Seeking advice from other toucan people

[alicefalcon]

Hello all,

I am curious to see if anyone else is experiencing aggression from their toucan/toucanet/aracari. Mine is a 4 year old male Guyana toucanet who was hand-raised, initially somewhat tame. But after the first year, he became a holy terror & is getting worse! He bites hard (contrary to what most people say about toucans), shakes, yells, & dive bombs/pecks. He no longer allows us to pet him. I wonder if it is hormones, & am thinking he needs to go to a breeding program. Anyone else have a similar story? Are Guyanas known for being more aggressive? Thanks for any input.

 

[allison]

I don't have any experience with Aracari but please do not put him in a breeding program. It could be a genetic trait that he would pass on to future generations. If people would breed only gentle birds, we would gradually be able to breed out aggression, but unfortunately, people have been doing the opposite and putting the most aggressive birds into breeding programs and breeding more aggressive birds.

 

[Mystics Mom]

im not having any problems with Elliot at all...i dont know

 

[emeraldtoucan]

Hmm, mine get aggressive, but it's almost always playful aggression, and I've never been harmed by them, aside from minor pinches.

I have heard of toucans getting more aggressive if they are in breeding mode and their hormones are going wild. I think this is typically among paired up birds, and of course even more so if they are actually nesting. Still, maybe yours is being particularly nesty even though not paired up?

I think it's pretty normal for birds to get at least a bit nasty when they are in breeding mode, I'm sure that they evolved to be that way because it would mean being more protective of their territories, nests, and chicks, and such behavior makes it more likely their young will survive. In fact I've had some of the sweetest birds get nasty when they want to breed, and then return to normal once out of that phase.

Is there anything that your bird is perhaps treating like a mate, or like eggs or chicks?

It may be that there's something specific causing your bird to behave this way, and if it is dealt with, that your bird will chill out.

@ Allison
Yes you do have to watch for mate aggression with pairs, and carefully pair them up but I don't really agree about not placing him in a breeding program. Aggression is very very common among pairs of toucans, in fact their courtships involve beak fencing, which is pretty aggressive itself (and should be watched carefully to make sure it's not turning into genuinely damaging fighting). So I think it's safe to say that no aggression would mean that the bird is not even going to be engaging in the normal toucan courtship behavior. I suspect that toucans would disappear from captivity pretty quick if that was cause to not breed them.

Serious mate aggression can certainly be cause to not breed them, but not necessarily, if it can be relived, and it often can be by providing the birds with a larger enclosure, or assuming it's an option, seeing if the bird gets along better with a different mate (sometimes birds are just incompatible).