Malachi getting aggressive - help

[SunMommy]

Hi everyone!

Malachi is 6 months old now and yesterday when I was loving on him he was getting a bit aggressive so i put him back in his cage. Today I had him out playing with him and he starting getting really aggressive and lunging at me. He hasn't bite me yet but I could tell it would be coming soon - I quickly told him he was not being nice and put him back up and ignored him.

Is this a seasonal thing? An age thing??

He has also been mumbling a lot lately - almost can make out words but not yet. About when is it normal for them to start actually talking? He can say "hello" but doesn't do it often.

Any words of advice on how to deal with this aggression and nip it in the bud?

Thank you!!!

[KimM]

Hmm. There could many reasons why he may be, as I've heard it said, "pissy" right now

I do believe birds bite/nip for a reason. He's trying to tell you something. It's just up to us to figure out what.

Could be springtime and he's "feeling his oats"?
If you were playing with him, he may have wanted to play, but maybe play a little rough. Sometimes they want to play "rough" and you have to give some boundaries.
Has something changed in the house? Some are very sensitive to change.
Is he starting into a molt? Mine gets crabby when he's getting new feathers.
He seems a little young to start into the terrible 2's yet.
Is he feeling ok? Maybe he doesn't feel good. Any other behavioral changes besides the lunging?

If you're willing to trust me and try this technique, I can give you a suggestion for the lunging and biting. When he starts to lunge or bite, give him the "wobble" correction. I'm guessing he's on your arm at the time? Tell him NO or HEY (not loud, just firm).
If he does it again, repeat the wobble and a firm NO.
If he does a third time, deposit his little feathered butt on the floor and say NO. Give it about 10 seconds (and don't let him run from you) Pick him up again.
If he bites/lunges the 4th time, a firm NO and back into the cage. He'll get the idea pretty quickly.

Now, if he does well when you correct him and stops biting/lunging, PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE... "What a GOOD boy. Very good boy". He'll think he is the bomb.

One thing I have learned about these guys is the will test, test, test to see how much they can get away with. It will drive you crazy sometimes.

Stay consistent in your discipline and always give discipline in a calm but firm manner, not when you're angry. They pick that "vibe" up.

As far as the mumbling, he could be practicing a new word or phrase. I know Newton does this. He'll babble something for a couple of weeks and then all of sudden it will pop out clear as a bell. They learn to talk at different ages. Just depends on them.

[kellywess]

She has just given the best advice... Macaws 101. They hate to be ignored so when and if you do have to put him back on his cage or perch, turn your back on him and completely ignore him. Unfortunately macaws will always test you, its like a game they never out-grow.

[SunMommy]

Thank you for the advice.

Nothing has changed that i can pick but the girls were in the room and they may have been more rowdy than normal.

He was on the back of the couch this afternoon when he lunged for me but I will try the wobble. We do this with Willow and it does work well with her. I'm just more scared about that first bite from Malachi.

I will keep you updated on how things go. keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again!!

[birdsnreps]

i have a "3 strikes your out" thing that i do with my birds. ill twist my arm a little bit, enough to make them loose their balance and let go of my skin, but not enough to drop them, when they start pinching and ill use a firm "NO" two times, if they go and pinch a 3rd time, i say "NO" again and take them to the bathtub for a time out for a few mins. for us it has worked miracles, and its been about a year, at least, since i have had to take a bird to the tub, i dont even remember the last time i took a bird to the tub for biting.

[ljhassell]

We just dont push the you must come out and do as we want, when they dont want to- we leave them be, if there is alot of comotion going on we never bring them into it, until all is calm and relaxed. We found the "deposit" method works best on couch instead of floor, softer,closer and same " what the heck I'll be good" responses. Our Macaws as they have aged with us, do have the No, I dont want to do what you want me to right now, so we go about our business and usually later sometimes days later, they ask to come and be social. We stopped worrying about them having Hours- or so said quality 1 on 1 time, but if my cage was 48x48x74 and had all my favorite stuff, waited on hand and foot, and at my beaken call.., Id be okay for some me time as well.

[SunMommy]

I did remember that I had put a new toy in his cage on Friday. I removed it last night just in case it was the cause. Will see how he does today.

Malachi won't step up if he doesn't want to come out so I never force him out. I am hoping today is a better day. I don't see any molting feathers yet but it could be the very start I suppose. He has not had a molt yet. Willow gets rather hateful when she is molting.

[Monica]

Took me forever to type this.... and had to make it into TWO posts cause it was so long... but maybe you'd get some ideas from it??? (you'll have to go to page 4 to read the rest)

How to get a biting bird off of your hand?

[texbird]

Some birds build up tension when caged.

One trick is offer them something to chew on when you first take them out of the cage and they can burn off their tension on that object instead of your arm. Popsicle sticks work great.

[Amie]

Is this your first large bird? I know he's the only one now, but just making sure. He hasn't bitten yet, and in my experience, you don't usually avoid the FIRST bite from a macaw (or any large bird for that matter). Maybe he isn't lunging aggressively? (Rough play may be a small bird trait, too, but I've only seen it with the larger birds so I'm not sure you would have seen this with you sunny.)

Just a thought. My ekkie does something similar to lunging to bite when she goes into her cage at night, and I have to warn any fidsitters about it. It's actually her game of giving really rough kisses. She turns around immediately and "lunges" at you. But I know what she's doing, and all she's doing is attack kissing. She kisses real fast and pulls back real fast, and then will suddenly do it again with no warning. It's a game we used to play when she was little to see who could land the most kisses. But, if you don't know what she's doing, it looks like she's coming for blood.

I guess I'm just echoing the above thought that it may be rough play. I'm just guessing that if he really wanted to bite you, he would have sunk in the first time since you don't really know his body language for bites yet.