Why is Baby biting?

[gracebowen]

When I'm sitting on my bed and baby is out sometimes he walks over to my leg and/or foot and bites me.

I don't know why.

Anyone have any ideals?

I've started covering up my skin so he can't bite me.

 

[RemiBird]

Remi likes to nibble on my toes. Not sure why. Silly guy, lol..

 

[charmedbyekkie]

When I'm sitting on my bed and baby is out sometimes he walks over to my leg and/or foot and bites me.

I don't know why.

Anyone have any ideals?

I've started covering up my skin so he can't bite me.

How have you been reacting to him biting you? Sometimes they push the boundary to see what happens. And if you respond in a way they like, they'll do it again And reactions that they like could be anything from you yelping or scolding them to you moving your legs away.

I'll just toss the advice out here in case you haven't read it before:
Birds are flock creatures, so scolding doesn't work with them, but they do care about being accepted if they consider you part of their flock. So when a bird bites you, if you tell them calmly and firmly, "no bite," then put them in time-out (on the floor if it's safe, on a perch away from you which is more common, some people are ok with using the cage) for a couple of minutes. During that 'time-out' you ignore them (or at least pretend you), so you don't look at them, you don't talk to them, you don't engage them in any way. I always give around 5 minutes so that they remember but it's not so traumatising. That sort of training typically works.

Now if they're new to you (less than a few months with you), then it might not have as much impact, but it will still matter to a certain extent. Unless, of course, your bird is biting to drive you away - but this doesn't sound like that's the case..

 

[clark_conure]

what charmed said, but I like to put the bird away where they can come back, so they have to put in the effort thinking while they were put away... and have to think about it the whole way back. Kind of a walk of shame; and they have to expend energy coming back and have time to settle down.

 

[gracebowen]

Baby came home in January. We are still bonding. I can't touch him and he won't step up.

I get him to return to his cage with a grape.

He will take food out of my hand and perch on my head.

 

[Kiwibird]

How hard are these bites? Just a chomp or like a ‘I want to inflict pain and injury’ bites? Sounds like he might just be ‘testing’ you and it may actually be a positive sign he’s trying to get to know you in his own way...

When I’m napping on the couch sometimes but Kiwi wants to play, he’ll sneak up and give my toe a good chomp to wake me up. It hurts a bit because feet are sensitive but he’s only trying to get my attention, not trying to hurt me (what a monster huh?)

 

[gracebowen]

I don't bleed.

 

[ChristaNL]

I always suspect they just love the reaction when they go after the toes.


(My macaw will lately sprint halfway through the room just to clamp that beak down on one or more toes, hold still and -when I still do not react- finally regurge on them...)


The greys love climbing on peoples shoes because it gets them the undivided attention of the owner of the shoes.
(If ignored they will climb up the pants.)

 

[gracebowen]

I think it's an exploration thing. Little bugger was biting my toes while they were under the blanket today.

 

[noodles123]

Also, if he is in your bed with you, that can be fairly hormonally stimulating for them (blankets, pillows, shadowy spaces-boxes, under furniture, low ledges, bedding, crumbled paper etc all simulate nesting environments). Make sure you aren't allowing him around pillows/blankets/under furniture/ under clothing and make sure that you are petting on the head only. Snuggles send the wrong idea.
When we visited my parent's house, my too liked to sit on my dads back while he watched TV on his stomach on the bed with the blinds shut. She already loved him, but she was always a weirdo afterwards-- It definitely triggered a hormonal response (not because he was snuggling her, but because of the lighting, the environment and the company therein). You would be amazed at how fast it can happen (and the impact can last from a few minutes to a few weeks)...and it isn't always obvious that your bird is being hormonal...In fact, most people see it as super cute (acting goofy in shadowy spaces, trying to climb in your shirt/under your chin, wanting to cuddle, laying against chest, showing off, special attention to a certain person) or it sometimes shows up as problem behavior (screaming, biting, plucking, running after people, egg-binding etc etc).

If you have any tents/huts/boxes that he is allowed to play with in or around the cage, get rid of them. They are all hormonal triggers, but the huts and tents are super dangerous because they are known to kill birds due to intestinal blockages, strangulation etc etc.
In the event that this is hormonal, you will also want to make sure your bird is getting 10-14 hours of quiet, dark sleep each night. Try to ensure a light cycle as similar as what they would have in nature as they can (in terms of hours of light and dark). Too much light can cause hormonal reactions, but too little is equally problematic.
If hormones are at play, you will also want to evaluate the bird's toy situation (grass-type shredding toys can amplify issues during a hormonal spell, as can confetti-type toys) and avoid feeding warm/mushy foods (as this is similar to regurgitation and can be a trigger). Provide lots of things to entertain your bird during the day (excluding boxes and certain types of toys) and make sure he/she is getting plenty of opportunities to fly around or at least move outside of the cage.

Your bird could also be biting for attention (depending on what you are doing when he bites/what your reaction is ) but depending on age, hormones should always be considered as a possibility (but never used as a scapegoat---even hormonal behavior can be curbed).

It could be a combination of both (hormones and attention-biting (due to boredom etc)).

Right before he bites, what are you doing (watching TV, reading, closing your eyes etc?) If so- he may be trying to get you to pay attention to him...Especially if biting you causes you to stop what you are doing, make a sound, look at him, jerk your toe and start talking, interacting/scolding etc.

Is there anyone in bed next to you? This could also play into the situation. Sometimes, when hormonal, a bird will bite their mate in the presence of other potential suitors...I know that seems counter-intuitive (it can also go the other way, if you are in bed with their favorite person, they might go after you). It just depends, but the favorite person can sometimes get bitten as well (even though it is often their partner who gets bitten first).

When bitten, what do you and everyone else in the room do (what do you say, do you move, what happens to your volume, where do you look? etc etc).

If you are minding your own business and get bitten, the best course of action (if you don't know why you were bitten) is to completely ignore the bird. If that is not possible, you can try swiftly but calmly (and without eye contact etc) moving the bird to a timeout location and walk away (you can VERY CALMLY and quietly say "no bite" if you must, but keep in mind that many parrots like to bite and then say "NO BITE!" right afterwards lol-- Also, this time-out method only works if you are sure the bird has a bond with you and that the bite was intended to get your attention. Be mindful of the fact that if you take your bird to its cage every time it bites, it may notice the pattern and bite when it wants to go back to its cage---so you just have to be very good at watching for patterns and making sure that you aren't setting yourself up for failure.

It sounds like you need to build trust and set some boundaries. I am not a believer in dominance, but for safety reasons and for behavior reasons, you should be allowing a bird who isn't step-up trained on your head. Choose your words wisely...Don't run around saying step up when you know your bird won't do it (or you will be like the parent at the check-out screaming the same empty threats at their unruly kids over and over). To train your bird to step up, you will need a more controlled environment, like a t perch or the cage- During training sessions, pair your actions with words (e.g. step up) but you will want to make sure that the draw of stepping up is greater than the risk on staying put or failing to step up---if you tell your timid bird to step up and it doesn't but then you allow it to fly around the house right afterwards, you have provided little incentive. I am not saying to cage your bird until it steps up, but make sure that you consider these these directly before and after a training session.

Again though, just because your bird is interested in you and will perch on you doesn't mean he trusts you, which is why you need to work on building that relationship and setting routines/ boundaries. Try pairing yourself with food and ignore any behaviors that you do not want to see again. Once you establish trust, then you can start determining when best to use time-outs... but they have to be used mindfully. In a fear-biting bird, time-outs and shunning can actually feel like rewards (if they do not want you around, do not want to be touched or need a break from everybody).

 

[noodles123]

I think it's an exploration thing. Little bugger was biting my toes while they were under the blanket today.

If he is biting your toes under the blanket, I am guessing his head is under the blanket, and that is going to lead to hormones in the future (even if your bird is young now). Sometimes, even just being surrounded by blankets (without having their heads/bodies under the bedding) is enough to aggravate hormones.

Like I said before, I don't know the age of your bird, but a conure generally becomes sexually mature at about 1 year of age---some a bit later and some a bit earlier...Either way, hormones do start revving up BEFORE this point (just like a pre-teen who hasn't menstruated yet but is getting moody etc).

You don't want to set up any patterns or precedents that will be unacceptable when your bird is an adult, so even things that seem innocent can lead to problems down the road.

 

[LordTriggs]

I think it's an exploration thing. Little bugger was biting my toes while they were under the blanket today.

If he is biting your toes under the blanket, I am guessing his head is under the blanket, and that is going to lead to hormones in the future (even if your bird is young now). Sometimes, even just being surrounded by blanket (without having their heads/bodies under the bedding) is enough to aggravate hormones.

Like I said before, I don't know the age of your bird, but a conure generally becomes sexually mature at about 1 year of age---some a bit later and some a bit earlier...Either way, hormones do start revving up BEFORE this point (just like a pre-teen who hasn't menstruated yet but is getting moody etc).

You don't want to set up any patterns or precedents that will be unacceptable when your bird is an adult, so even things that seem innocent can lead to problems down the road.

I think the toes are under the blanket and he's on top, bit of chasing and exploring what the blanket lump is maybe?

 

[noodles123]

I think it's an exploration thing. Little bugger was biting my toes while they were under the blanket today.

If he is biting your toes under the blanket, I am guessing his head is under the blanket, and that is going to lead to hormones in the future (even if your bird is young now). Sometimes, even just being surrounded by blanket (without having their heads/bodies under the bedding) is enough to aggravate hormones.

Like I said before, I don't know the age of your bird, but a conure generally becomes sexually mature at about 1 year of age---some a bit later and some a bit earlier...Either way, hormones do start revving up BEFORE this point (just like a pre-teen who hasn't menstruated yet but is getting moody etc).

You don't want to set up any patterns or precedents that will be unacceptable when your bird is an adult, so even things that seem innocent can lead to problems down the road.

I think the toes are under the blanket and he's on top, bit of chasing and exploring what the blanket lump is maybe?

That could be--- either way, I wouldn't want to provide opportunities for this behavior to continue (even though it is understandable that the bird would be curious or even concerned about lumps moving under a blanket). I say avoid it because of A) the potential for hormonal triggers in this setting and B) the potential for inadvertent reinforcement of biting behaviors.

 

[gracebowen]

Yes toes under him on top. My toes aren't moving except when I move away from him.

Little bugger he goes straight for my toes. He looks at me like he wants to see what I will do.

 

[gracebowen]

He is supposed to be 6 years old. Tomorrow I will switch blankets and see if that helps.

I'll also try long pants and socks (2 pair lol).

PS im not mad at him just confused

 

[LordTriggs]

I'm gonna bet he's either finding toe bites to be a fun game, he bites, a sound happens and the toes run away! Endless fun

or of course a classic bit of attention seeking