Senegal parrot male is very aggressive

[steviema]

Hello,

I am new to this forum but hopefully I will find the answer here.

Me and my birds are from Germany. Here is the story:

about one and a half week ago me and my brother picked up two Senegal parrots. One male and one female. 6 months old. They were already relatively tame but still a little bit shy.

At the breeder the male bird called "Franz" was a nice guy. A little bit hyperactive but a friendly one. He was only nibbling at my fingers but didn't bite. The female called "Lucy" is very very friendly.

So, as you may expect the bird we will talk in the next couple of sentences is Franz.

Till we have arrived at home he became more and more aggressive. He wants to come out of the cage to see what's happening around him. Nevertheless he is always trying to bite. No matter what. If he is near your fingers or any part of your body where he is seeing skin, here we go: biting!

Sometimes when I am sitting in the room he is getting very nervous. Walking around in his cage, shaking his wings while he is holding one of the cage bars. He is doing it so intensive, that it also affects Lucy. Crazy little Franz.

Also he is screaming sometimes and it seems like the he cannot relax most of the time. He is the complete opposite of the female bird. He is always watching you. His head is a liitle bit down and towards the bar he is sitting on. Also his eyes don't look comfortable.

I am a little bit afraid of Franz because I don't know what I can do. He is biting my fingers so hard that I am bleeding very often. Only when he is getting a treat he is not interested in my fingers or in biting. When the treat is done he immediately remembers to bite me again.

Personally, I think, that he is missing the breeder. This bird was his favorite bird.

We are good to these little gobblins. We love birds. We always owned birds for the last 20 years. But never had parrots.

Can you tell me what am I doing wrong? Or what I can do to solve the problem?

It is not acceptable this way. He also is not allowed to leave the cage at the moment. I would like to give him his freedom but I am sure he will bite again. Also he won't get back into the cage.

[liz]

I think you got it. He not only misses the breeder but misses his old surroundings. You are strange giants in a strange land. He is so afraid that he has turned his fear outward at you. Protect yourself instead of keeping him trapped in the cage. He may also be trying to keep you away from the female.
Parrot proof their room and let them out to investigate their new home. Be patient. You are both leaning right now.

[steviema]

Well, the only problem I have is, that if he's flying in the room he mainly crashes. I don't want him to get hurt. But I will try again.

Also, it is very difficult to put him bag into the cage. As mentioned he is always biting. The only thing I don't understand is, why he is interested in me. Or why he is taking the treats and also normal food out of my hand. He is calm then.

The breeder was an older man. The birds were not allowed to fly. He just took him out in his hands and was talking to him. Sometimes he was holding his beak. Or put them under water if they were very bad. This is something I would never do. Also yelling at him. No way!

Compared to the female he is very small. Don't know why.

He is a beauty but he is so angry and aggressive at the moment that I am really afraid of never solving this problem.

Is there anything I can do to prevent him from biting? Will it improve in a couple of days, weeks?

If not, the only reasonable choice would be to bring him back. Such a bird will maybe never be happy without this guy. But I don't want to give up.

Should I use some parts of a leather glove to keep my fingers safe? Will it reinforce his biting if he is able to bite me again? Or will he give up because it won't hurt then?

[Wolf]

Please don't allow the man that you got these birds from to ever get near them ever again. He has no business with a birds. There are many factors that can cause the reactions that you have described and fear and anger are both big ones.
With the way that you described the birds treatment at the hands of this man, I am doubtful if anything that he has told you were true starting with the ages of the birds. Sorry, I have a major problem with people who abuse animals.
I don't have a male Senegal, but I do have a female of about 7 years of age and she also came to me from and abusive person. It made earning her trust extra hard but in the end she came around and is one of my sweetest birds.
Regardless of this, the bird is terrified of you and its new surroundings precisely because they are new and unknown to him, that is one of the most dangerous places for a bird to be, in an unknown place and without the support and protection of its flock. The treatment that he received from this man have only served to make this stressful time even worse for both you and this bird. So yes he is scared and angry. He does miss this abusive man, but only because he is familiar and the bird had to depend on him.
I will do everything that I can to help you with these birds. First of all are their cages placed where they can see and talk to each other? If they are not please place them near each other as this may help to calm the male. He may be older than this man said and so they may be bonded to each other or if he was honest about their ages they may still have a sibling type of bond and at this time they will help to support each other through this time of transition. They will talk and both of them will learn from the other.
The body language of the male is an aggressive posture because he doesn't trust you. Please read this link about their body language as it will help you to understand what your birds are trying to tell you http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww15eii.htm Body language is their primary means of communication and learning to read it can tell you when it is safest to try to handle your birds.
The thing that you need to do is to win their trust and this is best done through spending a lot of time hanging out with them and talking and singing to them. In addition to this I would set aside two or three 15 minutes times to spend working on gaining their trust. Start by entering the room and stopping. Take a minute to observe their body language, look at them sort of like from the corner of your eyes so that they don't associate you with being a predator. Wait for the birds to relax and then begin to approach the cage in a round about fashion softly talking to and praising them. Anytime that they start getting nervous stop and take one step back. Continue talking to them and wait for them to relax before you come any closer to them. Repeat this entire process until you are next to their cages. At this time you can start offering them a treat through the bars of their cages. You want them to come to the side of the cage that you are on of their own free will and you want them to calmly take the treat from you without aggression. Then when your 15 minutes are up say good bye and leave the room. That ends the session. This is very important as it begins to let them know that you are listening to them and respect them. This is the beginning stages of earning their trust. Parrots are naturally suspicious creatures as they are prey animals and they don't just give their trust to anyone you have to show them that you can be trusted. I understand that the male will take treats from you but this is largely due to the fact that he must depend on you and he knows this, although he is resentful of this due to the abuse he has received. This is the reason for this level of aggression from him. Be patient and consistent and he will begin to come around. You just need to be persistent in trying to show him that you can be trusted.
I can't promise you that you will not get bitten by either one of these birds as it is a simple fact of parrots, they do bite. Most of the time it is not a big deal as once they know and trust you it is usually a fairly gentle nip to remind you that you are not listening to them. Sometimes they may be catching their balance. The hardest thing about this is learning that the best way to teach a parrot to not bite is to avoid the bite in the first place and that is where knowing their body language can help you the most.
It would be very helpful to know what their current schedule is as well as what their diet consists of and what is their feeding schedule. Pictures of them could also shed some light on what may be going on with them and suggest beneficial changes.
Flying is very important to their health mentally, physically as well as emotionally and some crashes are normal. It is recommended that they have a certain amount of time out of their cages on a daily basis, but you might want to wait a few days on this so as to give them time to relax a bit more and to hopefully begin to see that you can be trusted.

[steviema]

The parrots are already sitting together. They don't have a problem with each other as they have been together since their birth. Cleaning their coat and so on.

About the breeder, he was nice to the birds during our visit. Also he was sad about the birds leaving. I just called him after the problems have begun. Then he told me to train them. He put them gently under water, or was holding their beak when they were biting or trying to bite.

Nevertheless I agree that these methods are not acceptable in my opinion.

To come back to the age and the rest of the birds. The age is confirmed. Also the gender. They are both marked and I have an official paper of a lab with official stamp and sign. Don't worry in this matter.

Also I am only having troubles with the male. Franz is really not the nicest bird since he is living in my house. But he seems to be more friendly to my brother, though. The female bird always wants to come to me and also flies to me. Though, she is a little bit shy. And they are very jumpy.

Attached you can find some pictures. The bird hanging with the head down, in both cases is the male bird. She is looking relatively relaxed in my opinion.

Personally, I like both of them. Nevertheless I will definitely have to find a solution for the male bird.

Any suggestions what to do when he will bite again? If I don't use my second hand to get him loose, he will bite as hard as he can. Always bloody. Maybe should I use some leather gloves? Or just a part of them to put over my thumb and forefinger?

Will he stop when he is realizing that it doesn't bother me?

[liz]

The man actually told you that he put him under water when he was bad. Torture and punishment is a cruel thing for these intelligent beings. I have an anger problem when it comes to breeders, pet shops and abusive negligent owners.
I do not own birds. I am their human.
Wolf has it right. Wolf always has it right. This is a man who's first bird found him. He feels very deeply about his birds and also about yours. Please listen to him.
You must do everything you can for this bird. If you give up on him and pass him on his life will be hell. Very few are a sensitive as you and want what is right for this bird to be happy.

The only thing I can add is that the more he sees and hears you the more he can adjust to you. I would suggest going to the far side of the room with your back turned and read a book out loud.
He will be an observer and pick up on your personality. If she is friendly let her interact with you so he can watch and learn.

You may never be able to touch him. (It was 4 years before Myrtle presented her head for scratches.) He will communicate with you. He will bond with you even if you don't think it is a good bond it will be all he can do. You have already started to bond to him. Keep it up.

[steviema]

Sure, I want them to be fine. Otherwise I wouldn't need some birds. We always loved our birds in the past.

And what about the leather glove?

So, I should take her out of the cage to play with her? He should stay alone in the cage then? Isn't he getting more aggressive because of this?

I am asking because I have to close the cage then. Otherwise he will come out. I think he wants to come out. Also he wants to come close. He is a strange guy. Really.

Today I've realized that he is screaming very often. It feels like a human is crying.

He seems to be very very sad. My problem is, that I cannot stay at home the whole day because of work. This is the reason why I've bought two of them. And I think he isn't screaming for me.

The only time available is in the morning for a couple of minutes and in the evening for 3 hours.

At the weekend we don't have a problem.

[Wolf]

When Kiki, my Senegal arrived at my house on her own freezing and starving and demanding to come in, which I just could not refuse without condemning her to die, she almost immediately bite me once she was inside and flew to find a space to watch me from. I tried leather gloves, due to the severity of her bites. She removes a hunk of flesh about 1/8 of an inch wide, about the same length and the depth depended on how good of a hold and location of the bite, in any case there was blood and missing flesh every time. I tried thin leather gloves and I tried thick leather gloves and it seemed to me that she just bit harder. I guess it might have saved a little bit of flesh but did nothing to stop the bleeding or the pain, so I abandoned the gloves. The only thing that I could do most of the time was to pry her beak out of my body and set her down and tell her calmly but firmly no bite. This eventually worked?!
At this point in time I would not separate them from each other. Since they grew up together they do indeed have a shared bond that is nearly as strong as a mate bond and they will want to be together, especially while you try to interact with either one of them or both. I worded my previous response in terms of both of them as the same manner of approaching them is the same. I do understand that you issue is with the male but I think that we may need to first look at the basics of acclimating both of them to you and their new environment, they are talking to each other and they are sharing their thoughts and what they learn with each other and this can be used to your benefit. They are not viewing themselves as separate from each other and because of this I don't think that you can ignore this either, especially as you are going to have to work with them together for now or you will cause yourself unneeded problems and only increase their level of stress. although they are bonded at a sibling level at this time you will have the best response by working with them as if they are a mated pair, which after puberty may become the actual fact or it may not.
Does he seem to be more aggressive to you when you try to interact with the female? How are his reactions to you different if at all when your brother is in the same room with you and you are working with them? I still need the answers to my previous questions as I need to see what is actually happening in their lives to get an accurate picture and to propose solutions. These are very intelligent birds as well as one of the more aggressive species of parrots and due to their intelligence what works for one bird will not always work for another, they are that much of an individual. As I said sort of like human children in this regard. The things that you like and respond to are not always the same as your brothers even though you were probably raised by the same parents and pretty much in the same manner.
As Liz responded to you earlier his aggression may partly be due to his bond with the female and if so then he is trying to protect and defend her from what he sees as inappropriate advances on her by you. He may see you as a rival for her attention and is trying to tell you not to do that. All of these things are a part of what I need to understand in order to suggest the appropriate response from you to remedy the situation. I am not there and I must depend on your observations and thoughts in order to put together what is going through their minds. The more detailed information that I have the more accurate I will be and therefore more effective.

[liz]

If he is calling to you then you can't leave him in the cage. Wolf is right. I was wrong. Don't separate them. Be brave and let him out too. Just protect yourself
I don't know if he is considering you a rival for the female. I had two lovebirds. One was weaker than the other and the stronger protected him to the point of coming at me if I tried to make contact.
They are so intelligent. Until he can talk and tell you what is wrong you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I never pry a beak loose. I have found if you cover their eyes they let go. That works even if you lay a tissue on his head gently.

[Wolf]

Thank you Liz Pry his beak out of my flesh was a poor description as I actually was rubbing both sides of Kiki's beak to distract her, and usually since she bit clean through there could be no prying anyway. And distraction of a bird that is biting or attempting to bite you can be a very humane and effective means of stopping that bite, allowing you the opportunity to put the bird down or move you hand from within range of a bite.