Attack Bird

[Jenabee]

I've posted about this before, but nothing we've done seems to work and I'm wondering if there are any other steps we can take to stop Marvin's aggressive biting and attacking.

It used to be that once in a while he would begin to frantically attack and bite my boyfriend or I. Usually he goes for the neck or face, which is really upsetting. When we first adopted him, he almost never did this.

Over the next year or so, he would become aggressive only for occasional periods of time. Now every day when we take him out he bites us (this has been going on for almost 2 months now) lunges and launches violent attacks on us. This is creating a viscious cycle of us not wanting to take him out as often for fear of being attacked, but we know that in order to remain tame, he needs handling and love. We're actually becoming afraid of him and this is not good.

Any help would be appreciated as we really love Marvin and don't know what we're doing wrong

[janetafloat]

Go back to basics, begin again as though you've just got him and he's a wild bird. Follow Michael's taming guide: http://trainedparrot.com/Taming/. Start by having him out of the cage for a really short time, start with five minutes - whatever is the amount of time you can keep his attention through training without any biting. This is really important - you need to stop the biting - and if you can only handle him briefly at first then this is what you need to do. You need a month or two of this regime to break the biting habit, start with a short amount of time and build up very slowly, a minute at a time. I really recommend you follow Michael's guide, particularly the target training. All birds seem to love this and it is the way forward for you. Target him on and off your shoulder, target him out of the cage and back in. Use a hand held perch at first if that will stop him biting your fingers. The whole time you have him out keep him occupied doing things that he enjoys, such as trick training, flight recall, target training. Don't give him time to get bored or restless, as soon as you feel his attention is wandering, put him back in his cage. Give him lots of praise and treats, you need to rebuild trust on both sides. I'm telling you this because I've been through something similar with Alfie, my Sennie, following an illness during which I had to give him antibiotics twice a day for five days. After this he started biting and it steadily escalated to the point that he was biting me every day, then started biting my face. I was frightened of him and was at my wits end. I started following the above regime (after consultation with Michael) and the situation started to turn around immediately. Several weeks in and our relationship has improved 100% and he hasn't bitten me once (....well, once, when I answered the phone while he was out of the cage...I knew better than to do that ). I feel as though I'm back in charge, and my sweet, affectionate little gremlin has returned.
I hope this helps. Good luck with it - you can turn this around and enjoy the relationship you'd like to have with Marvin.
You might think about getting Michael's book too - I think it covers a lot of this kind of stuff and his methods work

[Jenabee]

Thanks for the advice Janetafloat. We tried the clicker training with Marvin today, but he needs to be hungry. I picked the sunflower seeds out of his mix since that is the only type of food that he likes to eat asa reward. Most of the time, even that doesn't work. Any ideas on what to use as a reward if food doesn't do it? He loves kleenex and paper towels...

[Wayne361]

Food will always be a reward if you practice "food management" Obviously you dont starve the bird but I train before night time meal. Before meals is when they are hungry. When they are hungry they are food motivated.

Wayne

[janetafloat]

Food will always be a reward if you practice "food management" Obviously you dont starve the bird but I train before night time meal. Before meals is when they are hungry. When they are hungry they are food motivated.

Wayne is absolutely right, food will always work if the bird is hungry. We're not talking starving, just reasonably hungry. Withhold food for several hours at first and if he's not motivated withhold for a bit longer the next time. Michael suggests withholding for up to six hours though I have to say I've never needed to go anywhere near that long with either of my birds.

Most of the time, even that doesn't work.

What doesn't work exactly? I can promise you that if you follow the steps Michael suggests, you will turn this situation around, but there may be one or more elements of the process that you're leaving out, or doing incorrectly. If it's not having the desired effect it just needs to be tweaked.

[Jenabee]

We tried the clicker training with the paper towel as a reward, but it created a monster. He became very overstimulated and started to demand the paper towel outside of training sessions. To the point that he was completely obsessed. We felt bad. We took his food from his cage yesterday around 2:00 and took him out at 6 for training, but he wanted nothing to do with his food as a reward-- not even the sunflower seeds. Every time he hears the clicker now, he associates it with the paper towel and gets so excited that food doesn't matter to him at all. When he can't have the paper towel he freaks out and screams. Honestly, this bird doesn't care about food at all Even after 6 hours the only reason he wants to come out of the cage is to search for kleenex or paper towel.

we'll have to keep trying, I guess. I just wonder if this aggressive behaviour us hormone related. Whenever the winter and summer solstices come, he seems to be a maniac. Could there be a co-relation?

[Wayne361]

Withhold food for longer periods. Remember birds have gizzards to store food for later. Mine gets two feedings per day. One in the morning at about 8 am and next is about 11pm at night. Training is before 11pm feeding. So what is that.....15 hours between? He is motivated to train. His weight is constant at a healthy level. He gets lots of exercise etc. Again food will ALWAYS be a reward if proper food management is observed.

Hope this helps,

Wayne

[Wayne361]

I just noticed you own a parlott. Not sure if this much time should be held between feedings for a smaller bird and dont want to give bad advice. i would suggest extending delay in feedings till you see motivation increase to workable levels.

[janetafloat]

I'm sure a lot of birds are hormonal right now, I know mine is. You're right though, that behaviour does sound a bit obsessive. Try 6 hours without food and just keep at it, first thing in the morning before breakfast and in the evening. Is he on free feeding and what's he eating?

[CaitlinRice413]