Ugh...Not having such a good day

[IcyWolf]

So this random biting with billie, isn't getting much better, I already wasn't having the best day in the world, it's my favorite holiday(I'm wiccan so I celebrate Samhain) and my car has been out of commission for the past 5 days or so, which means that I have missed any and all Samhain/Halloween related activities this year. Anywho... Billie has developed this habit of flying to and sitting on the laptop screen. This would be okay except that he chews on it and I am convinced that he thinks he is SUPPOSED to poop on the laptop. He will literally fly off of his cage onto the computer and then poop So when he landed on the computer a minute ago I picked him up and was holding him. He started making kissing noises at me so I blew him a kiss back(he was only about 4 inches from my face) next thing I know he lunges forward and grabs ahold of the very center of my top lip and wouldn't let go! So now I have a bird standing on my index finger, biting my lip and I can't get him off! Not a great situation to be in. I finally got him to let go of my lip but then he nailed me in my finger, the one he was standing on. I seriously don't understand this bird! And I'm not talking about little nips either, he draws blood more than three quarters of the times he bites and it is always so random. I've always been able to read most birds and know when I can do what and avoid any bites but Billie will fly toward me, say "come here" while holding his foot up, yet when I pick him up he will reach down and bite me. And it's not just me, he does this to everyone. Sorry for the rant, it was just a great end to my already horrible day and needed to vent.

 

[goalerjones]

my jenday, and now my hahn's(and both of our dogs) all saw/see the computer as direct competition for attention. They all do their best to interject themselves into my computertime. One time George, my former Jenday managed to pry one of the adhesive buttons off of my laptop and boy was he pleased with himself!

As for the biting, well being hungry is a trigger I have seen, as well as dominance issues. My hahn's wants to be in charge so he bites to get on my nerves. I have been instructed to place him onto his back and reprimand him in that position, then talk to him instructionally, then give him a "time-out" in his cage for a bit. My Jenday was very fearful since he was a rescue bird so we would place our hand over his head and loudly proclaim "NO, UH-UH". then instruct him so he would know that behavior wasn't acceptable.

Horror story for you: My breeder always tells his Amazon owners to NEVER put those birds on their shoulders. Well, one of his customers didn't listen, the bird heard the shower water (which apparantly triggers mating behavior) on the way into the bathroom and freaked out, tearing his entire lip off! Moral of the story, don't trust a bird with a sharp beak around your face.

 

[lene1949]

Maybe you need to clip his wings? I'm not in favour of wing clipping, but if Max, my Alexandrine, were to behave like that I would!

 

[IcyWolf]

Thanks for the input guys. Luckily mouths heal fast and my lip doesn't even hurt today, even though it was swollen and bleeding last night, now you can't even tell. I will say though, that I have 2 lip piercings and have been considering a third(a vertical labret), and being bitten on my lip was soooo much worse than any of my piercings!!! I'm working on keeping him off of my computer, I'm about to make what I have been referring to as a "birdie bumper", I was thinking about taking two small cylindrical foam strips and sewing cloth on them to place on top of the screen. Kind of like this As Seen On TV, As Seen On TV Stores, As Seen On TV Products but it would be upside down covering just the top of the screen where he always sits. As far as clipping him, I don't think I could ever do that, he is almost 5 years old and has NEVER been clipped. He flies everywhere he goes and while it would make life much easier for us if he couldn't fly, I just couldn't take that away from him. He has never flown to attack or bite anyone before. Most of the time he bites is right after he steps up, even if he is the one saying "come here" and holding his foot out, obviously wanting to be picked up. I know this probably isn't the best approach but lately, instead of asking him to step up, I will just have him fly to my hand. He almost never flies to me and then bites, but very often if I pick him up from a standstill he will step up and then bite me. The face bite was completely weird though, he was being his cheerful little self and started kissing at me but as soon as I puckered my lips and did it back he reached forward so fast, I didn't even know what had happened until I was in the process of trying to get him to let go of my upper lip. I wasn't kissing directly on his beak either, I was a few inches away "blowing him a kiss" so to speak. Either way, I learned my lesson, Billie will definitely not be getting any more close range kisses anytime soon!

 

[Amber]

How long have you had him for out of interest? But just take a deep breath and relax, you'll work through this with the little guy

Start trying to 'read' his behaviour, usually they give you ample warning they are going to bite if they have malicious intent. Watch for him crouching low, puffing up, and dominant type behaviours (Alex has a 'walk' he does when feeling like being top dog, it's more of a swagger!) and all that. It will eventually become automatic, especially if you have another bird and already know the body language Birds don't have faces like ours with lots of muscles they can use to make expressions to express themselves, it's all about body language with them.

It may also have been accidental, I know my little guy sometimes gets TOO rough, and if I panic, he panics, so if your bird bit you and you were frightened, he was probably frightened, so he held on tighter and tighter! I've had THAT one before, too. Free lip piercing. ):

Horror story for you: My breeder always tells his Amazon owners to NEVER put those birds on their shoulders. Well, one of his customers didn't listen, the bird heard the shower water (which apparantly triggers mating behavior) on the way into the bathroom and freaked out, tearing his entire lip off! Moral of the story, don't trust a bird with a sharp beak around your face.

I've got another one for you, but thankfully not as severe! I have a friend who had her cheek gouged open by her hyacinth. Took forever for her and the bird to trust each other again. It wasn't malicious, he saw something that frightened him and just freaked out. It's a good reminder though that to always be careful with birds on your shoulders, and if the birds larger then a sun or jenday, as a safety precaution I probably wouldn't be allowing it on my shoulder at all. I shudder to think if he had gone for a few inches up and got her eye!

 

[Spiritbird]

Now you know why he was on Craig's List.

 

[goalerjones]

There is one thing that helps makes the bites not as severe, i.e. drawing blood, by keeping his beak filed down by your local avian vet, there isn't as sharp of a point at the end. I had to do this with our new hahn's since he likes to test my resolve with his sharp little beak.

You do need to set some boundaries for him or he will keep biting you and over the long haul this will IMHO damage ur relationship. He has to have his rightful place as your pet and you have to be his owner all the time. If you work this out you will BOTH be much happier.

In the wild the dominant flock/brood/pack leader will force the rebellious animal to submit by placing them on their backs and not letting them up for a bit. My breeder told me that sometimes it will be necessary to do this-safely so not as to damage his throat or wings-but firmly so he regains his boundaries again. Once he has been disciplined I was told to pick him up and talk to him to calm him down and get the trust and love back. Then give his some locked cage time so he relates bad behavior to being anti-social behavior.