new 7 month female owner feeling discouraged

[Birdman666]

a) Find her favourite treat and hold it out of reach. If she wants she will have to step on your hand and come out.

[Good Suggestion]

b) Painful yes. But let her bite. Do not pull away, grin and bear it. She will stop in a real jiffy if she learns it does nothing at all.

[Absolutely NOT! DO NOT TRAIN THIS BIRD TO BITE YOU... And incidentally, Eckies are powerful enough to deglove, to inflict a wound that requires stitches to close, and in extreme cases, to remove a finger tip... ABSOLUTEL NO BITING!]

c) Use a Glove to take her out of cage. Birds are territorial especially females. Once out of cage she should be more open to playing.

[I'VE HAD BETTER LUCK WITH A TOWEL WRAPPED AROUND THE ARM, AND THEN USING TWO FINGER TO DEFLECT THE BITES SO THEY CANNOT LATCH ON WITH THEIR BEAK...]

d) Remember that to her you two are the terrors. Large featherless apes staring at her, poking unknown appendages inside of HER cage. Yah she is definitely scared.

[THIS PART IS TRUE. THE BITING STOPS WHEN THE TRUST STARTS. THIS IS NOT HORMONAL BITING... THIS IS BASIC FEAR "FIGHT OR FLIGHT" BITING.]

What I was talking about in my posts were the breeding season issues. The females become bossy with the males, and may become bossy with their owners... that certainly isn't the case with this one, since she is much too young for that sort of stuff...

Your bird is afraid, at this point. That's all this is. She probably just needs more time to adjust. Treats help. If she perches on the door of her cage and comes out on her own, pick her up from there...

Right now, she is on her schedule. Over time, adjust her to yours.

I have always thought CAGS and ECKIES are much more prone to be handled on their terms than say amazons and macaws...

Give it time.

 

[maillet]

[Absolutely NOT! DO NOT TRAIN THIS BIRD TO BITE YOU... And incidentally, Eckies are powerful enough to deglove, to inflict a wound that requires stitches to close, and in extreme cases, to remove a finger tip... ABSOLUTEL NO BITING!]

This female is 7-Months Old? At that age their beaks are not powerful enough to piece skin let alone draw blood. They also do not know their strength at this age. It is FAR better to learn and teach it now when it does not hurt so much as to wait until adulthood and hormonal biting?

In the end though most Ekkies (and birds) will take a week or two to warm up to you. You should have purchased her wanting a lifelong companion, so it takes a while to form that bond of trust just like with a little baby.

 

[mtdoramike]

You only think you feel discouraged now, wait until she hits 4-5 years of age and goes through puberty. A whole lot of things can and will change during that time.

 

[Caesar]

When I got my male he didn't like to be touched on the back or anywhere really. A method I used was laying in bed with just a sheet and the bird on my chest. Creating a game of "Weeeeeee!!!! while draping the sheet in a down ward motion To represent a "stroke"of the hand. Now I can tickle him under the wing and stroke his back. Its a good method, Well it worked for me.
Good luck and I hope you and your little girl work out these teething problems

 

[AMArenson]

My male eclectus was exactly like this when we first got him. I too was afraid we had made a mistake in getting him even though he came from a hand-fed highly-reputable breeder. Within about 2 months though he has become so sweet and loving. He would always try to bite me (if I let him) and never wanted to step up but now he does it automatically and is even starting to talk! Don't worry about it, just relax and let your bird do the same while getting used to a vastly different environment than what she's used to.