Behaviour question

[Skittles2016]

Was just wondering if anyone could help me and maybe have any tips on stopping this behaviour even slightly? So mine and skittles relationship is very good now, she trusts me, she'll fall asleep on me, she hates me being out of the room and will squawk non-stop till I come back, she flies over to me if anyone else goes near her, also if she's with me and another family member enters the room she'll start making herself all big and bobbing at them? Overall she just generally wants to be with me, and IS always with me.

Now, with other people she's not so good (I'm working on it and she has improved slightly) she won't step up to them, she backs away if they stick their fingers near her and sometimes will lunge her beak but never actually bites. (Dad did actually get his finger close enough and she didn't bite but decided to retreat instead)

HOWEVER, she still bites me. So, how come? And I mean it's different sometimes she'll start off nibbling no pressure and then gradually gets too hard and sometimes she'll just have a random strop and sort of lower her body with her face pointing right up and try and grab onto flesh but im not sure why, this can happen any time when we're just sat relaxing. But I'm just confused as to why she only seems to want to bite me, but also only wants to be with me. You'd think if she's 'bonded' with me she'd cut me some slack

 

[GaleriaGila]

The Rbird cuts ME no slack.

I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair.
Listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Don't surrender until you know you've done your best.

 

[Skittles2016]

The Rbird cuts ME no slack.

I have reduced biting to almost zero over the decades... not because I've changed the bird, but I have changed me. And a lot of that has involved giving up on a lot of my desires/expectations. After years of battle, I surrendered. I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. I don't scratch his head much, ever... tail is okay. I NEVER do stuff that makes him mad... I don't touch others when he's out; I rarely try to get him to step up onto my hand first. Hand-held perch first, then hand. In some ways, I swallow my disappointment at having such a little monster for a pet, but he is what he is. I ALWAYS wear my hair down when he's on my shoulder, so all he can bite is hair.
Listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Don't surrender until you know you've done your best.

Thank you! Haha i love reading about your little rbird keeping you on your toes constantly, I imagine your life with him has been a very active one! He sounds like a right character

Changing what i do is probably right in some cases. But with stroking, it's absolutely bizarre because she'll almost be in a deep coma from the satisfaction of scratching her head and then all of a sudden whip her head round and latch on to flesh then within 5 minutes she's settled down again asking for more scratches!!! Or I'll be minding my own business, she'll waddle over and just start tucking into my finger luckily she's always willing to step up for me right away now it's just I think she gets bored being on my finger for more than 5 seconds and starts ripping off any loose flesh she can find from her last attack! But I say that, once she's on my finger she doesn't want to get off it, she gets angry if I go to put her elsewhere!! She's a silly little thing, still very affectionate and loving despite our tussles

 

[Loko]

I know what behavior youre referring to as Loco used to do it and still does occassionally. Sitting peacefully then out of nowhere a snake bite, with the pounce and everything. Usually I find that it is because it is a warning and someone, or the dog is coming close and hes saying get away danger! Sometimes it is just random and think maybe something startles him that doesnt effect me. A good example is him being tired and grumpy, napping on my shoulder or chest and maybe I shifted my position which annoyed his royal nap so he gives a nip and basically says hey, stay still, youre supposed to be my bed!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

One of the biggest drawbacks of having a sunny is the potential for over-possession and territoriality. Sunnies are VERY social creatures and properly socializing them from the get-go as well as with any 'new' family additions that will be regular visitors is super important. I think that pretty much most of the issues with sunnies all boil down to issues with boundaries. I know you have a GCC, but from what I've read here, there are a lot of similarities between these two species (though the GCC is apparently much less loud).

This is one of the hardest behaviors to re-train, so its best to do it right off the bat.

I have a rather unique living situation. I live alone, rarely go out and hardly ever have company. So socializing Skittles isn't really an option for me.

Now Skittles is free flighted all day, so my apt is seen by him as his cage or 'territory' so anyone that comes in, he is likely to defend against. If I am at the door and he is on my shoulder and the person at the door is outside the apt, Skittles is fine, but if they enter the apt, he will actually bite me first and screech. He'll grab my shirt and rapidly shake it. Then he'll fly over to attack that person. So I always cage him before I let someone in.

While proper socialization is so paramount to successful ownership, you shouldn't expect your sun to bond or be as laid back/trusting with others as he/she is with you. Your sun may let others pet him/her, step up for them etc, but there are certain things your sun will likely only let you do. Sunnies pick their bondmate. We don't get any say in it.

I didn't even really buy Skittles. He telepathically stole my credit card and used mind control to force the pet store clerk to sell him to me.

But given the kind of lifestyle I lead, Skittles is the ideal bird. The only boundaries I have to set are between him and I and I assure you boundaries with a sunny are VERY important. They WILL try to rule the roost if you let them.

Skittles used to get nasty if I was on the phone, on the computer or watching tv. Any activity I did that resulted in prolonged eye contact away from him. But here are the things I did to address those issues. One, when I am on the phone I make a point to make routine eye contact with Skittles or talk to him occasionally or make a gesture. Something to let him know I know he's there. With regard to the tv watching, I got him a playstand that is by my chair so he can watch out the window or watch tv with me. As for the computer use, I bought a shower perch and bolted it to my desk so he can sit on my desk while I'm on the pc. He is right within eye contact. He still challenges me on occasion and flies to no-no places (the curtain rods, towel racks) to get my attention. If he persists on doing that, after redirection- I cage him for a timeout. That's something that was a daily thing a number of years back. He was a nightmare! I re-evaluated my situation and made a number of changes to how I handled things and those bad behaviors stopped. Now we co-exist. I pay the rent, and he lets me stay here.

I have the sort of system with Skittles that Abigail has with the Rbird. My successes with Skittles are the result of changes I made to me and my lifestyle rather than anything I did to Skittles.

There are certain things I can't do while he is out of the cage. Vaccumming is okay, but the tape measure is the enemy. He likes to sit on the faucet and watch me wash dishes.

Sorry for the constant references to 'your sun'. I get confused. lol. Whenever I hear the name "Skittles" I think of my sunny. It's why I no longer walk down the candy aisle.

 

[Reni]

Skittles 2016,
Your situation is very much like mine. I adopted Mango, a high red on pineapple GCC at the end of July 2016. Since she came into the shelter as a stray all the vet can tell me is that she is "young", but nothing more specific and I had her DNA'd.
Mango is very bonded to me and just like Skittles, when I get out of her sight to let the dogs out or go in the yard, she'll scream until I come back.
She loves to have her head and neck scratched, but will all of a sudden try to bite. I've reduced the biting simply by watching her intently and withdrawing my finger soon enough before she is able to bite (trying to follow GaleriaGila's advise). Of course, I cannot manage this 100% of the time yet.
When Mango and my tiels are all free flying, Mango sometimes wants to go into the tiels' cage, which she is not allowed to do. Of course, she won't step up then and wants to bite, but luckily, her first owner perch trained her and whenever I put the perch in front of her, she steps up, so easy in this way to avoid being bitten.
But all in all, I too wish that she would make less attempts at biting, and wonder when or if this behaviour will slow down at any time or age of her.

 

[Skittles2016]

I know what behavior youre referring to as Loco used to do it and still does occassionally. Sitting peacefully then out of nowhere a snake bite, with the pounce and everything. Usually I find that it is because it is a warning and someone, or the dog is coming close and hes saying get away danger! Sometimes it is just random and think maybe something startles him that doesnt effect me. A good example is him being tired and grumpy, napping on my shoulder or chest and maybe I shifted my position which annoyed his royal nap so he gives a nip and basically says hey, stay still, youre supposed to be my bed!

Ooh this could be part of the reason for me sometimes, she does sometimes go on alert if there's a loud noise somewhere and will often attack me for it. So that could it some of the time. But other times I'm sure she just likes pushing my buttons!

 

[Skittles2016]

One of the biggest drawbacks of having a sunny is the potential for over-possession and territoriality. Sunnies are VERY social creatures and properly socializing them from the get-go as well as with any 'new' family additions that will be regular visitors is super important. I think that pretty much most of the issues with sunnies all boil down to issues with boundaries. I know you have a GCC, but from what I've read here, there are a lot of similarities between these two species (though the GCC is apparently much less loud).

This is one of the hardest behaviors to re-train, so its best to do it right off the bat.

I have a rather unique living situation. I live alone, rarely go out and hardly ever have company. So socializing Skittles isn't really an option for me.

Now Skittles is free flighted all day, so my apt is seen by him as his cage or 'territory' so anyone that comes in, he is likely to defend against. If I am at the door and he is on my shoulder and the person at the door is outside the apt, Skittles is fine, but if they enter the apt, he will actually bite me first and screech. He'll grab my shirt and rapidly shake it. Then he'll fly over to attack that person. So I always cage him before I let someone in.

While proper socialization is so paramount to successful ownership, you shouldn't expect your sun to bond or be as laid back/trusting with others as he/she is with you. Your sun may let others pet him/her, step up for them etc, but there are certain things your sun will likely only let you do. Sunnies pick their bondmate. We don't get any say in it.

I didn't even really buy Skittles. He telepathically stole my credit card and used mind control to force the pet store clerk to sell him to me.

But given the kind of lifestyle I lead, Skittles is the ideal bird. The only boundaries I have to set are between him and I and I assure you boundaries with a sunny are VERY important. They WILL try to rule the roost if you let them.

Skittles used to get nasty if I was on the phone, on the computer or watching tv. Any activity I did that resulted in prolonged eye contact away from him. But here are the things I did to address those issues. One, when I am on the phone I make a point to make routine eye contact with Skittles or talk to him occasionally or make a gesture. Something to let him know I know he's there. With regard to the tv watching, I got him a playstand that is by my chair so he can watch out the window or watch tv with me. As for the computer use, I bought a shower perch and bolted it to my desk so he can sit on my desk while I'm on the pc. He is right within eye contact. He still challenges me on occasion and flies to no-no places (the curtain rods, towel racks) to get my attention. If he persists on doing that, after redirection- I cage him for a timeout. That's something that was a daily thing a number of years back. He was a nightmare! I re-evaluated my situation and made a number of changes to how I handled things and those bad behaviors stopped. Now we co-exist. I pay the rent, and he lets me stay here.

I have the sort of system with Skittles that Abigail has with the Rbird. My successes with Skittles are the result of changes I made to me and my lifestyle rather than anything I did to Skittles.

There are certain things I can't do while he is out of the cage. Vaccumming is okay, but the tape measure is the enemy. He likes to sit on the faucet and watch me wash dishes.

Sorry for the constant references to 'your sun'. I get confused. lol. Whenever I hear the name "Skittles" I think of my sunny. It's why I no longer walk down the candy aisle.

Haha, no problem. Two skittles is definitely confusing and I bet would be a double trouble duo!!

I'd say you're correct though, I think a lot of it comes down to over possession but it does baffle me why a bite is what I get in return for being loved! She could probably be socialised a bit more than she is. I live with my mum and see my dad every other weekend but my mum doesn't really bother with her. Not because she's not interested but because skittles makes it clear she doesn't want her near, but that's not going to improve anything!

Hehe yes, I think she chose me when I was browsing she was clambering all over the cage sticking her beak through it until I went over and gave her a scratch. Then I knew straight away I had to have her

I'm actually having the problem with her flying to places she shouldn't at the moment which is tiring keep putting her back but I know it worked with my budgies though I can't remember how long it took, but even then it makes her angry because of not getting her way! She's also the same with getting nasty when I'm on my laptop she'll jump onto the keyboard start ripping at the keys and then follows my hand trying to nip it (quite hard I might add) so I have to put her in timeout for 5 minutes.

Skittles goes away in her cage when I'm washing the dishes!! No way am I letting her, she's so interested by everything (thinking back it's funny now) but luckily the sink was empty and I was just getting a drink, she flew in after me at full speed landing on the sink but missing and flopped to the bottom of the sink. Not risking her flopping in a sink full of bubbly water!!!

 

[Skittles2016]

Skittles 2016,
Your situation is very much like mine. I adopted Mango, a high red on pineapple GCC at the end of July 2016. Since she came into the shelter as a stray all the vet can tell me is that she is "young", but nothing more specific and I had her DNA'd.
Mango is very bonded to me and just like Skittles, when I get out of her sight to let the dogs out or go in the yard, she'll scream until I come back.
She loves to have her head and neck scratched, but will all of a sudden try to bite. I've reduced the biting simply by watching her intently and withdrawing my finger soon enough before she is able to bite (trying to follow GaleriaGila's advise). Of course, I cannot manage this 100% of the time yet.
When Mango and my tiels are all free flying, Mango sometimes wants to go into the tiels' cage, which she is not allowed to do. Of course, she won't step up then and wants to bite, but luckily, her first owner perch trained her and whenever I put the perch in front of her, she steps up, so easy in this way to avoid being bitten.
But all in all, I too wish that she would make less attempts at biting, and wonder when or if this behaviour will slow down at any time or age of her.

Thanks for your message! I'm so glad (sorry ) you're in the same situation as me haha, I wasn't sure if what I had was just a love-hate relationship but I guess now it's just "in them" to start with. Yes she still manages to get a bite in because I'm not quick enough, and she'll latch on so I have to try and gently wiggle my way out and give her a little press on the beak and say "no". I'm surprised she hasn't learnt to say that yet!!

That is also exactly the same for me with my budgies. She likes to land on their cage and I don't let her because of worried she might hurt them and also i'd rather she landed on her own cage. But as soon as she's there she won't step up either and will lunge! So I too have to use a perch which she'll get onto.

They are funny little birds.

 

[wrench13]

OP, to me it sounds like your little guy is over bonded to you, and the bites are meant to warn you of impending doom ( after all, your not seeing the threat and flying away, so the little guy is giving you a nip to get you moving ! ). 2 suggestions. More socializing with other family members and friends, which could be a simple 'pass the potato' like deal, simply passing the bird form person to person. We do that still with Salty, even though he is pretty cool with family and new people, it never hurts to re-enforce it. Second - Learn what sets him off. He is probably not biting you from out of the blue , for no reason. But you have to learn to think like a bird. Sudden noises, or actions by you or others, if the TV is on could be something on screen. Could be something passing in front of windows - something is being interpreted as a threat by your bird - the hard thing is to figure it out. Like many will tell you here - its never the fault of the bird. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Flboy]

This is one of the hardest behaviors to re-train, so its best to do it right off the bat.
I have a rather unique living situation. I live alone, rarely go out and hardly ever have company. So socializing Skittles isn't really an option for me.

Now Skittles is free flighted all day, so my apt is seen by him as his cage or 'territory' so anyone that comes in, he is likely to defend against. If I am at the door and he is on my shoulder and the person at the door is outside the apt, Skittles is fine, but if they enter the apt, he will actually bite me first and screech. He'll grab my shirt and rapidly shake it. Then he'll fly over to attack that person. So I always cage him before I let someone in.

I have to do the same thing with my JoJo. But what I added, was, I bring the 'intruder' over to his cage and have him give JoJo a treat. JoJo has zero cage aggression. After a bit, I can take JoJo out and he is good! He may fly over to say hi, but no attack! Don't reach for him though!
This took a good two months of treats and not coming out to reteach the need to defend the home!

 

[Skittles2016]

OP, to me it sounds like your little guy is over bonded to you, and the bites are meant to warn you of impending doom ( after all, your not seeing the threat and flying away, so the little guy is giving you a nip to get you moving ! ). 2 suggestions. More socializing with other family members and friends, which could be a simple 'pass the potato' like deal, simply passing the bird form person to person. We do that still with Salty, even though he is pretty cool with family and new people, it never hurts to re-enforce it. Second - Learn what sets him off. He is probably not biting you from out of the blue , for no reason. But you have to learn to think like a bird. Sudden noises, or actions by you or others, if the TV is on could be something on screen. Could be something passing in front of windows - something is being interpreted as a threat by your bird - the hard thing is to figure it out. Like many will tell you here - its never the fault of the bird. Good luck and keep us posted

Over bonded, really? Wow I didn't actually think of that at all, but I am with her pretty much all day so that would make sense. Im currently trying to socialise her with my parents, I've had them offer her a treat a few times but she tends to not want it. Will continue with it though.

I agree, we are surrounded by a few windows and there's lots of birds in my area so she could possibly be startled by those flying past. Thanks and I'll no doubt keep you updated

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

@Flyboy The treat thing is a great idea- unfortunately it didn't work with me. While Skittles has zero cage aggression with me, if anyone comes near him while hes in the cage he's automatically on defense. When you rarely have people over it makes the socializing incredibly difficult.

I know that my Skittles is over-bonded to me and I'm fine with that. I actually like that. When I had Peaches, my cockatiel, who was the sweetest thing you'd ever meet- never bit and I could pick her up and toss her around no problem (I dind't actually do that, lol) But Peaches would only stay out for 15-20min at a time and then want to go back in her cage.

Skittles will go in his cage on his own too- but he has to be near me at all times and I like that. Its comforting.