Head dragging and bird obsession

So we realized early on that B&G macaw, has taken a liking to his "hooman" daddy (my husband). We have had him 6 days now and so far so good, he is eating well, drinking lots, playing, very friendly and sociable. Everyone is adjusting around each other.

But the other day, he was sitting on my husband's shoulder while we were sitting on the couch. We avoid shoulder time, but he was just exploring the couch and ended up crawling on his shoulder. I had my hand around my husband's neck, resting on his other shoulder. He put his beak around my finger and slowly started to give a pressure bite. Nothing painful, but I very slowly pulled my hand away. I slowly put my hand back, to see if he would do it again, and he did. So my husband put him back on his gym and we ignored him a bit.

So my question is whether or not this is him asserting "ownership" of my husband?

The other thing he did is while he was playing on the floor with my husband and me, he started dragging his head upside down and pressing up against my husband while dragging his beak, and just cooing and rolling over on his back for my husband. Is this another mating behavior?

We have decided to discourage this attachment, so my husband has been stepping back more, and doling out toned-down affection, and being more businesslike. Just to balance things out.

Is this a good idea? To have him be less affectionate with the bird to discourage the obsession? I'm worried he will eventually become aggressive to everyone else and that he'll become "a one person bird".

Other than that, the adjustment period is exceeding what I expected so we are so in love with him!!

QUOTE:"The other thing he did is while he was playing on the floor with my husband and me, he started dragging his head upside down and pressing up against my husband while dragging his beak, and just cooing and rolling over on his back for my husband. Is this another mating behavior?"

YES, it sounds like a mating behavior...generally. I know yours is young, but they do practice early (from my experience). Sometimes it is innocent (like kids playing "doctor") and other times, it is a sign of what is to come lol. I wouldn't be certain that it was hormonal at this point, but I wouldn't encourage it, as what is encouraged now my be an expectation in the future.

Try to keep it balanced--- make sure that your husband "steps back" if too much of this is going on.

Who does the main feeding and cage-cleaning?


Almost inevitably, there will be a favorite, but with Noodles, my dad and myself share that role. He trumps me a bit (but that is because he never makes her do anything she doesn't want to do...ugh..) The point is, there can be more than one, but you don't want to over-indulge the favoritism that is occurring. The rest of my family cannot remove Noodles from my dad's shoulder (or even mess with her if he is in the room, because she gets tunnel vision and tries to defend him). I don't have this problem, but again, that is because her affections are somewhat distributed (him being the favorite---even though we don't live with my parents and never have!!!)

Good you put him away- because that pressurebiting/ looking for boundries is pretty normal, and YOU (not hubby!) should make it very clear that that kind of biting you (or anyone else) is onacceptable.

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/63988-bite-pressure-training.html

Every bird will try to find out how far it can go... we have to make sure they know what is acceptable/ unacceptable.
I love the fact your bird started out gently telling you (removing the finger first, and only slowly increasing the pressure later, when you would not go away/ listen to him) what he did not like.
That is a very polite birdy
Now it is all about nudging him in the 'right' (to us acceptable) direction.

I do not think it is sexy-time already, macaws are pretty late to start with that, but he was telling you "He, I want this person/perch for myself" (no matter the reason) so it really is up to you to tell him "Sorry, you are not the one to decide that".

I am not a strong believer in the pecking order/ dominance things, but they should learn that sometimes they are vetood.
Just like kids it helps if everyone in the house is on the same page about acceptable/ unacceptable behaviours.

Thanks to both....looks like I was in the right direction. Im a firm believer in positive reinforcement and behavior modification by ignoring unwanted behavior. Im also "training" all the kids and hubby in how we handle things to make sure everyone is on the same page and so far they are doing well.

So what hubs and I have been doing is definitely balancing out the affection as you guys have suggested. Today was good. Hubby was more business like, absolutely no more shoulder rides. He did spend time with him but just arm time and neck scritches. Immediate return to perch when he got too obsessive.

And we decided on weekends kids are the primary care takers so they can bond with him (under our supervision of course).

Feeding -- everyone in the house is feeding him. We did admittedly spoil him this first week, but this week, I will be allocating a set amount of food per day. Meaning all the nuts, berries, and veggies will be measured out for the day so we know if we r over or under feeding. And of course he has free access to his pellets and water.



He is out of his cage most of the day, but we do put him away mid day'ish for quiet time and just so he is used to cage time when we go out