Hello all,
I'm brand new to this site..just signed up yesterday. I was hoping some of you could give me some insight on my situation. So alittle back story I grew up around birds. My mother raised cockatiels and love birds (so I'm use to bird bites ;)). I even had a conure that was a nasty little thing...the store worker even tried to discourage me from purchasing him because of his aggression, but with weeks of time and patience he became a little love bug. When I see an aggressive bird in a store my first thought is it being purchased by people who WANT a bird, but do not have the resources or time to help them...resulting in either years of neglect or that bird being sold continuously...never seeing love.
This brings me to my current situation.i have been doing about 2 years of research and I wanted either a Ringneck or a Caique. Last Wednesday my husband and I decided to stop by a small family owned pet store...just to browse around. I came across and gorgeous green Indian Ringneck and I fell in love. The owner had told me that she had purchased her from an expo, but couldn't do anything with her because of her aggression and because of that....she never left her cage. This little girl was born 3/29/19 and was sexed to determine she was infact a female. Me and my husband discussed it, because I was reluctant to take on another aggressive bird (just because I'm use to bird bites does not mean I enjoy them)...and after some serious thought I decided to purchase her. I got her home gave her a day to adjust without messing with her. The second day I opened the door to let her out...again..not really interacting...just talking to her. She was actually okay with leaving the cage (even took about a 2 hour nap on top of it the first day of being out). Friday I decided to start interacting with her by hand feeding her treats. Now here's my problem. She comes to me and will take treats from me, but constantly lunges and tries to bite me. I would not give her the ability to do so though...when she would lunge I would just walk away. Today I decided to let her bite to show her that I did not hurt and she wouldn't get a reaction from me. This girl grabbed on and would not let go!!! I tried to just let her go, but it got to the point where I just couldn't take it anymore and had to pull away. I have a feeling this is a mix of bluffing/not being handled. Can anyone give me some insight on how to handle this? She's not what I would call cage aggressive....she usually stays away from me while cleaning bowls or the bottom...it's more when she's out and comes to me...only to lash out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
I'm brand new to this site..just signed up yesterday. I was hoping some of you could give me some insight on my situation. So alittle back story I grew up around birds. My mother raised cockatiels and love birds (so I'm use to bird bites ;)). I even had a conure that was a nasty little thing...the store worker even tried to discourage me from purchasing him because of his aggression, but with weeks of time and patience he became a little love bug. When I see an aggressive bird in a store my first thought is it being purchased by people who WANT a bird, but do not have the resources or time to help them...resulting in either years of neglect or that bird being sold continuously...never seeing love.
This brings me to my current situation.i have been doing about 2 years of research and I wanted either a Ringneck or a Caique. Last Wednesday my husband and I decided to stop by a small family owned pet store...just to browse around. I came across and gorgeous green Indian Ringneck and I fell in love. The owner had told me that she had purchased her from an expo, but couldn't do anything with her because of her aggression and because of that....she never left her cage. This little girl was born 3/29/19 and was sexed to determine she was infact a female. Me and my husband discussed it, because I was reluctant to take on another aggressive bird (just because I'm use to bird bites does not mean I enjoy them)...and after some serious thought I decided to purchase her. I got her home gave her a day to adjust without messing with her. The second day I opened the door to let her out...again..not really interacting...just talking to her. She was actually okay with leaving the cage (even took about a 2 hour nap on top of it the first day of being out). Friday I decided to start interacting with her by hand feeding her treats. Now here's my problem. She comes to me and will take treats from me, but constantly lunges and tries to bite me. I would not give her the ability to do so though...when she would lunge I would just walk away. Today I decided to let her bite to show her that I did not hurt and she wouldn't get a reaction from me. This girl grabbed on and would not let go!!! I tried to just let her go, but it got to the point where I just couldn't take it anymore and had to pull away. I have a feeling this is a mix of bluffing/not being handled. Can anyone give me some insight on how to handle this? She's not what I would call cage aggressive....she usually stays away from me while cleaning bowls or the bottom...it's more when she's out and comes to me...only to lash out. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!