Baby lovebird biting

[Taellie]

Ok so, I've had my baby two weeks today, he's going to be about 2 1/2 months old i believe, give or take a tiny bit, and literally within the past couple days has turned into a biting monster...

He was hand raised, I haven't had any problems up till now, and it seems like he's going out of his way to bite my fingers now... however he's chewing everything, so near as I can tell he's just going through that phase and in that regard, I'm not worried...

My question is how do I teach him that he has plenty other things to chew and try his beak out on, and my fingers are not one of them...? I never react when he bites me, just bite my tongue and when it's 'safe' move my hand... recently I've taken to attempting to teach him "No biting", and ending play time with him if he persists in biting my fingers, but I dunno?? I've never trained a bird before, this is much harder than the dog, haha.

Any advice? He's gone from not liking attention to actively seeking it, and loves running up and down my arm, and when I have my arm in the cage and play with him, and I'm eager to continue bonding but I'm terrified of letting him out of his cage with the prospect of having my fingers(or worse my face) chewed off...

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[Taellie]

Also he's completely disinterested in fresh foods... anything I can do about that other than just keep trying until he finally gives in and starts eating them?

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[LordTriggs]

right now he is using his beak to explore and test things out like humans do when babies. Instead of not reacting, react calmly to the bite. Sometimes biting is in itself a reward and also right now they don't understand that what they're doing hurts.

The moment the "beaking" behavior as it is called (exploring with the beak) turns from gentle to pinching or nipping firmly and calmly say "no" then place them away from you, be it the floor (if safe) or the back of a chair or wherever that is not on your person. Avoid using the cage as that can be a reward in itself. Then completely ignore, refrain from even looking at them, for like a minute so they can understand "I do this and suddenly I appear in a boring spot" it's similar as to how they understand not to bite in the wild.

As for the fruit they may not understand the fruit and veg are food. Get a little bit on a plate and take a few bites with them nearby, try to make lots of "mmm" noises and look to enjoy it, then offer some

 

[Taellie]

Thanks so much for the advice The only thing is that as of yet I haven't taken him out of his cage -- all interactions are my arm inside his cage (which is reasonably large), and I was GOING to start letting him out, but then like literally that day he started his biting and it makes me much more nervous to let him free, especially because he loves climbing on my arm so much, I fear for my face [emoji55] So I don't put him back I just remove myself and ignore him (which he clearly isn't a fan of) like you said

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