Help! MY older Boy is biting !!

[MRS B]

Hi There! I have a beautiful ekky called Murphy we have had him for 10 years now and got him when he was a baby. For the last 6 months he has been biting us BAD! Leaving deep & bloody cuts, split my lip open once as well! He has a huge cage outside where he stays during day & when we get home he comes inside and wanders about plays on his indoor cage until it's time for bed. For the last 6 months he has been very aggressive, when I'm taking him from one location to the next he will bite me terribly, if he is sitting on me he will bite me, out of no where! He has been displaying very aggressive tendencies and our hands and body parts can't take anymore! Any advise would be very helpful! I know when he is grumpy & I don't handle him, but sometimes he will jump on hand all nice then BAM the beak latches on! I don't know why he is doing it or how to stop it.

 

[bill_e]

Hormones. My experience is that the best treatment for that is 12-14 hours of dark, quiet sleep. If his cage is in a family room move it to a quiet room where you an darken the room and or/cover the cage. I have a "sleep" age in a dark room where mine gets her rest. This tricks the body into thinking it's the short days of winter and not breeding season.

Next you can reduce the protein content in the food. Again, tricking the body into thinking now is not the time to breed.

Reduce or eliminate petting below the head. Touching the body is sexual stimulation to them.

Don't handle them during this time. This is a double edged sword as in my experience it can cause your bond to be lessened... which is good from a hormone perspective until you get to the tipping point where the bond has been broken, which of course can cause the same type of behavior.

Exercise. I found that when I started keeping my Nike flighted and she was flying around all the time her personality changed drastically for the better and I have honestly not had her exhibit any hormonal behavior in about 5 years and I touch and kiss her all over.

I found that the sleep is the most impartant part of this and the most impactful with the most immediate benefit.