newbie

intyme · Jun 20, 2010

hello everyone!I am new to parrots, I just bought a 10 wk old parrotlet. i haven't decided on a name yet so.....any suggestions? Anyways, I have had some parakeets b4 in the past but nothing in a while. i never handled them, but my new parrotlet was hand fed, and he likes attention. he does like to bite but not hard so I haver read that you should ignore them. how do you do that? i will get him out and he will hang out but when you move him around he will nip. thanks in advance for the info.

Aussie Ben · Jun 20, 2010

Hi and welcome. Glad to hear of your new addition.

By ignoring the bite, this means don't change your behaviour. Don't pull away, try to deflect it. If you do pull away, your bird will learn to associate biting you with you leaving (which is exactly what it wants at this stage as he is uncomfortable).

From what I gather the bird will step up onto your hand, but will bite you lots in the process - yes? Try finding a treat that the bird will willingly take from your hands. Place it in your other hand (say left) and use this as a distraction to the bird when you go to pick him up with your right hand. When he steps up (without biting) let him have it as a reward. Make it so he kind of has to step up on your hand to reach it. it also helps to start adding a verbal queue. It just sounds like he is not comfortable yet, but this will come with time, love and patience. Good luck

antoinette · Jun 21, 2010

A big welcome to you, congrat's choosing a great forum
Browse around, many interesting topics, tips and advise
Great advise from Aussie Ben
Send some pic's, lets see the bird, and help you out with a name

Aussie Ben · Jun 21, 2010

Just though I'd add - that if the above doesn't work, you might want to look into clicker training and target training. Very easy to learn stuff, works well and birds seem to enjoy it as an enrichment activity. Here are a few links I found that I think describe the method fairly well.

This link describes the process:
Beginning clicker training for parrots!

This link will demonstrate it, in relation to your specific problem (btw it works for all birds, not just cockatiels which are the focus in this video):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh8OTrRRSk8&feature=related]YouTube"]Why Cockatiels Bite - YouTube[/ame] - Why Cockatiels Bite

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