Types of Biting/Behavior Mods

[SilverSage]

Birds are so smart and so complex, every time I feel like I have learned something about them I also feel like I will never even begin to understand. I would love to see so,e of your behavior mods that have worked for you with your rehabbing!

 

[veimar]

Oh I'm so happy my birds don't bite! My new rescue, male cockatiel, does what I would call "residual biting". He was so wild and used to biting hard any fingers that approached him when I got him, that he still has difficulty getting rid of that habit. He would open his beak to bite, and then lower his head for a scratch - it looks really funny. If he accidentally still bites me (very lightly) he gets embarrassed and stomps on his perch with lowered head - Like "I'm sorry I forgot not to bite - please give me a scratch".

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Well said Birdmann [cracked up at the psycho Too comment]

 

[RavensGryf]

...and I laughed at the Sennie Tude also lol! For the most part ALL Poi's have "Sennie Tude"! :16:

From my two Poi species as well as hearing people over the years, I think they're all Sennies inside... Some just have different 'paint jobs' lol. Not sure how Capes are. This, in my opinion is the only drawback of the Poicephalus family. It can be a pretty big drawback though. This genus is not only quick tempered, but also 'beaky' in communicating and feeling everything with tongue and beak for the reasons you say about Scarlet macaws. At least mine are. :16:

Although they're not macaws, c'mon it can be a little more than a pin prick! Once when my Red Bellied was hormonal he grinded a chunk out of my finger. Deeper than just skin. It was a small chunk, but a chunk nonetheless lol! :16:

 

[Selestine]

Ooo, great thread. Bookmarked, and would love to see it as a sticky!

 

[Scott]

Wow, great stuff Birdman, and written both for the experienced and newbie.

I "too" had to crack up at the "psycho-too" commentary and noticed you wrote of them in the past-tense!

Undoubtedly specific species bite for predominate reasons; my parrots are overwhelmingly Cockatoos and jealousy, possessiveness, and manipulation are the primary causes. What a surprise!

 

[Birdman666]

Now there's a SHOCK... emphasis on manipulation, and "THAT'S MINE," eh?!

The funniest too manipulation I ever fell for was a GSC2 trick...

The bird had a toe stuck in a toy and was flailing around like mad, obviously in a lot of distress. Crap! He could break a foot! So I sprinted over to the cage, reached in to see if I could free his foot... And before I could blink the bird flipped over, sprinted up my arm, and was out and on my shoulder, making sweet bird, please don't make me go back, I want to stay with you (CUZ YOU'RE A SUCKER!) displays!

That bird deserved an oscar. They can be amazing actors sometimes!

My Ruby macaw was a master at it too...

 

[strudel]

Can you help me with "I'm just going to gnaw on you"? Is this just psycho-too? For example, yesterday she was sitting there and she was biting my knuckle and then she was grabbing the skin on my hand with her beak and pulling it. I get the feeling that she could use a cocky dummy (pacifier) to chomp on. She doesn't want to nibble on toys, she wants to nibble on me. I've figured out that the nips she gives me is because she is trying to eat my freckles. I wish she could tell the difference between arms and food.....

 

[Scott]

Can you help me with "I'm just going to gnaw on you"? Is this just psycho-too? For example, yesterday she was sitting there and she was biting my knuckle and then she was grabbing the skin on my hand with her beak and pulling it. I get the feeling that she could use a cocky dummy (pacifier) to chomp on. She doesn't want to nibble on toys, she wants to nibble on me. I've figured out that the nips she gives me is because she is trying to eat my freckles. I wish she could tell the difference between arms and food.....

Just think of it as "teething."

 

[strudel]

Just think of it as "teething."

But she's fully grown! She has her toy right here, it's got all different things on it to chomp but, no, she wants to chomp on my buttons or me.

 

[Jayyj]

I love this forum - it's such an amazing thing to have so many experienced people willing to give their time to help others deal with their bird issues. Birdman666, thank you: it is very much appreciated. Others too - Monica Mc's food lists spring to mind - it's an invaluable resourse.

 

[Jayyj]

Can you help me with "I'm just going to gnaw on you"? Is this just psycho-too? For example, yesterday she was sitting there and she was biting my knuckle and then she was grabbing the skin on my hand with her beak and pulling it. I get the feeling that she could use a cocky dummy (pacifier) to chomp on. She doesn't want to nibble on toys, she wants to nibble on me. I've figured out that the nips she gives me is because she is trying to eat my freckles. I wish she could tell the difference between arms and food.....

I went through months of this with Alice - I think it might be a bit of a galah thing. If it's freckles, it could be a grooming thing, which I can't really help with. Alice will sit on my shoulder, reach into my shirt collar and pluck out hairs - hurts like mad but she thinks she's doing me a favour!

If it's nippiness, going after fingers etc, that was a big problem with Alice but I worked though it by letting her keep the finger in her beak, putting my thumb on the outside of the beak so I had some control over it and saying 'gentle' in a firm voice. When she lessened her grip I'd remove the thumb and pretty quickly she seemed to learn that if she wanted to play that game she needed to do it without hurting me, and most times now if she does bite too hard I can use the 'gentle' command on its own and she'll ease up.

Alice took well over a year to get the hang of chewing/shredding toys - then one day I put a gourd thing in her cage with some foraging stuff inside, and an hour later there was nothing but a lonely chain and a large pile of sawdust. Since then anything I put in that position in the cage she makes short work of. Those gourd things are a particular obsession though: she gets one every three weeks or so and from the moment she spots it she'll have nothing to do with anything else until it's thoroughly destroyed. But, anyway, keep trying with different toys snd placements, you might still be surprised.

 

[strudel]

I think it might be a bit of a galah thing.

Could well be.

If it's freckles, it could be a grooming thing, which I can't really help with. Alice will sit on my shoulder, reach into my shirt collar and pluck out hairs - hurts like mad but she thinks she's doing me a favour!

I thought she was thinking they were food, but maybe she's trying to fix me up a bit.

If it's nippiness, going after fingers etc,

It isn't even really that. It isn't biting, as in "I'm annoyed with you, take THAT!", it's a 'beakiness" like a dog might lick somebody. It's like she wants something in her gob, and that something is me... It doesn't hurt, it's more annoying than anything. Occasionally, she'll squeeze a bit wrong or hard but mostly it's just manipulation, not force.

Alice took well over a year to get the hang of chewing/shredding toys

She'll do it with her cage toys, just not when she's with me. She "ate" through the twine on this hanging "slices of loofah" thingie and she's chomped on the loofah bits and on her pumice perch thing. It's when she's with me that she wants to maul me instead of a toy.

 

[NiRD]

All of this can be summed up into two categories, discomfort and arousal/ excitement.

 

[Birdman666]

One thing I forgot to add to this, and then I'll shut up already.

Birds that do not get handled do not stay tame.

Birds that bite need to be handled MORE, not less.

 

[Birdman666]

Can you help me with "I'm just going to gnaw on you"? Is this just psycho-too? For example, yesterday she was sitting there and she was biting my knuckle and then she was grabbing the skin on my hand with her beak and pulling it. I get the feeling that she could use a cocky dummy (pacifier) to chomp on. She doesn't want to nibble on toys, she wants to nibble on me. I've figured out that the nips she gives me is because she is trying to eat my freckles. I wish she could tell the difference between arms and food.....

Just think of it as "teething."

My RFM went through a phase where she kept trying to groom me. Freckles didn't belong, and she was determined to pick them off me. It's actually a sign of affection...

 

[strudel]

It's actually a sign of affection...

Oh, well I'll keep that in mind when she sees one that she really tries to "get" and it hurts Blast the aussie sun, why couldn't I have milky blemish-free skin?

 

[Birdman666]

My point in starting this was to have a handy reference with a ton of information, in just one place, so when we get the same thing over and over again we can just point to this thread.

Opposing viewpoints, and other methods are most welcome. I do not have a monopoly on training methods, and other people know things that work as well.

Now you have a place to add yours...

 

[JessieRosie]

Hi there,

Just to say thanks Birdman666 for such a massive compilation of biting behaviours and reasons. It really is helpful and makes birdy behaviours much more understandable!

I'm sorry to be a pain but I need further advice, even though I have read this thoroughly!!!

I have had Rosie for 9 months, and she will be a year old next week. She has always been very sweet and cuddly and has had lots of handling by myself, my boyfriend, flatmate, friends and family. She has bitten occasionally, but all instances have been self explanatory, and fallen under one of the many categories that you have so wonderfully listed.

She has recently started becoming aggressive and I'm finding it hard to know how to deal with it/handle her to stop her from doing it. It started out with my flatmate. Whenever she comes into the room and Rosie is out, she just flies straight for her and attacks/bites. She bit her lip and drew blood a few days ago. This is a bit of a tricky situation because it causes tension between us as I don't know how to stop Rosie doing this. I try to tell her how to react/act in these situations, but I can tell she just doesn't want to know and is just annoyed at me for this happening. I have tried removing Rosie from her and then saying firmly no, and putting her down. But she just flies back for more. All I can really do to avoid this is put Rosie in her cage before she comes in the room. Is this exacerbating Rosie's aggression towards her?
(Just to add to this before I move on to my next point: whenever Rosie is out of her cage, she flies to anyone in the room that is not me to get attention and WILL NOT leave them alone for a long time until she's calmed down/loses interest and goes and gets on with something on her own. Even if I try to remove and distract her, she wants to be on the "new person". I don't know how to stop her from doing this. With my flatmate, before the aggression began, rosie would fly to her and climb all over her for attention but she wouldn't really get any- maybe this is contributing?!)

In the last few weeks she has been attacking me. She's having a little bit of a molt so I think that that is contributing to her mood, but it's not the grumpy "leave me alone" nips that she has done with me before, but full on attack bites whenever she sees my fingers. I feel like I don't understand what she wants as she seems confused/frustrated. She's coming to me for head scratches, so I give her some, then she goes mental. I calmly say no and put her down and walk away, but she just comes back over to me shortly after her and repeats the same thing. It's the same with playing, feeding, putting her away in her cage, getting her out. I'm starting to really worry that I'm doing something terribly wrong and have taught her to be like this and she won't revert back to her usual self. I know it's only been a few weeks so it could be a phase (and people deal with these troubles for years!), but I'm panicking that if I don't act now she will be aggressive forever!

I am so grateful for you reading this and any advice anyone has for me to do would be massively appreciated.

Thank you!

Jessie and Rosie

 

[Birdman666]

Attention getting behaviors aren't uncommon for a too...

My other thought would be territorial intrusion. But I think you've hit the nail on the head. That NASTY PERSON doesn't give me attention, so I'll drive her off.

Safety of people has to come first. So either wing clipping, or the bird has to go in the cage before the roommate comes in. You can't have them biting faces! Or in attack mode. That has to be an immediate time out.

Wing clipping tends to give an attack mode bird an attitude adjustment.

"I'll get you... Oh crap! Now I'm on the floor. Nevermind. I'll just waddle back to where I was." (Ocassionally, they will still go after feet, but we already posted how to deal with that one.)