Chewing

[Valorous]

I'm at a loss.

I have a male Hahns macaw 8 months old. He has a huge issue with chewing on fingers and ears and face and everywhere.

He just hangs on and bites and chews really hard. Throwing himself around and chewing. I've tried ignoring it but he really doesn't stop and I can only bare the pain for so long until I have to pry him off.

He is really social and follows me around the house and he knows a lot of tricks I've taught him and is very cuddly at times but today I couldn't even bring him out of his cage because he would just run around on me and bite and chew.

help...

 

[Mizzely]

What other options does he have to chew on other than you?

Keep a pocket full of toy parts, or drape a toy around your neck to distract him with when he starts getting beaky. If he doesn't stop, put him down immediately, give him a terribly displease look, and turn your back on him. Sounds crazy but they pick up on body language quickly, and if what he wants is YOU depriving him of that lets him know that biting is not okay.

 

[TikiMyn]

@Mizzely gave execellent suggestions. The only thing I have to add is, does he have a play area outside his cage? Try to engage him with chewable toys and foraging opportunities to distract him from biting. My lovie Fëanor can get really ‘bitey’ sometimes, I give him a piece of wood for example to bite as hard as he likes.

 

[cassiesdad]

What other options does he have to chew on other than you?

Keep a pocket full of toy parts, or drape a toy around your neck to distract him with when he starts getting beaky. If he doesn't stop, put him down immediately, give him a terribly displease look, and turn your back on him. Sounds crazy but they pick up on body language quickly, and if what he wants is YOU depriving him of that lets him know that biting is not okay.

Excellent response.

You must teach Elsen that your face, fingers, etc are YOUR PRIVATE SPACE...he is not allowed to chew, grab, or bite within that space. As @Mizzely said, they will pick up on your body language quickly...after all, you're a flock member of his...

 

[Valorous]

Yeah he has a play tree and an on table play area with lots of toys and I have toys with me sometimes but I can definitively get better at that! Ok I will try to put him down and deprive him of attention for a while when he does it!

Also, I have begun to instead of prying him off with my hand I drop my hand or blow in his face to make him let go. I saw this somewhere, do you approve of that method??