My Alexandrine keeps biting and i'm running out of options

[NoahandBowey]

hello

i own an alexandrine the person who got him to me said he is 2-4 yrs old
he rescued him but my bird keeps biting my hands when they are near i have tried alot

any tips?

thanks for reading/answering
have a Squak-tastic day!

 

[LaManuka]

Welcome to the forums and thanx for being a rescuer!

Like everyone else I'm going to say it takes time and patience and LOTS of both and for a very long time, more so with a rescue bird. He may be much older than you were told, it's very difficult to know his background or age for sure. Look for other indications that he may actually like you, like preening when you are near, or grinding his beak. Try to find out what food treats he really likes and use that as bribery. Spend time close to him, talk to him or read to him from a book using a gentle voice. In essence try to let him think it was his idea all along to be friends, but it will take TIME and PATIENCE and LOTS OF BOTH. Good luck and keep trying :smile046:

 

[LordTriggs]

how long have you had him? This isn't a brand new dog or a cat that wants nothing more than to be around people. It's a bird that's been in a house for as far as you know a couple years where for all you know he could have just been shut in his cage with someone who would just dump a tiny morsel of food, it could have been hit by people, you don't know. This is not something you sort out in a couple minutes or days, it takes MONTHS if not YEARS for them to work through issues like this.

All you know is he is a prey animal who is scared and has possibly learnt biting is the only way to get people to leave him alone. Which right now you are re-enforcing more and more which means he's gonna be more ready to bite each time. SLOW DOWN and let him set the pace, get him comfy being in the same room as you, get him comfy with your hand on the outside of the cage, get him comfy taking a treat through the bars, then work on being closer to him outside the cage. BUT do not go at your pace! GO AT HIS! If your hand on the cage and he goes into a flap, then he's not ready for that, get him happy with you sitting next to the cage first, let him learn that you aren't going to hurt him, then slowly bring your hand to the cage, if he suddenly stiffens up like he's frightened, back off an inch and let him relax, you're gonna be taking baby steps moving inches at a time to get him to open up.

Hopefully this gives you a bit of insight into the demons he needs to work through to become trusting of people again, also remember unlike us who after this kind of upheaval and upset would have therapies and people to air their thoughts out to he has none of that and merely has to try and process that and the difference you are to him from the old family. He may never be fully trusting again, but in rescuing him it's less about making them become the super cuddly pets and it is about making sure they are kept safe and they are getting the stuff they need both physically and psychologically.

 

[Flboy]

Keep your hands away! For now!
Read and reread this thread!
http://www.parrotforums.com/training/57935-brainstorming-biting-parrots.html

 

[GaleriaGila]

So much great advice above!

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 "compromised". I don't do stuff that gets me bitten. 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. Really, I don't involve hands much... he doesn't like them. He seems to think the real ME is my head, perched on a weird moveable tree with questionable appendages.

Since he's fully flighted, the ONLY way I get him into the cage is to toss a chile pepper in and he flaps in after it. So food reward is a necessity for me. Time-out doesn't exist in the Rb's kingdom.

I have had some success with using the "earthquake" technique for biting. When he bites, give your hand a swift shake... it should make him let go. The idea... every time he bites, a mysterious earthquake shakes him up. Some people feel this is mean and/or engenders lack of trust. The same can work for clothes biting... give your shoulder a shake, or jump! For me, it has helped.

But please... listen to and try all the good advice you'll get here. Chris is very wise.

Don't compromise until you know you've done your best. Then just accept and love whatever/whoever your bird turns out to be.

Parrots aren't always easy pets to understand and control, and your bird sounds ALL-PARROT!

My Rickeybird is in some ways kind of a worse-case scenario, but we have it all worked out between the two of us.

Parrot-owners usually wind up determining their own personal comfort level with various behaviors.

Good luck, and good for you for reaching out.

 

[EllenD]

All great advice and information above. Not much to add except that your title to this post of "I'm running out of options" is not at all correct. I don't know how long you've had this bird, but trying to earn the trust of a non-tame parrot can take months and months to years, and this means working with him at HIS PACE every single day. You cannot do this at your pace my friend, as this bird has the intelligence level of a 4-5 year old human child, and he's obviously not hand-tame right now. You have yet to earn his trust, and that's the first thing that must happen BEFORE you ever even start trying to be able to handle him.

So, as already stated above, stop trying to touch him or handle him, as you've yet to earn this bird's trust and every time you try to touch him you're only making him more afraid of you. This is going to take you working with him slowly, every day, just sitting by his cage talking to him gently, reading to him, etc. Spending as much time with him every day as you can without touching him, and then just doing this each day until at some point you're able to get him to take food from your hand. That's a big step that can take months and months to years to accomplish, but you need to hit these milestones before you'll be able to touch him or get him to step-up. Baby Steps.

The parrots you see that people are able to handle, that step-up, that allow petting, etc. they didn't just become that way out of nowhere. They were either hand-raised as babies by a breeder and then continually handled and interacted with on a daily basis by their owners, or they were not hand-raised or hand-tamed and their owners have spents months and months to years working with them on training and hand-taming. There's no way for you to "speed up" this process unfortunately, it must go at the bird's pace, not your pace. It's a commitment that takes patience, time, and your devotion.

 

[NoahandBowey]

thank you all for the beutifull comments

i have had him for 2-3 months now
he rides on my shoulder every day and seems comfortable with me.
when i go near his cage he is fine with me but not my hands
he is slowly edging into being fine but not comfartable with my hand
the way i get him out of his cage is with a wooden stick, yet only in the mornings he will let my hand in his cage (only when my fingers are closed up)
and he happily steps up extied to go around the house

i will try ALL sugested methods

im still new to parrot forum, but the community is great, nice and VERY helpfull
like you guys people that try to help others give my hope

thanks again

 

[noodles123]

I am glad you are seeking help and it is awesome that you are eager to learn more!

"I am running out of options" concerns me a lot.

Remember, birds are not domesticated like dogs or cats...it can take YEARS in some cases, but this is something that we, as bird owners, agree to take-on when we adopt wild animals.
Even if you run out of fingers, biting isn't a good reason to re-home lol.

Have you looked into ABA or consulted an animal behaviorist? ---Honestly 2-3 months is very early to even consider consultation...That having been said, if you do look into it down the road, it could be expensive if you go with a professional, but re-homing a bird over something that can be fixed is going to (potentially) traumatize the bird.
Also, 2-3 months is NOTHING---even though it feels like an eternity. My cockatoo wouldn't even step up until month 3!
With a true understanding of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), you may be able to figure out WHY he is biting and provide a better (more acceptable) means for him to meet that same need, or change the need altogether. You can get a lot of good information about ABA online, although you need to be selective when assessing the validity of sources. IT CAN BE DONE WITHOUT A PROFESSIONAL if you research the heck out of it and really understand it.