Defensive of cage

[HarleQ]

Hi Eclectus Alley,
I'm having some issues with my 6 month old female. She is loving, calm and relaxed when being held and understands "step up" in almost all situations, however, when she is on top of her cage, you can't put your hand near her. I have tried treats, soft speaking, and simply sitting a few feet away within sight and talking to her. Nothing has improved this situation. At first I would put my hand on the cage and simply let her come to it, she would peck at it and then move away, and this has not improved either. I feel this is somewhat ok during the day, but at night she will fall asleep up there and I can't get her to her inside her cage at all. Advice please.

 

[BirdLady13]

Don't allow her to go on top of her cage. Being at a greater height than you/out of your reach gives her the chance to display dominance and/or be territorial.

 

[JornsBergenson]

I'm kind of late to the show on this thread, but I've had the same issue with our male eclectus. He would want to roost up on the top of the cage instead of going in at night. I moved his dinner time up an hour so he wasn't so full at bed time and then I put a piece of almond in his special treat bowl 30 minutes before lights-out. He's nuts for an almond and goes in fairly quickly after the almond is there and I gently close up his cage and back off quickly. This has become our evening ritual.

As far as stepping off the cage, our boy is very territorial and has become defensive about me even touching or getting too close to the cage if he is on or in it. That's where target training is a necessity. We've gotten off track with our target training, but I can still lure him onto my arm by offering a treat. That too is a ritual for us everyday. At least I can get him off his cage and back into it with little trouble now.

I hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Monaco]

I second what @JornsBergenson said. A treat bowl can be your very best friend for training lots of things. I have several, some are hang on style so I can put them where I want pretty quickly. I don't leave those in with her, because they turn into toys or ammunition depending on her mood.

 

[Monaco]

Don't allow her to go on top of her cage. Being at a greater height than you/out of your reach gives her the chance to display dominance and/or be territorial.

I have to suggest some reading about this. You won't find many folks here that are swayed by the dominance theory. Defensive might be a better term. Anyway, it boils down to interactions between pedator and prey behavior. Until we become prey animals and compete for resources the behavior displayed cannot be defined as dominant. Escape (getting high up for safety) or aggression are fight/flight behaviors and need to be addressed as such.