advice on how not to get your ear pierced :)

[Jessw931]

Sammi my B&G is doing so amazong! No plucking since we have gotten her. Her vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger. She is listening and trusts my daughter (whom is her human) more and more everyday!! She is stepping up on command instead of when ever she feels like it! I cant praise her enough theese days! We went and visited our vet Friday, just so he could lay eyes on her and do an appearance check. and we wanted him to be familiar with her when comes to to trim and clip wings and feet. She did great!

The problem we are having, is she is biting Haileys ear! Like badly! The last bit almost went all the way through ear! She is never yelling when she does it, shes happy content ( so we think) and riding around her shoulder. She will just reach over, take a chunk out, and thats that. I have encouraged Hailey to start teaching Sammi to stay on her fore arm, instead of shoulder, but Sammi likes the Shoulder. Any ideas on why she may be doing this, or how to stop it? Untill then we are taking stock in ear muffs!!!

 

[JerseyWendy]

What a sweet update on Sammi! Great to hear how well she's adjusting, and that she's formed a bond with Hailey!!

I'd truly encourage your daughter to keep her off her shoulder though, especially for the time being. Sure, it's great for Sammi to sit up there (like a queen on her throne), but she could potentially do some massive damage to your daughter's face.

Every time Sammi bites she must be corrected. Biting is never tolerated/allowed. Not showing any reaction won't teach her anything, you know what I mean? A stern "no bite" should be the initial verbal warning. If she continues a brief 'time out' may do the trick.

Best of luck, and please keep us posted.

 

[MosaicMadness]

My RFM would do the same, I stopped allowing him on my shoulder (the tips of macaw beaks are Sharp! ) Every time he would do that I would say firmly Ow, NO! and return him to his cage, then try again later. Same for when he'd fly off my arm or his cage and land where he wasn't supposed to (like on the chandelier to de-crystal it) and put him back where he was supposed to be (on me or the cage or play stand) and say "stay". Good luck, they are so much fun and so much trouble as babies and toddlers

 

[Jessw931]

We have gotten a great padding system for her arm down! She has wrapped several towel around her arm and kinda taped them, so that when she is being moody Hailey isn't jerking her hand back, she firmly keeps it there, give a deep stern no bite and proceeds to tell her step up! Doing great there! And yes both her ears look horrible! Thankfully she has long hair!!! How do you give a time out? Straight to cage? Lights off/on? How long?

 

[Jessw931]

My RFM would do the same, I stopped allowing him on my shoulder (the tips of macaw beaks are Sharp! ) Every time he would do that I would say firmly Ow, NO! and return him to his cage, then try again later. Same for when he'd fly off my arm or his cage and land where he wasn't supposed to (like on the chandelier to de-crystal it) and put him back where he was supposed to be (on me or the cage or play stand) and say "stay". Good luck, they are so much fun and so much trouble as babies and toddlers

Yes very much like toddlers!!!!! she has her wings clipped, so she doesn't fly, but she loves to be sneaky and wander away when we turn our backs she gave the dish people a nice surprise when they were installing Saturday. She was on a chair in kitchen, I turned around she's waddling her tail into living room, and I'm her deepest voice possible she says " hey baby". The install guys got a huge kick out of her!

 

[Birdman666]

In my opinion: A bird that isn't bite pressure/no bite trained has no business being on a shoulder, and that is especially true if that bird is a macaw!

Any bird that tends to displacement bite should also be "hand and arm" trained. No shoulders. Sooner or later the displacement bite will be triggered, and if he's facing toward your face when it happens, your face gets it! (Facing the other way, your shoulder takes the bite.)

Shoulders are a privilege. You have to behave if you're gonna be up there.

 

[Jessw931]

We have been hand arm training since the last bite. Our biggest problem is getting her to stay!

 

[Solo]

Birdman is right. The shoulder is a privilege that they have to continue to earn. Phoebe rides on mine all the time, but sometimes she's a bit overstimulated and biting is a way to release that energy. Once she's calmed down she allowed on the shoulder again. In your case it seems like you've been working on a lot of new behaviors. I would keep her off the shoulder especially with your daughter until she has become more reliable and predictable in her behaviors.