Rapid mood swings and biting sprees

[Sanaa]

Hi,
I hope everyone is safe and well during this time.
I needed some guidance with my 11 month old african grey (CAG). I am a first time grey owner and have zero experience apart from these 11 months. My african grey, Sheikhoo is very active and noisy which is great. But he has discipline issues. If he is on the floor and I want to put him back on his stand he will bite me really hard. If he jumps on the leather sofa and starts chewing it I have a hard time stopping because he keeps attacking my hands. If he finds a phone cover or any plastic item he will chew it to bits. Please tell me how to improve his behaviour.

 

[SkyLark]

I dont have experience with greys, but with my cockatiel, i find that ignoring the bite work best. When he excepts your hand without biting, quickly reward him to keep up the good behavior. If the bite is too hard to ignore, then try to distract your bird asap for the bird to release your finger. Just....dont react to being bitten. Follow the usual dont punish but do reward guide.

 

[Snowghost]

Paco, my CAG would chomp my arm every time I put out my arm for him to step up. I posted many questions here. First I discovered he only bit when on his open cage door but not when on top of his cage. Figure that one out I tell ya! First stop putting him on the floor, if he bites when you pick him up then don't let him on the floor. Same as the couch, keep him off of it. Does he have a lot of chew toys in is cage, on top of it? One trick I did with Paco was to give him a treat and then asked him to step up. Can't bite with a full mouth. I eventually just stopped asking him to step up for a while, just gave it a break. I spent more and more time with him and would bribe him with a treat to get in his cage. Then we went back to stepping up and he just stopped biting. I must remind you this process took a year to get to where we are. He is 20 years old too and was neglected/abused for years. As a young bird there might be other issues. I'll tag some more experienced folks, I'm know their knowledge is better then mine. @Hankmacaw @Hawk12237 @BertAllen @Rain Bow @Clueless

 

[Clueless]

Simple answer, train him to step on a T stick.

Don't let the bites continue. They become a habit.

@JLcribber can you give them your knowledge?

 

[Snowghost]

Good idea, I knew I didn't have the best advice.

 

[tka]

Think about it from his perspective too: he's found something fascinating and you want to take him away from it. If you were in the middle of doing something fun and interesting and someone tried to take you away from it, you'd be pretty grumpy too! Make sure that there's something incredibly rewarding about stepping up like a special treat he doesn't get otherwise. There has to be something in it for him, otherwise he'll just see you asking him to step up as something negative.

 

[JLcribber]

Give this a read.

Pictures - The T stick.

If you have a large aggressive parrot (Amazon, Macaw, Cockatoo) such as a rescue/rehome you know fair well how dangerous that creature can be. A happy healthy confident hormonal large parrot is another formidable foe. Handling them becomes a tricky ordeal because they are physically dangerous...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Snowghost]

@tka good way of putting it!

 

[Sanaa]

Paco, my CAG would chomp my arm every time I put out my arm for him to step up. I posted many questions here. First I discovered he only bit when on his open cage door but not when on top of his cage. Figure that one out I tell ya! First stop putting him on the floor, if he bites when you pick him up then don't let him on the floor. Same as the couch, keep him off of it. Does he have a lot of chew toys in is cage, on top of it? One trick I did with Paco was to give him a treat and then asked him to step up. Can't bite with a full mouth. I eventually just stopped asking him to step up for a while, just gave it a break. I spent more and more time with him and would bribe him with a treat to get in his cage. Then we went back to stepping up and he just stopped biting. I must remind you this process took a year to get to where we are. He is 20 years old too and was neglected/abused for years. As a young bird there might be other issues. I'll tag some more experienced folks, I'm know their knowledge is better then mine. @Hankmacaw @Hawk12237 @BertAllen @Rain Bow @Clueless

Thank you so much, I really want him to be happy

 

[Sanaa]

Think about it from his perspective too: he's found something fascinating and you want to take him away from it. If you were in the middle of doing something fun and interesting and someone tried to take you away from it, you'd be pretty grumpy too! Make sure that there's something incredibly rewarding about stepping up like a special treat he doesn't get otherwise. There has to be something in it for him, otherwise he'll just see you asking him to step up as something negative.

No I let him walk around for a bit, but then he starts biting my siblings shoes

 

[Sanaa]

Paco, my CAG would chomp my arm every time I put out my arm for him to step up. I posted many questions here. First I discovered he only bit when on his open cage door but not when on top of his cage. Figure that one out I tell ya! First stop putting him on the floor, if he bites when you pick him up then don't let him on the floor. Same as the couch, keep him off of it. Does he have a lot of chew toys in is cage, on top of it? One trick I did with Paco was to give him a treat and then asked him to step up. Can't bite with a full mouth. I eventually just stopped asking him to step up for a while, just gave it a break. I spent more and more time with him and would bribe him with a treat to get in his cage. Then we went back to stepping up and he just stopped biting. I must remind you this process took a year to get to where we are. He is 20 years old too and was neglected/abused for years. As a young bird there might be other issues. I'll tag some more experienced folks, I'm know their knowledge is better then mine. @Hankmacaw @Hawk12237 @BertAllen @Rain Bow @Clueless

Okay I will stop putting him on the floor nd the couch, I just don't want him to get bored on his stand he has explored it every which way. And can u also suggest what treats are good nd healthy too

 

[Sanaa]

Give this a read.

Pictures - The T stick.

If you have a large aggressive parrot (Amazon, Macaw, Cockatoo) such as a rescue/rehome you know fair well how dangerous that creature can be. A happy healthy confident hormonal large parrot is another formidable foe. Handling them becomes a tricky ordeal because they are physically dangerous...

forums.avianavenue.com

Thanks I'll see if I can find one at the vet

 

[Hawk12237]

Hi,
I hope everyone is safe and well during this time.
I needed some guidance with my 11 month old african grey (CAG). I am a first time grey owner and have zero experience apart from these 11 months. My african grey, Sheikhoo is very active and noisy which is great. But he has discipline issues. If he is on the floor and I want to put him back on his stand he will bite me really hard. If he jumps on the leather sofa and starts chewing it I have a hard time stopping because he keeps attacking my hands. If he finds a phone cover or any plastic item he will chew it to bits. Please tell me how to improve his behaviour.

Well hello to you! Safe and sound here, and you?
To start off with, greys are very inquisitive creatures. They study things that sparks their interests. They usually don't take no for an answer.
If they choose to do something, they're going to do it. I have a grey, a tag, but none the less same attitude as a cag. And had 2 others in past, tag and cag. Old age took them.
There's a lot of good advice here in this thread, so don't be shy to try it all. Because what works for one, may not work for another. Thing about a grey, they are thinkers, they'll try to outsmart you.
I'm not kidding.
In your case, he's biting mainly because your taking away his "fun". His way of saying " go way
I'm having fun here. "
What breaks those habits is to find similar items to draw his attention. For example, my grey has this annoying habit of attacking phone when it rings. Goes mental on it. Sooooo, I found this toy phone in thrift store that looks similar. What fun he has now. Leather sofa, lol...I have same problem... I went to hobby lobby and got a sheet of leather and made a mini sofa... ( trust me it looks like crap, I'm no furniture maker) it's a couple feet wide. He chews that till he gets bored.
I would also invest in a couple more perches or play stands. One is never enough with a grey.
I have 7.. 2 of those are play gyms. Why? Because a grey likes to fly from one to the other. Because if you don't, they'll start landing on lamp shades, your flat screen tv, or whatever. The biting will stop once you introduce more fun things. Get a large Tupperware tub, a foot by a foot and fill it with all your used toys of your grey, even safe plastic. Place near or in his gym/ perch. They'll go to it.
Try a paper grocery bag, put toys or plastic golf balls in it... Grey's love that. They're like a cat when it comes to that. Wad up paper, place it in cage or perch...Grey's love playing catch with paper balls.
Hope this helps....

 

[john frum]

Hi,
I hope everyone is safe and well during this time.
I needed some guidance with my 11 month old african grey (CAG). I am a first time grey owner and have zero experience apart from these 11 months. My african grey, Sheikhoo is very active and noisy which is great. But he has discipline issues. If he is on the floor and I want to put him back on his stand he will bite me really hard. If he jumps on the leather sofa and starts chewing it I have a hard time stopping because he keeps attacking my hands. If he finds a phone cover or any plastic item he will chew it to bits. Please tell me how to improve his behaviour.

Use a heavy towel, and overtake and overpower him and let him know who is boss. If he bites, towel him, scold him, put him in his cage and ignore him for a while. I have a male CAG 5 years old and have had him since he was about 3 months old (I had to feed him formula and was home for a couple months to do so multiple times daily) and he has bitten me in the past, but now, rarely does, and knows I can overpower him anytime. Avian vets handle CAGs - watch an avian vet handle a grey with a towel and do the same. Remember you are hundreds of times heavier and more powerful so let him know it and the biting will stop.

 

[Zara]

Use a heavy towel, and overtake and overpower him and let him know who is boss. If he bites, towel him, scold him, put him in his cage and ignore him for a while. I have a male CAG 5 years old and have had him since he was about 3 months old (I had to feed him formula and was home for a couple months to do so multiple times daily) and he has bitten me in the past, but now, rarely does, and knows I can overpower him anytime. Avian vets handle CAGs - watch an avian vet handle a grey with a towel and do the same. Remember you are hundreds of times heavier and more powerful so let him know it and the biting will stop.

Please have a read of this @john frum ;

Discipline/punishment. Just bad advice.

I need to vent. Someone posted about trying an "alternative" method of getting a bird to stop screaming. It's outdated and just wrong. I'm not going to start a fire on that thread so I'll just vent here. A Birds natural response to stimulus that scares them, is something they don't like or...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[JLcribber]

Please have a read of this @john frum ;

Discipline/punishment. Just bad advice.

I need to vent. Someone posted about trying an "alternative" method of getting a bird to stop screaming. It's outdated and just wrong. I'm not going to start a fire on that thread so I'll just vent here. A Birds natural response to stimulus that scares them, is something they don't like or...

forums.avianavenue.com

Beat me to it.

 

[Theresa]

Use a heavy towel, and overtake and overpower him and let him know who is boss. If he bites, towel him, scold him, put him in his cage and ignore him for a while. I have a male CAG 5 years old and have had him since he was about 3 months old (I had to feed him formula and was home for a couple months to do so multiple times daily) and he has bitten me in the past, but now, rarely does, and knows I can overpower him anytime. Avian vets handle CAGs - watch an avian vet handle a grey with a towel and do the same. Remember you are hundreds of times heavier and more powerful so let him know it and the biting will stop.

That's a NO! I have had my Greys for 14 years, and it's been years since I've been bitten. That was accomplished with brains, respect, and common sense NOT brawn! You're teaching your bird to fear you, not trust you!

Vets towel because they don't have the time to earn the birds trust to do whatever procedures are necessary, NOT because they want to show the bird they can dominate them!


@Sanaa DO NOT follow the above advice!

Keep that baby off the floor and away from things you don't want him to get into. Give him lots of safe fun things to play with. Teach him slowly with lots of treats how to step up on a T perch. If you can't find a T perch, this is what I use and prefer because it just feels like an extension of my arm and I can't be bit, plus you can make it yourself in less than 5 minutes


Redirect bad behavior with a fun distraction, for my Corkey it's me singing ( he loves BAD singing ) or asking him to do wings up, he forgets whatever it is he was doing to do the newer fun thing.
Good luck and where's the pictures?

 

[Fuzzy]

Hi,
I hope everyone is safe and well during this time.
I needed some guidance with my 11 month old african grey (CAG). I am a first time grey owner and have zero experience apart from these 11 months. My african grey, Sheikhoo is very active and noisy which is great. But he has discipline issues. If he is on the floor and I want to put him back on his stand he will bite me really hard. If he jumps on the leather sofa and starts chewing it I have a hard time stopping because he keeps attacking my hands. If he finds a phone cover or any plastic item he will chew it to bits. Please tell me how to improve his behaviour.

Sheikhoo doesn't have disipline issues, he is just doing what is most reinforcing. Being on the floor/chewing the sofa/chewing plastic items are all highly reinforcing. The appearance of your hand at these times is not reinforcing because he has learned you are going to remove him from these fun activities. Plus, if the hand perserveres in trying to make him step up, biting is his last resort way of saying "no!" He has given you plenty of body language before the bite to say "no", but you are ignoring it. No wonder you get bitten.

Think about how you can make other more suitable activities reinforcing. Cover the sofa with a throw, provide chewable toys (because he likes chewing) and play gyms. Make it reinforcing for him to interact with you. Make it reinforcing for him to step up every time so that he will step up more in the future. And yes, if you have to remove him from something quickly use a hand held perch... but you need to teach him to step up on it first... using... positive reinforcement!

 

[Snowghost]

I have no words. I never even dreamed someone would use punishment as a training tool for a parrot. Please do not do this to your parrot.

 

[john frum]

That's a NO! I have had my Greys for 14 years, and it's been years since I've been bitten. That was accomplished with brains, respect, and common sense NOT brawn! You're teaching your bird to fear you, not trust you!

Vets towel because they don't have the time to earn the birds trust to do whatever procedures are necessary, NOT because they want to show the bird they can dominate them!


@Sanaa DO NOT follow the above advice!

Keep that baby off the floor and away from things you don't want him to get into. Give him lots of safe fun things to play with. Teach him slowly with lots of treats how to step up on a T perch. If you can't find a T perch, this is what I use and prefer because it just feels like an extension of my arm and I can't be bit, plus you can make it yourself in less than 5 minutes
View attachment 336756 View attachment 336757 View attachment 336758

Redirect bad behavior with a fun distraction, for my Corkey it's me singing ( he loves BAD singing ) or asking him to do wings up, he forgets whatever it is he was doing to do the newer fun thing.
Good luck and where's the pictures?

Using a towel to handle a bird is not cruel - if the bird is biting you and dominating you because you allow it to then using a towel to handle them to put them in their cage - not hurting them - makes sense. The number of CAGs who end up in parrot rescue because an owner couldnt handle them suggests that a hands off approach does not always work. If an avian vet tells me I should not use a towel to restrain a defiant bird then fine. Notions of love/respect/handling birds like babies seems like a very understandable but anthropomorhic approach to bird behaviour. Putting George back in his cage for biting me - worked. I do not leave him there for days, maybe an hour or two. I have had to do it very infrequently - but it worked. He does not bite anymore. I do not physically hurt him, but I am firm about not being bitten. George is on my shoulder a lot. This goes against some advice but George knows that an intentional nasty bite (not accidental because he is off balance) means we cannot hang out for awhile. How do you know what the bird thinks - or if he fears me - maybe he respects me. People claiming to 'know' what the bird is thinking or feeling do not know bird emotions.I do not - neither do you. Birds will readily kill one another, bite beaks off, they are wild animals and life is brutal. BTW- if you have to give your bird medicine, like i did, antibiotic suspension via a syringe, then good luck with the soft approach. Avian vets are professionals - people here are not, neither are they ornithologists. If you have a degree in avian science/behaviour/biology fine, if not, then do not presume to be an expert in avian behaviour. What worked for you worked...but it does not mean it was the best approach.