Food Aggression

[Mander81]

I have a 3 1/2 month old male Eclectus. He is a hand fed, super sweet and cuddly guy who seems to love everyone, BUT when we go to get his food bowl/close his food bowl door, he violently strikes and grabs the bars where the latch is. If someone's hand is in the cage by that area during this time, he will growl, strike, and bite... hard.

Tonight I had my daughter run the door while I kept my head and hand in the cage to deal with him. He growled and struck at me, definitely wanting to bite, but I distracted him by going in pretty fast making him step-up and blew a couple hard breaths on him to change his focus. It seemed to work, so we did this one more time, got it done growl and strike free, petted and loved on him, talking in sweet tones, considered it a win, covered him for bed and then left him alone.

That all being said, I want to handle it correctly and quick while he's still a baby and it's a new behavior.

Suggestions to put the brakes on this craptastic behavior..... pronto? We don't want sweet lil Remi to be a juvenile delinquent!

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

The cage is his space and it’s common for birds to protect it. Is it possible to change the bowls when he is distracted on a stand with a toy or target him away from his bowls so you can grab them?

 

[Vmax]

You could work on station training. I’ve been doing this to avoid similar behavior from my conures.

 

[Monica]

You could work on station training. I’ve been doing this to avoid similar behavior from my conures.

This!


I don't know if providing plentiful food for birds works like it can in dogs to prevent food aggression, but teaching him to move away from the dishes can help! It might even help to have a second set of dishes so you can swap them out even faster!

Merlin, green cheek here. He's not an aggressive or bitey bird by *any* means. That said, sometimes he has decided to bite when I go to change his dishes. Nothing major thus far, because I don't ignore the behavior. I target him away from the dishes and reward him for doing so.

Lately though, he's been more aggressive in his attempts to bite. I realized afterwards that he was making love to one of is perches.... said perch came out of the cage! We'll see if that makes any improvements in the following days!

 

[Nobirby]

First of all, your daughter is adorable. She reminds me if my niece, Lisabeth, when she was young. Remi is beautiful. Everyone's suggestions are great. Patience and kindness win out with our birds.

 

[Vmax]

I confess that @Monica suggested this I invite them up to a high perch with a little treat and loads of praise, then switch out dishes. Gus and Max aren’t quite as defensive as they have been and I’m getting more efficient with treats and dish switching win win!

 

[Hawk12237]

I have a 3 1/2 month old male Eclectus. He is a hand fed, super sweet and cuddly guy who seems to love everyone, BUT when we go to get his food bowl/close his food bowl door, he violently strikes and grabs the bars where the latch is. If someone's hand is in the cage by that area during this time, he will growl, strike, and bite... hard.

Tonight I had my daughter run the door while I kept my head and hand in the cage to deal with him. He growled and struck at me, definitely wanting to bite, but I distracted him by going in pretty fast making him step-up and blew a couple hard breaths on him to change his focus. It seemed to work, so we did this one more time, got it done growl and strike free, petted and loved on him, talking in sweet tones, considered it a win, covered him for bed and then left him alone.

That all being said, I want to handle it correctly and quick while he's still a baby and it's a new behavior.

Suggestions to put the brakes on this craptastic behavior..... pronto? We don't want sweet lil Remi to be a juvenile delinquent!

This is an easy fix. I notice by the pictures you have your bird out. This is the time you get the bowls. Not when the bird is sitting by them.
I have a personal routine, my birds come out for a bit, if they are on or in their cage, prior to any feeding. I wash the bowls, get their food prepped and many times they enjoy watching me prepare it.
Then they ride the uber shoulder with me holding their bowls and place their bowls. They are eager to jump off shoulder and to cage to start showing down.....works great
And had become a regular routine. Never bitten, never a fuss.

 

[Monica]

@Vmax Hey, I'm super excited that this works out for you! Instead of ignoring the behavior or punishing the bird, we are giving them something that they *CAN* do that results in a win for everybody! It's awesome!

 

[Vmax]

@Vmax Hey, I'm super excited that this works out for you! Instead of ignoring the behavior or punishing the bird, we are giving them something that they *CAN* do that results in a win for everybody! It's awesome!

Thanks for all of the resources and encouragement! I’m grateful you and others are willing to share experiences with some of the unwashed masses (me ). Such small behavior changes on my part have reaped huge rewards with my relationships with the psittacines!

 

[Monica]

We can all learn! Myself included! I know very little compared to some that have put more time, effort and resources into these training techniques.