Baby YC Macaw BITING!!!

[BirdyMomma]

Hello.
Loki, our 10 1/2 week Yellow Collared Macaw is a sweet, super cuddly little girl. Her desire to cuddle is so strong, that we find ourselves torn between trying to satisfy her need for affection, and training her to sit contentedly on the hand, and to NOT scramble to the chest/neck area for snuggles.
I'll keep her on my hand with my thumb over her feet, and pet and treat her, and sometimes she will be ok for a while there.
Unfortunately, yesterday, for the first time she started BITING, and I mean HARD!!! She bit me, AND my mom. I was shocked. I thought maybe she was tired or caranky, so so after a 30 second time out, I sat with her, cuddling and then put her to bed.
This morning, she bit my boyfriend several times.
Is this a normal stage for a baby Macaw, that we will just have to work through, or is something going wrong? My Amazon will posture, and even beak me, but NEVER clamp down. Loki almost drew blood last night.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Birdman666]

This is a baby macaw that hasn't been trained NOT TO... That's your job.

And yes, they will bite, and if they figure out that they can get their way by biting, you have just trained them to bite.

I'm not sure if holding the feet is triggering this. Instead of holding the feet, try putting your hand up in front of the bird to block his path up your arm. That might stop the biting.

My greenwing is the sweetest bird in the world, but she does not like strangers grabbing her feet. She will step up for anyone. But I was at Starbucks the other day, and one of the SeaWorld trainers was there... they are taught to hold the feet of a flighted bird, and their birds are trained to accept it.

My bird gave her a hard pinch and let her know in no uncertain terms, I don't know you well enough to allow you to control me like that...

 

[BirdyMomma]

Thank you Birdman. I guess I will concentrate on training her NOT to.

I definitely am conscious of not reinforcing the biting.

Both my birds will eventually be flighted, so that's why the controlled hold.

You seem to know a LOT about Macaws. I have had much more success with training our Amazon, than with our Macaw. She seems resistant to it.

Are there any different methods used for Macaws, or are they particularly resistant to training?

 

[Birdman666]

A lot of people think amazons are significantly harder...

I've rehabbed a bunch of macaws over the years, and I have raised one from an egg, and I've hand fed a few.

What you will find is that Macaws are the most "toddler-like" of all parrots. Which means they act like little kids at times in both the good ways (playful and cuddly) and the bad ways (tantrum throwing and defiant.)

Years ago, when I was rehabbing my red lored amazon, who was an abused bird, and a biter-and-then-some, I fell into the mindset of amazons (especially this one) are too aggressive and unpredictable to be shoulder birds.

So, when I first got her turned around, I fought like hell with that bird to keep her as a hand bird. And she fought me, it upset her greatly that she couldn't go up there. It was a trust issue. All she wanted to do was press her face against my cheek upside down for an extended head scratch. And I was preventing her from doing that, and actually holding back my progress with her.

So I sucked it up, and let an aggressive bird on my shoulder. She almost immediately STOPPED fighting me.

I know it's counterintuitive, but if the bird just wants a cuddle next to your face, why are you fighting this bird instead of using that as a bonding moment.

Okay, you had your cuddle time, now it's on to a training. You'll get more cuddle time if you behave. If not, you won't.

Macaws are ATTENTION ORIENTED just a tad below large toos. That is what you use to train them.

And essentially, the first order of business is going to be bite pressure training.

 

[Birdman666]

Both my birds will eventually be flighted, so that's why the controlled hold.

Harness train if he's going to be flighted.

Controlled hold training comes after the bird has bonded with you and trusts you completely. If he hasn't bonded with you, you could be setting off birdie alarm bells...