Please help! New Cockatoo biting

[cheebamaster]

Hi there,

We just recently purchased a rose-breasted cockatoo that is around 3 years old. At the store she was a bit nippy but nothing too crazy. The store owner told us that with some time and care she would come around and stop biting so much. At the store she liked to be held and would let us scratch her neck/pet her.

She's been home for about 3 days now and settled in her cage. We take her out all the time but recently she has become more and more bitey. Her bites are increasingly ferocious and the past 2 times we've tried to have her step up she's literally lunged at our hands/arms and drawn blood.

So far we have tried to ignore this behavior (although really difficult when she's breaking skin) by not pulling away.

We've tried giving her a dirty look when she bites
We've tried distracting her with seed but she ignores it and just lunges.

We've been bit about 40x times now and it seems to only be getting worse.

Is this normal behavior for day 3? Is it just a matter of time before she stops biting and becomes a bit more docile or will this continue to escalate. We paid about 1 grand for her and have no intentions of giving up...but it does make me upset when I see my girlfriend in tears with blood running down her arm.

For the record we are first time bird owners

Thanks!!

UPDATE


We spent the past couple days applying Michael's target-training techniques and things are improving a lot! We have gotten bitten a couple times but she is stepping up a lot better and every once in awhile lets us scratch her head so a big improvement!

Thanks all for the help

[Saerphe]

I'm going to be really, REALLY honest with you here. You should NOT have purchased a cockatoo as your first bird. They are some of the hardest parrots to keep happy and mentally healthy, and are really only suitable for highly experienced owners who can spend a lot of time at home. They can be extremely loud, needy, aggressive, dusty, and destructive (both to their surroundings, and to themselves), and once negative behaviours like screaming, biting, plucking, or self-mutilation start, it can be really hard to get them to stop.

How much research did you do before you bought the bird?

I don't know a whole lot about caring for cockatoos specifically, but I recommend that you check out MyToos.com, and Michael's training blog. You'll find plenty of information, and you could potentially find an experienced owner or parrot behaviourist who can help you with your bird.

[cheebamaster]

Hi Saerphe, no harm in being honest! That's what I'm looking for. I did some research before purchasing her but I had heard from a few different people that the Rose-Breasted cockatoo's are the easiest kind of cockatoo's to handle which is why we went with her. In a few weeks from now I'll be picking up my baby great who will be around 16 weeks old and I am literally praying for a better experience lol.

I'll definitely check out that site though thanks!

[Andromeda]

You are first time bird owners and you chose a cockatoo? Yikes...

Birds are wilds animals (as opposed to domestic animals such as dogs and cats) and therefore are more ruled by natural instinct than animals who have been domesticated over thousands of years.

Birds are not like dogs and cats who want to be friends with new owners immediately. Birds do not trust freely; trust from a bird is earned over time. You've only had the bird for three days. You need to slow waaaaaaaaay down and give it more time to adjust to its new environment before you are pushing it to do new things.

It sounds like the bird is biting to say "no." Birds are individuals with personalities and desires and sometimes they don't want to do something and that's okay. Never force a bird to do something it doesn't want to do because that's a good way to get bitten, and a bird should have the right to refuse to do something it doesn't want to do at the time (such as step up).

If you have never owned a bird you are probably unfamiliar with a bird's body language but birds give off warning signs before they bite. You want to look for these signs and if you see these signs back off. This tells the bird that it doesn't have to bite to get its way because it's enough to just give out "warning signs" instead. Warning signs vary from species to species and bird to bird but here are some of the possible signs the bird intends to bite: strutting, fluffing up the head feathers, raising the crest, head bobbing, eyes dilating and constricting rapidly, or growling and hissing.

This is the most important thing I am going to say: stop putting yourself in the position of being bitten. Immediately. Period. If this means you have to temporarily stop handling the bird, temporarily stop handling the bird. The bird learns something with every single bite it delivers and biting can very quickly escalate out of control if the bird perceives that the biting is rewarding. What I mean by that is let's say the bird is thinking, "Get away from me" and that's why it's biting. If it bites and you back away, put it back on its cage, etc. it has now learned to bite when it wants to be left alone, wants you to back away, wants to be put back on its cage, etc.

Even if you don't think you are "rewarding" the bite the bird may think otherwise. This is why it is crucial not to be bitten in the first place. Furthermore, the trust between you and your bird is damaged every time it bites. You want to foster a trusting relationship and this will not happen if the bird is continually biting.

I don't know if you are doing this but I also want to say: never, ever, ever reach inside a bird's cage to try to make it "step up." It is normal for a bird to be territorial about its cage and if you reach inside to try to pick it up you have almost guaranteed 100% that you will be bitten. What you want to do, especially with a new bird, is open the cage and allow it to come out on its own terms.

To sum it up, back off, slow down, and start with Michael's Basics of Parrot Taming and Training. It's a step-by-step guide for beginners and I think it will be very helpful and informative. If you follow the steps in the guide you will learn how to foster a trusting relationship with your bird and trust is the number one way to prevent bites.

Congratulations on your new bird and I hope this information has been helpful.

[cheebamaster]

Thanks so much andromeda!

I am a bit confused...I've read elsewhere that you shouldn't "back down" when getting a bite and to ignore the behavior if you're trying to get the bird to step up for example. Doesn't pulling your hand away when it's going in for a bite teach it that it can lunge for a bite to get you to go away? What we've been doing is ignoring the biting and the bird after a couple chomps will step up on our hand and be fine.

Also, what is for example the bird is on it's playtop and I have to leave somewhere and so I attempt to put her back in her cage and no matter what she will try to bite?

Lastly, I am getting a baby grey here in a few weeks and am really excited. Are you suggesting that any-time I want to take her out to play I should let he climb out on her own? or is it okay to practice the step-up from within the cage with the baby.

Thanks so much

[Andromeda]

Thanks so much andromeda!

I am a bit confused...I've read elsewhere that you shouldn't "back down" when getting a bite and to ignore the behavior if you're trying to get the bird to step up for example. Doesn't pulling your hand away when it's going in for a bite teach it that it can lunge for a bite to get you to go away? What we've been doing is ignoring the biting and the bird after a couple chomps will step up on our hand and be fine.

Also, what is for example the bird is on it's playtop and I have to leave somewhere and so I attempt to put her back in her cage and no matter what she will try to bite?

Lastly, I am getting a baby grey here in a few weeks and am really excited. Are you suggesting that any-time I want to take her out to play I should let he climb out on her own? or is it okay to practice the step-up from within the cage with the baby.

Thanks so much

Yes, you want to ignore a bite when and if it happens. This means that ideally you would have zero reaction to the bite (don't yell, pull away, flinch, put the bird down, put the bird in its cage, and so on). This is not always possible, especially with a cockatoo (due to the size of their beak) so your best strategy is to avoid bites in the first place.

What I mean when I say "avoid bites" is to first recognize warning signs and back off immediately, and second assess the situations in which you are being bitten and re-evaluate your approach. No, you don't want to teach the bird to lunge at hands; what you are aiming for is to anticipate a bite from the bird's body language before the lunging (or the bite) so the bird learns that giving off non-verbal signals is enough (as opposed to lunging and biting).

For example, if I approach either of my birds I talk to them before I make any requests. In the case of my green cheek conure he will flip his wings ever so slightly to say, "No, thanks" and then I back off and don't ask him to step-up. If I ignore the wing-flipping he will puff up his head and mutter. That's when I know I'm really in for it if I press him.

My brown-headed parrot, on the other hand, fluffs up the feathers around his beak to say, "No, thanks." If that is ignored he will pin his eyes and if that is ignored he will begin to growl and hiss.

You can see from these examples that birds often give off multiple warning signs, often starting with "small" non-verbal signs and escalating into more obvious signs until finally, eventually, they will bite because the non-verbal signs were ineffective.

When you approach your bird, talk to it first and study its body language very carefully. Look for non-verbal cues that indicate a bite. If you see these cues back off immediately because you want the bird to learn that non-verbal cues are an effective way of saying "no."

If you have to leave and put the bird back in its cage but it bites in this scenario that is tricky. You can try to lure the bird into its cage by placing a treat in its food dish, but this requires that you know what treats will be effective and since the bird is so new you might not be able to find a treat that "works" right away.

Honestly if this is the problem you're having I'd say you need to re-evaluate your approach (as I mentioned above). Leave the bird in its cage for a few days. It's not the end of the world if a newly-acquired bird has to spend a few days in its cage and in fact this is probably a better way to introduce the bird to its new environment.

Start target training the bird while it's inside its cage (see the article I linked for step-by-step instructions). Once it knows how to target you can target it out of its cage, or target it back into its cage again. You won't have to touch the bird to do this, so you won't have to suffer a bite.

Once the bird knows how to target you can teach it to step-up onto a handheld perch or your hand. Since your cockatoo is biting I'd say start with a handheld perch and then later move on to your hand once the bird is more trusting and tame.

You can use the same methods in How to Tame & Train a Parrot for both your cockatoo and your grey. I know the article is long but Michael has seriously outlined every single step and provided every single bit of information a new bird owner needs to begin to foster a trusting relationship with their bird. The good news is he makes videos and the videos are very helpful as well.

As far as stepping-up from inside the cage, again, I would not recommend this unless there is some reason why you need the parrot to come out of the cage immediately and even then you want to use a handheld perch to retrieve the bird as opposed to your hand. Once your bird is more familiar with its new "flock" there's a good chance that it will come out of its cage whenever you open it, anyway.

Still, some birds aren't always in the mood to come out of their cage and that's fine. My green cheek conure will come out of his cage without exception every single time you open it, but my brown-headed parrot doesn't always want to come out. If I open his door and he stays in his cage I just tell him, "Suit yourself." I leave the cage open and pop in from time to time and eventually he'll be standing on the door outside of his cage at which point I pick him up and take him to another room.

[cheebamaster]

Thanks again,

I really appreciate the time you took in answering. I just finished reading Michael's article and I learned so much. I'll be sharing these ideas/techniques with the gf and we'll start again fresh from square one.

[Andromeda]

Thanks again,

I really appreciate the time you took in answering. I just finished reading Michael's article and I learned so much. I'll be sharing these ideas/techniques with the gf and we'll start again fresh from square one.

You're welcome. I'm new to the forums but not new to owning birds. I don't always know the answers to the questions people post here but when I do I enjoy sharing the information I've learned over the years.

I also enjoy pointing people to Michael's blog and videos because he provides excellent, thorough information (and videos) with step-by-step instructions on everything from taming to trick training---for FREE.

Before I found Michael's videos on YouTube I bought two books on clicker training and while I did learn a lot from the books I found Michael's videos and articles to be much, much more insightful than anything I read in the books I bought.

I still refer to the books but I refer to Michael's videos and posts more often because it's invaluable to actually see a bird learning a new behavior from start to finish.

[pennyandrocky]

i would definatly think twice about adding another bird when you just got this one and already have issues.cockatoos are a demanding bird not only do they need alot of attention you have to cook their food if mine doesn't get at least one hot meal a day she gets nippy and screams.i was bitten in the beginning to the bone she's now beaking,grabbing with her beak to let me know she's had enough.you also jumped into one of the most difficult birds during breeding season?they should be flighted too it would burn energy and make her easier to handle.

[Andromeda]

i would definatly think twice about adding another bird when you just got this one and already have issues.cockatoos are a demanding bird not only do they need alot of attention you have to cook their food if mine doesn't get at least one hot meal a day she gets nippy and screams.i was bitten in the beginning to the bone she's now beaking,grabbing with her beak to let me know she's had enough.you also jumped into one of the most difficult birds during breeding season?they should be flighted too it would burn energy and make her easier to handle.

This is great advice. Cockatoos and Greys are some of the most difficult birds to own, even for experienced owners. If you made a list of birds with the highest potential for severe behavioral problems (aggression, biting, screaming, feather plucking), Greys and Toos would be on the top of the list.

They are extremely intelligent and have excellent memories and are prone to holding grudges for weeks, months, or years. By "holding grudges" I mean you do one thing wrong and the bird remembers this one single misstep and mistrusts you for (potentially) an extremely long period of time.

You can "get away" with certain mistakes with say, a budgie, but Greys and Toos are "less forgiving" and the mistakes you make with them can lead to severe behavioral problems down the line.