Is tapping on the beak okay for biting behavior?

[bpenniman]

Venus, my blue fronted amazon has been more aggressive lately and tries to bite. My grandma has a parrot and she told me to "bop it on the nose." She said it stopped her Senegal Parrot from biting her. Is it okay to bop a bird on the nose or will it hurt the trust and relationship we are building?

 

[labell]

We are coming into spring. Normal breeding season for all amazons, so it is natural for him to be a little more aggressive or hormonal right now. However no, tapping him in the beak is a good way to break the trust he has in you and make him even more aggressive. Please don't do it.

 

[Delfin]

Hormones can change your bird from a lovey sweet little bird to a evil and nasty monster who will take chunks of flesh from any exposed area. But it will pass. I have never resorted to bopping or tapping my birds. I have however given my birds a verbal dressing down and put a look of displeasure and disgust on my face.

But I have to say that it's NOT okay to Bop, tap or use any other type of physical contact that could destroy the trust. I think it's one of those times where grandma is a little out-dated with her advice on how to stop the bird biting, building trust and relationship.

 

[Hawk]

Venus, my blue fronted amazon has been more aggressive lately and tries to bite. My grandma has a parrot and she told me to "bop it on the nose." She said it stopped her Senegal Parrot from biting her. Is it okay to bop a bird on the nose or will it hurt the trust and relationship we are building?

I have two Blue fronted amazons, it's that time of year where they get restless and hormones kick in...my wife gotten a very nasty bite about a week ago, so yeah they can get a bit over stimulated and cranky.

Amazons, especially, need about 30 minutes a day (if possible, more and shade provided when needed) of natural sunlight...they need this. Plays a huge role in their behavior.

Never "Bop" a bird on the beak....it's considered aggressive behavior by the bird and will only retaliate right back at you with a harder bite. Plus you'll slowly lose trust by the bird, so don't do it. Instead, op for a "time out" and Put it back in cage with door closed for 30 minutes to an hour. They don't like that and will simmer right down. Works ever time with mine.

 

[BlueFrontOwner]

I know someone who broke their Cockatoo parrot beak by hitting the top of the beak with a newspaper. He claimed he only did it very lightly.

What I find with birds are that they don't learn by any kind of punishment, they just as said already lose trust. This makes sense because birds have to be very defensive by nature.

 

[SandyBee]

Oh never do anything like that any thing that threatens or scares a bird breaks trust. Their beaks are very sensitive.

They are smart so the part of this theory that I do is I touch, like a caress my birds beak and tell him that his beak is very strong and can hurt. He seems to get it. He loves beak massages too

 

[thekarens]

I'm surprised she didn't lose the tip of her finger trying that with a sennie. I know I would with mine.

 

[Kyoto]

Touching the beak hasn't worked at all for me. I've started discouraging my conure from sitting on me and treating it like a "priveledge" that she only gets when she is calm and not nippy. Since she really really wants to be with me, moving her off of me when she bites has been the best solution for me. I take a wood dowel and get her to "step up" as a distraction when biting and simply place her somewhere else. If she is biting and being really aggressive she goes back in her cage. For a simple nip she just goes on her plays stand. She is fully flighted but seems to be respecting this system we have started fingers crossed you figure something out for you too.

 

[Kiwibird]

When Kiwi is in a foul mood, I just avoid his beak Stick training helps when a bird is in a bad mood, especially amazons. Kiwi gets a time out to cool down when he becomes aggressive, followed by some step up drills to reinforce a positive bird-human interaction. Hormonal behavior is temporary and many loving, well behaved birds have to be treated with more caution during this time of year because of their hormones.

We do (gently) push Kiwi's beak away when he gets too 'rough' with things he's not allowed to chew (in conjunction with the cue word "mine" and tapping the object/surface). That goes back to his "no chew" training and how we indicate to him something is "mine" (i.e. he may not rip it up). However, he is not being aggressive and nor are we. It's just how I figured out how to teach him not to destroy our stuff.

 

[Kyoto]

At what age will birds start to be hormonal? I wondered if Kyo might be feeling it, but she is just 15 or 16 weeks old and I didn't think she would be affected yet :S

 

[Hawk]

Venus, my blue fronted amazon has been more aggressive lately and tries to bite. My grandma has a parrot and she told me to "bop it on the nose." She said it stopped her Senegal Parrot from biting her. Is it okay to bop a bird on the nose or will it hurt the trust and relationship we are building?

Something else I should point out iis when a bird bites, us humans ( some of them) will raise their voices....OUCH !!! Darn it...!!! And to a bird that raised voice is "Entertainment" to them...
It's called "let's bite the human and watch them scream and jump...it's funny".... and to them it is funny, my Zon's both laugh when they nip.

What has to be done is come back with a positive reinforcement, even if it's a time out and ignoring them for a bit...Poppie My Zon is a sweet bird but can get a bit nippy when she doesn't get her way or demands something and you say no, such as wanting to be held after being a little nippy.
She then gets pissed off and will really take it out on the toy...(I'd hate to be the toy when she's pissed..LOL) She did it tonite and I just gave her a time out to cool off and walk away from her. I would never scold a bird or hit one anywhere on it....they don't learn that way.

 

[Delfin]

I used both vocal and facial methods to teach Delfin not to bite and had excellent results. In fact Delfin has not bitten anyone in the household for over 18 months. While scolding and giving Delfin dirty looks, which worked, I would never ever Bop, Tap, Hit or use any other type of physical contact that would be in-appropriate.