mouth up more and more each time for a grab so after it touchs i pull away to not train a bite, but i guess i should be just letting him fail. However at that point it could become his toy and not let go which creates another situation where i lose my clicker since its tapped to the stick lol

Clipping doesn’t help with training as you are not addressing the problem behaviour, but instead putting him in a position of learned helplessness. Looking at it from his point of view it must be frustrating if you are disabled like that. I have had trouble with Kobe the Pionus flying to attack at his worst, but I have never clipped him. I have just learned what sets him off and adjusted my own behaviour accordingly.

Parrots are wasteful but I’d still persist on giving him fresh food. Existing on predominantly pellets is like us living on fortified breakfast cereal - it has added vitamins but there is nothing to beat real vitamins and minerals in fresh fruit and veggies. Berries and carrots are both packed with nutrients - great choices there, plus berries are lower in sugar. Agree with your view on nuts - out of those walnuts are full of omega oils, especially Omega 3 which is anti inflammatory - again excellent choice there.

You could take apart some of the toys he no longer plays with and restring with some other materials. Definitely work on getting him to chew woods and see if that helps his beak.

Maybe the increasingly open beak during targeting is his way of saying he’s had enough? I think I would choose to stop then and do something else. Achieving one or two great approximations is better than getting 5 or 6 with his body language beginning to say, I’m not interested anymore. I hear you about the clicker taped to the stick, lol, I hold mine in the same hand too.

 

[Mrs c]

Clipping doesn’t help with training as you are not addressing the problem behaviour, but instead putting him in a position of learned helplessness. Looking at it from his point of view it must be frustrating if you are disabled like that. I have had trouble with Kobe the Pionus flying to attack at his worst, but I have never clipped him. I have just learned what sets him off and adjusted my own behaviour accordingly.

Parrots are wasteful but I’d still persist on giving him fresh food. Existing on predominantly pellets is like us living on fortified breakfast cereal - it has added vitamins but there is nothing to beat real vitamins and minerals in fresh fruit and veggies. Berries and carrots are both packed with nutrients - great choices there, plus berries are lower in sugar. Agree with your view on nuts - out of those walnuts are full of omega oils, especially Omega 3 which is anti inflammatory - again excellent choice there.

You could take apart some of the toys he no longer plays with and restring with some other materials. Definitely work on getting him to chew woods and see if that helps his beak.

Maybe the increasingly open beak during targeting is his way of saying he’s had enough? I think I would choose to stop then and do something else. Achieving one or two great approximations is better than getting 5 or 6 with his body language beginning to say, I’m not interested anymore. I hear you about the clicker taped to the stick, lol, I hold mine in the same hand too.

My grey, Alf, will only chew on the cardboard toys with the soft woods in between and he really enjoys them. Also they have to be smaller toys , not the huge great things that sometimes say for Grey's. Don't know if that's any help.