Parrot is afraid of my hands all of a sudden, please

[MacT]

Hey everyone,

I just want to start my saying that my Senegal, Kiwi, is 1yr and 7months old. Ive had him for 1yr and 2months. This is not my first parrot i have trained/tamed.
I taught him how to do flips, wave, turn around, blow kisses, and also he says ‘pretty bird’, ‘hi kiwi’, ‘step up’, ‘scratch’ and a few other words. Ive also basically ‘potty trained’ him, as in he knows his special perch is for pooping when he’s out and in the morning. He trusts me that i hold him in my hand on his back. We had a good relationship.

HE IS FLIGHTED


The one week ago i set up a perch near the window for him, and i tried to put him on the perch using treats, he flew into the glass, i then tried again with treats and then he flew back to his cage, and it wasn’t a big deal, and from then on he’s be deathly affriad of my hand.

He’ll take treats from my hand with extreme caution only. He also is partially bonded to my brother, although i am the care taker, and he prefers me until the situation. So every time i need him back in i have to give my brother a call since i still let him out of fresh fruits and veggies.

When i walk by the cage at any time he is on the side ready to fly if i put my hands near.


Please help me, what do i do! I love kiwi and it breaks my kills me that he is scared of me, even when I’m giving him the most space and treats.


thanks in advance to everyone, esp the ones who answer almost everything, you guys know who your are.

[Pajarita]

It seems to me that you put too much emphasis on training for tricks than actual bonding because, if your bird was deeply bonded to you, he would trust you implicitly, even after an accident as the one with the window. Your worst mistake was to insist on his going there after he had crashed because even birds that don't bond with us would, eventually, start to rely on our judgment and protection when it comes to 'scary' situations. You should have comforted him and cuddled with him instead - you are forgetting that he is very young still and quite insecure.


I am afraid that you will have to start from scratch all over again. Forget training and forget asking for him to perform tricks. Concentrate on keeping him company, talking and singing to him, offering a treat every now and then (but not until he actually gets closer to you on its own initiative), etc. Keep your hands behind your back and approach his cage (or him on a perch) slowly and going on a circuitous route (as if you were not going straight for him) and stop immediately when you see him tensing. Take one step back from this distance and keep him company from there, you can read, you can watch TV, you can play video games, etc but don't make sudden movements with your hands and don't raise them. Gradually get closer and closer to his cage as he becomes desensitized to your presence and more at ease with your hands. But don't push, don't insist, don't even ask for anything, let him set the pace and just concentrate on making him feel at ease and safe.

[Wolf]

Well, I am the bonehead of the bunch and I deserve it and really worked hard to earn it, I guess, 'cause I trust my instincts totally.
Now, I am meaning no disrespect and do not mean to be confrontational or anything, but my instincts are going wild, sort of like a lighthouse flashing and an air raid horn blaring. Because of this I really must ask if there is more involved than what you have told us/ Maybe it is smaller less dramatic incidents or maybe just a bit more occurred during this incident than you are telling us?
I apologize if I am wrong as I am only concerned with helping you and Kiwi to get through this and repair your relationship. If I am wrong, please tell me so, I will not be offended, but if I am right please fill us in so that we can give the best advice that we are able to give.

[MacT]

Hey guys, as far as bonding, i haven’t been able to spend more than an hour a day with him each day last month dues to being a lead organizer of a huge fundraiser dinner. but my brother spent time much with him each day and allowed about 4-7 hours of out of cage time.

its kind of a though love between us two, because he play bites a little hard sometimes but i don’t mind it, some times i cage him around the cage and he just hops away, but I’m sure its playful for actual fear as hell roll over too.

he definitely starting to warm up to me again, i feel as if i did something i hadn’t noticed that made him this way to me.

I now hold exclusive use of treats with the family. Today I’m going o buy some of him favourites, nutriberries and peanuts. hopefully that will buy some love back.


The thing is he’s scared of anything new, when i got him a natural wood perch, we wouldn’t go inside for the whole day, so new toys are a no no unless they are ones he’s had and destroyed before.


Wolf and Pajarita, i was sure you two would answer you guys are great.

Thank you guys for your help

[Wolf]

Ok then, now I feel better and am beginning to get a much better picture of what is going on. Thank you.
You do indeed need to take some time for bonding but I am not thinking that you will have to start all over, but that will depend on what your bird has to say about it. One thing is for certain, and that is that you must not ever chase your bird around the cage anymore, because that is the reason that it is refusing to step up and is reluctant about anything that has to do with your hands. Any trust that this bird ever gave you was torn down each time you chased it around.
I have never heard of a Senegal play biting before, it is something that as far as I am aware they just do not do. Their beak is a tool and it is a hand and it is a sensory organ. Starting when they are babies, they bite everything with their beak, this is so they can figure out what it is and most importantly is it good to eat, if it is not for eating they want to know if it is strong enough to support them for climbing on, it is during this stage that they often bite down too hard because they do not know how much pressure to use. The other thing that they use their beak for is feather upkeep and preening themselves and their siblings and parents or us. It is also during this stage that they learn how to inflict pain with their beak and to use it for self defense and to correct you when you do something to them that they don't want done. So from now on when your bird bites too hard gently tell it "no bite" or " gently" and move the beak a little bit and then just carry on as if nothing happened. This takes some time to be effective but it works without interfering with their preening of you and this is important to them as preening is a social and bonding behavior.
Excuse me while I roll about on the floor laughing my ass off!!! Trying to buy love from a bird, wow! Good luck with that. I do use treats, on occasion and often recommend them to other people but the truth is that they are simply a beginning type of reward for a young bird who is naturally focused on food or for a bird that is accustomed to them and my last reason is for the bird that does not trust you enough to accept much petting. Truth be that my birds will very happily take a treat form you if you want to give them one but they will not perform for a treat, unless them looking at you like they think you are nuts, would be considered performing. But they will happily do what you want if they know how, for a good beak or head scratch. They are really big on affection and I, myself look for every opportunity to give it to them, and sometimes all it takes is for them to hold still long enough for me to reach over to them.
Senegals tend to be fearless when it comes to living things, not so much with things. You normally need to show them the item and then play with it until they get curious enough to want to join in on the play, before they will accept it.
Find some time to just hang out with him and talk to him and give him the occasional treat or head scratch along with an honest good boy, do this every day. Just hold him , when he decides to let you and talk to him.

[MacT]

Hey Wolf, ill give you some more info that may help.


just to clarify the biting isn’t aggressive, its like a nibble, usually at my ears, glasses or maybe because of my ring on my hand some times. But especially when I have my phone, he lunges for it but gets my hand! but i don’t react. He has only drawn blood two times, both times when i was putting his favourite chew toy back in the cage after cleaning,...clearly it wasn’t his intention.

id like to think i know kiwi enough to know the difference between an aggression/defensive bite vs. a playful bite as I’ve seen him with other people.

also he would fly to him where I’m sitting and basically clean my beard, its really cute and i think he enjoys it. I always help unroll all his pin feathers, and when i accidentally hit one that isn’t ready he patiently growls at me, without biting or leaving my had even if he’s on his back, then lets me continue enjoying every second of it. Also i always scratch his beak and help peel off the loose pieces.

One thing also that he dint like was showers, but i gave him one every month for the first 8months. id reward him with treats, and his favourite, a blow dryer (from a distance don’t worry). but after 8 months he started to bath himself, in a way to avoid it i guess, so i stopped giving showers. now what id do if he stepped in poop or something is that i would wash his feet under running water perched on my finger, that he didn’t mind. And when i did chase him on the cage to put him in, he always ended up stepping up, but to avoid punishment=cage i would play with him for a few minutes then place him int he cage, but keep talking to him. Also, when its time to sleep he kindly lets me know with his special chirp he does, and then stops after i cover him. His cage is big enough for an amazon parrot.


lastly, now he’s starting to take more treats and eat food with me again, today he flew to my shoulder to grab a bite of my burger (just the bread/veggies). but then he flew away when i raised my hand to feed him again because he didn’t see the piece of food.

I agree i need more bonding time, and i hope i can do it before puberty hits so i can work though it with him.


Thanks

[Wolf]

I didn't think that I inferred that he was being aggressive, just referred to the time when they learned how to use their beak to stop people from doing things to them that they didn't like. Also how to correct them when they bite too hard without stopping them from preening you as that is what he was doing with you when he bit too hard. That is also what he is doing when he does your beard, preening and it is a good thing and a major bonding thing, you definitely want it to continue. The phone thing, however, you do need to get him to change his behavior about as it is the start of phone aggression and it will escalate unless he learns that the phone isn't taking you away from him and so is ok. I do not punish birds ever, that would be wrong. Clearly he is bonded to you for now and he is being gentle, but if you don't get him to understand that things like biting you over the phone is not good it will increase in severity as he gets more frustrated at the phone. So it is best to distract him from it now rather than wait.
Again never chase him about, if he doesn't step up wait a minute or so then ask again and maybe offer him a treat in exchange for his cooperation. If there is one time above all others that I recommend the use of treats it is when it is time to go into the cage. This is his safe place and you always need him to go to it willingly and giving him a treat at this time is the easiest and surest way to make this happen. Also since you mentioned that he did in fact draw blood when you were placing something in his cage, you should watch this behavior and if it occurs then , you may need to distract him from you reaching into his cage as Senegal are well known for getting possessive about their cage. Like " This is my cage, get out" "chomp"
Overall you have got a good thing going with Kiwi and he is respectful of you and clearly likes you and is not aggressive toward you, again you have a good thing going there.

[MacT]

Hey Wolf,

Id like to thank you for the advice.

For a while i would just keep Kiwi company, then i would let out of the cage and let her return by putting a treat and stepping away. slowly she stopped being affriad and flying away, but rather now stood her ground and used aggression. i was able to keep feeding her treats, making EVERY interaction a positive one for him.

After a while she started flying to my shoulder but would still not like my hands. With new toys he loved and treats, now he’s accepting scratches in the head early and late. I always clean the cage more now, and change water more to show him that i take care of him.


now I’m at a level that unless he doesn’t want to, he will step up, he will sit with me, he won’t bite anymore, sometimes a growl but then i back up and give him treats. Trick training helped. But i now see the most important was spending time with my bird. Im glad to say that we are right on track, not quite to the point hell lay on his back in my hand but enough that theres no aggression, and positive interactions always.


Now I’m just reinforcing for a while, i won’t try any major trust exercises for a while, until he feels 100% comfortable with me.

so anyway thank you all who replied!

[Wolf]

Thank you very much for the update, I am very happy that we were able to help you and Kiwi get things moving in the right direction again. Please keep us informed and if we can be of any further assistance feel free to ask and we will do our best.

[Pajarita]

But, my dear, if the parrot is growling at you and you feed it a treat, you are training him to be aggressive. You cannot reward aggression. You should look for the cause of it, eliminate it and reward good behavior. Now you know that you were not spending enough one-on-one time with him (him or her? you use both) and doing it so, unless you are still doing something he/she doesn't like (like insisting on step up when the parrot doesn't want to or whatever), the growling will disappear on its own but, when you give a treat, you are not distracting him/her, you are rewarding and this is nothing but confusing to him/her.