How do you stop biting from the start

[mrgoogls]

i am getting a littl baby quaker in a few weeks now. he doesngt bite( the few times iv visited) but he "knaws" on you finger when you go to pet his head or chest sometimes. like similar to how a baby grabs thigs like earings or somthing. but birds dont have hand, so they use there mouth but, i dont want this to develope into acual biting when i take him home. how can i stop it or make sure he doesnt bite when he gets home? whenever he does it now i just calmly pull my hand away(with no reaction at all) and wait a few seconds. then go back to normaal being all happy and excited with him and playing/petting. is that a good thing? what should i do?

 

[isaiah.nino]

what i did to stop biting in my bird was when he bites ( now imm not being mean )but just hold him in you hand and drop him now this doesnt hurt the bird at all as long as you dont throw him . but then after you DROP HIM (DONT THROW HIM) let him stay on the ground for 20-25 seconds and then he will now hes a bad bird and will want back up but dont untill he has been on the ground for about 20-25 seconds and he shouldnt bite again . keep trying this untill he no longer bites. and you can never really stop biting all together because there just like us some days they dont want to be touched . and also when they molt they get aggresive. and some times they play bite also. and you never want to hit yell or be or sound mad or angry at your bird .

 

[henpecked]

i'm sorry Isiah, but i feel so differently that i must say something. Biting is your birds way of saying "NO". learn to "read" your bird. After awhile you should be so aware of your pet that a bite is an accident, you failed to read the warning signs.If your bird trust you, it won't bite you if you respect it's wishes. "Dropping" the bird from your hand is no way to gain trust.When you say something like.."you can never really stop biting" ,,, i'm sorry but you lose all creditably with me. I strongly disagree. You might be the greatest animal trainer in the world, but you've never known the love something like an amazon. Good early socialization along with not smothering a bird with attention. Leave the bird wanting more of your attention instead of him biting you to say"I've had enough". When he steps up, put him right back down on his cage. Praise ,reward , all that, but end the interaction with him wanting more attention from you.

 

[DerSchniffles]

Yeah, I agree with henpecked. Thats like saying everytime your 3 year old throws a fit you just push them over. Hey, its not hurting them right?

Trust in a parrot is not trust like it is with cats or dogs, they have the intelligence to respond deeper than alot of people care to understand. Biting is a birds way of not agreeing, liking or being afraid of something. Or maybe a young bird is just playing. Just like with kids......sometimes you gotta just let them be kids!

Googls, I would say that for the time being, your baby bird is just playing and dosent know any better. Its going to happen and the best thing you can do is be firm with the little guy without stopping his fun. As he gets older and starts biting harder he will learn that it hurts you. Hell, even our puppy just finished that phase where she was nipping a little too hard and all we did was stop playing with her and then try again and she got the point within a few days.
You will go through quite a few phases and each will be a different experience as he gets older. If you have kids, you will know how to handle it Just roll with it haha.

 

[BillsBirds]

The kind of biting you describe is just "beaking", and "mouthing". All young birds do it, and I have a few that have done it for years. Among bird behaviorists, (yes, I know 2 personally), there is a big disagreement about what use a parrots' tongue is. Remember, birds evolved from reptiles, and may be using their tongues similarly like snakes. They may use taste more than we realize. Much research is being done on this. Unless he is biting hard, I wouldn't worry about it. My lovebird "chews" my fingers constantly, and has for years. Never hard, though. Most birds outgrow it.

 

[Pookamama]

I recommend the book, Guide to a Well-Behaved Parrot. They had some great tips in there.

 

[azdesertrhino]

We have had Mac, our B&G for over 2 years now. Mac knows if he doesn't bite me I don't chase him down with a stick!!

JUST KIDDING!!

It is a learning process. As was stated before, learning the birds body language but also the bird learning from us.

Mac is like a 2 year old child, always testing his boundaries. ANYHOW, a firm "NO" will usually suffice when his body language says he is going to bite.

This being said, he let me have it hard enough last week to make my finger leak. I was offering a treat and he was cranky!

I don't think you can ever completely keep a bird from biting. They still retain their natural instincts of self preservation and protection. If a bird feels threatened or is startled, it may bite.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

When i was young and new to birds, i was taught by those older and 'wiser'--DOMINANCE. That dealing with birds was ALL about dominating them so they never question who is boss. This is not natural for me. Furthermore, when i tried some of the methods i was told to try (dropping the bird, loud "NO", spraying with water), they didn't correct behavior problems. In fact, the bird thought it was a game and used to laugh. Obviously i was trying to do it kindly and not harm the bird but she took it as all rough fun and games. If i had it to do over, i would have done things differently from the start. WAY less drama!
I did find that basic training/trust building is good, and when the behavior starts getting too naughty, ask them to do something they are trained to do (step up ladder, play dead, dance, my bird would 'brush her teeth') and it gives you a chance to say "good bird!" and also serves to distract them a bit from their naughty behavior. That probably worked quite a bit because my bird was nippy/beaky for fun, not being 'mean' or defensive, so directing the play/fun into something more appropriate seemed to work.

 

[paulhanlon]

The method my breeder told me works great for me and henpecked has always giving me brilliant advice but dropping the bird doesn't sit well with me either my zon thought he was the boss of me and bit me quite abit so what I'm doing is giving him more in cage time to show I'm the boss only bringing him out when he needs feeding training and to have a play about with me the biting has calmed down loads since I started this method the other day and if he does try to bite I just give him a firm NO and once he stops I tell him good boy once I have finished playing with him and i put him back in his cage I always end with a beak scratch and a head kiss for him then I close the cage door and tell him good boy daddy loves you and as I'm leaving the room I give him a happy bye bye.

So i have my breeder and henpecked to thank for this I know how challenging a zon can be and thankfully I have Richard as a good friend who can always provide me with good advice and brilliant tips on how to build the best possible bond with my amazon.

 

[BradGC]

Yea birds will always give you signs before a bite. Our alex has a certain noise which he always uses as "no", he uses it when he doesn't like a new food, doesn't want to be stroked or picked up. The last sign is eyes pinning, and then a bite, but of course we never get to that stage.

The only occassional bite that has been in avoidable is sometimes in the evening, if he's been out with us all day, and is falling asleep on my shoulder, when I put him away he'll start biting and hide on my back between my shoulder blades.
But I just put up with the bites and calmly say sorry to the bird

 

[BarkleyLoves]

I agree with what has already been said. Please DO NOT drop your bird. My eclectus still is "beaking" or "mouthing". He doesn't bite, but it's like he's trying to feel your fingers out or something. I have been told he will outgrow it. So far he's never bitten, but I was told in case of a bite to do the "earthquake" shake.

 

[Mare Miller]

I've never had a really young bird but my seven year old goffins will sometimes scare me when she'll grab my finger, with her beak, wrap the whole beak around it, and not let go. I'm not religious but this is when I pray that she will not clamp down!

It takes a lot of calm, deep breaths, sweet talking, (while she is hanging off you like a dangling earring), to coax her off. Sassy did this, the first time, to that bat wing area under my upper arm! Wholly Moly!

 

[lene1949]

My birds love to use their beak, and I let them... I tell them 'gentle', and they are...

Max (Alexandrine) will show his displeasure by taking my finger in his beak (gently) and just pushing it away...

I have a couple of conures, who will bite, if I try to handle them, so I don't..

Paulie, my Eclectus, still want to eat my fingers.. I let him chew on them, as long as he's gentle... He will ease the pressure, if I sound like it hurts...

 

[antoinette]

Isiah,what you are doing or did to your birds was absolutely cruel.

You mentioned but then after you DROP HIM (DONT THROW HIM)....

Would you ever do that to a human child, for disobeying you, I doubt it.

Birds do not communicate as we humans do, that is the birds way of saying he does not like something you are doing, OR is biting in a playful way. It sounds like mrgoogls bird is mouthing a beaking, basically like when a child is teething.

Would you ever want to go near someone who is dropping you NO, the same goes for the birds.

As henpecked said "Dropping" the bird from your hand is no way to gain trust.

Mishka has bitten me twice recently, when I showered him. I realized he does not like being taken out the bath, stepping up onto my hand. Since I have let him step up on a stick, he has never attempted to bite me again.

When coming home from work, Mishka holds onto my hand, not letting go, nipping at my thumb, another way of greeting me. After playing or feeding him he always nips my hand... his way of saying thank you.

I handled it very differently to you.

If I had handled it your way, my bond with Mishka would be totally crushed.

 

[paulhanlon]

Ant hit the nail on the head with that one that's just like me taking my daughter and my amazon dropping them to the floor to see which one looses all trust in me first and I can say that I would end up getting a triple kick to the shins from my daughter and my zon would probs end up biting me ever time I went near him he is 15 weeks old and is biting me I don't drop him to the floor tho no I made the mistake of letting him have to much out of cage time so now he thinks he is the boss and bites me so now he has more in cage time and the biting is starting to ease up when he's climbing my arm to get to my shoulder he uses his beak to pull himself up I'm fine with that just never drop your bird to the floor if it starts biting you just shake your arm a little bit to knock the bird off balence and tell it NO eventually it will get the message.