new bird and new here help!!

[kika95]

My husband and I just got a brown throated conure from a local pet store. The lady didn't know if the bird was a boy or girl so we named it Charlie and he's three or four years old. The lady from the pet store said the person who had Charlie before us never let him out of his cage or spent time with him. So he's aggressive and doesn't like to be held at all. But is hand fed. This is my first time owning a bird and we've had him for four weeks now I love having him around and talking to him all day but I don't know how to get him to stop hitting and being so cage aggressive. I'm assuming its harder to train a older bird that's set in its ways but I really wanna give a shot because he's here to stay. Any help would be awesome....

[liz]

What are you doing with him now? Can he fly? Have you let him out? What are you feeding him?
What kind of cage is he in?

Your bird is not wild, he is scared. He has been kept caged and ignored. Talking to him is great.
Now you need to parrot proof a room so you can let him out. He needs confidence. If you can move his cage or perch up so he can be at face level. They are afraid of hands but not faces. By opening the cage door you are telling him that he is no longer a prisoner. It could be days before he comes out and then days just on the top of the cage. Even if he can't or doesn't fly you are showing him respect and enlarging his living space. Don't put you hands in the cage except for maintenance. Even then keep your palm down. Talk to him but don't look at him while you do this. The best way to clean his cage without invading the little bit of space he calls his own is to wait until he comes out.

Use the same words for the same things and he will learn them and their meaning. Being older he should be over his hormonal stage for the year. Being older means he has more mentality to learn with.


I am tired of typing. Wolf, Pajarita or another member will take over from here.
Oh, welcome to the forum.

[BozidarL]

Hello there kika! Welcome to our little community! Im here for a few days too amd Im very happy with the help Im getting amd the speed of these good people's response. I want your birdie good luck!

[Wolf]

It can be more difficult depending on his previous treatment, but it is still largely a matter of patience, consistency, and persistence.
There are several possibilities as to the cause of his aggression, beginning with his previous treatment and his being scared and in a new environment with people that he doesn't know or trust. There may be hormonal causes for his aggression and these are largely affected by the lighting and light schedule and diet. Cage size can also cause some aggression in birds.
If you will share with me what Charlie's environment is like, including information about his diet and lighting and a general run down of his daily schedule, I believe that we can help you to have a great relationship with him/her.

[Roonil Wazlib]

Welcome

I don't know much about how to help aggression in parrots, but like wolf says, you will need a lot of patience, consistency and persistence.

if hes not already, introduce him to fruit and veg - a good healthy diet helps with aggressive birds.
Also, he needs plenty of stimulation, foraging toys is a must, it will keep him busy and keep away the boardem.

He needs to learn that he is safe with you, association is the best way to do this.

The cage you have, is it his old one? If yes, hes been tethered to it all his life, and is very territorial over it - its been his only safe place. But also, it comes with a lot of negative memories, which he'll still associate with. When he begins to get comfortable with you and your husband, you might like to get a different cage.

A good place to start positive reinforcement is getting him thinking "hands = treats = good thing". When hes not biting or being aggressive, offer a treat. At first you can place it in an open palm, far enough away from him so that he doesn't feel threatened, once hes interested, you can then place it down and walk away, if he is in his cage when you do this, put the treat as close to the door as you can, so your hands don't invade his space too much. Over the weeks, he will recognize that your hands are the ones giving him good things, you can get closer and closer, and soon he will trust your hands enough to take the treat from them then you'll be able to work on the stepping up command with him.

Good luck - and thank you for giving a parrot a second chance at life, your an awesome person

-> my boy wanted in on the conversation -- #4bn vhgfft

[liz]

If you get him a bigger cage you can set it up for him but don't put him in it. Put the two cages together with their doors open. He will have to investigate but don't close the door until your sure he has claimed it. He may go back to his old one a couple times.
I believe in not touching the bird until it touches you. Of course if there is an emergency that is another matter. Scoop if you can.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum! Getting an aggressive/neglected parrot as a first time bird is something that requires A LOT of guts so my hat off to you! First thing you need to do is take him to an avian vet and get a complete physical on him to make sure he is fine (birds in pet stores are exposed to other birds which could be asymptomatic carriers and owners of other birds which could carry pathogens with them and are never checked by a vet). Second thing is to do in-depth research on their natural diet and change whatever it's eating right now (pet stores do not normally offer a good diet). Third thing is put him on a solar schedule and establish strict daily routines. He is now still in his honeymoon stage (usually their very best behavior) so if he is biting right now, you are going to have to put a lot of work and thought into his rehabilitation so, please, give us as many details as you can of his current living conditions and we will give you specific pointers.

[kika95]

Thanks so much for the help for the past few days he's been letting me scratch his head and he really likes it. It made me super happy but he still likes to bite lol. And I was wondering on how to parrot proof my room because I would love to let him out and were taking him to get his nails trimmed and wings clipped tomorrow

[kika95]

And he's eating a seed and pellet mix that has dried fruit in it and he also gets grapes and tomatoes daily and his millet and dried fruit and nut treats. He really loves the grapes and his cage is like 24 by 16 or 18 I think not to sure. But I love it he's been more friendly the past two or three days then the entire time I've had him.

[kika95]

This is charlie