Does your zon bite it's own leg when playing?

KellyH

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Feb 14, 2012
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Alberta, Canada
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Okay, at first I thought this was just an accident. Kinda like that Amazon overload thing you hear about.

Since FeeBee came to us he has always played very vigorously with his toys. He usually hangs upside down from the roof of his cage biting and shaking his toys. While he does this, however, he always bites at his own leg and 'yelps' sort of like a dog who just had his tail stepped on.

I thought maybe it was just an accident because he was playing so hard and got carried away with what was his own body and what was his toy that he was biting.

Today, him and I were playing with one of his foot toys. I would hand it to him. He would take it in his beak, transfer it to a foot, shake it and then drop it on the floor. But then he started biting his own leg and 'yelping' again before dropping it to the floor.

I was being careful not to get him too wound up and in overload mode because I didn't want to get bitten when he was taking the toy from my hand so we were doing it slowly and waiting a few seconds before I would pick it up and give it to him again. He wasn't eye pinning or squawking or anything else that would show me that he was getting close to overload.

Once he started biting his leg more than two times in a row, I thought I had better end the game. I don't want to teach him to hurt himself. :52:

Does anyone else's zon bite their own leg when playing or is this something that my bird has learned on his own sometime in his previous homes??:confused:
 

Turningpoint

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Feb 26, 2012
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Spring Hill, Florida
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Sun Conure
Orange Winged Amazon
Greenwing Macaw
I have an orange wing and he gets really wound up when he's hanging upside down..Punching toys with his head and screaming sometimes...he's having a blast! But, mine is only 10 months old and super gentle..I put my finger up and fly it at him and we "shadow box". I can't keep him from getting my finger! He just puts his beak around my finger as if to say, "Gotcha". But he never applies any pressure...I hope this doesn't change when he matures...
He doesn't bite his foot but sometimes he hits his toys so hard it looks like it ought to hurt his beak!
 

Safira

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Aberdeen, Md
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Safira (B&G Macaw)~~ Gracie (CAG) ~ Lucy (CAG)
I don't have an amazon, but I've seen LOTS of birds do this. They get so excited they bite themselves, then let out a sound. It's funny. :) My Macaw, and my two greys do this sometimes.
 
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KellyH

KellyH

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Thanks Safira, that makes me feel better. Ya, he bites himself everyday when he plays. I used to feel bad for him because he always yelps when he does it so it must hurt, but he just keeps doing it. lol
 

suncon97

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Jul 31, 2011
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Pearl-African Grey-Hatched Apr. 28,2011
My grey does this a lot!When she's hanging upside down mostly and then makes her dinosaur noises.
 

lizardsmells

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Dec 2, 2011
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Eastern panhandle of WV
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Kazi - 13 yr old yellow nape amazon rescue
Kazi does it all the time and it cracks me up. I also laugh when starts figure-8ing his head and screaming, "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" That's what he was doing today a lot when I was working with the music blasting. I was dying.
 

kc_y0

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Nov 17, 2011
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Eclectus Female - Audrey.
Art - Budgie.
Astro - Budgie.
Mini - Budgie, RIP gorgeous girl.
My Eccy does it too, its so funny I always get a good laugh out of it hahaha. :)
 

Remy

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Jul 13, 2011
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California
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Darcy (Golden-Collared Macaw), Puck (Caique - RIP)
I haven't spent a lot of time around large parrots, but the only bird I've seen bite itself was at a rescue I visted. It was a cute, medium sized parrot that had plucked itself naked, and didn't like when I was nearby. It kept trying to bite me, and then biting its own leg (not hard, or it would have broken its poor naked skin. Poor little baby. I fell in love with it, but didn't know how it'd do in my apartment. I kinda wish I'd inquired about it more, because I thought it was totally adorable. I know plucking is bad, but I kind of think naked birds are adorable, so I totally wouldn't mind having a Plucker as long as it was happy.

Anyway. If your bird seems happy, I wouldn't worry about it, since apparently other birds do this too.
 
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KellyH

KellyH

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Alberta, Canada
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Thanks everyone. It really doesn't seem to bother him enough to make him want to stop. lol I sometimes wonder if he starts playing and then thinks it's someone else's foot trying to steal his toy away. ha ha
 

Remy

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Darcy (Golden-Collared Macaw), Puck (Caique - RIP)
This post sort of reminded me of this video of a dog that bites its own leg. The dog is pretty vicious... to its own leg... [ame=http://youtu.be/0QZDEN-ioyE]AFV Dog bites own leg - YouTube[/ame]
 

roxynoodle

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Dec 1, 2011
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When my male Dalmatian was stressed, like at the vet's, he would bite his nails, and sometimes the hair on his feet.
 

renrat

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My Yellow head chews on his foot sometimes, I don't know if it's a nervous reaction or just a habit. Sound's like he's just having fun to me. Amazons seem to be the clowns of the Parrot world, and they are rough and tumble... just my opinion. I can take my Tico anywhere and it doesn't seem to phase him.
 
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KellyH

KellyH

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LOL that video of the dog cracked me up. That's exactly what FeeBee is like with his foot but not quite that extreme. That dog definitely has a split personality. ha ha

And yes, my zon is totally a clown when it comes to playing. The other day he was fighting with his shadow on the wall. lol
 

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