Hi All,
This first post is mostly information. My only question is about stopping biting.
I got two birds about a month ago. Mango (IR) appears bonded with the cockatiel that he came with.
Mango is tame, but he seems aggressive to me. He will lunge at the cage when I come near it. He readily comes out of the cage on his own, and he has flown to my head a couple of times and to explore different parts of the room. Once he landed on the chair back and when I turned toward him, he clicked his beak once, which I also think is aggression. He is very protective of the cockatiel. He won't let me get near her and seems to have a distinctive, loud warning sound in that case. If I try to pet him, he will try to snap at me. He has the meanest scariest stare too.
The first time I handled him, out of his cage, he stepped up readily, but within moments he casually reached down and gave me a couple of bites that bled. I think he was not satisfied with the first and wanted a better grip. I just said owe and then for some reason I gave him a nut, and then put him down before he finished it. I guess I was thinking it was more important that he starts to trust me.
But now I'm having a hard time trusting him and I'll wear leather gloves to pick him up. When I put them on, his attitude changes and he will run away, but he will step up if I chase him down. He then wants to climb my arm, so I get nervous that he will bite my ear. I am working on building more trust and figuring out how to discourage biting. He has gotten me three times - just last night again since I want to get rid of the gloves. When he bows to bite, I turn my wrist or wiggle my hand and calmly say no biting. He'll stand up and look at me, then I'll wait a moment and give him a nut and praise.
I like that he will eagerly sample just about anything I give to him. He is very interested in what I'm eating too. He gets chop and ate quite a bit of it the first time - mostly baby bell peppers, baby cucumbers, some broccoli, and brown rice. He's gotten a bit more picky lately though. He really seemed to like scrambled egg.
He makes some interesting sounds. One sounds like a mocking "ah ha" and another "what!" Another is a kind of knocking sound, more like a woodpecker. Maybe that is what he is mocking or it is a typical IR sound? He will scream loud enough to hurt my ear too. He does this some times and I think he is calling, maybe for his former owner. He also does it a lot if I separate him from the cockatiel.
I don't know how old he is, but is at least five years old. I don't have any concerns for him, but do about the cockatiel, because Mango dominates her so much - not really in a mean way though. He will groom her and they seem to snuggle next to each other often, but I've seen Mango yank the cockatiel out of the food dish by the scruff of her neck. Sometimes I think of separating them, but that is more because I see the cockatiel being very aggressive toward Mango at times, like she wants him to leave her alone, and also because of his protective attitude with her around.
That's probably too much for now...
This first post is mostly information. My only question is about stopping biting.
I got two birds about a month ago. Mango (IR) appears bonded with the cockatiel that he came with.
Mango is tame, but he seems aggressive to me. He will lunge at the cage when I come near it. He readily comes out of the cage on his own, and he has flown to my head a couple of times and to explore different parts of the room. Once he landed on the chair back and when I turned toward him, he clicked his beak once, which I also think is aggression. He is very protective of the cockatiel. He won't let me get near her and seems to have a distinctive, loud warning sound in that case. If I try to pet him, he will try to snap at me. He has the meanest scariest stare too.
The first time I handled him, out of his cage, he stepped up readily, but within moments he casually reached down and gave me a couple of bites that bled. I think he was not satisfied with the first and wanted a better grip. I just said owe and then for some reason I gave him a nut, and then put him down before he finished it. I guess I was thinking it was more important that he starts to trust me.
But now I'm having a hard time trusting him and I'll wear leather gloves to pick him up. When I put them on, his attitude changes and he will run away, but he will step up if I chase him down. He then wants to climb my arm, so I get nervous that he will bite my ear. I am working on building more trust and figuring out how to discourage biting. He has gotten me three times - just last night again since I want to get rid of the gloves. When he bows to bite, I turn my wrist or wiggle my hand and calmly say no biting. He'll stand up and look at me, then I'll wait a moment and give him a nut and praise.
I like that he will eagerly sample just about anything I give to him. He is very interested in what I'm eating too. He gets chop and ate quite a bit of it the first time - mostly baby bell peppers, baby cucumbers, some broccoli, and brown rice. He's gotten a bit more picky lately though. He really seemed to like scrambled egg.
He makes some interesting sounds. One sounds like a mocking "ah ha" and another "what!" Another is a kind of knocking sound, more like a woodpecker. Maybe that is what he is mocking or it is a typical IR sound? He will scream loud enough to hurt my ear too. He does this some times and I think he is calling, maybe for his former owner. He also does it a lot if I separate him from the cockatiel.
I don't know how old he is, but is at least five years old. I don't have any concerns for him, but do about the cockatiel, because Mango dominates her so much - not really in a mean way though. He will groom her and they seem to snuggle next to each other often, but I've seen Mango yank the cockatiel out of the food dish by the scruff of her neck. Sometimes I think of separating them, but that is more because I see the cockatiel being very aggressive toward Mango at times, like she wants him to leave her alone, and also because of his protective attitude with her around.
That's probably too much for now...