Biting !!! Enough, Already !!!

[bgriffin70]

I've just about given up and I'm asking for some experienced help; please...

We've had Green Bean since December of this past year. She started out so gentle but has become such an aggressive biter that it's getting quite dangerous; it truly is. Today; she took a chunk out of my lip and drew quite a bit of blood from both my mouth and my fingers. She almost got my eye as well when she bit down on my eyelid; I finally had to just grab and literally throw her off of me.

She is aggressive to BOTH my wife and myself but bites me consistently since I am the one who holds her more often. Due to the biting; my wife really doesn't handle her that often anymore. At this point; after the close call today; I really don't have a desire to hold her.

We love her, please don't take this the wrong way. But I just don't know what we've done wrong. We both love her, have hand fed her, play with her constantly and she has been spoiled rotten with love and affection, in my opinion. Perhaps she sees me as her mate and my wife as the 'threat,' but the biting has become dangerously aggressive now and HAS to STOP.

No target training; I don't even know what that really means. She has been trained to "step up" for a long time and knows words very well. She sets on my shoulder a lot and lately this is where the biting has gotten to the point I don't want anything to do with her. She bites my ear and has been going for my neck, my eyeballs / eyelids and my lips/mouth VERY HARD BITING !!!!!

And the old saying about if you startle them, make them feel that they're losing their balance, etc. - we do that; SHE HANGS ON WITH THE BITE AND WILL NOT LET GO !!!!! I had to literally pry her off of my lip then my eyelid then my finger just moments ago and I'm to the point where I feel I can't deal with this.

So if my suspicion is correct in that she is seeing me as a mate and my wife as the threat, there's nothing we can do about that. So what has worked? I'm to the point where there's a bit of fear running in me that if we keep her; someone could have a serious injury. I don't want to lose my temper but after she wouldn't let go of me today; I had to yell and kind of 'fling' her off my hand.

PLEASE HELP ????? ANY THOUGHTS AT ALL ???
I'm at a loss here.

 

[Anansi]

Hello. I'm so sorry that you're going through all this. First let me ask, are you okay? Those wounds sound rather vicious.

One thing that I would suggest to start with is to do a forum search of bird biting in general and Birdman666's advice on heavily aggressive biters in particular. I say that because he has worked in a rescue with birds as aggressive as yours or some possibly even more so, and he has tons of experience with them and has given out quite a bit of advice on this topic in his time with the forum.

That said, let me now throw in my two cents. For one, I think that you need to take more control of the situation. And to do that, you must take some proactive steps. If she has made a habit of going after your eyes, ears and throat, don't allow her the opportunity or the vantage point from which to do so. Basically, no longer allow her on your shoulder. She could have damaged your eye. Next time she just might. So step one is not to allow her past your elbows until you've worked past this issue. Which could be a while, depending on your bird's personality and what is truly causing the biting.

Next, and again rolling with our proactive theme, begin to carry either a small, bird-safe piece of wood or hard plastic around with you. (Small enough to carry comfortably in your pocket or even the palm of your hand, and hard enough to withstand a good gnawing.) And then learn the warning signs for when she's about to attack. When she does, interpose the bird-safe item between your flesh and her beak. This will serve the dual purpose of shielding your hand/arm, and also diverting her attention from you as the object of her ire. Most birds will be distracted enough by this that they will momentarily forget their desire to eat you.

Once you become more adept at reading her moods, you'll be able to prevent many bites simply by not putting yourself in the position to be bitten in the first place.

Also, when telling her "No", always do so in a calm and even, yet firm, tone of voice. I don't say this to spare Green Bean's feelings, but rather to make sure that you are not TRAINING HER TO BITE YOU. You see, when you react animatedly to a nip or bite, she really has no point of reference for your decidedly human body language. So if you yell, or jump about cursing up a blue streak, it is entirely possible that she might find the display AMUSING. And then she'll of course prove her hypothesis of cause and effect by doing it again. And again. So try your best not to react excitedly. Keep your movements controlled and precise. Keep your voice calm.

Now, before i go any further, does she mostly do this behavior around her cage? How old is she? Has anything changed in your household? While her behavior certainly sounds aggressive or possessive as you've asserted, there's always the possibility of inciting factors that you may have missed. In which case, she could be biting out of fear as well. I don't say this to dismiss your theory. I just want to consider every possibility.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

I have lorries and their a different ballgame! Their to hyper for normal training [my Chattering lorry seems to be hanging from my lip too.} Its like their so over excited to see you it turns into aggression.. MY yellow streaked lorry was like this when he was younger [better now]. Maybe its an age thing ? My Chattering is young [got her in Feb ]. She is impossible !! What you need to do is wear them out . Attach toys to the top of the cage . Open the door and let her climb up there. After shes been out awhile say hi . If she aggressive ,put her back . Keep your interactions small and on a schedule letting her blow off some steam first. While visiting her through the bars in between . Believe it or not birds that nip need to be taught how to act . So buck up and get through this phase. Mines a nut !! Shes pulling her perches down right now

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow, I admit I don't know much about lories. I knew they were different from other parrots in some ways, but I didn't know they were capable of a "hormonal Poicephalus" level of aggression !
Terri's and Stephen's advice sounded like something to try. Hopefully more Lory owners will see this and chime in with their experiences. Good luck.

 

[bgriffin70]

Your thoughts are all very valid points; and thank you for chiming in. I tried thinking this through for the afternoon and after a few hours of absolutely ignoring her; she finished her evening nectar and was put to bed. I told her goodnight and "love you" but that was it; no touching, no out of her cage.

She spent the afternoon IN her cage with very little interaction with anyone. Our kids won't play with her because they have been bitten and want nothing to do with her now. The kids are teenagers, so they're not that interested, but still just avoid her for the fear of biting and aggression.

She is definitely VERY aggressive around her cage... for example; biting when we take food / water in and out; she'll even bite us HARD when we put her nectar dishes inside the cage, not just when removing them... go figure.

I have allowed her to get into the habit of simply jumping off of her cage and directly onto my shoulders to play or just walk around. If my wife comes near; she starts mumbling under breath and the body language is very aggressive; one time even jumping off of my shoulders and onto my wife's neck literally attacking her !!! This is a behavior that we have allowed and it will definitely STOP from here on out; no more shoulders !!! It was absolutely ignorant of me to allow this for the simple things you point out; her easy access to my lips, ears, eyes and face of which is all scarred up from bites. This is a behavior that was encouraged by me not putting an end to that from day one.

Yes; now that you mention; most of her aggressive behavior is acted out near her cage or obviously, when she is on my shoulders or near me. If my wife comes near and she's on my shoulder; she literally goes into a fury and will attack me. My wife learned her lesson and will not get near Green Bean if she is on my shoulder. So now; if the wife comes around; Green Bean will bite me; hard !!! If my wife walks by and even acts like she is going to give me a kiss or hug; no way! The bird starts screaming at my wife; says "Green Bean pretty bird, and says "shut up!" to my wife if she talks. It does have it's humor; but this has all got to stop and it's primarily MY FAULT for allowing this to happen.

All this time; I thought the playing and hands on play wrestling was something she enjoyed but I see now that perhaps it has made her think in her mind that aggression is acceptable as "play and possession of me as her seen mate."

Her most aggressive behavior is:

1. After she has been out of her cage; which is quite often and for very long periods of time; trying to put her back in. She refuses to go back in and will bite continually. The problem here also... the last remedy has been recently to take a white towel and literally wrestle her into her cage to keep her beak off of our flesh... thus; making her that much more aggressive.

2. After having spent time with me; if the wife comes near me, her body language shows aggression and she now bites me since she cannot reach my wife... wifey stays far enough away that now I'm the one who gets the bites saying "back off."

3. She gets a bit aggressive in the shower since we "scrub the birdie" each day. She showers with me and while handling her; she will sometimes squawk and nip / bit from out of the blue. Honestly; she acts quite hormonal in the shower (as weird as this is to type) as her eyes begin to go red and she puffs her feathers out and starts banging her beak on me.

4. When playing; we have our crazy games in which I am quite hands on with her, saying "I'm gonna get me a bird" and others that she says "that tickles," etc. etc. - but will out of nowhere go from playful loving to flapping her wings and letting out loud screeches and nipping. No; we don't play rough... but we've always played with her toys, balls, etc. and rough-housed but within the past two months; I'd say she's definitely become more physical and nippy at me. And if we're playing and the wife comes around; she starts those red eyes again and starts getting aggressive, so we have to stop.

Let me close this long post by saying... we truly don't know if it's a he or a she. We simply called her "good girl" one day and it stuck thinking she was so sweet at first; she had to be a female. No DNA testing has been done so Green Bean in fact could be a male; we don't know.

All I know is that my wife and I love her very much; she's always been what I consider "my bird." She seems to have taken mostly to me and was so loving but I think I very well brought most of this on myself... by the way we play, shower, allowing her to ride around on my shoulder, etc. etc.

We are not experienced parrot folks and Green Bean is our first parrot besides as parakeet we had years and years ago when the kids were... kids. I think the writing is pretty much on the wall... as your advice warrants... a lot of disciplined interaction and stop the shoulder time, the rough-housing play, and simply limit, as best possible, the access and opportunity she has at our flesh and vital organs!

In time; I sincerely hope she'll tone it down and get back to being that wonderful little bird we first purchased. Any other recommendations are greatly appreciated and I look forward to others' comments !!!

 

[SoCalWendy]

Sounds to me she gets her BIRDZILLA on when she HAS to stop doing something she is enjoying like hanging out and then you try and put her away. The second BIRDZILLA moment is when she is over stimulated. I might suggest two things, 1. When you are putting her back give her something to go back to, like her favorite treat. 2. You may need to find the grey area between ok playing and overstimulation. For instance I can play with my Sennie, chase her tail etc. but I can NOT play with her toys with her. She turns in to BIRDZILLA every time, therefore I don't do it anymore. If I see that she is becoming over stimulated I change gears, wait for her to calm down, then offer her a treat "inside" her cage. Works (for me) every time. I hope you find something that work.

I wouldn't allow green bean on any shoulders or near your face. She might even be acting really sweet and you may feel tempted, but just don't allow it anymore, at least for now.

 

[Nexus]

I had a rainbow lorikeet when I was younger that became terribly aggressive. It would draw blood every time I held it and I could no longer deal with it, and being so young I neglected it which made the problem 10x worse.

To this day I WISH I had've just let it loose outside, then maybe it could've joined in with a wild flock like some people do with cockatoos, but it eventually past away while I tried getting it under control.

All I know is neglect makes it WORSE. They punish you for punishing them with confinement. Lorikeets, at least the rainbow ones, NEED love, constant love.

I never had an issue with my cocktail or budgie, but they're a parrot hobby staple for a reason I suppose.

 

[thebirdnerd]

For safety reasons if the bird isn't clipped I would definitely clip its wings.. While this doesn't work in every case, I have seen birds calm down once their wings were clipped. Also, it will be easier to control the bird. If you notice she is territorial around her cage, try moving the cage to a different location. Also, change perch locations so it seems like a completely new area for the bird. Hope this helps.

 

[bgriffin70]

Thanks, birdnerd. That does make sense; she definitely gets more 'active and aggressive' when her wings grow out, nails get longer and her beak gets sharper. We usually have her wings clipped, nails filed and beak filed down (by a local vet) about every 6 weeks. Her flight feathers have really taken off (no pun intended) and maybe she's just going through a sexual maturity thing? I sure hope she grows out of this. 90% of the time; she's the sweetest thing in the world. But oh how that can change in a moments notice and I think I've brought this on a lot myself by lack of knowledge.

We haven't punished her by abandoning her by any means. I just had to take a break the other day when she went off on her biting 'attack mode' and got my eye, lip and hands the way she did.

 

[Nexus]

It's possible this is a sexual maturity thing. But I think the key might be proper socialization. My rainbow was a me only bird, which I think was unhealthy for that species. Because I know there are places where people can feed wild flocks and no one is ever so viciously attacked, and these are wild birds. But you notice that rainbow lorikeets LOVE being in the thick of it. They love hustle and bustle, movement and noise. I think stillness and calm environments spook them to an extent.

Who knows, maybe it's a 'bluffing stage' which you hear about with IRN.

 

[SharlenaSharlena]

Sorry you are going through all of this I hope things have improved! I can't speak for all Lorikeets but our Starburst is much less handsy then she used to be (they are both over a year). She is much less gentle then our male when she plays. She started acting like this once she started going through puberty. We have curbed a lot of her biting and occasional aggression by having her free flighted and giving her and Skittles (our male) their own room with toys and play stands and cages, a little tub for baths and music for them to romp around on and burn energy too. Without this they would terrorize the dogs and my husband all day lol. I feel your pain, they are so adorable and goofy and snuggly it's frustrating when they act out.

Our female definitely see's me as a threat to her position and is much sweeter to my husband. Although she allows me to shoulder her, I don't trust her as much as our male. That aside, it sounds like she needs a way to burn her energy and frustrations, so maybe a toy, some music she might like or something that will get her excited. Does she have any playmates or any stimulus? I am sure you have probably been asked that a hundred time already, but I hope our experiences with ours have helped! This forum is a great place for advice so don't give up! They really are wonderful birds!

 

[sfoster]

You should never release any pet bird into the wild for any reason. Some people think it's because it may die, but that isn't the only problem. Rainbow Lorikeets have become a pest bird in many countries ruining entire crops of fruit because they bred and took over. Out competing many other species causing them to decline. This could even cause them to go extinct. So before you release, make sure you are educated!

 

[Ann333]

I am so sorry and I hope you are okay. There are absolutely people on this forum who can help you. I don't have enough experience to offer advice but please follow the advice of others already given. I just hope you and your bird are okay. Please don't hesitate to ask questions! It seems to me you waited quite some time for this problem to escalate. We are here to help. There is no judgment we all just want what's best for the birds and the human parents.

 

[RavensGryf]

Just a heads up... but this thread was posted almost a year ago

 

[Ann333]

Hahaha oops!! I didn't see how old this thread was!! Sorry. ... it was 8n my "active topics" list.