biting amazon

Question
Hello, I am the owner of a 10 year old yellow naped amazon.  I have tried to give him a happy life, good food, toys, a large cage,play gym etc, but he hates me. I've had him since he was a baby, but it's the last few years that have been bad.  His wings are clipped, but he will actually wait til I walk by and attack me. I have been to the  emergency room because the bites have been so bad. I cannot handle him at all and have to use a dowel to move him,  Even when I feed him, He lunges at me.  I hate to think of just keeping him in his cage 24/7 but I don't know what else to do.  My husband wants to give him away, but I don't want to give up and I wouldn't want him to hurt anyone else. I must admit I am afraid of him now and maybe he can sence it.  Please help

Answer
I am so sorry to hear about all the problems you have been having with your bird. I had similar problems with my rescue grey although he was an adult when I got him. I am going to try my best to help you and I hope you keep me updated with your progress. What I want you to do is start afresh with the bird and pretend you have just got him. Try moving him to a different room if possible as it sounds like he thinks that he area he is in is his territory and that could be why he is attacking you. If he is moved to a room where he is not used to he may be less dominant. Also take a look at the cage and gym. Are there any perches that are very high up so that the bird is at a higher level than you? If there are then lower these as these reinforce the idea that your bird is dominant and he will be aggressive because he thinks that he is dominant over you.

The hard part is that your bird needs to learn that you arent afraid of him and that if he bites he will not get what he wants (he wants a reaction and for you to leave him alone). He needs some training and distraction behaviour to stop him biting. He needs to learn the up command. You need to get him to step onto your arm and not a perch. To make you feel less afraid, you can wear a very thick jumper or bandage up your arm so that you cant feel it if he bites you. When you offer your arm, keep you hand out of his reach and say up firmly. Push your arm towards his belly and he should step up. He may bite your arm at first but once he learns that your arm will not go away he should step up. Once he does what you tell him to, give him lots of praise and a treat. This is positive reinforcement and all good behaviour should be rewarded. Bad behaviour should be ignored as shouting is still giving the bird a reaction and will not help. Birds learn more through being ignored.

One he has mastered the up command, you can then assert your dominance by a technique called laddering. This involves getting him to step onto your arm then onto your other arm over and over. If he tries to bite you then wiggle your arm a little bit as this will distract him as he will think that he is going to fall. Of course do this while sitting on the floor so that he doesnt actually fall. While using this technique. keep your elbow flat against your side so that he cannot climb onto your shoulder. You never want him higher than you. Your parrot will learn that when he does not bite you then your arm will stay still and that he will get praise or treats. This can be a very long process and you may make progress one day and go backwards the next. Just keep at it, it does work. Also if you can get him on the floor by teaching the down command you can distract him from biting you by using toys or objects like a spoon. Each time he tries, distract him and say oh look at this, come and get it. If he takes the object and ignores you then praise him. You should then be able to get him back into the cage by getting him to step up onto your arm.

Is it just you that the bird attacks or your husband as well? I hope that this will help for starters, let me know how this goes and if you need any more help. Good luck!