New Eclectus Aggressive

[pacoparrot]

I wish you guys could meet him. He's unlike any bird I've ever had in my care and I work for a parrot rescue as a foster. He's not afraid. In fact I think he's trying to scare me more than anything. I was planning on using everyone's advice and not taking him out for a while. I went to put in his fresh foods this morning and he snuck out of the food door! He shot right to the top of his 6 foot+ cage and was crawling all around. I sat down on the couch near his cage and he crawled onto the cage door and was talking to me. "I'm a good bird"and "Come here" is what he was saying in a very clear voice. He is very talkative in the morning. He lost interest in me and started crawling all around again and then he purposely JUMPED off the cage and in to the pile of bird food bags and supplies. He didn't get spooked, he thought about it, did the "I'm gonna jump" wing thing and fluttered off his cage. He landed and within seconds he was tearing holes in a nutriberry bag. I don't think they are appropriate for elcectus and I was nervous that he would try to crawl onto the other birds cages and hurt them so I asked him to step up to a dowel. He refused at first of course but then stepped up. He was fine until I tried to put him back. Then he crawled over to the end of the dowel and started trying to bite my hand. Luckily I predicted that and had a towel covering my hand. He finally stepped down onto a perch in his cage and quickly rushed to get back out before I closed the door. He was growling and lunging at the bars and followed me around to the other side of the cage having a tantrum when I was leaving the room. I don't believe this bird is afraid. I have dealt with birds that are afraid or cautious when they are new. They will also bite and act aggressive but they will try to avoid confrontation and want to be left alone. Jeeter comes right up to the cage bars when you go near his cage. The cage is absolutely huge so if he wanted space he would be in the back of it or the center. I think with work he could become a very good companion but he's really tough. Every quality he has is exactly what I was searching for in a bird! I took some pictures while he was on his cage.

 

[Birdiemarie]

So how will I know when he is ready? The cage he is in is quiet large but shouldn't he have free time during this period?

If the room he is in is bird safe, leave the door open so he can come out on his own when he wants. His 'free time' should be just that, free to do what he wants, whether he chooses to be with you or to just hang out on the top of his cage or play gym. Use some of that time to sit next to his cage with something to read and a bowl of fruit/veggies/healthy treats that he likes. Ignore him while reading out loud and eating and making yummy noises. Eventually as he feels safe he'll come over closer. Offer him a piece but don't try to pick him up. Keep on reading and tell him he;s a good boy. Attaching a perch to the outside of the cage close to where you will sit will give him incentive to come investigate when he's ready. It can take days or more. Remember there's no rush. Once he's comfortable taking treats from you this way or just hanging out there ask him to step up before you give him the treat but don't move your hand if he steps up so he has the option to take the treat and step back onto the perch. When he's comfortable being on your hand move it away from the cage but stay there and feed him more, then put him back on the cage, talk to him some more, then go away and leave him alone. Do this every day and eventually he should come to the edge of the cage looking for you which shows he has decided you are a friend. Don't rush him and when he doesn't want you there respect his decision. Ekkies are sensitive and can take a long time to warm up to you.

 

[Birdiemarie]

I was writing the same time you were so didn't see your post. He's at a different stage from what I was thinking. He's testing you and probably was conditioned by his previous owner to throw his weight around and act the bully. Forget what I said about leaving the cage door open since you have other birds cages in the room. He can do real damage to them. I don't have enough experience in his type of aggression to feel confident in giving any helpful suggestion on how to proceed. Many others here have so till they come along you may find some info by doing a search on aggression. There have been some good discussions.

Here's a good place to start:
Changing problem behavior in birds | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

 

[Sadieladie1994]

He wanted food. Never separate an ekkie from their food! They are active birds but quiet in their movements which surprises people, Let him out and entice him in his cage for food. These birds are very food motivated. They might be choosey with who they like.

 

[BraveheartDogs]

He is very cute

 

[pacoparrot]

@Birdiemarie Thank you for your help. I am not new to large parrots so I do have some idea of what is going on. Like you said the previous family was kind of afraid of him and he probably manipulated them with his beak. I wouldn't doubt that if I sat still with him near me he would crawl right on my lap. But I am also pretty sure that he wouldn't think twice about biting me even though he came up on his own. I have worked with Large Macaws and Cockatoos with attitude before and was never this nervous. The main thing I can see is that he is very food motivated and is not shy. I've never been in this situation before, just about every bird I've worked with wouldn't accept food from me until we had a good amount of trust. But with Jeeter, I have something that he wants and isn't afraid to work for. If I can come up with a solid plan of how to modify his behavior and build trust with a positive reenforcement system like clicker training I think that's a good way to get him to respond. I'm going to also post on the yahoo group devoted to clicker training parrots to see if they have any ideas. I always found that by teaching little tricks and behaviors to your bird they bond with you closer because in the process you develop communication. My previous Eclectus would let me know she wanted to work on her tricks(for food of course) by picking up little objects and placing them on my hand or near me. Once I started the clicker training with her it's like I unlocked her brain. It wasn't long before we had a "secret language" and I could read her moods and know what she wants. It's really a shame that she died so young. She was hit by a car while on a routine walk. She gave me a love for eclectus parrots. I am a foster for a parrot rescue. I know if a bird is scared or not ready for handling. Jeeter is not like that. He was on the first day home but by the next morning he was already getting more comfortable, which is abnormal, but I could tell by the way he carries himself and moves around. If I can figure out what I need to do to tame him then I'm sure he will be a very good companion.

 

[Birdiemarie]

Jacob, I'm glad you are already familiar with the ways of ekkies since this will help greatly once you find the key to Jeeter's aggression and the steps to help him through it. They are such a delightful species! I'll be following his progress.

I'm so sorry you lost your redhead and in such a tragic way.

 

[pacoparrot]

Yeah she was only 4 years old. She was clipped and also trained to come to her name. Nothing really scared her because I socialized her so well. She was clipped. We used to walk every day in the summer. We stopped at a local park for a minute. Someone threw a basketball and it hit the backboard and made a loud sound so she panicked. She flew off into a tree. Luckily we had a contact call so I used it and found her immediately. I was trying to talk her out of the top of a 50 foot tree but she was in the territory of some black birds and they were attacking her so she flew off again. I ran after her but I lost sight. I walked around for a few minutes and found her. She must have flew into the side of a car. That's were our adventure ended and I have been heartbroken ever since. I was her only owner and I handfed her so I never had too much of an issue with her. Around a year old she started getting bossy and that's when I found that she would do just about anything for some mashed banana. I figured if I taught her some new behaviors maybe she would stop showing the negative ones. It worked too! Jeeter is a very fast learner. I had him out before on my dining room table. He didn't bite me this time because I didn't give him the opportunity to. I gave him a new jingle ball to play with. I rewarded him for interacting with the ball. This kept him glued on the ball for the next step. Next I held a cup under the ball. He dropped the ball twice but the third time he set it down in the cup. I rewarded him for that. The next time he dropped the ball once more then his brain kicked in and he tried to repeat what he did the last time he got a treat. He got rewarded. Next instead of me holding the cup I moved it to the side of him. I carefully handed him the ball and sure enough he put it right in the cup. This behavior is useful because it is a base for them to amuse themselves with foot toys by putting them inside things and taking them out. I also believe that it is healthy to challenge their brain. I think this kind of thing can help us bond because we are doing something together. I hand the ball to him and he puts it in the cup. I move the cup and repeat. Once his is safer around hands I can reverse the behavior and have him go get the ball from the cup and set it in my hand. Keep in mind that he learned this trick in one session that took around 6 minutes and I only had to reward him maybe 7 times. Training was something my Echo looked forward to. She wasn't being forced to do anything. When she started to slow down or get distracted I would just end the session on a positive note. Jeeter has a lot of potential. He's only a little under 2 years old. I would love it if I eventually could trust him a little better. If not there is still a lot I can do with him without going near him I suppose.

 

[pacoparrot]

So I've got an update on Jeeter. His previous owner decided that she wants him back. She missed him and after hearing that he was giving me such trouble with everyday tasks like removing his food bowls and cleaning his cage tray she revealed that the owner before her said he was extremely aggressive toward men. He is perfectly fine with my mom and my one friend that is female but neither of them have the time for a parrot. It's really sad because I actually liked him even though he was aggressive but I feel it's for the best that he be with people he is comfortable with.

 

[Milo]

I'm sorry that you had to see him go I'm not sure of her reasons for rehoming him in the first place, but I hope he's able to stay there instead of being uprooted again in the future. You gave it your best try

 

[petiteoiseau]

I understand that you had no real choice in the matter but people who rehome animals and then want them back make me VERY nervous as to the quality of care they give and the lack of commitment that this implies.