Posted by stir the pot on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 06:35 :: Cockatiels
Kitty Kitty is almost 3 years old, and very friendly. You can pet and touch him just about anywhere, he talks and whistles, really a bird owners dream. Except for the fact that I have trouble in the morning when i reach into his cage to change out his food. He gets the same way if i walk up with a treat on a clip or something and try to attach it to his cage. He gets angry and charges and bites when i try to take out or put back anything that has to do with food. He screams while i walk into the kitchen with it, and while i walk back, and when i put it back in his cage he is attacking me the entire time. I have tried to push my hand into the bite, and he falls back a bit and then procedes to scream and flail like a malfunctioning fire alarm, and the "ignoring him and letting him bite" is getting messy because eventually he bites harder and draws blood. Even stranger is at different times of the day when i open his cage and reach in to take him out to play, he eagerly jumps up on my hand before i even give a step up command, even if he's sitting right next to his food bowl. I have tried changing his feed times so he won't know when I'm coming for him or his food, but he always seems to know the difference. He has a mirror, on that side of his cage. Some say I should remove the mirror; he really seems to enjoy his reflection though, talks to himself and me constantly, and it has never been a problem before... my fingers hurt and I need help... thanks in advance
Posted by karen on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 13:43.
My conure can be the same way, especially if it's a treat - just gets overexcited and bites at my fingers to get me to put the dish down sooner.
I haven't really found a way to stop the behavior effectively but I can avoid it. If Chico is looking likr she might bite, I just pick her up with one hand, put the dish in place, and then put her back on her cage to eat. As long as I pick her up with the hand that is not holding the food dish, she doesn't think about biting.

Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI
Posted by stir the pot on Tue, 04/29/2008 - 15:18.
Thats a great idea for putting the dish back, but the hardest part is getting to it to remove it in the first place. My best bet might be to attempt to distract him with something, like a treat, but at the same time i dont want to "reward" his behavior... Any ideas for getting the dish out in the morning? Also, I've been thinking that if I can get him out, just putting him on my shoulder while i do everything might help, but I've also been reading that when they develop biting problems like this, it might be a good idea to keep them off the shoulder for a while, to re-establish the ranking system. Any thoughts?
Thanks so much for your time!!

Jacqui
Posted by steve on Sat, 05/10/2008 - 06:15.
kiwi, our green cheek conure is the same. it seems like he's very territorial of his food dish when it comes time to replenishing the food, or even getting him up out of his cage in the morning.

try to get your bird to step up onto a dowel to remove him from the cage when you're trying to replenish the food dish. you may have a little more control if he's on a perch under your control, outside of his territory.

-steve