Aggressive kakariki

Flappp · New Member Joined: May 03, 2014 Posts: 1

Hi all,

My kakariki (Cheeky), who is roughly 2 years old, has been displaying a lot of aggression over the last week or so.

Cheeky, who's s sex I don't know (but will call a girl from now), was hand reared and, until now, has never shown any signs of aggression. Her diet consists of seeds, oats, pellets, and fresh fruits/vegetables. She gets roughly 12 hours of rest in a dark room with a cloth draped over her (very large) cage. Whenever my girlfriend or I are home, we will let her fly freely around the house.

The aggression is never directed to people who enter her cage space or poke their fingers through her cage bars. She will start attacking hands if they do certain things (such as type on a laptop, or pick up a pen).

Sometimes she'll, without warning, attack my face if I am sitting on the couch or walking past a certain area of the house.

All of the bites are hard. Furthermore, she will grip on and won't let go.

I initially thought this was hormonal behavior and decided to reduce the amount of artificial light she was exposed to and limit the fat content of her diet. This has not worked.

My questions are.
1. Is my birds aggression a result of breeding hormones and, if so, whether it is temporary.
2. If my birds aggression is a result of breeding hormones, how can I manage her behavior?
3. If my birds aggression are not a product of hormones and are just a product of bad behavior, what steps should I take to train her?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Unfortunately , unlike a very similar recent thread, this sounds very luck like behavior unintentionally but commonly' trained' in by the owners of the bird when it
It generally starts off when the bird is testing by nibble, items... including finger ears etc if eatable....then turns to a game...and becomes instilled as 'normal ' behavour... From there the owners are the ones then being 'intimidated' and the pet becomes the alpha male of the household.

How to re train these habits out is covered in many older threads, with several proven methods
"Quick search" block on the left[/i]

Georg · Snr Member Joined: Jul 12, 2009 Posts: 174

The aggression of your bird are the result of handbreeding. And because of this behaviour i think he is a male.
It's a known problem of male handbreed kakariki that they do not learn the borders when to show territorial behaviour. So it's pointed to you.
We cared for a biting Kakariki for 9 years, his behaviour changed to normal , when he found a female partner.