biting baby quaker

[USMCQUAKERS]

Good Morning everyone! So over the weekend my baby Quaker 6-1/2 weeks old discovered biting. she even got my on my neck unexpectedly and scared me a little because I forgot she was even there. I was looking for different ways to correct this behavior. I know everyone says just ignore the biting. I don't know what your pain level is but mine must not be up to par because my fingers and neck are starting to hurt! please post suggestions!

 

[Poppetsmum]

My Quaker Poppet has pushed the boundries with biting too. Its not hard, more pushing his luck to see what he can get away with. I tolerate a fair bit of 'beaking' because lets face it, they don't have anything else to use really and as babies, they don't yet know what is acceptable and what isn't. Poppet is my second Quaker and with the first and this one I say a firm 'no' or 'no bite' and return him to his cage. He's now learnt that if he bites, fun time is over. It's worked already and it worked with the last one I had too. The secret is not to overreact at all. A firm voice is fine but don't raise your voice, just change the tone. Quakers, as with a lot of parrots, seem to like to provoke a reaction and this then encourages them to repeat the behaviour.

 

[MonicaMc]

If you can, it's best to avoid the bites completely. Babies often bite out of curiosity and not realize they are hurting or because they are afraid.

Assuming your quaker is biting out of curiosity then I would recommend to make sure that your quaker has a lot of things to chew and interact with that you can just hand him so he'll have something in his mouth! If he's already busy with something, he can't bite you!

 

[MikeyTN]

I agree with Monica there!!!! Cracker the Quaker was like that too when he was young....

 

[JenJen]

Zulu has only really bit me hard once and that was on the way home from the breeder. It hurt like the dickens but I completely ignored it and left my thumb where it was until s/he got bored and climbed away. Since then, whenever Zulu beaks/bites, I either completely ignore it or try to redirect his/her attention - clucking, clicking or moving my hand. For the most part, the bites aren't painful and Zulu seems to lose interest pretty fast when there's no reaction.

I don't know if complete ignoring is the best way to deal with it, but for now it seems to be working with Zulu.

JJ

 

[Two_Peas]

Arya started biting recently and it was more about pushing boundaries. She'd find the tiniest bit of skin in our necks, arms, and bite really hard. My mom would make a big deal out of it. I always ignore her. Ignoring her worked.

I also make sure I always have something around my neck when she's on me. Currently I have a long shoe lace that she likes to chew on. She also likes to chew on my hair ties or hair accessories.

Getting her a beak buffer really helped, too.

 

[forbey]

Our parrots tend to like our company. It might work to tell her "no", pick her up and put her in the cage for a while, each and every time she bites, until she gets the idea that biting equals time out. I believe, in order for this to be effective, you have to be consistant.

When Skittles, our BFA, bites me, he goes in the house, and gets a minor lecture and then ignored for a while. It does appear to be working.