How to teach baby parrot that biting hurts

pingu

New member
Jul 5, 2022
1
3
Finland
Parrots
Jakiro: African Grey, born 09/2021
Io: Galah, born 03/2022
Oreo and Wasabi: Budgies, born 2017
Hello,

Our newest flock member is Io (that's an uppercase i, not an L), a 3 month old Galah. She is very sweet and loving, but doesn't seem to understand that she is hurting me when she bites me... I have tried looking online but all advice I find has to do with parrots biting because they're defensive.

Perhaps the biggest issue is her mistaking moles etc marks on skin for food. At least that's what I think it is, it's very similar to her walking around the bed, picking at lint and whatever crumbs there are there. She will nip at moles, pimples, scabs etc. I think she has gotten a bit better at it? I have been taking her off of me when she does it. Usually she does it when sitting on my shoulder/back, she'll pick at the scratches on my neck (a result of her sharp claws).

She sometimes grabs onto my fingers with her beak when I pick her up, which I am mostly fine with, but sometimes she bites down too hard or doesn't let go even when I put her down. How should I free my finger in this situation?

What finally prompted me to write this post was her drawing blood when I tried to take my laptop's trackpoint away from her, but there's probably nothing I can do about that :') I think she was trying to hold on to the trackpoint rather than bite me to tell me to stay away.

Oh and if she's trying to bite some item she isn't supposed to, what is the best course of action? I've been shooing her away but that probably easily leads to defensive biting behaviour... it is probably better to remove the item, yes? Or pick her up if that isn't an option?

Thank you for your advice in advance! ❤️
 

BirdyBee

Well-known member
Jan 7, 2022
3,749
Media
34
Albums
6
8,080
South Africa
Parrots
Current birds:
John
Snowy
Pippen

Past birds:
Grumpy
Sunny
Griffen
Jeff
Gertjie
Hello,

Our newest flock member is Io (that's an uppercase i, not an L), a 3 month old Galah. She is very sweet and loving, but doesn't seem to understand that she is hurting me when she bites me... I have tried looking online but all advice I find has to do with parrots biting because they're defensive.

Perhaps the biggest issue is her mistaking moles etc marks on skin for food. At least that's what I think it is, it's very similar to her walking around the bed, picking at lint and whatever crumbs there are there. She will nip at moles, pimples, scabs etc. I think she has gotten a bit better at it? I have been taking her off of me when she does it. Usually she does it when sitting on my shoulder/back, she'll pick at the scratches on my neck (a result of her sharp claws).

She sometimes grabs onto my fingers with her beak when I pick her up, which I am mostly fine with, but sometimes she bites down too hard or doesn't let go even when I put her down. How should I free my finger in this situation?

What finally prompted me to write this post was her drawing blood when I tried to take my laptop's trackpoint away from her, but there's probably nothing I can do about that :') I think she was trying to hold on to the trackpoint rather than bite me to tell me to stay away.

Oh and if she's trying to bite some item she isn't supposed to, what is the best course of action? I've been shooing her away but that probably easily leads to defensive biting behaviour... it is probably better to remove the item, yes? Or pick her up if that isn't an option?

Thank you for your advice in advance! ❤️
Negative punishment could work? Like, when she bites you, put her on a chair(or any neutral environment) and look away for a while, and then pick her up again so that she can think about why she's put there and eventually realize that biting isn't ok. Or teach her biting is not ok by stopping playtime (again placing her in a neutral environment) and taking her back later.
 

BirdyBee

Well-known member
Jan 7, 2022
3,749
Media
34
Albums
6
8,080
South Africa
Parrots
Current birds:
John
Snowy
Pippen

Past birds:
Grumpy
Sunny
Griffen
Jeff
Gertjie
If she really loves you, you can say "Ow!" so she knows that biting harms you.
 

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