Sudden Aggression

Moderator: Mods

Post Reply
Peachy
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:26 pm

Sudden Aggression

Post by Peachy »

Hello! I just adopted a IRN 4 days ago, and he's been friendly for the most part, and hand tamed, he'll let us pet him sometimes and hold him; other times he'll get a little moody and want to be left alone (which is totally fine! I understand that he's still getting used to being in a new home, and that IRNs are fairly independent, and everyone wants some space too). He'll get very chirpy when we pet him, he'll even let us pet his chest and gently touch his wings and his throat (sometimes). He is about 1.5 years old, and the previous owners said that they've already handled his bluffing stage, he's very loving and gentle as well.

I've spent about 5 hours with him today, about 9-10 hours with him yesterday (talking to him and sometimes petting him for a few minutes and then leaving him be while I remained in the room, trying to spend some time with him, but not smothering him). He's usually pretty friendly though he try to give warning bites when I put my hand near him (moving his toys or sometimes petting him), but I try not to bother him too much. And he'll scream if I leave the room for more than a few seconds.

Anyways, I left for work for about 6 hours today, and when I came home, my sister said that he was being unusually aggressive (he'll growl and try to bite at the sight of a hand). So I opened his cage to let him out and he came charging out and tried to bite my face. I thought maybe he doesn't like the new toys we got him and that he was frustrated at them (we noticed he gets very angry at toys with bells), so I removed them, but then at one point he came at my face again and almost got my eye, the second time he got my upper lip. He bit my arm a few times as I reached over the cage to loosen the metal rings of the toys. I also noticed his eyes are bloodshot, and it wasn't like that this morning. Also I'm the one who's usually with him the other family members sometimes comes to say hello, though my sister tries to pet him sometimes.

I'm guessing maybe he didn't like how he got less attention compared to the last 2 days (Thursday he got about 6 hours of my attention/presence). Or he doesn't like it when other people are with him but me? But I don't know for sure why he's suddenly extremely aggressive to a point where he even tries to attack my face (and he usually likes it when I kiss his beak or go near him)... I'm pretty upset right now, even though I didn't show it to him. I fed him an apple slice after 30 minutes of leaving him alone, and he's gotten a bit better. If he's going to be like this every time I leave for work and school, I don't know what to do then. (I'm usually home between 5-12 hours a day, after school or work, depending on the day).

**Update** he's acting mostly fine now... but I don't understand what happened that made his behavior change like that. I can't be home 24/7 all the time, I hope he gets used to it soon. My schedule is pretty much fixed, so not much alteration aside from going out occasionally (a few times a month). His eyes are still bloodshot though. But he's singing to me again when I approach him, so that's good. Still bitey though, but not as bad as over 2 hours ago.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by MissK »

Obviously I didn't see his behaviour, but if this happened with my bird, I'd be demanding to know exactly what went on while I was not there. It would be very hard to convince me someone had not overstepped his comfort boundary in my absence. I would be suspicious because birds don't lie. He's gotten the idea that he should attack. Can you reason out why a bird might think that?

Damage control -
1)In the chance that he is unwell and not mistreated, a trip to the vet could solve that question. If he's ill, timely action is always appropriate.
2)When you must open the cage I suggest taking his #1 best loved treat and place it through the bars on the other side of the cage first. He will go to that and leave you alone (probably) and there is the bonus that here you are giving goodies and not mistreatment. It is a good thing to mend fences.
3)Consider a rule of leave my bird alone when I'm not here. That way you can direct the interactions of others with your bird, and lift the rule when you're comfortable.
4)Last, but not least, survey the room and yourself, plus whatever is closeby outside. Is there anything new he might be objecting to? Did something outside the window upset him? For instance, today Rocky wanted to bite my fingertips as I was holding his banana. What's on my fingers? A shade of nail polish he's never seen before. He's seen other new colours, but this is the only one he wanted to bite. It's a shade of light metallic plum. He had no trouble with pinks and reds. Light metallic plum? No Thankyou! It's a little thing to me. I don't need it. Back to pink tomorrow.

I feel confident to say your bird's sudden aggression is a REACTION to something. Figure out what.
-MissK
sanjays mummi
Posts: 2050
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by sanjays mummi »

That is exactly what I thought!, he has been badly frightened in your absence, it doesn't take much to destroy precious trust,
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by MissK »

Peachy, I don't think the lack of you nearby caused aggression. You *can* live your normal life. If you think it upsets the bird for you to leave the room, then you should just start leaving BRIEFLY when you don't really have to. Be doing whatever you do, and then walk out for 30 seconds and then come back. You can calmly say "See you later" as you go, or you can just leave. Then, over time, increase the time you're gone. This shows the bird that you leaving is no big deal, as you'll be back soon. I would not return for him screaming, though, because he will quickly (QUICKLY) learn that screaming brings you, and then you'll be a human on a string. If that's the case, he screams for you, leave an almond in the shell right before you go so he is busy; it might take his mind off watching you go. If he gets enough almonds he might start wanting you to go! :lol:

I do think your aggression was a reaction to something while you were away, so keep tabs on what happens when you're gone, ask your people some open ended questions, and review where the bird's comfort boundaries are. As you see, your bird will tell you when something's wrong. Keep in mind it might not be anything malicious, so don't go *blaming* your people. Just focus on education. We had an incident in the past where my brother came to visit and spent a long, long time working on the computer connection in the bird room. Rocky plucked his feathers! It was horrible. My brother did nothing wrong, but the bird just couldn't tolerate what he did. Now we know how he feels about strange men camping in his room for hours, so we can prevent that in the future because it just isn't important enough to desensitize the bird. It doesn't happen often.

Talking about his eyes being bloodshot - that seems odd and I have trouble picturing it. Can you have a look at the eye of the bird at the top of this page and describe carefully how your bird's eye is different, and if it's both of his eyes or only one?

-And if he's still biting, give him some space!!! Bird's don't bite without a reason.
-MissK
Peachy
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:26 pm

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by Peachy »

Thank you for your reply! I'm gonna try leaving the room briefly every now and then and see if that helps. He's being better now, though still a little nippy, probably still trying to get used to us still, which is fine. The previous owner said that he acted similar to this when he was going through the bluffing stage. Not sure if a second bluffing stage is possible.

But it seems that he's not as aggressive as last night (basically back to 'normal' from the previous days). However he has been screaming a bit more, even when I'm in the room now, but I ignore it every time (though I made the mistake of looking at him once or twice so far when I'm in the room). I'm scared of accidentally reinforcing bad behavior though I've been very careful so far. I'm not sure still of what caused the agitation last night. My sister said she just came in the room to say hello and to let him out and pet him, and then he bit her, and she eventually had to close the cage, but remained in the room.

His eyes aren't as red today, it looks more pink. I tried taking a photo, but the quality of my phone is terrible. The closest resemblance to how his eyes look is this photo I found on Google: http://img10.deviantart.net/10ff/i/2012 ... 4t89jk.jpg

Another thing I would like to ask is how do you get your IRN into the cage? (when I have to go to bed or leave for work) I feel terrible having to shut the gate as soon as he climbs into the cage and he gets very upset, I try giving him a treat but he just throws it away. I tried covering the cage first and wait until he goes in, but now he stays out on the "patio" of the cage regardless. It was late last night so I had no other choice but to close the patio gate with him on it (he wasn't hurt luckily), but I felt terrible having to do that, even though I tried to speak to him softly while doing it. Is there a better way to do this? I tried to lure him with treats into the cage too and it works, but I don't want to indicate that "treats in cage = closed gate" to him.
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by MissK »

Backwards first, why shouldn't closed gate = treats in cage? It's a half full/half empty thing, no? You can try reserving the #1 jackpot treat for the back to cage lure, and you can make sure the cage is not a punishment - is it truly big enough? Got great things inside? If all else fails, you can get him back in when he's hungry by pulling the dishes and not feeding him while he's out, so he won't go in for a snack. I don't think shutting the gate like that, if done gently, is bad for him, but I do think he will learn to climb off the gate quickly.

I was not able to get that image up for a look.

Your sister had great intentions, but I would mark whatever she did right before the bite as something the bird didn't like. Note that to her so she can take care in the future. As far as the screaming, it is a reaction as well. I sympathize. When my bird Sinbad first arrived here I had to literally hide under a sheet if I wanted to be in the same room. It did get better in time, possibly because I took care as much as possible to not do things that made him upset. Of course I had to manage the cage, so I was gentle and efficient doing that, and I came with treats. You should take care to only provide welcome experiences to your bird so he can realize you're not a bad guy.

About bluffing, there are some (myself included) who feel "bluffing stage" is a myth. Try and use the search function to see what InTheAir has to say on that. It's been covered and I'm way to tired to start it anew. To get a new perspective, when you're thinking about the bird's behaviour, try replacing the word "aggressive" with "defensive" and see how the picture changes.

Let us know how it goes!
-MissK
Peachy
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:26 pm

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by Peachy »

Hmm last night and the night before he took the treat + closed cage quite well, which is good. And the cage is 24 x 24, I don't remember the height but it's over 30 inches for sure. In terms of toys and perches I think it's pretty good, I try to him variety, though I noticed he's not a big fan of bells.

He seems to be mostly fine now, though he's still screaming quite a bit, though right now it is the late evening so I suppose it's normal, still ignoring it right now, though I say hello every now and then. I give him treats whenever I leave the room now, and he's taking my lack of presence a bit better.

I feel bad for my finches though, since they don't share the same curiosity that my IRN has, instead they get very startled and panic when he gets close (the 2 cages are next to each other, but spaced out so he can't reach them). I suppose there's nothing much I can really do except move one of them to a separate room? Or is there another suggestion?
MissK
Posts: 3011
Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by MissK »

I think your IRN cage is too small. You can put a sight barrier between the cages - could be a sheet of newspaper or a cloth hung on the side of the finch cage. My Canaries could not tolerate the stress of living with the IRN and they were not side by side so I moved them to another room.
-MissK
tedwards 1967
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:40 pm

Re: Sudden Aggression

Post by tedwards 1967 »

MissK wrote:Obviously I didn't see his behaviour, but if this happened with my bird, I'd be demanding to know exactly what went on while I was not there. It would be very hard to convince me someone had not overstepped his comfort boundary in my absence. I would be suspicious because birds don't lie. He's gotten the idea that he should attack. Can you reason out why a bird might think that?

Damage control -
1)In the chance that he is unwell and not mistreated, a trip to the vet could solve that question. If he's ill, timely action is always appropriate.
2)When you must open the cage I suggest taking his #1 best loved treat and place it through the bars on the other side of the cage first. He will go to that and leave you alone (probably) and there is the bonus that here you are giving goodies and not mistreatment. It is a good thing to mend fences.
3)Consider a rule of leave my bird alone when I'm not here. That way you can direct the interactions of others with your bird, and lift the rule when you're comfortable.
4)Last, but not least, survey the room and yourself, plus whatever is closeby outside. Is there anything new he might be objecting to? Did something outside the window upset him? For instance, today Rocky wanted to bite my fingertips as I was holding his banana. What's on my fingers? A shade of nail polish he's never seen before. He's seen other new colours, but this is the only one he wanted to bite. It's a shade of light metallic plum. He had no trouble with pinks and reds. Light metallic plum? No Thankyou! It's a little thing to me. I don't need it. Back to pink tomorrow.

I feel confident to say your bird's sudden aggression is a REACTION to something. Figure out what.
Post Reply