Parrot biting.

A few days ago I bought an Alexandrine from a friend who urgently needed money. It's a 5 month old bird. The first 2 days were pretty fun, he/she never bit me. But on the third day when I was taking him( to save me some trouble lets assume it's a he) out of the cage he bit me. At first I thought it was aggression, I thought he was in a bad mood or something so I just gave him some time and tried again but he bit me again. The same thing happened for the next 2 days. I was not able to take him out of the cage for 3 days. Finally I brought a tree branch and took him out. He also tried chewing on the branch before stepping on it btw.

After I took him out, it seemed like he wasn't being aggressive. He's eating from my hand and he's definitely not scared of me. I'd say he's just being curious or playful. If I put my hand near him he's trying to get his mouth on it but in a slow movement rather than trying to scare me or something (which is why I think he's not being aggressive).

Anyway, I need him to stop chewing or biting my hand when I try to pick him up.

Any help would be appreciated.

He is trying his beak on you. Baby birds do this behavior, it's very common. Try target training (look up on YouTube) to start and then bite pressure training! Baby bird will learn! If he eats from your hand he'll be okay.

He's just being an alexandrine...
Get him a lot of toys that he can destroy... They're amazing when it comes to destroying things... If you're not careful the perch will disappear. Your idea on the perch to get him out is very good... You have to slowly move your finger closer to him & finally achieve him stepping up to your hand/ finger without the perch.
Alexes can get territorial around the cage... Try the step up thing outside put away from the cage. Hot green chilly is a favorite which you can use as treat for stepping up or even almond pieces. Be patient... Spend the time it's worth it. Alexes are beautiful brilliant birds.

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like sunnyclover said this is beaking. A very natural part of a bird's day to do life. Think of the beak as another hand. What he's doing is testing to see if whatever he's about to get on is going to suddenly collapse. You'd know if you got bitten! It's also how he explores the world when young, like a human child when they shove everything in their mouth. It's one of the most receptive parts of the body so they learn a lot.

Read through the stickied pages on this site about taming, training and different behaviors and you should do okay. Just remember to go at his pace, and that he is unlike any other pet humans keep, so no thinking he's a flying dog!

Sounds like he's cage territorial to me. This is why he acts out while he's in the cage, then gets all gentle and playful with his nibbles once out. It's an instinct to protect. For now, I'd say continue using the perch to get him out of the cage until you are more closely bonded.

If you have an extra travel cage or something that can be used as a nighttime sleeping cage, that can help with the territorial issue as well. By providing more than one place that he can see as a shelter, the need to protect his main cage as his "home turf" may diminish. And the added benefit is that he will also accept the travel cage as a good place to be, which will make trips to the vet far less stressful. (As in, not having to wrestle your bird into his travel cage.)

Thank you for the replies. I'll try my best.

My Alex went through the same phase when he was a few months older than yours. He wasn't tame though so had no experience being handled.

I handled it by letting him get out of his cage by himself. Then I offered my wrist or arm with clothing on. He'd still lead with his beak, but it wasn't a bite. He's now fine on bare skin, but he can get a bit funny on my hands. He tends to scratch rather than bite though.

It seems to be a phase, just working out what this skin thing is. It will pass if you handle it calmly and don't reinforce it.

Congratulations, they are lovely birds!

Jottlebot said:

My Alex went through the same phase when he was a few months older than yours. He wasn't tame though so had no experience being handled.

I handled it by letting him get out of his cage by himself. Then I offered my wrist or arm with clothing on. He'd still lead with his beak, but it wasn't a bite. He's now fine on bare skin, but he can get a bit funny on my hands. He tends to scratch rather than bite though.

It seems to be a phase, just working out what this skin thing is. It will pass if you handle it calmly and don't reinforce it.

Congratulations, they are lovely birds!

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True, Asiatic parrots are know for that phase, known as bluffing. From what I can gather it's a bit like human teenagers pushing their boundaries and what-not. They normally get out of the phase okay with proper training. To go from wild and un-handled to tame whilst going through that is a feat of its own