by mmeager » Fri Mar 04, 2016 5:00 am
Wow! This has been great! We have made so much progress. And not due to my former idea posted above, which in hind sight was probably a bit silly, I wasn't thinking correctly. I have learned so much over the last week just by spending my time with Buddy.
Buddy very rarely snaps at me now, and I figured out that when he snaps, its not going to be hard, and he doesn't mean to hurt, he just want to test me, and let me know he is not happy about what I'm doing.
I have learned that there was 3 major issues going on here that was causing Buddy's aggressive behaviour.
The first issue was.
Just as Wolf said. Buddy didn't like me taking his food/water bowls away, as far as he is concerned they are his, and I had no right to take them away from him, what he didn't understand was that they were going to be replaced with more food/water. His water bowl was a very special issue, because he also uses it as his bath. We have overcome this issue by the use of the clicker, and treats. Buddy now understands that he will probably get much better food than what he had. Now instead of snapping at me when I change his bowls over, it has turned into a tug of war game! I remove the bowl, he tries to pull it back! I replace the bowl, and he pulls it in very quickly!!!
The second issue. Which is probably due to the first issue, is. He doesn't like me opening the sliding doors that access his water/food bowls. I realized this because I can hand feed him anywhere inside the cage, or thru the bars with no issue, but if I tried to hand feed him by opening those sliding doors, he shied back, was really uncomfortable and shy, and didn't want to take the food I was offering. We overcame this issue by persistence and treats alone. EVERYTIME he got a treat, it was by opening those sliding doors, and giving him his treat that way. Now Buddy hangs half his body out of those sliding doors to get his treat!!!!
The third issue. Which I personally think is the most Important one. Buddy was testing me, a bit like bluffing, and even more important Buddy wanted to explore my fingers, he wanted to get over his own fear of my fingers, but didn't really know how to. Which helped to trigger that snapping problem, due to his own fear.
Buddy is trying to understand us as much as we are him! He doesn't yet understand our skin, or how hard he can actually bite without hurting. A lot like a new puppy dog, who bites hard because he doesn't understand he is hurting, so we correct him and teach him how hard he can bite without hurting, the same thing.
I am currently in the process of trying to teach this.
So we have started a game together that I call BEAKS. After some training, and feeding, Buddy and I play beaks, the game goes like this, very simple. I stick my finger in the cage, and let buddy bite it! If he bites too hard, I don't remove my hand, but I do remove my finger from his beak, and say "NO (not loud, but firmly) Be Gentle" If he bites gently I say "Good boy! Love you so much"
So far no blood!!!!
This is really helping me to get over my fear of his beak, and hopefully his fear of my finger. win win situation I hope!!!!
Sorry for such a long rave! Most will probably not read it, But I really hope that my experience as a new bird owner might just help some others out there like me, who don't really know what their doing. And in the long run hopefully help to give some birds a lifelong family they deserve, and not a confusing owner to owner prison, that would be a horrible lifestyle for our feathered friends.