Wrangler has recently started biting/nibbling the top of my ear when he gets on my shoulder. I have tried and tried to admonish him "no bite!", remove him back onto his cage, or onto my arm if we are out, as a way of showing him that ear biting loses shoulder priveledges....but he persists. It's just a quick one/two nibble, but it hurts, and my ear is sore now! He also marches across my keyboard. I put up a hand to block him and tell him "no keyboard" or push him aside with my hand...but he just doesnt seem to get it. He is a smart boy, he picks up on things quickly. He is potty trained, knows not to go on furniture, etc...but these two issues he seems to just not get it, or be determined to ignore me. Suggestions?
Training resistance issues
- Thread starter coopedup
- Start date
- Nov 29, 2016
- 441
- 2
maybe there all hardheads, you described maxx very head strong and gonna
do what he wants.
same on the ears ,maxx and lilly i want both to be shoulder birds.
but both make it to the ears, and go home but they just don't seem to get it.
i think being consistent is the only thing you can do till it clicks for em.
or invent Parrot Ear Protectors. lol
do what he wants.
same on the ears ,maxx and lilly i want both to be shoulder birds.
but both make it to the ears, and go home but they just don't seem to get it.
i think being consistent is the only thing you can do till it clicks for em.
or invent Parrot Ear Protectors. lol
steveandbarb1
New member
- Mar 28, 2017
- 34
- 0
our used to nibble when young, wait for 10 years... Bird trainers will tell you shoulders are power position for birds, but all I know - I can't hold/stare at a bird when I am working and God made shoulders for perching!
- Thread starter
- #4
this is new for him...8 months of happy shoulder riding, and now all of a sudden the tops of my ears are irresistable! Im at a loss as to the sudden change....I bought a stainless ring necklace last fall, guess it's time to start wearing it so maybe he nibbles on it and not me.
Violet_Diva
Member
- Aug 30, 2016
- 843
- 19
- Parrots
- Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
With Dexter, I initially started wearing a beanie hat over my ears! I always wear my hair over my ears too. But I no longer wear the hat unless he's being particularly unruly!
If contact is made with my ears, he's forced onto my hand and told 'no biting' and is subsequently relocated to somewhere I don't think he'd like to be, typically somewhere lower down where he feels a bit more vulnerable.
I don't relocate him to his cage / playstand / perch etc as these are places he is comfortable and or happy to be and could be seen as a reinforcing reward.
I have quite a low coffee table, so I usually put him there.
If he's being a good boy (whilest on my shoulder) I give him a treat on my shoulder or keep him busy stepping up and off onto my hand and back again, and continue with treat rewards all the time he's ignoring my ears.
He's not cured of his 'ear-interest' yet, but he's definitely better than he was!
If contact is made with my ears, he's forced onto my hand and told 'no biting' and is subsequently relocated to somewhere I don't think he'd like to be, typically somewhere lower down where he feels a bit more vulnerable.
I don't relocate him to his cage / playstand / perch etc as these are places he is comfortable and or happy to be and could be seen as a reinforcing reward.
I have quite a low coffee table, so I usually put him there.
If he's being a good boy (whilest on my shoulder) I give him a treat on my shoulder or keep him busy stepping up and off onto my hand and back again, and continue with treat rewards all the time he's ignoring my ears.
He's not cured of his 'ear-interest' yet, but he's definitely better than he was!
Last edited:
AmyMyBlueFront
Well-known member
- Apr 14, 2015
- 6,315
- 3,034
- Parrots
- Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(
And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Ditto with BB!!! All of a sudden..BANG BANG BANG!!! quick jabs at my ear! Like it's his personal sparring partner! 
Doesn't really "hurt,but dang, it IS annoying! And the key board?? I get "this" when he is done..!@$%^^GFVXVVM<>L..p.m.r.o! and he too,won't listen!
It has to be a birdie thing
Jim
Doesn't really "hurt,but dang, it IS annoying! And the key board?? I get "this" when he is done..!@$%^^GFVXVVM<>L..p.m.r.o! and he too,won't listen!It has to be a birdie thing
Jim
Likely is cuz you spend more time with this weird, non-chirping, flat, thing, and not with him/her, scratching or giving treats. Oh and these things sticking out - they are so much easier to chew and snap off then chunks of wood! LOL, Salty has never shown much interest in the detachable keyboard for my tablet, where I spend my time on, at home. But he acts the same way as your guys birds do if I bring my lap top home from work. Those times he just goes onto his boing, away from the table. With the tablet, he is content to just sit on the back, making to volume go up and down and survey the world. Maybe its the clicking of the keys tha sends them into keyboard foraging mode?
- Dec 18, 2013
- 22,301
- 4,217
- Parrots
- Maya (Female Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Jolly (Male Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Bixby (Male, red-sided eclectus. RIP), Suzie (Male cockatiel. RIP)
Many of these birds are ridiculously stubborn, but as Dave pointed out all you can do is be rigidly consistent with your response to the behavior. Jolly, for instance, was fascinated/obsessed with my ears. His bite pressure training is the best of any parrot I've ever had, so there was no pressure... but I just don't like it. As gentle as his nibbling was, I needed him to stop. So every single time he would begin to nibble, I would firmly tell him no. A second infraction would result in a loss of shoulder privileges for the next 10-15 minutes. And any subsequent infractions for the day would immediately result in the same.
Took a few months, but he eventually got the message. So he compromised and actually made use of the knowledge that I don't like it. Whenever I'm preparing chop and he feels that I am taking a bit too long (which is basically EVERY time I prepare chop), he'll nudge his beak against my ear. If I still don't get things done quickly enough for his liking, he'll poke at my ear with the tip of his beak. (Kind of like an obnoxious green kid saying, "I'm not touching you," with his hand an inch from your face? Except substitute nibbling in for touching. Lol!) Or gently scrape the side of his beak against my cheek. Very effective method of communication without breaking the rules. Hahaha!
Point is, just because he's being a hard head doesn't mean the method isn't going to work. It just takes time, sometimes.
Took a few months, but he eventually got the message. So he compromised and actually made use of the knowledge that I don't like it. Whenever I'm preparing chop and he feels that I am taking a bit too long (which is basically EVERY time I prepare chop), he'll nudge his beak against my ear. If I still don't get things done quickly enough for his liking, he'll poke at my ear with the tip of his beak. (Kind of like an obnoxious green kid saying, "I'm not touching you," with his hand an inch from your face? Except substitute nibbling in for touching. Lol!) Or gently scrape the side of his beak against my cheek. Very effective method of communication without breaking the rules. Hahaha!
Point is, just because he's being a hard head doesn't mean the method isn't going to work. It just takes time, sometimes.
My low-tech, low-sophistication ear protection method... I wear my hair down when he's out. If he tries to.bite ears, all he gets is hair, which is no fun and he doesn't even bother much. This may be my biggest (only?) "victory" in the behavior management department.
Thank you, dad, for this thick, coarse Mexican hair!
Thank you, dad, for this thick, coarse Mexican hair!
