Parrot bites my ears when on shoulder

[seyekuyinu]

Hello guys! My parrot loves to ride on my shoulders but usually bites my ears just for fun when he does. Is there anything I can do to stop this? He's an African Grey btw

 

[EAI]

Do you show any reactions or sudden movement? He could be doing this due to his set belief that your'e giving him positive reinforcement. By how you act he could be taking it as a fun game and doing it just to do it.
For me, I don't think that any bird should be allowed on your shoulder until they are 100% trustable. Even the most trusted bird can become paranoid or suddenly just change out of the blue. And this goes for pretty much any bird and facial/neck parts since it is really sensitive.
Sorry, went off a bit. I'd avoid letting him go up to my shoulders, preferably let him stay on your forearm but that's it. There's a similar thread from a few days ago like this and an idea was a bird toy necklace...I'll try find it.

 

[4dugnlee]

How long have you had him and has he always done it? I only let my sun conure on my shoulder.

 

[Betrisher]

You must remove him each and every time he bites and try not to make noise or react 'entertainingly' (and that means with noise and exclamations). That's by way of rewarding him with a little dance act whenever he bites. Instead, take him and put him quietly and calmly in his cage and say 'No' clearly and calmly.

After you've had stitches or returned from the ER, you may want to try again. Be ready for his nip and have a chopstick or pencil or something to distract him with. The logic is that if the bill is full, it can't bite you. Most birds bite at first out of experimentation. I assume human ears feel good to chomp on because my lot used to do it too. Alexandrine bites are not much fun, so I had to stop them!

They're desperate to be with me, so isolation in the cage did the trick. It took about two sessions for the Beaks to realise that biting Mummy's ears would cause banishment to the cage for the day (not just a few minutes, mind - for the rest of the day - you have to make the punishment Serious and Memorable).

Here is a pic of my lovely new gold stud earring after Barney had been at work on it:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...98ebabad48720dc90ca51a96e99812b&size=1280,960

 

[jbirge]

Bites or Nibbles. My Yellow Headed Amazon nibbles at my ear or hair when on my shoulder. He'll insist on a share of what I'm eating by lightly peaking my ear. It's not aggressive at all. The rare times he has acted aggressive he's found a quick trip to his cage which he clearly recognizes as a negative since he's free to roam whenever I'm home otherwise and seems to enjoy hanging out on my shoulder or jousting with me.

John

 

[cassiepengo]

totally agree with jbirge. if hes just nibbling, he's showing love but if its actual biting then you gotta do something. the best thing would probably be to not let him on your shoulder at all. does he 'bite' much? like even when hes not on your shoulder, is he bitey/aggressive?

 

[Delfin]

I agree with Betrisher. "Bite me and in the cage you go for the Day" this does make the Punishment Memorable and teaches the bird the seriousness of biting.

Delfin has never bitten me hard enough to leave a mark or draw blood. But some of my earlier birds did.

 

[weco]

I agree with EAI, jbirge and cassiepengo if you have a strong relationship with your bird(s), but will side with Betrisher & Delfin if the action bothers you or your bird does not listen to you.....

All of my birds seem to think I don't keep myself properly groomed & need the extra tonsorial services of trimming ear hail, eyebrows & moustache.....but they are not allowed to search/preen nose hairs period.....all of my guys like to climb around my neck & check/test the few freckles I have there, but get shooed away if they try to preen them off.....actually, I think that they're just trying to preen the hairs they're allowed to, because they seem to chew/cut off eyebrow & moustache hairs but persist at pulling out ear hairs (that took some getting used to).....

 

[Delfin]

Seyekuyinu
first is your CAG preening or biting you?, (from your post I would say biting ).
you have a good bond with your CAG if he is preening you. but if he is biting you hard enough for it to hurt, leave marks or drawn blood. Then you will need to work out what the trigger or triggers are. This could been something has simple has taking a towel out of the cupboard to a flash of light off a window or mirror. Even sudden body movements. This behaviour would bother me, so I gather its bothering you, otherwise you wouldn't be asking how to deal with it.

I would do has Betrisher posted.

There are plenty of Parrot owners who have a good relationship with their bird. Yet they won't let them sit on the shoulder. This because something could trigger the bird to bite and in the larger Parrots this can result in serious injuries and a trip to ER. Some birds can sit on the shoulder, others cannot. That's life

 

[dr1124]

I have a similar situation with mine trying to taste and play with ears and eyes. Noses if he could reach, probably. I don't have a cage, just an unused room with his java tree in it. Do y'all think this "return-to-cage" method will work this way? I was debating on building him something. I tinkered last night about it an will be posting about it in the "DIY" forum or whatnot.

 

[mh434]

I, for one, need to learn some new terminology for "biting" behavior. When our Lovebirds bite, there's generally blood involved (and sometimes punctured fingernails, etc.).

On the other hand, Sammy (my yellow-naped 'Zon) has several levels of "bites" (well, beak-to-skin contact). The normal type isn't so much a bite, as a gentle scrape with the open beak, coupled with a light rub with his tongue, like he's enjoying the texture of my hand. This variety never leaves a mark, and gives not the slightest discomfort.

The second is a kind of "play bite", when I'm trying to get him to step up & he's feeling playful ("C'mere, c'mere, no, get away, get away!"). While his beak is open, the contact is more of a playful poke (he enjoys this immensely!) and, again, there is never any hurting to go along with that.

The third is if he is truly afraid or genuinely angry (such as when he's on my shoulder and my wife gets too close to me), and that is a truly FIRM bite. He has never drawn blood on one of these, but the deep indents leave no doubt that they were right on the edge. I can generally see these coming, and do my best to avoid them - not for my sake, but to avoid the stress that Sammy is obviously feeling.

The last type isn't a bite of any kind, really, but a truly lovable beak-to-lip contact, when he's feeling particularly cozy, safe & protected. He puts the side of his beak up to my lip, opens his beak, and gently touches my lip with his tongue. Everyone in the room invariably goes "Awww!!!".

Anybody have any commonly-used terms for these (aside from the fear/jealous bite, of course)?