Parrotlet Question

[BillsBirds]

I've handled only 3 Parrotlets. One was the sweetest girl, now living with a young girl. Another was a boy who was quiet and friendly, but likes to amuse himself with his toys, and now lives with a couple and their Amazon. And then, there's Mario. Mario lives with us, and is about 2 years old. We got him just after weaning. He is friendly and sweet, but the little nipper is exactly that! A nipper. He's an aggressive nipper sometimes, a kamikaze nipper, other times, just attacking you. And other times, sweet as pie. I've worked with all kinds of birds, with all kinds of behaviors. But, this little "SOB" will not give it up. I've been told that they can be nippy. But, my other two were so sweet. I've tried all kinds of things, that have worked with other birds, but, not with Mario. Suggestions?

 

[birdpassion620]

Don't feel bad. My parrotlet Chuey is exactly the same way. Sometimes I have to wear a thick long sleeve sweater when he is on me because when he grabs the skin on my arm the pain is unbearable. I've actually bought him some chew toys to see if that works but he is still nipping away.

Here are some images of my little brat.

 

[BillsBirds]

I love the plane swing/perch! Yes, that little beak is like getting pinched with wire cutters. Plus, the bite strength they have with such a little body!

 

[OOwl]

Yep, I'm starting to see it that way myself. They ARE nippers. All my birds explored with their beaks as babies and even went through a nippy stage but it appears that Parrotlets, from personal accounts I've read and now experienced first hand, are just prone to nipping. My boy does it, too, and no determent seems to affect it much. But, I'll keep trying. . .

 

[Emrys]

Oh, great. LOL. We have had our 10 week old parrotlet for 3 weeks now & he just started nipping in the last few days. We thought it was because he wasn't feeling well, but now, after reading what all of you are saying, I'm not so sure!

 

[crimson]

better break out the long sleeves and gloves Emrys!LOL...
I've raised and owned the little 'pit bulls', they are funny little birds, but pack a nasty little torture bite that one never forgets.

 

[ShellyBorg]

my little girl has not nipped at all...

 

[birdpassion620]

Shellyborg,

I am sooo jealous. lol

 

[Featheredsamurai]

That sounds painful! It's surprising how painful a bite is when they grab a small chunk of skin!

 

[Folkeye]

I almost killed mine (literally, lesson learned on my part) due to the series of bites I got when I went to put him in his cage once. He didn't want to go in so he walked down my hand and bit the backside of my knuckles, I tried to ignore it until he moved on to a second spot and proceeded to bite and not let go. Out of instinct I shook my hand to get him off, wasn't hard, but hard enough to cause a problem when he flew off...he went the wrong direction and hit a plastic bin really hard. He was somewhat stunned on the floor when I picked him up and I knew there was a problem due to his dazed reaction. I felt beyond terrible and thankfully there's a 24 hour clinic that I took him to right away. They would monitor him overnight and would call in the avian vet if needed. She came in the next morning and checked him out. Thankfully he was okay, a bit sore but no serious injury (outside me kicking myself mentally). I would never mistreat nor hurt my birds, this was a stupid accident on my part and it won't happen again. But it says a lot about this wussy human's bad reaction to a nasty hard bird bite. Just have to remember to not react in such a manner. He's done it one time since, I handled it much better. I know to grab a distraction for it. A soft washcloth works wonders as a another object to bite instead of the hand.

Long story, yeah. But they DO bite hard and one needs to be careful to find non spazzy ways to deal with it if/when it happens. I'm grateful things are okay. Brat he is, but I love my p'let dearly.

My magic method of getting him back in the cage when he’s in a serious ‘let me do what I want or I’ll take your hand off mood’ is those three ringed rope toys. I just dangle that in front of him and he charges it and perches on the lower rope every single time. I take that to the cage and he’ll hop off that onto his perch. The other night he wasn’t going in so easy and my friend watching my circus act said ‘you ever seen the movie The Blob’ since my p’let was defying gravity and climbing up instead of off no matter how many times I rotated the rope from top to bottom. Ah, good times of having a p’let.