naughty maximillian pionus

[KLee]

We have a 13+ year old Maximillian Pionus that has lived almost his entire life in our home. He is not much of a biter- will occasionally gently nip me or one of my sons (adult) after we've had a crowd here (like after Thanksgiving). He is not a party bird. My son's girlfriend is around more and more and he is HORRIBLE. He flies right at her and bites- hard. I've had her give him a treat, he takes it hesitantly, eats it and then attacks. Nothing describes it better. He dodges me and goes in for a bite very aggressively, even flies at her like a missile beak open to bite. She is a gentle girl and none of us can understand it. We have plenty of other people coming and going and have never seen this behavior. In the midst of the attack I can get him on my arm easily, but he then flies right at her and is biting. It is almost impossible to keep her safe in the moment. He is like lightening. Needless to say if she's here he is cage bound. Does anyone have any insight?

 

[Monaco]

maybe @Monica can help?

 

[camelotshadow]

Is your son her/his chosen one? The girlfriend is a threat to her man!

 

[Shezbug]

Certainly sounds like someone is showing signs of jealousy or protection.......the poor innocent GF- she must be terrified to visit

 

[Monica]

Can you figure out if the girlfriend is somehow "different"?

Glasses, hair, nails... anything about her that may stick out compared to the rest of the family?


It's best to keep your maxi caged while she's around. You can set up a treat cup and set up treat stations 5' or so away from the cage. Whenever the GF walks by the cage, so can drop the treat into the cage. Under strict orders, she is *NOT* allowed to feed him by hand! Merely dropping a treat into the cup and walking away is perfectly acceptable! Once he starts getting used to her, she can work on target training and station training *THROUGH* the cage bars. Again, if bites are a concern, do not feed rewards by hand! Use those treat cups or offer via a spoon! If he already knows these behaviors, that's great! If he doesn't, you may want to start training these behaviors now so it'll be easier for her once she starts.

The more time he has to practice biting her, the more ingrained it becomes to bite. We stop the behavior by preventing it, and teach desired behaviors over that. If your pi does manage to bite her, get him off! Set him down as a time-out. If necessary, have a second small cage or carrier as a time out as if he's biting, and you *have* to cage him to prevent him from continuing to bite, then it's not ideal to take him back to his cage every time if you aren't next to his cage!

 

[KLee]

thanks- she is different - colored hair some tattoos (we are a very traditional bunch here). We’ll start in having her give some treats. I have never seen our bird be vicious. He/she is very a sweet natured bird. It is pretty shocking to see.

 

[Monica]

It's quite possible that something about her that he's not used to is upsetting him and that's why he's going after her. Definitely try working from the cage. It can take some weeks, depending on him and her.

 

[tka]

It's quite possible that something about her that he's not used to is upsetting him and that's why he's going after her. Definitely try working from the cage. It can take some weeks, depending on him and her.

Pionus can be really sensitive to these things - mine dislikes my sister's bobble hats (I've had to borrow one to desensitise her to it) and doesn't like my girlfriend's painted nails (not gonna paint my nails though). Coloured hair alone would probably do it for her!

 

[Ripshod]

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[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[aooratrix]

Did your pionus attack the moment he could reach her or after he observed her physical interactions with your son? If your pi is jealous, that is going to take a long time to fix, if it's possible. Good luck!

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

Welcome