How do I teach a juvie Eclectus not to bite

reddfoxx79

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Hi. I'm in the process of getting a female Eclectus who is about 6-7 months old. I've been visiting her at the store to help the trust process before I bring her home. She is personable, social, and steps up great. If I try to pet her chest, belly, or head, she tries to bite. Not hard - just to tell you to stop. The girl who hand raised her said to take my fingers on either side of her beak and hold it a second to teach her not to do that. Don't squeeze - just to hold her there for a second. It seems to work when she does it. When I try that, the Eclectus opens her beak and moves her head around, like my hand is a target, and it's hard to get a hold of her beak. In fact, I didn't have the bottom beak one time, and when she tried to close her mouth, I got quite a pinch. Is this how you train them not to bite? I need to be able to touch her other than asking her to step up, so I'm just wondering if I'm going about it the right way. I don't want to teach her TO bite or that I'm playing a game with her (beak keep-away :01:). TIA

Also... is it true for females that I should pet only her chest and head, and that I'm not to pet her belly or back?
 

noodles123

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I am going to tell you upfront that I disagree 500% with your breeder's technique.



You need to slow down, move at her pace and build trust (never push or respond physically, and read body language to prevent bites to begin with).



If she bites when you try to touch, it is too early to try to touch. Even a hand-raised baby has the right to get to know someone before they try to touch. Yes, sometimes babies don't know about how hard they are biting (look up "pressure training") but that squeezing the beak (even lightly) crosses a boundary for me.



Pet on the head and neck only-- no belly and back...no chest..
10 hour sleep= bare minimum (on a schedule)
Avoid access to shadowy spaces (huts, boxes, partially covered cages, tents, blankets, drawers, couches, under furniture, pots, hollows, low shelves etc).


Although sexual maturity takes a bit of time, you don't want to give a reason for hormones to kick into hyper-drive early, and you don't want to create unsustainable expectations that will be sexually inappropriate in the future. Sleep relates to hormones, sex, behavior and immune health, so that is super important.



Talk about what you are doing as you do it-- if you are going to sweep, say "using the broom", or "I'm sweeping" (same phrase each time). Same with if you are leaving for a short time ("be right back") etc-- it helps them anticipate and build vocabulary and routines when they associate certain words/phrases with actions.
 
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saxguy64

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Excellent advice above, slow down. There's quite a difference between someone who hand raised her and a "stranger" who's come to visit a few times. She doesn't know you, and building trust with a parrot takes time. Sometimes a LOT of time. So, slow down, and take things at her pace. Parrots have no real reason to trust humans. We have to earn that trust.

You have a polite bird there, choosing to push your hand away instead of just biting hard to make you back off. Seems to be a common Ekkie trait in my experience. Heed the warning though, as that beak can do serious damage if she really wants to. Don't take it personally. MANY Ekkies just don't care to be petted. At all. If they tolerate it at all, always front to back. Their feathers are different from other parrots- very hair like. They generally hate it if you mess up the "doo." This doesn't mean they don't want to be close to you. In fact, mine lives to have his beak against my cheek or nose all the time! :)

Also, female Ekkies are... different. Not better or worse, just different. They're kind of the divas of the parrot world. If you consider how they do things in nature, it explains a lot. That being said, not uncommon for the girls to be cage protective.

Hope this is helpful!
 

Iyanden

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Agree with the advice by the others. Some personal experience, it took me a good 8 months or so to be able to touch my eclectus' beak without her biting as hard as she can. And that's still only in certain circumstances (e.g., cleaning her beak after eating so she doesn't throw food everywhere). In certain settings, it's still a bit dangerous to put my hand near her beak (e.g., when she's playing in her cage or with her toys).
 
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reddfoxx79

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Fennel, Solomon Eclectus female (12/25/20)..... Lulu, Solomon Eclectus female (10/1/20)..... Vegas, Harlequin macaw (2/2/21)
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Great advice! I actually tried it when I visited her tonight. I didn't try to touch her at all, and just had conversations, moved my hand around while she perched on the other, and walked around. She was very calm, moved her head side to side, and she watched... everything. She even started to vocalize and make a lot of eye contact with me. This was more relaxed for her, I could tell. I will keep approaching her this way to make her more comfortable, and I won't push her. I intend to have a very long relationship with her, so we have a lot of time to get this right. Thanks so much for the helpful advice!
 

saxguy64

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Oh, that's wonderful! Bravo!!! Keep it up. Your growing relationship will be so worth the effort!

Great observation on your part about her watching everything. Ekkies seem to have a reputation for being "perch potatoes" and less active than other species. Even if that's the case physically, (mine doesn't fit that mold at all- he's very busy all the time) mentally, they're super smart, and really tuned in to what's going on around them. Mine always preferred to sit facing me. They study your face, and read your emotions like none other. I've often said, when they look in to your eyes, they see WHO you are, not what you look like, right down to your soul. That's the best way I can think of to describe it, but try keeping it in mind on your next visit. It's amazing! Parrots in general do that, which is why they're so much better at choosing us than we are of them, but Ekkies seem to take it to another level in my somewhat limited experience.
 

wrench13

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True - most Ekkies ( and ringnecks) HATE to be touched or scratched, and those that do want the feathers stroked in the direction of the feather growth. All? Not 100% but wow, like 98% from what I gather.

Bites. The worst ones are the ones that you allowed to happen, meaning you should know your parrot well enough to know when the bite is coming. If you didn't respect their space or their temperament, well that's your fault, and its up to you to reduce the number of bites.

But, if you know you did nothing wrong, the most common and effective method to reduce or eliminate unwarranted biting is called shunning. Best done with a parrot that is bonded or partially bonded with you. If you get bitten, IMMEDIATELY place the parrot on a near by chair back, turn your back to them for a minute, no longer. No eye contact, no voice contact. Why immediately and why only a minute? Its so they can put the action together with the bite. If you wait to place on a chair, they won't get that, and if you wait too long, they won't get it either. I usually say No Bite in a firm voice and then do the above. DO NOT return him to his cage, that only teaches him to bite when he wants to go back to his cage.

But sticking your fingers into a parrots face, when you know they are not in the 'mood' to be messed with, well your asking for a bite. Know Thy Parrot.

Sometimes you can't avoid the bite. Example- few days ago my sons came to visit and Salty HATES my youngest. I should have caged him before they came over, but I didn't. Salty came off his cage, and made a bee line for my son. Eyes pinned, tail flared out, head lowered and feathers puffed out. The Amazon death dance. I had to get between them and scoop Salty up and in the process, he nailed me, bad. His fault? No way. My own stupidity in not caging him beforehand. Did I shun him? No, it was not his fault!
 
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reddfoxx79

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Fennel, Solomon Eclectus female (12/25/20)..... Lulu, Solomon Eclectus female (10/1/20)..... Vegas, Harlequin macaw (2/2/21)
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Do you know if there's a place I can post a journal of how things are progressing with my new bird? I can keep a personal journal, of course - but there will be lots of times I need advice and help translating ekkie, without creating new threads all the time. Like yesterday, when I thought hand feeding would be a good bonding experience, so I handed her a green bean, she started biting, and I took it to mean she hates me... turns out, she just doesn't like green beans.
 
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saxguy64

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Fantastic idea! There's a sub forum in the Community section titled "Incredible Journeys; Bird Stories For Bird Lovers" that would be the perfect place to start a journal thread. :)
 

cytherian

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Also, female Ekkies are... different. Not better or worse, just different. They're kind of the divas of the parrot world. If you consider how they do things in nature, it explains a lot. That being said, not uncommon for the girls to be cage protective.

Hope this is helpful!
THIS! I've been living with 3 of them, one being a female. She IS the diva. Or, more precisely, the alpha. Also, when she bites, she can bite hard enough to break skin. The previous roommate once made a terrible mistake of trying to "nuzzle" with her. *BAM*, a major bite on the nose bridge, cut right through the flesh. Well, there is one exception--the primary bond. My roommate can nuzzle and cuddle with the female and not get bitten. But, sometimes she has been bitten. One time so fiercely hard on her hand, that one tendon was super sore for about a week. The males? They'll warn bite, but hardly ever hard.
 
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reddfoxx79

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Fennel, Solomon Eclectus female (12/25/20)..... Lulu, Solomon Eclectus female (10/1/20)..... Vegas, Harlequin macaw (2/2/21)
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UPDATE:
We've had this ekkie a little over a month at home with us. My daughter is taking care of her (she's an adult). The bird knows tricks now, and my daughter can pet her beak, neck, and back of head with no issues. It's funny because the day I brought her home, she immediately took to my daughter. My daughter held her and touched her beak, and she allowed it. Sometimes she'll let me touch her beak, too, but not often (usually only if my daughter is there). She is a very bossy little bird, and she does this mad chicken walk sometimes that's pretty funny. Overall, she has been great! We adore her and her weird little antics. She is super excited about morning training sessions, and she gets irritated when the treats run out. She spins in both directions, is target trained, waves, and is working on learning how to flip over. She also showers every 2-3 days and absolutely loves it. I'm so glad we decided to get her. She has done a complete 180 since being in the pet store, and has gained so many skills and so much confidence in just a short period of time.

Thanks for the advice on Lulu! It helped get us to where we are now!
 

noodles123

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Do you know if there's a place I can post a journal of how things are progressing with my new bird? I can keep a personal journal, of course - but there will be lots of times I need advice and help translating ekkie, without creating new threads all the time. Like yesterday, when I thought hand feeding would be a good bonding experience, so I handed her a green bean, she started biting, and I took it to mean she hates me... turns out, she just doesn't like green beans.


Lots of people create journal threads on here


I'm so glad things are going better, btw! Great news :)
 

cytherian

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Dec 29, 2020
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UPDATE:
We've had this ekkie a little over a month at home with us. My daughter is taking care of her (she's an adult). The bird knows tricks now, and my daughter can pet her beak, neck, and back of head with no issues. It's funny because the day I brought her home, she immediately took to my daughter. My daughter held her and touched her beak, and she allowed it. Sometimes she'll let me touch her beak, too, but not often (usually only if my daughter is there). She is a very bossy little bird, and she does this mad chicken walk sometimes that's pretty funny. Overall, she has been great! We adore her and her weird little antics. She is super excited about morning training sessions, and she gets irritated when the treats run out. She spins in both directions, is target trained, waves, and is working on learning how to flip over. She also showers every 2-3 days and absolutely loves it. I'm so glad we decided to get her. She has done a complete 180 since being in the pet store, and has gained so many skills and so much confidence in just a short period of time.

Thanks for the advice on Lulu! It helped get us to where we are now!
That's so great you got the female Ekkie to turn around like that, and especially for your daughter to form a special bond. It's a mystery as to why a bird will choose one person over another, even with both "feeling the love" for the bird. So cool about the tricks. I have to wonder if some birds have the temperament for it while others do not. Does she talk much?

The juvenile we have is a little over 2 years now and he is a real talker. He loves the landline phone ringtone, so I recorded it and play it on my phone doing "echo location" with him. He is a joker and will sometimes laugh out loud all on his own. He's sensitive too. If I'm talking about something rather animated and concerned, he'll hear it in my voice and say "No, no, no, no!"

The other male doesn't talk, but he tweets, chirps, and squawks. The female, though... OMG. She's got one vocalization: an ear piercing squawk. REALLY LOUD! Even in total dead quiet. There are times I've tended to the adult male, and as I'm walking by her cage, SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!!!! right in my ear, causing me to jump. She can speak. She rarely does it. And we discovered that she can whistle, which she started doing when separated from the other birds (as she healed in another room after an operation). But where she is now--nothing. No chirps, tweets, or talking. Just... SQUAWK at maximum volume. It's saddening & frustrating. I hope your Ekkie is more pleasantly vocal.
 
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