At my breaking point....

[cosmolove]

I'm at my breaking point with Dexter. I've tried everything just to keep it civil between him and I, that's all I ask is him not to attack me, other people and animals for no reason.

He's always been nippy but we find something that works whether it be bribary or whatever and it'll remain civil for a couple months then get right back to this again.

He's been NASTY mean for a couple months now. Like anytime I'm anywhere close he tries to attack me, I've just tried to keep it civil and give him his space.

Well today I was unpacking some of the bird stuff and putting it away and he flew over and landed on my head, which is a HUGE no no for him. So I calmly went to shoo him away, usually if he lands on my head he knows he's not supposed to be there so I just put my hand up and he flies away. Well today he latched onto my finger and shook it like a dog..... Naturally it sliced open my finger...



It was MUCH bloodier too, but now there's blood all over the walls after I tried to catch Dexter after the incident.


I really don't want to but if he doesn't stop attacking by air soon I'm going to have to clip him again. I had to last time when he got like this because he was attacking animals too and they started fighting back....


Ugh I just don't know what to do, I'm so discouraged at this point. I just want him to be happy, I don't care if he's the most cuddly bird ever or even comes to me ever. I just want him happy.

 

[kitkat44]

Ow! I'm sorry he's being such a stinker. Have you tried putting him somewhere seperate from you and everyone when he gets like that? Then maybe he will realize when he is nippy he doesn't get to socialize with you or the other birds. I wonder if the changes recently, you being busy with wedding stuff, then getting married and moving, have maybe been the cause for this recently? He probably senses the changes going on. I hope it gets better though. That would be upsetting to keep getting attacked like that.

 

[ImaBirdMom]

You know i was thinking do you think hes feeling your stress? From the wedding and moving and all that? It may be that. Hopefully it is and he will come down when your life starts to settle down and get more back to normal.

 

[zuzanqa]

I have no advice but

 

[Bokkapooh]

Hmm.. maybe a light trim, not a full on clip? But what have you done to try and help this behavior stop?

TBH, if your claiming he is attacking for "no reason", I need to recommend that you read up on behavior. There are always reasons.

 

[Brigidt36]

My little GCC is the bully of my flock. He goes through periods of attacking me, biting, pestering the bigger birds and trying to attack the dog and other family members. I've had to resort to wing clipping twice, and though it broke my heart to do it, it helped. He's back to being flighted for the past year and we only have occasional squabbles now. Good luck, these little bird bites HURT!

 

[cosmolove]

Hmm.. maybe a light trim, not a full on clip? But what have you done to try and help this behavior stop?

TBH, if your claiming he is attacking for "no reason", I need to recommend that you read up on behavior. There are always reasons.

By no reason I mean I won't be anywhere near him it even looking at him and he full blown attacks.

When I get home ill have to reply to all of the posts I'm in the car currently

 

[Saemma]

I'd say a nice trim would be quite appropriate. Thankfully, I have a Thomas who can't fly and would rather flee. If he were like Dexter, he'd get a trip. I won't deal with aerial kamikaze attacks.

 

[Anne & Gang]

 

[DQTimnehs]

Sorry no advice but I hope you get a handle on it.

 

[Wayne361]

Im going to be blunt here....by clipping you are incorrectly trying to control the situation. You are handicapping your bird which IMO will only INCREASE the nipping behaviour because he cannot excape. Clipping is NEVER the correct way to go. More on this in a bit.
One thing that stood out from your comment is you said you spent time chasing the bird to try and catch. You should never have to try to catch a bird that is properly trained/conditioned and by "trying to catch" you are most likely exaperating the situation by creating fear in the bird. Afraid of you/hands etc. This is NOT the way of building a bond in a parrot. I think you are unknowingly amplifying the situation that you are trying to fix.
If this was my bird I would go back to basics of taming and minimize direct contact till taming progresses. I have no idea your background with the bird. Is he target trained? If not that would be my first priority. I would target train him through his cage bars. Shows the bird you are not evil and will build bond while using positive reenforcement as a training tool. The bird has to see everything you do as a positive (in the birds eyes) to build a solid bond.
This is only a start.....I would have to write a book in order to convey everything I want to say here. What I suggest is you do lots of on-line research and maybe buy a GOOD book and go from there.
I got a rehomed senegal with behaviour issues and this is what I did.....research, research and research some more. Get a good understanding of training principles and how the bird thinks. A parrot should never be forced to do anything....this seems (from reading your comment) to be the underlying cause of your problems. NEVER clip. Mine was when I got him. I let his feathers grow out and started flight training exercises with him, and he currently gets about an hours worth of flight time every day (recall, and perch to perch on command). Flight has made him into a more confident, trusting, happy and much BETTER BEHAVED bird. As an analogy you dont hobble a child cause they want to go where you dont want them to. A flighted bird has the opportunity to fly from percieved danger and/or uncomfortable situations whereas a clipped bird feels trapped and will act out aggressively (biting). Current bird is flighted and bites cause the trust/bond isnt there. This is where you need to start IMO. Again I dont know your history with the bird but I hope this helps. Please dont be offended by any of my remarks as I am only stating in an attempt to help. I'm by no means an expert, but went through what you have to a lesser degree and worked through it. Please feel free to ask me any further questions and I am sure fellow members can/will assist as they can.

hope this helped,

Wayne

 

[SunUp]

I'm not sure what to advise, but I will say you are not alone in dealing with this with your GCC. Something I've noticed since being on AA is that, on a very regular basis, someone posts for help with their aggressive/biting/attacking GCC. I think they can be tough little buggers!

 

[cosmolove]

I'm going to try just working with him one on one for a while and see how things go.

Ow! I'm sorry he's being such a stinker. Have you tried putting him somewhere seperate from you and everyone when he gets like that? Then maybe he will realize when he is nippy he doesn't get to socialize with you or the other birds. I wonder if the changes recently, you being busy with wedding stuff, then getting married and moving, have maybe been the cause for this recently? He probably senses the changes going on. I hope it gets better though. That would be upsetting to keep getting attacked like that.

When it happens he gets put back in his cage. He knows he has done wrong as soon as it happens because it takes me forever to catch him because he likes to fly from high point to high point that I can't reach because he knows its birdie jail time.

You know i was thinking do you think hes feeling your stress? From the wedding and moving and all that? It may be that. Hopefully it is and he will come down when your life starts to settle down and get more back to normal.

He could be but this started before things got hectic with my life. He could be mad at me over getting the puppy but I have no idea. Now the dogs aren't even allowed to think about going in the bird room so he doesn't see them anymore.

Hmm.. maybe a light trim, not a full on clip? But what have you done to try and help this behavior stop?

TBH, if your claiming he is attacking for "no reason", I need to recommend that you read up on behavior. There are always reasons.

I was thinking just a light trim if I do anything. I really don't want to clip him because he's one of the fastest ones darting around. I just can't have him aerial attacking me and guests just because he can. I don't care if he gets snuggly or lovey with me I just want him happy and for the house to be civil. Over the past few days before this incident its gotten to the point I honestly was starting to get afraid of him.

When he gets going he shows no mercy, attacking faces and anything he can.

After I clipped him the first time (most so for safety reasons for him rather than him biting me) he got better right away and we started just working on finding a good happy medium between what we both wanted. For months things were great. I would always ASK "step up" and if he didn't want to he didn't have to, if he wanted to he'd lift his foot up and step up and I'd shower him in treats and scritches. Then things actually started getting bad again maybe in April ish? Thats when I resorted to bribing him. Nutriberries are like crack to him so he was easy to get around when I needed him to.

Usually the only time I hold him is putting him back in his cage at night, outside that I would just leave him alone unless he would come to me. Which only happened maybe once a week at most.

My little GCC is the bully of my flock. He goes through periods of attacking me, biting, pestering the bigger birds and trying to attack the dog and other family members. I've had to resort to wing clipping twice, and though it broke my heart to do it, it helped. He's back to being flighted for the past year and we only have occasional squabbles now. Good luck, these little bird bites HURT!

After I clipped him last time I honestly cried. I didn't want to clip him but last time he was seeking out and attacking the dogs and the dogs tried to bite back one day. Ever since I clipped him things were MUCH better, we'd still have times he wanted to bite but we both tolerated each other. I knew not to push boundaries with him and he knew not to attack me.

I'd say a nice trim would be quite appropriate. Thankfully, I have a Thomas who can't fly and would rather flee. If he were like Dexter, he'd get a trip. I won't deal with aerial kamikaze attacks.

Yeah that's how I'm feeling, the aerial attacks are no fun.

Im going to be blunt here....by clipping you are incorrectly trying to control the situation. You are handicapping your bird which IMO will only INCREASE the nipping behaviour because he cannot excape. Clipping is NEVER the correct way to go. More on this in a bit.
One thing that stood out from your comment is you said you spent time chasing the bird to try and catch. You should never have to try to catch a bird that is properly trained/conditioned and by "trying to catch" you are most likely exaperating the situation by creating fear in the bird. Afraid of you/hands etc. This is NOT the way of building a bond in a parrot. I think you are unknowingly amplifying the situation that you are trying to fix.
If this was my bird I would go back to basics of taming and minimize direct contact till taming progresses. I have no idea your background with the bird. Is he target trained? If not that would be my first priority. I would target train him through his cage bars. Shows the bird you are not evil and will build bond while using positive reenforcement as a training tool. The bird has to see everything you do as a positive (in the birds eyes) to build a solid bond.
This is only a start.....I would have to write a book in order to convey everything I want to say here. What I suggest is you do lots of on-line research and maybe buy a GOOD book and go from there.
I got a rehomed senegal with behaviour issues and this is what I did.....research, research and research some more. Get a good understanding of training principles and how the bird thinks. A parrot should never be forced to do anything....this seems (from reading your comment) to be the underlying cause of your problems. NEVER clip. Mine was when I got him. I let his feathers grow out and started flight training exercises with him, and he currently gets about an hours worth of flight time every day (recall, and perch to perch on command). Flight has made him into a more confident, trusting, happy and much BETTER BEHAVED bird. As an analogy you dont hobble a child cause they want to go where you dont want them to. A flighted bird has the opportunity to fly from percieved danger and/or uncomfortable situations whereas a clipped bird feels trapped and will act out aggressively (biting). Current bird is flighted and bites cause the trust/bond isnt there. This is where you need to start IMO. Again I dont know your history with the bird but I hope this helps. Please dont be offended by any of my remarks as I am only stating in an attempt to help. I'm by no means an expert, but went through what you have to a lesser degree and worked through it. Please feel free to ask me any further questions and I am sure fellow members can/will assist as they can.

hope this helped,

Wayne

I don't think I'm going to bother with "properly training" him none of my birds are trained like you say and he's the only one I have issues with. Having a bird that can poke a stick when you ask isn't going to make them tame. He doesn't like people, period. He never has (I helped finish handfeeding him), I doubt he will ever be a super tame trustworthy bird.

The clipping isn't to make him stay in one area its to keep him from dangerously attacking people. I've had him latch onto my face before and that's what he was going for when I got bit today. I just decided a bite to the hand sounded a lot better than a bite to the face. All of my birds are currently flighted and I plan to keep them that way but if Dexter can't learn to keep his little beak and wings to himself I'm going to have to clip. I can't have a dangerous bird flying around here.

 

[cosmolove]

I'm not sure what to advise, but I will say you are not alone in dealing with this with your GCC. Something I've noticed since being on AA is that, on a very regular basis, someone posts for help with their aggressive/biting/attacking GCC. I think they can be tough little buggers!

Yeah I have no idea at all why people recommend them for beginners. If he was my first bird I doubt I ever would have gotten another bird.

 

[Katy]

Hmm.. maybe a light trim, not a full on clip? But what have you done to try and help this behavior stop?

TBH, if your claiming he is attacking for "no reason", I need to recommend that you read up on behavior. There are always reasons.

I have to admit Mercedez, not Erica's post made me laugh. I don't have any experience at all and when Gizmo started to attack me there were reasons. I'm very sorry Erica and it sounds like its been going on for awhile. I def think the wedding and moving stress could be at the bottom, but you still need a plan of action. I think a wing clip, temporary could be an ok start.

 

[cosmolove]

I have to admit Mercedez, not Erica's post made me laugh. I don't have any experience at all and when Gizmo started to attack me there were reasons. I'm very sorry Erica and it sounds like its been going on for awhile. I def think the wedding and moving stress could be at the bottom, but you still need a plan of action. I think a wing clip, temporary could be an ok start.

It started before any of that stuff really started.

 

[Wayne361]

When it happens he gets put back in his cage. He knows he has done wrong as soon as it happens because it takes me forever to catch him because he likes to fly from high point to high point that I can't reach because he knows its birdie jail time.

The cage should NEVER be used for punishment. They will see cage time as a negative experience and hence why he is avoiding you. I would avoid you too in this circumstance and cant blame him for doing so. Make going into a cage a positive experience. How? Simple food management and coinciding cage time with meal time. He will then associate cage time with happy time/food. Voila! No more "chasing him around" to get the bird to do what YOU want him to do. He will do it WILLINGLY....see the positive reenforcement? That is simple training and it works miracles and will alleviate your stress in this one scenario.

Having a bird that can poke a stick when you ask isn't going to make them tame.

You are missing a valuable tool by oversimplifying an important training tool. "By getting them to poke a stick" (actually its touch a stick) will allow you to interact with the bird (see bonding) and allow you to help in situations of fear. i.e. fear of certain objects etc by targetting closer to object till fear is overcome. It will also allow you to have bird WILLINGLY move to desired locations (as in terms of away from high places where you cant reach But taming is what you want and ANY activity where the bird will willingly interact with you WILL assist in taming/trust and ultimately bonding.

He doesn't like people, period. He never has (I helped finish handfeeding him), I doubt he will ever be a super tame trustworthy bird.

There is a reason he doesnt like people and you need to go back to the basics of taming/training to alleviate this. Dont give up on the bird due to frustration and you owe it to yourself and especially the bird to make things right. Too many rehomes/rescues are created by such attitudes. Sorry but you need to be WILLING to take charge here. If you dont like my advice thats fine but please take others advice or do something different or the situation wont change by itself. I dont know the age of the bird....maybe going through hormonal phase/sexual maturity as well.
On a final note, the previous owners would not recognize my Senegal from time with them. He would bite the crap out of me because he wasnt properly conditioned/trained......I can honestly say now he is extremely tame/well behaved/trustworthy/confident bird....a complete 180. It took a lot of time, patience and learning. It all started with him "poking a stick".........

Again I wouldnt waste my time replying if I didnt care. Please remember that.

Wayne

 

[Rabbit]

A light trim to slow him down may be in order if he is engaging in dangerous behavior, or attacking visciously, as you said. While he is trimmed, I do recommend clicker training. Positive reinforcement training is far more than "poking a stick" on command. It opens up communication for bird and owner, and I have to say, the bond with my birds has never been better after I got into clicker training. It was an opportunity to see how my bird reacts, thinks, and to get a feel for thier energy levels throughout the session. Id take the bird to train into a quiet room with no distractions, calm my energy down entirely so that I was calm, collected, understanding. From there I felt I could more appropriately observe. Clicker training opened the door for stronger communication, for confidence building in my little guys, and in myself.

But I totally understand if youre not into more intensive training, I just thought Id throw my experiences with how it improved communication between myself and my birds, and made me more aware of thier needs, and of my own state of mind as I interact with them. If youd like to chat about positive reinforcement training, Im always up for a good discussion via PM! Best of luck with your little Dexter!

 

[cosmolove]

The cage should NEVER be used for punishment. They will see cage time as a negative experience and hence why he is avoiding you. I would avoid you too in this circumstance and cant blame him for doing so. Make going into a cage a positive experience. How? Simple food management and coinciding cage time with meal time. He will then associate cage time with happy time/food. Voila! No more "chasing him around" to get the bird to do what YOU want him to do. He will do it WILLINGLY....see the positive reenforcement? That is simple training and it works miracles and will alleviate your stress in this one scenario.

This can be argued all day, training like that doesn't fix everything. There is no such thing as a step by step that will work with every bird. The way I do things here is if the bird is being unreasonable they go back to their cage. Period. I don't allow them to be out if they can't control themselves. There's only a few things that will get them put back in their cages and viciously attacking someone is one of them.

I never have given up on him either, I am being honest. He's unhappy, its obvious. He's not unhappy because he's not trained he's unhappy about something else.

Like I said "training" won't fix all problems. I did a little clicker training with him when I first got him and he really did not enjoy it so I stopped.

Thank you for your ideas but I don't think its the best option for me currently.

 

[Mizzely]

Is it possible that he enjoys being chased around? When you put him back in his cage is he maybe enjoying you trying to catch him, so he bites for the attention?