Random biting...help!

[Devann]

Hello,
Vino bites everyone but me, but only very randomly. One minute she'll be sitting quite happily beside my husband, my daughter, my dad... then all of a sudden CHOMP! and for no reason! But she never, ever bites me.
I get that I'm her favorite and she doesn't have to love everyone but I can't have her biting people, especially my daughter. But because its so random and unprovoked its really difficult to discourage. And she can be so sweet to them other times (see my post about Vino playing nurse to my daughter)
I've tried to socialize her, have others be the only ones to give her her favorite treats, give her lots of praise when being handled by others, putting her in her cage for time outs when she bites, nothing seems to work for long.
Any suggestions would be totally welcome

 

[Marlin]

Discipline
your bird must understand that there are clear boundaries of acceptable behaviour. the same techniques used to control the behaviour of children should be used to train your bird Love, joy, routine and consistency are essential ingredients of the learning, training and discipline process
as your bird matures and becomes a more independent thinker it will try to dominate your control over its activities. this is a natural response to parrot adolescence and adulthood and it's important for you to maintain dominance at this stage. in nature the pecking order is constantly challenged. therefore in the home you must also confirm your superiority. Discipline of unruly parrots is achieved through a positive and negative reward system.

for example if your parrot starts to scream, put the parrot to bed early.
Bad behaviour must receive a negative reward.

if the parrot goes to the cage when told, they are rewarded with a treat.
good behaviour must receive a positive reward.

the solitude of the cage/room may be necessary for biting birds.
and solitude means everyone leaves the room and after two or three minutes everyone returns repeat as necessary. the bird will soon realize that, "if I bite everyone (the flock) leaves"

 

[Betrisher]

Try and watch more carefully and see if you can find the trigger that makes Vino bite. Sometimes, it can be something quite innocent-looking like a quick hand movement or a raised voice. Vino accepts a lot from you that she may not accept from others yet and quick, jerky sounds and movements are notorious for upsetting birds. If your daughter is small, it's probably not worth risking the relationship: keep Vino away from her for now as the damage that each could do the other is considerable. With adults, you'll need to warn them that Vino is nervous and to treat her with respect. Show people how to present a tightly-closed fist to Vino with the stretched back of the hand toward her. In that way, it's hard for her to bite and she can do little damage. Another trick is to offer her a stick or toy to chomp on instead of the flesh of an unwilling victim. Distraction often works best, I find. And feeding treats for good, quiet behaviour while in-hand.

Do keep us in touch with your progress, won't you? It's good, watching as all our birds become better avian citizens! LOL!

 

[Birdman666]

CAGS are also very particular about controlling the interaction with people, and biting is one of the ways they do it.

Mine will step up to anyone without biting, but no touching unless he puts his head down and lets you know he wants it... Disregard the "no touching" rule, and he will let you know. First by pushing your hand away, try it again, and he bites...

CAGS generally don't bite pressure train as well.

I agree with positive/negative reinforcement, but it has to be immediate.

Other people giving him treats isn't enough. They need to show the bird they can control him, and that they will IMMEDIATELY react to biting in a way he doesn't like. So that he associates the biting with the reaction. That is how you stop it...

It may seem random, but if he doesn't trust them fully, he will bite to keep them away. So step up practice with these people, and you out of the room, might also help. They need to gain this bird's trust, and show them they will stand up to him if he bites. Back down when he bites, and he has just established himself as a dominant bird.