Confusing Fingernails with nuts!

[GoDieogo]

Ok, Diego is a very mouthing bird and loves to lick and nibble my fingers. It's not done in an aggressive way he just seems to want to explore my strange moving finger branches. However, he has developed a slightly annoying and sometimes painful habit. At the end of my strange moving finger branches, I think Diego is thinking he has found some nuts. He is obsessed with my fingernails and latches right onto them with his beak trying to pry them off! Although he is not doing it in a nasty way, this can be painful and he seems to be getting more and more determined in removing them. I have been saying to him "no" and putting him back on his perch but now he seems to have pre-empted this and clings onto my hand with his feet and refuses to step up back onto his perch. He is so determined that he has even been hanging upside down from my hand refusing to budge before now.

I know that this sounds funny and even my husband laughed at it until he tried to do it to him, then he stopped laughing as it hurts!

I've even been putting my hand into a fist so that my fingers are tucked up but he is so sneaky and starts off on the thumb nail which is still exposed. When I try and get him to stop on that nail my hand becomes unclenched and then he moves onto my other nails.

Is this something normal? And how do I stop it from becoming a problem? Also should I not allow him to mouth my hand so much?

 

[HRH Di]

Our birds love to give us "manicures". Finger nails were obviously meant to come off, right? Jade tells us to just deal with it and let her do her work.

I would suggest that when he starts biting your nails, you distract him with something else - preferably a toy instead of a treat. Or give him a toy immediately when you pick him up. You need to divert his attention to something else.

 

[GoDieogo]

Diego has a little wooden book that he loves, so I will keep this handy to distract him with if he starts again. I'm also going to cut my nails really short to try and keep temptation away

 

[parrotqueen]

Diego has a little wooden book that he loves, so I will keep this handy to distract him with if he starts again. I'm also going to cut my nails really short to try and keep temptation away

No, don't do that!
You can keep your pretty nails. Just nudge him away and sternly say, 'no' when he does it. Like HRH mentioned, diverting his attention is good; but do it before he starts the behavor in the first place. You don't want him to feel rewarded or to feel that he gets more attention when he does it.

 

[Spiritbird]

Is there some kind of food he does not like? Rub or hold this in your hands and it may also be a deterent. If you have artifician nails I would not use them as there may be a chemical that may harm the bird.

 

[GoDieogo]

No, don't do that!
You can keep your pretty nails.

This made me laugh, with cleaning up after my family and animals, there not so pretty so won't me missed LOL. I would love to be able to have artificial nails but alas, they would not last a day with my daily cleaning routines.

I'm trying to think of what food he does not like that I could rub on my hands, but he is an amazon and so likes most things.

I will keep going with the distraction method and see how that goes, thanks everyone for your ideas, they are all much appreciated

 

[azelea]

put bitter apple on your hands, but make sure to wash them after!!! lol

 

[stella]

My bird does the exact same thing except he does it through his cage. When ever I am there talking to him all he wants is my fingers and nibble on the nail and my hair!