Biting - aggression? Dominance? Hatred?

[Pking1]

Hi guys,

I have a Senegal Parrot who's about 10 years old. I've had him since he was about 3 months old. Left him at home with my parents when I went off to college. I've been out of college for about a year and just brought him to live with my boyfriend and I. He has fallen in love with my boyfriend and since then wants nothing to do with me. My boyfriend is gone for most of the week and then it's just me and my parrot. I try and work with him but he is extremely resistant. The other day I was able to coax him out of his cage and he sat on my lap for 20 minutes letting me scratch his head. Suddenly he climbed up onto my hand and latched on with his beak. He refused to let go and I got a half dozen more bites for my efforts. i've bought several parrot behavior books but am having difficulty finding advice for my current situation. Is it possible he holds a grudge against me for leaving him when I went off to college? Can I fix this? I'm extremely confused as to why he was so chummy and suddenly decided to latch onto me. There was no sudden environmental change at the time.

He does not bite my boyfriend or any random person that comes into our house that he thinks he has a chance of getting his head scratched. It's just me.

Thanks so much for any and all advice!

 

[friedsoup]

Ok Please read my post on( biting Conure) the stick trick as I call it worked with my senegal in about a week. since someone seemed not to like my choice of words I'll just say that as teacher and student is not fear relationship but one of us had to be taught what I wanted from this relationship and it was to stop funding "Bandaids" cause the spoon handles don't feel the pain of the bite so the birds doesn't get the reaction like (Cheese and crackers got all muddy) he hears the admonishment "no don't bite" very level and no stress. and the 2 min sessions keep his attention without boring him.

 

[henpecked]

Birds bite out of fear or aggression. It may be that he's really bored while your BF is away and so wants attention from you, but only for a short while. Try keeping your sessions with him very short,don't wait for him to bite ,to say he's had enough. Always leave him wanting more of your attention, don't try and win him back over by flooding him with love. A minute or two of scratches and put him down. PS don't try competing with your BF for his attention, when the BF is around ,let them be. If you force him to decide between you two ,you'll lose.