Hand agression (situation dependent)

Dungeon Master

Dungeon Master

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Hi all, I know I brought this up in my introduction post but figured it would be better to post it here.

Rainbow my recently rehomed from a family member who was only supposed to be looking after him for a few weeks (which turned into 10 years). He wasn't cared for with the attention he really needed in that home and I have taken him in and giving him as much of the correct care as I can.

Our issue is, he bites fingers when they are near the cage or in the cage (untested out of the cage at the moment for his own safety and well being) but here's the kicker. If we offer him something (anything) he will take it really nicely.

He will spend every moment sitting right next to me talking and chattering saying the few words he has picked up or preening himself. He seems very relaxed now as long as there are no fingers or hands near him that are not offering him something.

In his previous home the keeper would swear every time he got bitten calling Rainbow many names which I will leave to you're imaginations and Rainbow has picked up these names however I suspect it was this interaction that has encouraged him to do this unwanted behaviour (reinforcement through the interaction and attention from it).

I am trying to get him to not associate attention with the biting but not sure on the best process to do this as I don't want to let him bite me for obvious reasons and I feel pulling away every time he tries to bite is also maybe encouraging him to try harder. I also don't know how to approach him with this sort of training as I do want him to be able to come out of the cage for exercise but until we can safely handle him in a way that isn't traumatising to him I don't feel that it is something we can do.

Any advise or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Here are the obligatory pictures for the tax
https://imgur.com/eE3dicI
https://imgur.com/76JZAHi
 
He might not like people’s hands in his cage unless there is a treat involved, I have 2 Indian Ringneck parakeets, one of them came to us when she was around 10 months old and she accepts hands in the cage when she is in the cage ( as long as nobody touches her food bowl ) when I open her cage to let her out she will wait until I put my hand in the cage and she will step up usually when I want her back in I again ask her for step up and put her back in, I do give her little treat for going back in nicely, our other girl came to us when she was around 3 years old and she is hated if we put our hands in the cage when she is in there, even if we tried to give her treat she would grab it, throw it away and try to bite us, this behaviour changed after nearly 3 years of being in our house, I still can’t put my hands in but my boyfriend can, she is not keen on stepping up to his hand, but she will gently takes treat from him, lets him scratch her head and he can also clean her cage when she is in, she picked him as her favourite human and I am spare human who is lucky to be tolerated by her and I better don’t get any ideas to annoy her, I am very hands off with her, when I let her out I open her cage and let her leave the cage by herself, when I want her back in I usually place treat in her bowl and refill one of her foraging toys with millet and she goes back in, sometimes she might take bit longer but eventually she gets there ( it used to take her around 30 minutes at least but now usually she is in within 5 minutes)
 
thanks guys.

I am strongly of the idea that the issue is as described on Roz's websites homepage
"Biting is communication. Usually it means “I’m not comfortable”, but can also be a response to over excitement or to get a “drama reward”"
 
I got a video of Rainbow doing his biting which might give more to those who know what they're looking at than me.

Am I missing something?
 
Hello i only have Dora (our feisty but usually soppy as a banana wearing a can opener Senegal) for experience. Looking at your video I can't see if Rainbow is pinning his eyes, fluffing his head feathers or really lunging at you. If you move your hand away from him and touch the cage further away will he rush to attack?
He may well be saying back off, but in Dora terms we would call this being "duffed up " as she play fights my husband when he gets her out in the morning. (She doesn't do it with me reaching into her night cage).
 
Hi hun offering hands/fingers for biting is a good game, you react! So the drama reward IMHO. Rainbow puts a foot up to the bars see if you can stroke that gently. Good boy, treats as positive reinforcement. Just a couple of times see how that goes. Please stop offering fingers/hands in this game hun. He did not look fluffed up or to be pinning to me. I think he wants interaction so its just undoing the wrong or plain daft he has learnt from before. Roz's training should set you straight. He does not look fearful to me either another bonus. Not sure you paid enough TAX hun, please settle your account asap! 😂
 
I have to agree with @plumsmum I guess he would like more interaction with you even smoothing his head feathers, but only on his terms as so often happens with our parrots. Offering fingers , hands etc is not something I would do. We all learn as we go along and get used to our birdies.
 
I agree with the above>

you do have to be careful, attention can be "perceived" by them in many ways, to us a "bite" is bad, to them it gets a reaction, they don't understand if its a good or bad reaction, but its a reaction, it's some attention (maybe not the kind you want, but they don't really understand that)

think 2 year old toddler, runs up "nips" mummy, mummy goes "ahhh" toddler thinks its a game, does it again, same sort of situation, you can very easily "create" a game you don't even know about.

so best practise is to ignore the bite, or better still remove the option to bite and replace with something you do want.

I found target training really good for this, it allows you to "hands off" interact, gives them something to concentrate on and create the bond you want to promote, the target could be anything, I use chop stix, it can also be used to move them around from cage to floor or floor back into cage ect.

this isn't really a long term thing but your building trust and confidence and learning, this counts for both of you, you need to learn her mannerisms, her mood and if she wants to play or be left alone.

it could also just be cage territorial "my house, you're not invited" kind of thing and it may completely disappear once out and in a neutral space.
 
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