Food Aggression

[TerriW]

My CAG is about 10 months old and recently he is getting possessive of his food bowls. He tries to bite me when I touch them. He isn't a biter either. He never bites me any other time. He has 2 food bowls that are always full, one with his pellets and one with his fruit snack and nuts. I also make him an egg or oatmeal everyday for breakfast. I dont understand why he is becoming agressive when it comes to his food. He is out of his cage most of the day and just wanders in when he wants to eat. I try to take his bowls when he is eating to try and break him of this behavior. I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Terri

[Dave007]

You can expect many changes in general when a grey is 8 mts on up. Personalities and self assuredness and attitudes develop. The bird slowly changes from that cuddly little animal to an animal who want's to assert himself. Biting a person when that person touches a food bowl or a toy or changing the interior around can set the bird off.He's simply saying that what's his is his, especially food. The best thing you can do from now on is to simply feed and water him when he's out of the cage. It's difficult to change a bird's personality when it want's to be possessive.

[danmcq]

Boy you hit the nail on the head with that advice Dave, as you ALWAYS do.

 

My Dayo will be one year old on the 28th of this Month. Since 8 months onward, he has been asserting his self awareness, independence and desires through indicating them with his only way of doing so, his beak.

 

I guess the key is to acknowledge that they are allowed to let us know if we're interrupting their game, time or desire and respond when it's "ok". But, we also need to let them know that if it's not ok, by making them step up or issuing a firm no so they understand the concept of community and all needing to acknowledge the presence of societal rules and mannerisms.

 

If I'm full of crap, let me know Dave. I'm still recovering from that thread. :-)

[Dave007]

Dan

 

Yeah, that thread was meant to be a bit comical and I'm glad it did but on a more serious note........A very large amount of greys get to an age where certain traits take over. Two main things happen. They're independence, and possessiveness which leads to aggressive behavior. Many people mistake those traits as being aggressive but it's not.

The traits that nature has instilled can't be changed. I've never thought it was any big deal and with my greys, the problem just as you described can be dealt with by simply putting a bird on your arm, shoulder and letting the bird watch the whole process. The bird won't do anything other than stare at what you're doing. With some other greys, the problem can be solved by just doing things when the bird is out of a cage. With today's cages, most have swing out doors so the feeding/watering process is pretty quick and not very messy.

I believe the secret to many things concerning greys is to let people understand what kind of bird a grey is and not to be surprised when that grey starts acting like a grey. Many people just don't wanna accept that information or just haven't been filled in about greys.

[danmcq]

Dave - That is exactly the type of information us "Greenhorns" need from experienced Grey owner/breeders like you. You have experienced the personalities of 10, 20 30 or more greys over years and know the broad range of personalities and temperaments they display as a "Species".

 

Imagine that, a Grey is going to act and behave as a Grey. So that means we don't need to "Fix" them, we need to come to "Know" them.

 

You must sit back and get some good ol "Belly Laughs" out of some of the things we say. :-)

 

THANK YOU!!<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/04/20 20:36

[Dave007]

Dan

i really don't think that being a *greenhorn* has much to do with anything. Many new bird owners can lessen their problems not so much by realizing that greys have a broad band of personalities and temperments but more importantly realizing that a certain species of parrot ( grey) has certain traits of which they're not many but do pertain to that specific species. These certain traits can intertwine with so many sub things that a person can get lost by not realizing where it all starts from.

To give an example---If this whole thread had to do with cockatoos then all the questions, opinions and such would be in reverse

*why doesn't my Too show any interest in what I'm doing when he's in his cage while i'm feeding him?*

*why doesn't my Too have very little interest when I give him a new toy?*

*why doesn't he amuse himself when he's in his cage by himself?*

*why is he the calmest and happiest bird only when I let him on my shoulder all day?*

*why does he squawk everytime I walk away and leave him alone?*

*why does he start plucking if I don't give him constant attention all day?*

and the most common question....

*WHY IS HE/SHE SO DAMN CINGY?*

So if you wanna consider yourself a *greenhorn*, that's up to you but in my eyes, any person who immediately realizes that there's lots more to learn after the purchase of a certain species and then procedes to do it, isn't a *greenhorn*. You've been doing that.

Here we have 2 species that are totally opposite each other.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/04/20 22:28

[danmcq]

That is a great example Dave.

 

Your right, thats why we all wound up here in search of species specific information. Many of us, before we ever purchased a Grey.

 

Thanks again for another Great Post!! :-)

[judygram]

And that is one thing we can count on with Dave is his great posts, his infinite wisdom and of course his wit and humor, thats why I think so highly of him, of course Dan isn't bad either:whistle:

[TerriW]

Thanks for the advice. I have been asserting myself with him and making him step up when he is acting that way with his food. He is stepping up when I ask him to. Maybe he will realize it isnt good to bite his mommy who feeds him, lol:)