New Macaw Owner needs some advice, nippy B&G

[Chr!s+ina]

I purchased my first macaw from a bird specialty store back in July. He was just a baby, and had to stay there until weaned. I visit him as much as I can, which is a bit hard since the store is almost exactly three hours away.

I've watched him grow up very happily, but within the past two months he has become nippy, and I'm not sure what to do. I don't think it is real aggression with me, as he does it to everyone, and I think he is attached to me considering he gets down for me to get him and he will step up for me, and looks around for me when I leave him with my mother so I can use the rest rooms. He's still not able to fly/glide yet, but he makes attempts at it if I stand back some and offer him my arm, he'll hunch into it and flutter his wings a bit but he doesn't get lift off just yet.

I might be naive, I know macaws are wired differently, and maybe I perceive this as attachment of some sort, I don't know. I've read like...seven different books on macaw behavior and how to inforce positive behavior but the problem is there really isn't anything he likes that I can treat him with when he allows me to pet him or when he perches on my arm without trying to chew my fingers or clothing. I understand Macaws chew, and destroy, that isn't an issue. I just know that they aren't supposed to bite at your fingers and hand all the time either.

He spends half the time wanting to be petted and scratched and loved on, then the other half he bites at me, and when he is on my arm all he does is chew my clothes or go for my arm or fingers, whatever he can reach.

He's only 5 months old right now, he'll be 6 months on November 24th. This isn't an issue that will make me give him up, I love him dearly and the time I spend with him I always value, I'm just not sure what to do about the biting. Do I have to wait until he is weaned onto solid foods and picks up a favorite treat like a nut or something, is this an age appropriate behavior, do you think it will be better when I get him home and we spend more time together? He's also in a cage with a two-month older green wing who doesn't seem to like me and bites at me all the time. My B&G's feathers are all chewed up and I'm wondering if maybe the greenwing has something to do with his aggression, if maybe he is annoyed?

Like I said, I'll accept my bird for whoever he is, I just wanna know if I'm doing something wrong, or if I can make this more manageable by doing something different. Any thoughts or ideas would be really appreciated.

 

[jon]

just tell him no and tap him on the beack i have a 18 week old b .g macaw

 

[greycloud]

Hi Christina and welcome! Did you get your baby in NJ? Have you talked with the owners there about his biting? If he is doing to them they can start to really work on this negative behavior. You have to remember that at this age, he is testing and tasting different things. He needs to learn that he must be gentle. To do this you need to redirect his attention. If you can hold a yummy treat or a toy(stuffed animals work well) and right before he even tries to bite you put the treat or toy in front of his beak. If he touches it praise him. If he continues to bite place him down and turn away for a few seconds.
Everything he is doing is normal baby behavior. It would help if the store personnel would also work with him though.

 

[Chr!s+ina]

Hi Christina and welcome! Did you get your baby in NJ? Have you talked with the owners there about his biting? If he is doing to them they can start to really work on this negative behavior. You have to remember that at this age, he is testing and tasting different things. He needs to learn that he must be gentle. To do this you need to redirect his attention. If you can hold a yummy treat or a toy(stuffed animals work well) and right before he even tries to bite you put the treat or toy in front of his beak. If he touches it praise him. If he continues to bite place him down and turn away for a few seconds.
Everything he is doing is normal baby behavior. It would help if the store personnel would also work with him though.

I did get him in NJ, Bird Paradise. =) I didn't think to talk to the owners about it. I'll have to buy a little stuffed animal to use for that though. He doesn't really go for treats yet. THey hold his interest for about a minute, then he's done with them.

It makes me feel better that this is normal, I'm so paranoid of doing something wrong, I try to read up on everything I can and get all the advice and personal experience stories that I can get. I just wanna do right by him.

 

[greycloud]

Kathy and her husband Jack are wonderful people. I would express you concerns so that they can work with you and their personnel to help this baby adjust.

 

[Gary Lee]

Cristina:
As a long time Macaw ownwer, I have found out consistentsy is the most important training rule you can learn, First you never-ever sanction bad behavior with a tap to the beak or any other part of your bird, your hand shoud never be seen as negative!
The most effective disipline is denile of your presence, you should have a time-out room, where it is dark and silent, when your bird exibites bad behavior, you first say a simple No, if it continues, a time out is next. Macaws are flock animals and hate being alone, you might have to repeat this time out several times but when you bird learns what No, means and then what Bad brings a time out, it will work for all the things you would like her to stop. When repremanding her always remain nuetral, never ever yell or show anger, remimber she can yell alot louder!

 

[Marie]

The bird probably won't learn what you intend "No" to be if you try to use it that way. Instead, it might learn associate the time out room with stepping onto your hand when you put it in there.

I got my bird recently and I was having a few problems with nipping because my bird is a rehome. Someone referred me to this great free training article recently and I was really surprised how much it helped me. It has pictures and videos that showed me exactly what to do. I've tried it out for the past week and a half and already I can get my bird Lily to step on a perch and come out of her cage on a perch without forcing her.

How to Tame & Train Parrot - Step by Step Taming Guide