Why was I bitten? *vid*

Today I was letting Kenji eat Greek yogurt off my finger for the first time(I bought it at a Greek restaurant that day, freshly made and super yummy). Kenji seemed to really like it, but I'm not sure why he bit me. My only guess was over stimulation/excitement by the way he was bobbing his head(he does that when he is really excited). He's hasn't yet bitten me hard enough to break skin, although he is quite capabile of doing so. I want to figure out what I did wrong so he doesn't have a reason to bite me. Needless to say we will be using spoons now, I usually use a spoon with Rosie but for some reason I didn't today.

What do you guys see?

[ame="http://youtu.be/4WJz6SNxX7k"]Kenji eating greek yogurt - YouTube[/ame]

I find it utterly adorable that after he nips me a little to hard he always says "ow" "ouch that hurt" "owww don't bite". How can anyone get mad at that.
p.s. please excuse my birdie talk, I have to try talking more normal to them but it's so hard to do.

Wow supper excited....head bobbing....how bonded are you? May be he wanted you to feed him more like a true mate would? I could see how he would think it looked like you regulated it and then offered it off a warm finger.:52:

first of all good for you for taping this! I watched this over and over and I'm not experienced with large birds like you are, but I noticed your hand kept moving up higher and higher. Kinji seemed very focused on your index finger for some reason.
he checked it once, then took some more yoghurt, shakes his head,started to take a bit of yoghurt then.... wham!bit your finger.
I'm not sure what all that means, but I sure hope he didn't hurt you!
...sorry I can't be of more help Copper

ShellyBorg said:

Wow supper excited....head bobbing....how bonded are you? May be he wanted you to feed him more like a true mate would? I could see how he would think it looked like you regulated it and then offered it off a warm finger.:52:

Click to expand...

Not very bonded at all lol, when he see's my mom he's much much more excited! He talks, dancing, starts regurgitating if she stays too long. The yogurt was also really cold, not warm.

Something really weird is that I see no eye pinning, but I also think he is excited. When he's going crazy over my mom those pupils pin a lot.

crimson said:

first of all good for you for taping this! I watched this over and over and I'm not experienced with large birds like you are, but I noticed your hand kept moving up higher and higher. Kinji seemed very focused on your index finger for some reason.
he checked it once, then took some more yoghurt, shakes his head,started to take a bit of yoghurt then.... wham!bit your finger.
I'm not sure what all that means, but I sure hope he didn't hurt you!
...sorry I can't be of more help Copper

Click to expand...

I think you may be right! I re-watched it and when my index finger first presses up against his cage(as it goes up) he takes a close look at it, then the second time he takes a close look he nails it. It also looks like he's pushing my finger away too, as if to say "I don't like you touching my cage, I'll bite you so you know better next time."

And thanks I try recording a lot of stuff lol, it lets me look back and really take part and analyses certain events. Although this was more of a "aww cute, lets make a yogurt video" haha.

Two thoughts:

I'm not sure he actually liked the yogurt, given the vigorous head shaking, so he got frustrated taking a bit thinking it would be good only to find out he didn't like it.

Maybe he was feeling somewhat competitive since you are a member of his "flock" and he was eating. Most parrots won't hesitate to take something with force from another parrot if it's something they want.

My two cents.

copper...I watched it again, and I think his eyes got small just before he bit you...what do you think?

crimson said:

copper...I watched it again, and I think his eyes got small just before he bit you...what do you think?

Click to expand...

I still think he wasn't about me touching his cage, the more I watch it the more clearly I see it. He really doesn't like me messing with his cage, when I change toys he becomes very unhappy and sometimes growls at me.

If I have something yummy though then he is quite happy to walk over and take it out of my hand. Oh the motivation of food! He's doing so much better than at first.

Wow, that came clearly out of nowhere, didn't it? It all happened SO fast, too.

I agree, I think he didn't want you touching his cage...but I have NO experience with greys.

He IS gorgeous, Ashley!!!

legal_eagle said:

Two thoughts:

I'm not sure he actually liked the yogurt, given the vigorous head shaking, so he got frustrated taking a bit thinking it would be good only to find out he didn't like it.

Maybe he was feeling somewhat competitive since you are a member of his "flock" and he was eating. Most parrots won't hesitate to take something with force from another parrot if it's something they want.

My two cents.

Click to expand...

Merlin always shakes his head/fusses like Kenji does in this vid when eating yoghurt. He does it with all 'messy' food.

I'm gonna agree with the others, think it was just "too much" for Kenji, then you touched his cage whilst he was being excitable, so snap!

Hope he didn't hurt you too much, be more careful by his cage too

Just one thing that seemed to strike me as I looked at the video you seemed to get closer with each finger of food offered. I think you moved too far into his space. The bite was more of a enough now indication, not a violent act.

What a great thread! This video is going to make a great learning experience for lots of new bird owners. It's always difficult trying to educate parronts simply going off of their description of an event that may have gone too quickly.

I hope all the new parrot owners see this thread. Thanks!

I haven't put much thought into this, but maybe the greek yogurt was too sour for him?
His reaction reminded me of dogs freaking out after eating lemons

[ame="http://youtu.be/WdrY7kXv7Bg"]Alaskan Klee Kai Puppy Freaks Out Over Lime - YouTube[/ame]

Bosley always fusses like that when he's not too sure if he likes what he's eating.
I think he nipped because he doesn't like hands close to him when he's eating, not so much about the cage. It was just a warning strike.
I can sit and play with Bosley beak all the time, but he doesn't like my hands near his face as he's eating besides giving it to him of course LOL

SandyBee said:

Bosley always fusses like that when he's not too sure if he likes what he's eating.
I think he nipped because he doesn't like hands close to him when he's eating, not so much about the cage. It was just a warning strike.
I can sit and play with Bosley beak all the time, but he doesn't like my hands near his face as he's eating besides giving it to him of course LOL

Click to expand...

That's true of my GCC as well ... if I'm holding a treat for her she is more interested in trying to bite my fingers than in grabbing the treat!

I don't have much experence with parrots, but it looked to me as if he had had enough of the food and dedided that he didnt want anymore and it was still being offered so he did what he had to do to get it away from his cage.

If.. it had been me, Id have took my fingers away the moment he started doing the head rocking side to side over my fingers. but.. thats just me. Ive been around animals all my life, mostly wild animals and.. I can read things that dont even register, I just know.. from my feeling while watching the vid, the slow moving inching over to the end of the door and the strange head swaying side to side would have made me pull my hand back.

I only know the pinning of the eyes when they are really upset, usually when I was feeding and watering my aunts bird cherry (who was vary protective over her cage), or dealing with a vary upset parrot at the shelter. Again, I dont have any experence or explination why he bit, I havent been bit like that yet by a bird Ive been dealing with, in or out of the shelter.

i have two questions.... 1) How old was the bird when you got it and were you the first owner? 2) How often have you video taped it and could it possibly be the camera that it is afraid of?


Sometimes, those birds just get in a mood and it's hard to figure out why they're nice and then, wham, they lash out. I had a grey for ten years and got her from a breeder when she was just weaned. I took her out and put her on a perch in the bathroom with me in the morning and took her in the shower and traveled a lot with her in the car. Very good bird... well adjusted and friendly (if only to me). But there were still times where she'd just bite for seemingly no reason. Maybe next time, you could put the camera on a tripod and back it up a little from the cage. It's possible that the bird saw it's reflection in the lens and nipped you over that. Hard to say. Also, as you may know, it seems best to slowly introduce a foreign object (like cameras) to the bird over the course of maybe two or three days. Just leave it on a nearby table so the bird gets used to seeing it. maybe pick it up and use it, but not near the bird, so it gets used to seeing it in your hands, etc. Also, maybe just use a spoon next time. I found that sometimes I'd get nipped when 'finger feeding'. Holding the food and letting them take it from your fingers is different than actually having them lick it off your fingers.

But, again, my main questions would be how long have you had it and how old was it when you got it and were you the first owner.

Okay, having watched it several more times it seems like your bird really didn't like the yogurt all that much. I think it took two nibbles and then shook it's head before biting. It could just be that it wants a different brand!!

My Grey loved yogurt but i'd always feed her from a spoon. I think most animals have a weirdness to them when a human gets too close to them when they're eating. Probably a good rule to follow just to be safe. When the bird is eating, keep your hands away. Even with hand raised birds, these are still animals with some hard-wired instincts and one of those instincts is to lash out at anyone who tries to mess with their food. Even if that food is on your fingers. Sort of a mixed message they're getting. Also, as you know, when the bird is done eating something messy, it will clean it's beak off by rubbing it on the perch or bars or whatever is available. Probably a good idea to wait till it's all cleaned up before reaching your hand near it.

Looks like your finger was in his personal space for too long and he became annoeyed with it

gccc44 said:

i have two questions.... 1) How old was the bird when you got it and were you the first owner? 2) How often have you video taped it and could it possibly be the camera that it is afraid of?

Click to expand...

He is 20 years old, I adopted him on April 14, lets just say I'll be using a spoon now! I'm not sure why I used my finger, even with Rosie I normally use a spoon haha.

Except for the first week I take photos of him, and record him daily with my cell phone. He's is not afraid of it at all. Sometimes I do set it up on my dresser. He is a amazingly well socialized gray and is only afraid of brown moving boxes. I can put a new toy in his cage and he may start playing with it instantly or in at least 30 minutes. He even talks & makes sounds in front of strangers, All of the African grays I know don't make a peep when a stranger is there lol.

gccc44 said:

Okay, having watched it several more times it seems like your bird really didn't like the yogurt all that much. I think it took two nibbles and then shook it's head before biting. It could just be that it wants a different brand!!

Click to expand...

He actually ate much more than what is shown in the video, I cut out about 2 minutes of him eating. To me it seemed he really liked the yogurt, the head shaking is something he does when he is excited about a toy or object. Next time I feed yogurt on a spoon I'll record show the whole thing so you can see how he gobbles it up LOL