a couple of questions

[MattieGirl]

Mattie has been with us for a month. I think she is doing very well, is stepping up on me and seems happy with all the attention she is getting.

My questions:
1. She willingly steps up on my arm but then immediately begins to 'chew' on me. She will start with my shirt, which I don't mind, but quickly moves to my bare arms. It is like a pinch, but she continues until I pull her beak away. I have been telling her no, trying the beak hold I have watched on here and then putting her back on her perch. She almost always holds out her foot again like she wants to step up again. Is this a normal thing and how do I handle it? It hurts, I have tiny bruises up and down my arms from these interactions. It has made holding her a very unpleasant experience. Help.....?

2. She apparently has NEVER bathed. Before she came to us I did a ton of reading and everything talked about the importance of the bath. Her former owner said she had tried spraying her once with water and Mattie freaked out so she never tried anything ever again. How do I introduce a shower/bath without it being a traumatic experience for her?

3. We have 4 kids, we are all very excited to have her here. They are being very understanding and waiting very patiently for her to interact with them - they desperately want to pet her. She is much less snippy toward them and seems happy when they are close and talking to her. My question is this: are the chances good that she will eventually warm up to them to allow physical contact with her?

Thanks.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there MattieGirl.

So you've got a pincher there, too. My Niko (B&G) is a notorious pincher, I have to be ever so careful, depending what mood he is in. He doesn't mean to hurt me in a malicous way, but he just keeps forgetting HOW much pressure to apply to my arms and sometimes...well sometimes he's just plain old ornery.

When he gets carried away with his beak I put him in a short time out. I tell him "NO PINCHING or time out." He now knows when I've had enough because he'll go "uh-ooh" just before he knows he'll be getting a time out.

Now Mattie has only been with you for 1 short month, so I don't think she's fully settled in yet. It can take those big guys and girls quite a while to feel completely comfortable and at home.

As for bathing, I take my big macs into the shower with me. I built a shower perch, put them on there (individually, never both together), and go into the tub with them. I use luke warm water and gently spray them down. They are not overly enthused about it, but showers are important for their overall well being, so they get one at least once a week. Here is the link to the shower perch I built:
http://www.parrotforums.com/do-yourself/27017-diy-shower-perch-very-easy.html

As for you kids, if some of them read, have them read to Mattie. They can gather around her cage and one or two, or all of your kids can take turns reading to her. After she is comfortable having them there, they can carefully offer her treats. But please be careful, that big beak CAN do some damage to small (AND big) hands.

I may have missed this, but how old is Mattie??

 

[MattieGirl]

Thank you.

I was told she is around 4. We got her from a girl who had had her for 2 years as a rescue; she had been told by the rescue center that Mattie was around 2.

I keep telling the kids (12, 10, 10, 6) that she hasn't been here long. To think about if they were suddenly with a new family, new smells, new noises, etc. They are understanding and, like I said, being very patient. I am just hoping that eventually their patience will pay off with some affection from her. Actually, I am leary of her with them while she is so 'pinchy' lol so it suits me fine that she isn't wanting to climb all over them.

We homeschool and have been doing the majority of our schooling in the living room where she is - that's a great idea about having them read to her. They are not always crazy about reading aloud to ME so that I can check their fluency, etc. But reading to her (with me around the corner listening ) I think is something they will all be willing to do.

 

[josiesmom]

Welcome! Wendy always has good advice and ideas and I think having the kids read to her will be great. Josie had not been bathed before she came to us so I just use an expandable shower curtain rod about half way up the wall in the bathtub. She can go in Nd out of the water at her own pace and she really loves it. I bet once Mattie realizes how nice the water feels, she will really enjoy a shower. I'm dealing with a nippy girl right now too so I can sympathize with you. Give it time, be consistent with your discipline and she will come around....just read about tab and Fargo.

 

[MonicaMc]

Could it be curious nipping?

If so, what about some foot toys or something to keep her beak busy???

 

[triordan]

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/3997mnbkfdx6hso/uQV-0ybfi-

Not sure how to post a picture from my tablet hopefully the link will work , I take Remington to school occasionally my class loves to read to him
As others have mentioned a month isn't enough time, the bid is young and still getting used to everyone I don't rush things you time

 

[davisn456]

I'm a fairly new bird owner myself (just starting 3rd week with my B&G macaw Frankie), but have some similar experiences to share:

1. She willingly steps up on my arm but then immediately begins to 'chew' on me. She will start with my shirt, which I don't mind, but quickly moves to my bare arms. It is like a pinch, but she continues until I pull her beak away. I have been telling her no, trying the beak hold I have watched on here and then putting her back on her perch. She almost always holds out her foot again like she wants to step up again. Is this a normal thing and how do I handle it? It hurts, I have tiny bruises up and down my arms from these interactions. It has made holding her a very unpleasant experience. Help.....?

Frankie did some of this at first, and most of it seemed to be more out of curiosity. She seemed to be much more interested in pinching my fingers though, not so much my arms. She goes after my shirt sleeves sometimes too, but again, I think it's out of curiosity. I make sure to let her know when she's getting too rough. I usually say, "Don't bite" or "Be easy". She seems to be getting gentler and is understanding what her limits are. No doubt, I have some bruised fingers to show for the learning process, but it's already getting better.

2. She apparently has NEVER bathed. Before she came to us I did a ton of reading and everything talked about the importance of the bath. Her former owner said she had tried spraying her once with water and Mattie freaked out so she never tried anything ever again. How do I introduce a shower/bath without it being a traumatic experience for her?

I was told by Frankie's previous owners that she hated the shower and they would force her to get in. Needless to say, I didn't want to get either of us in a position where she was going to freak out and possibly hurt herself (or me) in the process, so I was trying to figure out some way to still get her a bath without it being a bad experience. I took her to the bathroom and set her on top of the bathtub door frame. She seems comfortable up there. I put a towel across it so she could keep a decent grip, and got a spray bottle and indirectly sprayed her (sprayed above and let it fall on her). She freaked out a little at first, but once she realized that it was ok, she had a blast. I didn't spray her much the first time, but the second, she knew how things would work and started lifting her wings and was actually excited to be sprayed. I'm hoping once she's done that a few times, I can introduce her to the shower after that.

3. We have 4 kids, we are all very excited to have her here. They are being very understanding and waiting very patiently for her to interact with them - they desperately want to pet her. She is much less snippy toward them and seems happy when they are close and talking to her. My question is this: are the chances good that she will eventually warm up to them to allow physical contact with her?

This is very dependent on the bird's personality, and how well the kids handle her. If you can safely pet the bird and and the bird seems comfortable around the kids, it may be ok. The catch here is how jumpy the kids are. If the bird turns suddenly or makes a sound that startles the kids, their jumpy movements can cause the bird to react. I think this is just one of those things that you have to work up to. Both the kids and the bird have to get used to each other.

Well...I'm not exactly an expert or anything, but I hope my experiences (and opinions) help out a little!