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Biting! and weaning.

Bellamingo

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
10/25/16
Messages
17
Location
Sydney, Australia
Hello lovely people!

Until yesterday, Mingo's bites were more exploratory than painful, but in the last two days he's been biting enough to hurt us. I just had to put him back in his cage for a time out as it got incessant. I think he's just getting overzealous while playing but damn it was hurting!
He's definitely coming out of his shell though, and he's been growing up a lot! He's moving around the cage much more gracefully, and has learnt to fly a bit. He doesn't want to be spoon fed anymore, but wants his food in a food cup in his cage. Didn't stop him stealing some porridge off my spoon yesterday when I wasn't looking though ;) I'm weaning him off the baby food a few days earlier than the breeder told me to, as he's just not as interested in his baby food now he's had a taste of the dry nectar and pureed fruit. He's getting baby food now once a day rather than twice, and I'm putting in dry nectar and some fruit puree for him to graze at all day, and some bottlebrush and grevilia flowers since they're in flower right now.

My question is, how do I get him to stop biting me when he's playing? I've been taking my hands/necklace/skin away from him and saying "no biting", dropping my hand an inch or so to put him off balance or blowing gently on his face if he's on the front of my shirt. Is that enough or am I not getting it right? I've only really had one budgie that was this mouthy, though he always bit hard enough to draw blood, whereas Mingo isn't yet.
Also, is there a limit to what fruits and veggies I should be introducing, like one at a time or is it okay to give him a few to try at once? So far he's mad keen for mashed up pear (not so keen on a slice though), liked cooked sweet potato, didn't know what to do with a blueberry and was afraid of a bit of apple!

He's charmed all but my brother (who hates animals and is mad at me for having them), even my dad who isn't very sure about birds goes up to his cage for a chat when he thinks no one is looking! We've been taking bets on what colours his poo will come out after his various fruits :laugh: this morning it was orange after I mixed some orange juice into his food :rofl:
 

sunnysmom

Ripping up the road
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:bump4:
 

Diesel13

Jogging around the block
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I've never weaned a lorikeet but I can give advice about biting with young birds. Your baby is basically going through what I call a "beaking" stage where he's discovering his strength and exploring. It is actually good to make a response if he bites you too hard and tell him "no bite". At this age he's learning his beak strength and by you expressing pain he'll understand what is acceptable beak pressure.

The earthquake method is really not ideal and just tends to make the bird not trust you.

Always keep foot toys on hand so that when he does start to bite more you can give him something he can chew on. Praise him and give him attention when he plays with these toys. Does he have a playstand or something similar? This is a good age to start encouraging independent play. You can have him out with you, but on his own play area. It will make him less needy when he's older and allow you to avoid many of his exploratory biting.
 

Heather F

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
11/5/13
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Location
Ontario, Canada
I also don't have a lorikeet but I survive raising the infamously beaky baby green cheek conure, lol. Birds LOVE attention and they are very clever. When your little feathered piranha nibbles too hard, tell him "no bite" or similar and put him down immediately and turn your back and ignore him for a moment. When he is playing nicely, praise him profusely for being such a nice gentle bird. He's still learning about appropriate beak pressure, and the clearer the cues you give him are, the quicker he will pick them up. You don't need to do a big time out, just a brief interruption of attention. Eventually you reach the point where he starts gnawing too hard and you just have to say "now now, be a gentle baby" and he realizes it and eases off. (Unless he's gotten so worked up that he needs to get put in to calm down--in which case on your end you need to work on de-escalating playtime to make sure he doesn't get too overexcited.)

You might also avoid letting him up on your shoulders or upper chest if he's turning into a little ear/neck nipper. Shoulder privileges are for gentle beaks who know how not to be ouchy.

I second the recommendation to avoid the "earthquake" if you can. Sometimes it helps in getting them to let go, but if they are actually grabbing on to you for balance then it just makes it worse.
 

Bellamingo

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
10/25/16
Messages
17
Location
Sydney, Australia
Thank you both so much! I've only done the earthquake when he legitimately wouldn't let go of a finger, so about twice now. It's definitely all exploratory and play biting, not for balance. He's been banned from my shoulder until he stops this stage as he nearly ripped my earring out- he didn't care about my ear, just wanted the stud, and I can see why it'd appeal to him! He plays with my rings and necklaces too, but since they're not actually attached to me it's not nearly as bad! He's been scared of his foot toys, so a bottle top is doing the job at the moment!
 

Lodah

Rollerblading along the road
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Hopefully once your fid has bonded to you... the level of biting intensity will diminish dramatically! Best advice is to avoid the bites altogether or find some way to transfer the habit to something innate that doesn't hurt!

Pilo is at the stage now that once I go for a spare perch to place him on it, he KNOWS its time to behave or else the "nasty stick man will take him away"'... gotta love him!
 

Diesel13

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A bottle cap works great! Diesel loves bottle caps and I often use them as props for tricks since they're perfect for her to carry. I just find it funny that between a brightly colored foot toy and a bottle cap, many birds will pick the cap :rolleyes:
 

Kbry

Checking out the neighborhood
Joined
10/30/16
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4
Location
Houston
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Kyle
@Lodah I am pretty sure he has already bonded and he is just an jerk sometimes lol. @Diesel13 Link loves bottle caps also. Just basically he bites when I do something to prevent him from doing what he wants to do. Like bite on my headset or my ears or glasses and so on. then he gets aggitatted... he also gets really mad if he hurts himself. if he jumps off his cage and lands on my pc or something he starts growling at everything. Its really funny with how smart he is and what not but I dont want him to get angry at me lol.
 

Lodah

Rollerblading along the road
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@Lodah I am pretty sure he has already bonded and he is just an jerk sometimes lol. @Diesel13 Link loves bottle caps also. Just basically he bites when I do something to prevent him from doing what he wants to do. Like bite on my headset or my ears or glasses and so on. then he gets aggitatted... he also gets really mad if he hurts himself. if he jumps off his cage and lands on my pc or something he starts growling at everything. Its really funny with how smart he is and what not but I dont want him to get angry at me lol.
When you say he has bonded to you... can you tell me what he will allow you to do to him? Not sure if I missed this, but how long have you had him also?
 
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