New CAG's extreme cage aggression

[donnakris]

As some of you know, I got Chicken, a CAG, last Saturday. He is wonderful. Makes the sweetest beeps, clicks and whistles. He'll whistle call to me if I leave the room and I answer and he's quiet again. He eats well, pellets, fruits and birdy bread.
The only problem I see is that he is extremely cage aggressive. He won't even come out of his cage and he will lunge and try to bite most of the time if you get your hand near the cage. Just the past 2 days, I can sit by the cage and he will lower his head for me to scratch. Last night he actually stuck his head out the door for me to scratch him. But he won't come all the way out and heaven help you if you try to stick your hand in.
I know I'm going to get bitten, have been once and not looking forward to the next time.
How do I help him overcome this aggression? The day he came he was fine out of the cage. He stepped right up onto my arm and just sat there. He stepped onto the perch I bought for him and was fine though the previous owner did have to kind of force him to step back up off it.
The cage aggression is why she chose to rehome him and I do know, from vet records that she had him for 3 years.
I would really appreciate any suggestions or advice that don't include me losing fingers!!

[Sashagirl]

Hi Donna

I can sympathize with you because I have 3 CAG's like that I am working with.
And the unfortunate thing is with each bird their stages are different.I know all about acting one way until your alone.Then you get the bit.My poor husband has been caught in the path of the bite too.I will PM you.

[carlylu]

Barbara Heidenreich has a good book about training for fearful and/or aggressive birds. I have seen her at work and she's a master. The book is called The Parrot Problem Solver, (available here: http://www.goodbirdinc.com , as well as other sites.)

Also, Dr. Susan Friedman has a group on Yahoo called ParrotBAS in which her students work one on one with parrot owners on behavioral problems. It's a fantastic resource.
ParrotBAS


What they teach is truly "state of the art" in terms of parrot behavior and training, and they have many years of experience consulting with zoos, training many different kinds of animals, and teaching.

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