Aggressive in a normally cuddly caique

[Janet57]

Hi there,
I am a new member so bare with me!
I have a 19 month old black headed caique who has recently got really aggressive for no reason and given me a nasty bite. Usually however he is cute and cuddly.since then he has tried to do the same but I have escaped his attempts. Is is right for me to think of getting him a friend and if so should it be the opposite sex or does it matter ? Oh by the was he ( well I think it's a he! ) has been a little frisky on my hand, if you know what I mean !!

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

Don’t get a bird for your bird only get one for yourself. They could end up hating each other and you will have TWO caiques on your hand who will need seperate cages, seperate flight times etc.

Could this be hormones?

 

[Janet57]

Thank you for your advice. You are probably right I think it is hormones, hopefully he will settle again.

 

[finchly]

This is hormones at its finest. Buckle up! Cause you're in for a ride.

Getting a friend should not be done to calm his aggression. It won't do it. Besides - you don't even know if he'll like his friend so you could end up with 2 birds in separate cages that are both aggressive/ hormonal.

Doesn't matter the sex if you get one. We thought Rio was a boy (hence, Rio) and got Captain Jack - so now we have a boy and girl.

I just finished chasing them around to get them back in the cage. Well, Rio. She bit hubby an innocent bystander. Earlier she bit my daughter.

I'll tag @Laurie who can talk to you about training.

 

[DoubleTake]

Caiques are bi-polar toddlers, it may be hormones or him acting out. Anything change in your environment? At 19 months he is still growing into his personality, I think all caiques are cute when babies but I've seen the little terrorists in action as adults...

I agree with @Yoshi&Raphi , I tell customers all the time if you get a 2nd bird get it for yourself and not for your bird. You have to prepare for the worse case scenario in case they hate each other since re-homing for that reason should not be an option.

 

[Janet57]

Thank you for replying, it sounds like I've got myself some trouble on the way . Sit back and ride the storm !

 

[Laurie]

Hi there and welcome.

I think a lot of times people say its hormones (maybe it is), he could also be asserting himself at this age because he is maturing (still hormones). Whatever he is doing it is behavior. The good news about behavior is it has to be modified.

Sometimes the easiest thing to do is adjust our own behavior to compensate for or influence the bird.

I don't like to just saw you need to put up with it and that's just the way it is, rarely is that actually the case, occasionally it is but rarely.

The first thing you need to do if figure out what is triggering the bite. Are you trying to get him to do something new or different, maybe the same things as usual but he doesn't like it anymore.

If you can pinpoint the circumstances surrounding the behavior you can often change them and get a different result.

Anymore info that you can provide would be great.

 

[Laurie]

I just finished chasing them around to get them back in the cage. Well, Rio. She bit hubby an innocent bystander. Earlier she bit my daughter.

Are you still chasing those birds around? One word...Bribery!

I try not to chase them. 20 minutes of chasing them makes for a fun game for them and frustration for me. I just leave them be and try again in 20 minutes. Either way they are back in the cage in 20 minutes but I am much less frustrated You should try it

 

[Irishj9]

Laurie is right

If a bird doesnt want back in its cage, change its exercise time so it ends with dusk

All mine will go meekly to their regular sleeping cages at dusk

 

[finchly]

Are you still chasing those birds around? One word...Bribery!

I try not to chase them. 20 minutes of chasing them makes for a fun game for them and frustration for me. I just leave them be and try again in 20 minutes. Either way they are back in the cage in 20 minutes but I am much less frustrated You should try it

YES. Rio is not motivated by food, that’s a lot of my problem. Capt Jack, I can say “go in your cage, get a treat” and he zooms into the cage.

I started some target training with them inside the cage but Rio is afraid of the chopstick.

So their cage is by my desk. I’ve been putting toys on top and food in the dishes so that they can hang out up there (if she’s being naughty) and I can work. Then try again a little later. Trouble is, if she leaves she’s probably going to get herself in trouble. Capt Jack, if he leaves he takes a bite out of every piece of fruit in the kitchen.

Working on getting them to stay up high on their cage or Ernie's. Problem is I get involved in my work, look up, nobody’s there. LOL OR worse, one of them is in Ernie’s cage which is always a fight.

Laurie is right

If a bird doesnt want back in its cage, change its exercise time so it ends with dusk

All mine will go meekly to their regular sleeping cages at dusk

Wondered about that...they were on the cage until around 7, bedtime is 8. So I could just wait them out maybe.

Prefer getting them out several times a day but yesterday I either chased around or begged (when they were up on the aviary) for... 1.5 hours or more. And I was angry. And I hacked Rio’s wings.