How do I discourage biting behavior? (It’s not aggressive)

[Rosalindagg]

Hi so recently Nibbles joined my family and he will be 3 months later this month. He has a huge nibbling/ biting problem! He bites everything! My lip, ear, shirts, bed sheet, pillows, collar, etc. and it’s consistent too like if he’s trying to explore. His bites aren’t aggressive but they do hurt almost like he doesn’t know how to do it lightly. It’s getting frustrating and I’m not sure how to discourage the behavior. I’m also wondering if it’s because he’s still young? He is tamed and loves being on me so I know he’s not scared of me because he screams if I leave him alone in the room. I’ll insert an imago of him as well. Any suggestions will be appreciated

 

[zERo]

Does he have plenty of toys to destroy?

To me, it sounds like he’s just curious about everything around him. My green cheek went through this phase when he was a baby too.

If he won’t quit biting, I would distract him with something more interesting like a toy or new object, not food though as then he might think you’re giving him a treat for biting.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Does he have plenty of toys to destroy?

To me, it sounds like he’s just curious about everything around him. My green cheek went through this phase when he was a baby too.

If he won’t quit biting, I would distract him with something more interesting like a toy or new object, not food though as then he might think you’re giving him a treat for biting.

Are you certain Nibbles is a male? I heard its not easy to sex some cockatiel mutations and that DNA testing is sometimes required.
I have the exact same behavioral problem with my budgie Rocky. I hand raised Rocky from hatching and she's now seven months old and sexually mature (brown cere). She is very tame, playful, self confident, fearless and friendly but as soon as she weaned and began flying (not a "baby" anymore) she began using her beak to explore, nibble and chew on all things, fabrics, surfaces, and, unfortunately, our skin and ears! We LOVE Rocky so much and want her to be happy. We let her out of her cage to fly and play for several hours every day (always supervised) and she flies to us right away but we must wear long sleeved hoodies to protect our skin from her exploratory nips. She isn't being aggressive, fearful or mean. I just don't think she understands that "beaking" our skin hurts! She's independent enough to entertain herself both inside and outside her cage. I've tried just about everything to teach her not to treat our skin the same way she treats every other surface but she doesn't seem to get it.
I have had a lot of budgies over the past 40+ years. Rocky is the only one that "bites" like this, but all my other pet budgies have been males and I've read that tameness be
ing equal, males are less likely to be nippy. Everything I've read says that female budgies have a very strong chewing instinct not shared by males because they excavate the nest cavities. It makes perfect sense! Of course not all female budgies take their natural chewing instinct to the degree Rocky does, but it explains her behavior.
However, I don't know if female cockatiels can exhibit similar behavior or if there is some other explanation for similar behavior.

 

[Rosalindagg]

Does he have plenty of toys to destroy?

To me, it sounds like he’s just curious about everything around him. My green cheek went through this phase when he was a baby too.

If he won’t quit biting, I would distract him with something more interesting like a toy or new object, not food though as then he might think you’re giving him a treat for biting.

His cage has over 20+ toys and whenever he’s on me I try to have a couple toys on me and offer them to him !

 

[Rosalindagg]

Are you certain Nibbles is a male? I heard its not easy to sex some cockatiel mutations and that DNA testing is sometimes required.
I have the exact same behavioral problem with my budgie Rocky. I hand raised Rocky from hatching and she's now seven months old and sexually mature (brown cere). She is very tame, playful, self confident, fearless and friendly but as soon as she weaned and began flying (not a "baby" anymore) she began using her beak to explore, nibble and chew on all things, fabrics, surfaces, and, unfortunately, our skin and ears! We LOVE Rocky so much and want her to be happy. We let her out of her cage to fly and play for several hours every day (always supervised) and she flies to us right away but we must wear long sleeved hoodies to protect our skin from her exploratory nips. She isn't being aggressive, fearful or mean. I just don't think she understands that "beaking" our skin hurts! She's independent enough to entertain herself both inside and outside her cage. I've tried just about everything to teach her not to treat our skin the same way she treats every other surface but she doesn't seem to get it.
I have had a lot of budgies over the past 40+ years. Rocky is the only one that "bites" like this, but all my other pet budgies have been males and I've read that tameness be
ing equal, males are less likely to be nippy. Everything I've read says that female budgies have a very strong chewing instinct not shared by males because they excavate the nest cavities. It makes perfect sense! Of course not all female budgies take their natural chewing instinct to the degree Rocky does, but it explains her behavior.
However, I don't know if female cockatiels can exhibit similar behavior or if there is some other explanation for similar behavior.

My female cockatiel never really nibbled on things when she was younger and the breeder said he did a dna test & it was male.

 

[zERo]

His cage has over 20+ toys and whenever he’s on me I try to have a couple toys on me and offer them to him !

Wow what a lucky guy! 😍

Have you heard of target training? It could be a good way to focus his attention elsewhere and exercise his mind. Trick training is also very stimulating.