A New Undesirable Behavior

[MeganMango]

Mango has a lot of attitude, no doubt about that. When he gets nippy and starts playing rough I usually warn him "dont be snotty", and if he doesnt stop we put him on his play stand or his cage with a toy. The idea is that he would learn to play rough with his toys and not our hands, shirts, hair, ears, noses, glasses... well you get the idea. Apparently he is smarter than me though, because he has decided this is a wonderful game. Now he gives us a nip (not hard, but startling) and says very clearly "dont be snotty". He then puts on a show of dance moves and gets even more excited. I know he is just being playful, but Im not sure how to deal with this. The first time he did it he was on my aunts shoulder and we'd had a glass of wine, so we laughed and laughed. I fear this has reinforced the behavior because hes pretty sure we should be impressed with his new game. I have been ignoring it and sticking to our routine of just giving him some time out with his toys, but Im afraid if I use another command to warn him about being nippy he will just pick up on that. He has decided its the greatest thing ever, and I have to admit, its pretty adorable. This morning he was having his morning chattering session and kept repeating "snotty! ssssnotty, snottyyyyy" in various tones of voice :20:. He is very clever, and Im super proud of his smarts, but I dont want to encourage nipping.

 

[Thingamagigs]

I think all you taught him was that biting is called "dont be snotty" lol

He doesn't have any negative consequence to his actions so he has no reason not to bite. In fact you appear to be rewarding him for it.

 

[MeganMango]

When Mango gets nippy, we basically give him a time-out. He doesnt really like this, he usually wants to come right back to us. He calls and is usually much gentler when we do go get him. I just warn him ahead of time, and most of the time, especially lately he stops nipping when I tell him "dont be snotty". Its basically me warning him that if he keeps it up he will be put on time-out. The first time he chomped and then said "dont be snotty" we laughed our pants off. If you had seen his face you would have laughed too. Since then we have just ignored it, but I dont think he is going to stop doing it. I guess the one-time reinforcement was enough. I dont really want to punish him, but I would like to discourage it. I dont know how to discourage it properly aside from ignoring him. Ive stopped saying "dont be snotty", and today when he got nippy I just said "no" and then put him on his cage. I suspect he will just start saying "no" eventually, and I dont suspect its actually discouraging the biting. Is there a better way to do this?

 

[Thingamagigs]

People always think punishment is a physical action. Ignoring is a form of punishment if the bird doesn't like it.

The best way to punish a behaviour in most cases is to be silent, have no reaction other than to walk instantly to the cage and put him back and leave the room until he is quiet and well behaved. And do it any time he bites. Some birds will know what is about to happen and start to bite or otherwise make it difficult to get them back in the cage. There is no right or wrong way of punishing a bird after the fact because its not an effective way of dealing with a bird.

The best thing to do is adapt yourself and your own behaviour. Figure out when he is likely to bite and avoid that situation. If he starts to escalate during play or cuddles and ends up biting, you need to stop play or cuddles before the stage he might bite. There are usually signs.

 

[MeganMango]

So I guess we stop warning him, and just put him in his cage. Hes going to be devastated
How long do you leave them? Hes usually just playing too rough, although he does give us a good chomp to punish us some times, usually about food. We dont warn him about that, he just goes in his cage, but I feel bad putting him in his cage when hes playing. Will he associate the punishment with the biting? I dont want him to think I dont want him to play. I can tell when he starts getting over-excited, thats why I we usually give him a warning and a toy. I guess we spoil him

 

[MonicaMc]

What about teaching a behavior that is incompatible to biting? i.e. turning around, picking up an object to put into a cup, ringing a bell, etc? It's the same concept as what you are already doing - redirecting his behavior. However, you want to do this before he starts biting so you can avoid the bite altogether.

 

[MeganMango]

What about teaching a behavior that is incompatible to biting? i.e. turning around, picking up an object to put into a cup, ringing a bell, etc? It's the same concept as what you are already doing - redirecting his behavior. However, you want to do this before he starts biting so you can avoid the bite altogether.

Thats a really good idea, we have been discussing what trick we should work on next. I like the idea of putting something into a cup. We have been trying to get him to turn around in a circle, but he isnt fond of that one. So far he steps up, lifts his wings one at a time, dances, gives kisses, he will sometimes put his beak on a target, will sometimes come when called, and says a few words on command. We have been working on getting him to let us touch him all over without getting upset. I think he would like picking something up and putting in a cup, or ringing a bell.