New Green Cheek Nippy, how do we stop it?

Lenny · Jul 3, 2013

I am a new bird owner. My friend was no longer able to care for her 2 year old green cheek so I adopted him. She said he was very sweet and shy. I have had him for almost a week. I am able to have him walk on my arms and shoulders but he still bites me if I try to pet him, as well as if anyone else tries petting him. He also attacks my phone and if he is near the computer mouse he won't let me touch it.
I'm wondering if the biting is because he is still unsure about his new environment and will grow out of it and how I should handle it. So far thats the only behavior issue he has that I can't live with. I do have two smallish kids so I need to figure this out quick.

Thanks for any advice!

SoCalWendy · Jul 3, 2013

Lenny said:
I am a new bird owner. My friend was no longer able to care for her 2 year old green cheek so I adopted him. She said he was very sweet and shy. I have had him for almost a week. I am able to have him walk on my arms and shoulders but he still bites me if I try to pet him, as well as if anyone else tries petting him. He also attacks my phone and if he is near the computer mouse he won't let me touch it.
I'm wondering if the biting is because he is still unsure about his new environment and will grow out of it and how I should handle it. So far thats the only behavior issue he has that I can't live with. I do have two smallish kids so I need to figure this out quick.

Thanks for any advice!

Don't try and pet him, not at this stage. He is just trying to get used to his be surroundings and he does not trust you. Feed him some treats from your hands so he learns that your hands are not evil. Watch his body language. Birds do not bite just because, there is always a reason. Give him time to get to know you. My Sennie is 5 months now. It took her well over a month to accept that my hands would not hurt her. Now I can give her scratches and she likes it.

Auggie's Dad · Jul 11, 2013

Agreed, give him time. But in that time try to get in some training.

Stick training or 'step-up' is a good place to start. But also any tricks, like targetting, anything that will provide structured interaction and a chance to earn rewards will help build trust.

Also be cautious of how you try to pet him. Our hands and fingers are unpredictable scary monsters to parrots - they watch them flip about typing, pointing, waving. They need to get used to our hands, and we need to learn to move slower to give them the chance to get used to them.

New Green Cheek Nippy, how do we stop it?

Lenny

New member

SoCalWendy

New member

Auggie's Dad

Administrator

Sleep all day active at night?

Rio is no longer a Senegal

Most Reactions

Similar threads

Latest posts