Biting and Screaming

My less-than-three month old lovebird has been with me for about a week. At the beginning, it was really sweet, hardly ever doing anything bad. Recently, though, it's been screaming for no reason, getting tangled in my hair, and biting me really hard.

I ignore it when it's screaming, and praise it if--if--it quiets down. I keep it out of my hair. I tried verbally scolding it, but it just kept biting, so I started gently flicking it (that's what the man at the pet store said to do). I then held its beak gently closed and said, "No biting." Nothing works.

I'm starting to really hate my birdie sometimes... help me.

Very sad, scolding it, flicking it, NOT! Have you ever had a bird before. Please do some reading. A lot of information out there just look for it. I wouldn't know where to start. Good luck to you.

Usually a time out works pretty well - If he bites, say a firm (deep voice) NO and put him in his cage and leave the room for a while, cover him if the screaming gets cazy. Usually once he calms down and is quiet then try to say hi, if he stays quiet then take the cover off and try handling him again.
It is good that you are praising him for being quiet. Being so young he is probably starting to go through his nippy stage that all birds go through when young. They realize they have this beak and test what they can do with it, kinda like a puppy or toddler. Plus, he is probably testing his limits and trying to see if he can be the dominate one. It can be a little rough but generally it doesn't last long, maybe a month, at least that is how it was with my Amazon (and that is a much bigger beak lol).
GL! We are always here if you need support or advise! Keep us posted.

Very good reponse girl4.

I definitely would not use negative reinforcement if I could at all help it. Most the time, doing things like scolding or flicking has either a negative affect or no affect at all with birds. Verbal scolding can actually act as a reward because a lot of birds like loud noises, and birds often simply don't under stand physical punishment such as flicking or holding the beak. It's great that you try to reward your bird for being quiet--I would try doing more of that sort of thing. Does your bird scream when you are nearby or far away? If it screams when you are in another room or when it can't see you, it is probably screaming contact calls, which just means it wants to know where you are. The response it wants is for you to call back, but you can do this by making any noise in the house. If you respond, you are reinforcing the screaming. Try completely ignoring the screaming for a while, and see if anything improves. I haven't actually had a screaming problem with my birds, but I've heard a lot of good things about this method. As for the biting, try to figure out why and when your bird bites so that you can avoid these situations for the moment, and figure out how to train your bird to not bite. Does your bird bite when tangled in your hair? If so, it could be a sort of panic reaction, and the best solution might just be to keep it away from your hair.

I also agree with what girl4 said. Keep in mind that you have a young bird. Also, like BeakFace said, make sure you do some reading. Caring for birds can be a difficult task, and if you want to find the rewards of owning a bird, you're going to have to do your research. Hope this helps!

BeakFace: I've been trying to read things, but they haven't been working so far.
Girl4: I've been trying the things you said in the first paragraph. I think it's working pretty well. Thank you! Your information was very helpful.
Julianna: Thank you for your information, too, like the verbal scolding. I've been ignoring the noises, but it just goes on and on for hours. It has only gotten tangled in my hair once, and it actually seemed to like it...

Thank you to everyone who replied so far.