need help with Odies biting

[adolia]

I am trying to do everything I can to avoid situations where Odie bites. There are 3 things that seem to make him bite: 1) trying to put him in the cage. 2) getting between him and Stewart when he is stalking him. 3) When he is mad at me for doing one of the previous 2 things.

His bites are getting more extreme. When he bites he refuses to let go and it is breaking the skin. He also grabs with his claws in addition to biting which also breaks the skin.

This morning I was in the living room with Stewart and Odie was on top of his cage.

Odie came waltzing into the room, wanting up next to me. He got on the back of the couch and was talking, being sweet. he was several feet from Stewart and not even paying attention to him.

But Stewart decided to jump down from his play ball, and Odie immediately started walking toward him. I put my hand up between them and told Odie to stop. He bit me so quickly I didn't see it coming and dug in all the way to the bone on my finger. I headed for his cage but by that time he had both feet dug into my arms and was still biting. he refused to let go.

I am wondering if there are any ideas for some type of gear to protect my hands/arms while we are working on training him.

He has been doing great as long as I am not trying to put him in the cage, and as long as he and Stewart are not close to each other. I was suckered in by him being so sweet and I was letting him be closer to Stewart than I have been, next time I will know better and immediately pick up Stewart and move him when Odie comes in the room, so hopefully this wont happen again.

 

[labell]

This maybe a really bad time of the year to be trying to do training with a new Amazon. Especially one that is still acclimating to his new home. I would go slow, offer him treats, work on stepping up and down from a play stand onto a stick. Keep it very simple, short and plenty of rewards. IMO it is really important with any bird and especially an amazon that they are taught to step up onto a stick. For those times you have to get them fast and they are being stubborn.

Brady my YNA is and has been full of hormones over the last few weeks. She doesn't bite to break the skin but over the last few weeks she has grabbed my finger harder than normal and is just all wound up most of the time. Spring is a time that you do have to approach an amazon a little differently than the rest of the year.

I am really sorry he bit you, never fun. There really isn't anything you can wear that won't scare him and damage the trust. You can make your hand into a tight fist that sometimes makes it harder for them to grab hold. You can also wrap a towel or vet wrap around your arm but under your sleeve where he can't see it.

Those two situations having him step onto a stick will avoid you getting bitten and let him know you are in control.

 

[Birdman666]

When working with a biter wrap a towel around your arm. That's the easiest way. Take a look at the photos of when we were handling the Eckie in this thread:

http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/53118-excitement.html

 

[adolia]

We need to get a play stand to work on stepping up onto a stick. We have tried to work on this a couple times but he runs from the stick. I have ordered a couple books and have been contemplating some of the training videos just to have visual examples for my son and husband.

Ever since I had to wrap him in a towel to put him in the cage his biting has gotten horrible. Before that he hadn't really bitten me at all. But now he wont step up onto my arm or hand, he wants to step directly onto my shoulder. If I offer anything else I get bitten.

I will try the towel trick. I had though of using old socks with the toe cut off to cover my arms to see if I could get a few layers of protection, but my hands seem to be what he goes for the most.

Right now he is back in he cage from his temper tantrum this morning. How long do you feel I should leave him in "time out", and when I do open the cage anything special I should do? the second I touch the latch he is trying to squeeze out the door. He also still hasn't gone back in the cage on his own, even though I am keeping his food and water in there.

Stubborn for sure!

 

[Birdman666]

Use the towel wrapped around your arm trick.

I've never met a zon, or a CAG, or a macaw for that matter that wasn't stubborn...