Parakeet biter

I bought a grey headed parakeet three months ago.In the first few weeks it was not biting or screaming and I can even touch it's belly.But now it would scream when I approach near the cage and bite me when I put my fingers into the cage.Yesterday one of my cousins hit the cage and make it scared.Help!I always wanted a a parrot that get out of the cage easily and can do step up.

Answers will be Appreciated

just start by trying to feed it from your hand. Once she will take treats out of your hand, hold a treat in one hand and in order for her to reach it she needs to come closer to your other hand.

Just keep that same idea until she is more and more comfortable with you and will eventually trust to step up.

I do believe there are some other threads/guides on best ways to tame/teach a bird to step up. But that is the general idea.

jasper19 said:

just start by trying to feed it from your hand. Once she will take treats out of your hand, hold a treat in one hand and in order for her to reach it she needs to come closer to your other hand.

Just keep that same idea until she is more and more comfortable with you and will eventually trust to step up.

I do believe there are some other threads/guides on best ways to tame/teach a bird to step up. But that is the general idea.

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Thanks Jasper.I hope your advice will work

Birds are easily scared and it is important not to hit their cages or yell at them. This just makes the problem worse as the bird gets even more frightened. For the most part, birds only bite when they are frightened.

There are a lot of great threads on training here, hope you find some more advice to help your little bird settle down.

Hit your cousin!

The situation is getting worse because my cousin kicked the cage several times yesterday!

Is your cousin 2 years old?

I'm normally not one to quickly rehome a bird but perhaps you should consider rehiring the bird. If he/she is continuously exposed to this treatment, it may take years of work to rehabilitate later on.

EdwardH said:

Is your cousin 2 years old?

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He's 8 years old.

EdwardH said:

Is your cousin 2 years old?

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He's 8 years old.

Yes, I would either put the parakeet somewhere that the 8 year old can't get to it, stop the behavior, or find it a new home. But 8 years old is old enough to know better. Is he being disciplined? If not, you may need to talk to his mom or dad and make sure they make it VERY clear to the kid that he will be in BIG trouble if he touches that cage. Goodbye video games, goodbye TV, goodbye bicycle, goodbye cell phone, good bye sports teams... That kind of thing. He's a big enough boy to understand that. Heck, I teach middle school special needs kids that have the IQs of 6-8 year olds and when they do bad things, they darn well know it and they get in trouble for it like any other kid.

Note: You may need to explain to mom and dad just how detrimental this kind of behavior can be on a bird's psyche. They may not realize how intelligent and easily frightened birds are.

How old are you Aung?

Definitely should not let your cousin see the bird. Are you around his age, or older? Animals need to be treated with respect or they will never respect you.

That's so sad to hear that a bird that seemed happy and tame has actually regressed to this stage. Sounds like the abuse is traumatizing the poor bird. The other members have given you some good advice. I just wanted to wish you good luck. I sure hope you can help the bird recover to where he trusts people again. Otherwise, if you can't keep your cousin from doing these things, I wish you the best of luck in finding him a home that may be better suited for him. The bird, that is

Please, PLEASE don't let your cousin hit the bird cage. I'm not going to go into parenting here, instead I will say this.... If you can't give your parrot a life where it won't be harassed or constantly in fear, you should give him to someone who can.

In all personal belief, I would slap that cousin hard! Ain't anyone touching my animals... (Then again, I am not anywhere near 18, or above! LOL) I really do believe that you must talk to your parents, his parents, and the 8 year old as well. Before getting a parrot or even deciding on having my heart set on one, I really discussed it with my parents. I set down rules, educated them on parrot behavior... My dad still needs to understand that parrots can be potty trained, but other than that, we're ready to go! We just need to find the parrot for us.

I think that a lengthy discussion with that 8 year old is what needs to be done. I would sit him down and threaten him. I don't know, kid stuff -- "if you do that again, i'm going to do this to you. Don't tell your parents, got it?" It's not that hard to manipulate an 8 year old. And talking to the parents is another option. But seriously, many people are ignorant. It took A LONG TIME for my parents to understand that parrots aren't broken records that just imitate noises. They're intelligent, living creatures. A pair of people that let their child run around like that are obviously, a) not very educated or b) not intellectuals. Even though my parents (like any other human being) needed to be taught certain things, they wouldn't let me hit or scream at any animal. I was taught not to throw tantrums or hit the walls of animal enclosures waaay younger than 8 years old.