I think Opie tried to kill me :(

[Shezbug]

Oh boy I am sorry you had that happen, it is a tough thing to deal with and I think the first deliberate attack (and every one after it) kind of leaves you in shock.
Hopefully you will find a way soon to work around it and keep you safe while also making sure he has what he needs.

 

[flyzipper]

Sorry you're dealing with that.

This time I tried to freeze instead of duck. He landed on my shoulder...

May I suggest another option?

Don't duck or freeze as both are putting the outcome in their hands (and beak).

Catch in your hand, like you would during recall training.
His foot in your hand gives you some amount of control.
He may still try to bite, but he's away from anything vital.

If you train that recall-to-hand behaviour, it can have the added benefit of flipping him out of terrorize mode and into training mode.

 

[Clueless]

Yikes!

Secret hasn't done that....yet. Fly I mean. The bird has stalked me on the floor though.

 

[Clueless]

I just read that over.

He didn't climb down to bite you until...... you went to Oggie's cage.

MC and I had a wonderful relationship. He first bit me when I WENT CLOSE TO SECRET'S CAGE with MC on my arm.

I don't know why that was. I've been told birds don't get jealous but I could play mine against each other with food. Offer it to one, they snub, act like I'm going to the other bird and then suddenly..... interest.

For what it's worth Opie could have torn you up and he didn't. That says a lot to me.

 

[Dartman]

Pippen will do that, land on me then run to exposed skin to bite. Sometimes she's fine and will climb on nicely and want a ride or a scritch. She doesn't get out much because she's generally nippy and a bit unpredictable. When she's in a lovey mood she loves scritches and will nibble and lick gently. When she's not she'll just run up my hand or arm chomping as she goes. She also likes to get scritches through the bars so I'll say scratch and she turn her right side to me and put her head down against the bars and I'll scritch till she gets nippy again. If I say gentle she generally backs off and nibbles again. I think Conures tend to be nippy and she also love to shake her beak up and down sorta trying to grab my finger but mostly just tapping it with her beak.
If they came with a owners manual or a bite alarm it would make life easier...

 

[Clueless]

If they came with a owners manual or a bite alarm it would make life easier...

I burst out laughing in my head.

That would soooooo help.

Now I'm going to probably laugh the next time Secret bites me thinking.... if only there was a bite alarm!

 

[Dartman]

Lurch gave no warning at all when he first got here, just fast immediately bite. I had Nerd another Maxi Pionus just like him for 31 years and he was easy to read, plus he rarely bit, usually when hurt or scared, so I thought I had him down. Pippen just gets hyper and excited and she also hates to go back in. When she first got here all she wanted was to eat, sleep, and cuddle, but that changed once she was feeling better after a few days.
Birds will bite. .

 

[Elysian]

I just read that over.

He didn't climb down to bite you until...... you went to Oggie's cage.

MC and I had a wonderful relationship. He first bit me when I WENT CLOSE TO SECRET'S CAGE with MC on my arm.

I don't know why that was. I've been told birds don't get jealous but I could play mine against each other with food. Offer it to one, they snub, act like I'm going to the other bird and then suddenly..... interest.

For what it's worth Opie could have torn you up and he didn't. That says a lot to me.

This is VERY true. I basically turned my face away and waited, expecting him to bite me repeatedly, and my husband rushed over expecting the same.. that one bite was a huge relief and it wasn't as bad as anything Oggie has done to me. Though of course Oggie always gets my fingers.
My husband confirmed from his POV it seemed very deliberate though. Bird landed and then specifically sought out bare skin to bite.
He says he stayed pretty agitated afterward too, tail feathers all flared out, so I'm not sure why he *didn't* attack further.

I have always wished he would get on my shoulder

 

[Elysian]

Sorry you're dealing with that.

May I suggest another option?

Don't duck or freeze as both are putting the outcome in their hands (and beak).

Catch in your hand, like you would during recall training.
His foot in your hand gives you some amount of control.
He may still try to bite, but he's away from anything vital.

If you train that recall-to-hand behaviour, it can have the added benefit of flipping him out of terrorize mode and into training mode.

He has never really let me touch him, so I've never done any recall or step up training with him..
Maybe now that he knows he can fly I could try it with gloves on ..

 

[MommyBird]

Remember to keep track of your ABCs here every time he does this. (uh yes unfortunately it could happen again)
Antecedent, Behavior, Consequences
You can usually change the behavior by changing one of the other 2.

I worked this out with a flighted male BFA and much of it was my body position. When he was hormonal, turning my back or bending down to pick up something off the floor within a certain distance of him.
But you may have something going on with where you are in the room - near another bird's cage?
You must watch his body language and see exactly what you are doing when he's triggered.
to add about catching it early - you might be able to distract
About half the time I could catch Chico early enough and say "circle" and he loved doing that so much he'd do that, get a treat and he was nicely distracted as he couldn't fly and turn a circle at the same time.

 

[Kassiani]

Please please please….do not take him so personally! My Opie will still run to the edge of his cage top to try to have a go at me when I walk past from time to time. And yet, when he was truly terrified by the Terminix man outside checking the termite baits, he got as close to me as he could for comfort while he was alarm calling.

For my Opie, he may never be affectionate toward me. I’ve had him for nearly two years now. I accept that from him and cherish the small moments I do get when he lets me know he thinks I’m okay.

I know how heartbreaking it is to love a bird so much and have them coming after you with some regularity. Kill you? Not at all. Get you to stay away from his cage at that particular moment in time? Probably yes. I can stroke the front of my Opie’s beak now on an almost daily basis. But I respect his puffy head and verbal signals to back off.

Hang in there!! Patience is hard. I know.

 

[Clueless]

You know Secret does that too. A family member was trying to pick her up off her cage and she RAN to where I was and put her foot up. I picked her up with my hand back then because it was pitiful.

 

[Elysian]

Remember to keep track of your ABCs here every time he does this. (uh yes unfortunately it could happen again)
Antecedent, Behavior, Consequences
You can usually change the behavior by changing one of the other 2.

I worked this out with a flighted male BFA and much of it was my body position. When he was hormonal, turning my back or bending down to pick up something off the floor within a certain distance of him.
But you may have something going on with where you are in the room - near another bird's cage?
You must watch his body language and see exactly what you are doing when he's triggered.
to add about catching it early - you might be able to distract
About half the time I could catch Chico early enough and say "circle" and he loved doing that so much he'd do that, get a treat and he was nicely distracted as he couldn't fly and turn a circle at the same time.

I had my hair down yesterday.. he goes after me even with a ponytail in, but I do think it's worse without one.
He seems to hate anything that "flaps" or "waves".. if he sees me changing a trash bag, putting on a sweater, etc, he gets his tail feathers all flared out and starts flapping his own wings.
Turning my back/bending over seems to often be a trigger with him too.

So the first 'attack' definitely involved too many triggers.. floppy rug, floppy hair, bending down in front of him..

The second one was a lot less obvious but I had turned slightly away from him, so exposed back and floppy hair again ..

I guess he's never going to get used to me having hair.
Wish I could pull off the bald look. He loves my bald husband.