Tirilliel
07-12-2005, 02:09 PM
There is Hope, you can fix that aggressive behaviour in lovbirds!! Here is my story.
I had been having some difficulties with my lovebird Houdini. One of the main issues was a constant annoying chirping that drove my husband nuts that in tern drove me nuts and caused me allot of stress. Another issue was aggression. Houdini had aggression problems for awhile pretty much as soon as she had her first molt and her full plumage came in she started to become territorial over her cage and any other area she felt was hers including our computer area and furniture, blankets and pillows and whatever else.
This was a constant or re-occurring problem, and every once and a while she would turn into the little green monster acting overly aggressive and annoyingly moody. This usually was fallowed by a molt or change in the season, which I could only relate to sexual frustration. Usually these episodes that could last for up to two weeks of intense annoyance usually ended up in me posting for help on any bird forum or community I could find and ending in my crying because I decided to give her up because my husband and I couldn’t take it anymore!
Now I see that my problem was laziness. I had looked into ways of correcting these behaviors or at lest making them less. I wasn’t persistent enough and I didn’t stick to my guns on the rules I had laid out for Houdini and me. It seemed easier to just holler at her to be quite or give her millet to shut her up or cover her cage. All these things I did was in fact rewarding the bad behavior and encouraging it. If anyone has a bird that likes to chirp you know that sometimes it easier to just indulge them to make them be quiet. It’s hard to zone out bad behavior and not to react to it.
But it really came down to the last straw, my last cry for help ended up in me almost giving her away I almost had a home lined up but I couldn’t bare to bring myself to let her go. Although I just made her sound evil she is actually very sweet, she trusts me fully and loves to cuddle and give kisses. I hand reared her from a baby so she is like my baby.
What I did this time around was first of all, stuck to my guns. I ignored her when she chirped loudly in protest and my husband did the same, as he would appreciate Houdini better if she was better behaved and didn’t want me to give her up because he knew I would be sad. Eventually she started to settle down faster and would usually start eating food in her cage and quiet down. When she was quiet id take her out and reward her with a nice scratch on the head and talk to her in a lovey tone.
To fix the aggressive behavior I changed her cage with another larger cockatiel cage I had from the past giving her a new unfamiliar place to have to adjust in. I also relocated the cage to a new area of our apartment and put it on a stool that was low enough so that I stood over her rather then level with her, sort of asserting a form of dominance. I also didn’t put any toys in the new cage for the first few days and took away her happy hut. The happy hut I believe was the main reason for cage aggression.
Now before you go on talking about how crewel I was to take everything out of the new cage besides food dishes and perches this was so that I could work with her in her cage, teaching her not to bite my hand. Houdini spends most her time on her play stand or with me so she wasn’t locked in there. I would give her 10 minutes here and there of cage time, then I would come and practice picking her up off a perch in the back of the cage with my finger and putting her back with lots of praise when she got it right. Then she would spend more time with me and her play stand and Id do it again. She also spent a few nights in her cage without her happy hut or toys but covered up as I normally would.
Of course as she spent more time in the new arrangement she got comfortable with the new cage and started to get nippy. She would jump to the bottom of her cage and hunker down ready to bite. If she acted this way id simply ignore it not making a big deal and walk away and would refuse to take her out until she got on a perch and came out on my finger. This took a while; she would jump to the bottom of the cage often but just being persistent has paid off.
She now has a few good toys in her cage but not nearly as many as there use to be and her happy hut is still not in use and she seems just fine. Houdini has been very content and quiet since then, Not aggressive at all and well behaved on the weakened when both my husband and I are at home.
Keeping her wings clipped has also been a great help. I still regularly work with her on the cage aggression and praise her when she’s good and comes out without any fight. Its gotten so well that I can also pick her up off the side of her cage and from her swing perch without being nipped.
We also try and not pay to much attention to her when we first wake up or come home. I give her a few minutes to calm down before I take her out of the cage since I want her to know that I am in charge.
I reintroduced the happy hut again but decided its just better without it. But anyway, moral of the story, if you have similar problems or any problem with a bird you really need to be persistent and you cant slack off with the training either. Houdini is truly a different bord now, im still shocked at how contented she seems, at first I worried she was falling ill becasue I wasnt so use to the quiet while she did thing on her on at her play stand. But it was all the training!
I hope that my story has been an inspiration to someone who needs it and is at their wits end :) Please give your bird the chance, and give yourself the chance to have a batter realtionship with your bird :)
I had been having some difficulties with my lovebird Houdini. One of the main issues was a constant annoying chirping that drove my husband nuts that in tern drove me nuts and caused me allot of stress. Another issue was aggression. Houdini had aggression problems for awhile pretty much as soon as she had her first molt and her full plumage came in she started to become territorial over her cage and any other area she felt was hers including our computer area and furniture, blankets and pillows and whatever else.
This was a constant or re-occurring problem, and every once and a while she would turn into the little green monster acting overly aggressive and annoyingly moody. This usually was fallowed by a molt or change in the season, which I could only relate to sexual frustration. Usually these episodes that could last for up to two weeks of intense annoyance usually ended up in me posting for help on any bird forum or community I could find and ending in my crying because I decided to give her up because my husband and I couldn’t take it anymore!
Now I see that my problem was laziness. I had looked into ways of correcting these behaviors or at lest making them less. I wasn’t persistent enough and I didn’t stick to my guns on the rules I had laid out for Houdini and me. It seemed easier to just holler at her to be quite or give her millet to shut her up or cover her cage. All these things I did was in fact rewarding the bad behavior and encouraging it. If anyone has a bird that likes to chirp you know that sometimes it easier to just indulge them to make them be quiet. It’s hard to zone out bad behavior and not to react to it.
But it really came down to the last straw, my last cry for help ended up in me almost giving her away I almost had a home lined up but I couldn’t bare to bring myself to let her go. Although I just made her sound evil she is actually very sweet, she trusts me fully and loves to cuddle and give kisses. I hand reared her from a baby so she is like my baby.
What I did this time around was first of all, stuck to my guns. I ignored her when she chirped loudly in protest and my husband did the same, as he would appreciate Houdini better if she was better behaved and didn’t want me to give her up because he knew I would be sad. Eventually she started to settle down faster and would usually start eating food in her cage and quiet down. When she was quiet id take her out and reward her with a nice scratch on the head and talk to her in a lovey tone.
To fix the aggressive behavior I changed her cage with another larger cockatiel cage I had from the past giving her a new unfamiliar place to have to adjust in. I also relocated the cage to a new area of our apartment and put it on a stool that was low enough so that I stood over her rather then level with her, sort of asserting a form of dominance. I also didn’t put any toys in the new cage for the first few days and took away her happy hut. The happy hut I believe was the main reason for cage aggression.
Now before you go on talking about how crewel I was to take everything out of the new cage besides food dishes and perches this was so that I could work with her in her cage, teaching her not to bite my hand. Houdini spends most her time on her play stand or with me so she wasn’t locked in there. I would give her 10 minutes here and there of cage time, then I would come and practice picking her up off a perch in the back of the cage with my finger and putting her back with lots of praise when she got it right. Then she would spend more time with me and her play stand and Id do it again. She also spent a few nights in her cage without her happy hut or toys but covered up as I normally would.
Of course as she spent more time in the new arrangement she got comfortable with the new cage and started to get nippy. She would jump to the bottom of her cage and hunker down ready to bite. If she acted this way id simply ignore it not making a big deal and walk away and would refuse to take her out until she got on a perch and came out on my finger. This took a while; she would jump to the bottom of the cage often but just being persistent has paid off.
She now has a few good toys in her cage but not nearly as many as there use to be and her happy hut is still not in use and she seems just fine. Houdini has been very content and quiet since then, Not aggressive at all and well behaved on the weakened when both my husband and I are at home.
Keeping her wings clipped has also been a great help. I still regularly work with her on the cage aggression and praise her when she’s good and comes out without any fight. Its gotten so well that I can also pick her up off the side of her cage and from her swing perch without being nipped.
We also try and not pay to much attention to her when we first wake up or come home. I give her a few minutes to calm down before I take her out of the cage since I want her to know that I am in charge.
I reintroduced the happy hut again but decided its just better without it. But anyway, moral of the story, if you have similar problems or any problem with a bird you really need to be persistent and you cant slack off with the training either. Houdini is truly a different bord now, im still shocked at how contented she seems, at first I worried she was falling ill becasue I wasnt so use to the quiet while she did thing on her on at her play stand. But it was all the training!
I hope that my story has been an inspiration to someone who needs it and is at their wits end :) Please give your bird the chance, and give yourself the chance to have a batter realtionship with your bird :)